Hold Tight
Hello everyone!
I wanted to take a moment to ask your opinions regarding the future of Delve. With Bree finally nearing the end of the great quest that brought her into the delve in the first place, I’d like to know your thoughts.
What is it that drew you to the comic?
What kept you reading it?
What would you have liked to have seen and didn’t?
As I have said before, I really didn’t know where all this was going when I first started out, and it has gone in directions I never could have guessed. Now I’m coming to the point where I need to decide where to go from here.
Do we follow Bree further? Do we need to know the full extent of the twisted reality that brought this story to fruition, or are some things, like midichlorians, best left unexplained?
Do I instead begin something new, perhaps with a better grasp of what it’s all about from the get-go? Do I make a fresh start with new characters in a new world that makes, perhaps, a little more sense than something Brian might have scribbled in his Trapper Keeper back in high school?
You folks have been an amazing source of support for me in some pretty dark times, and I love you all. As such, whatever I decide, I want to make sure that as many of you as possible want to go along with me for the new ride.
All things being equal, I’d have to say that, wherever we go, the story is going to have to lead the way. I’ve had people tell me on numerous occasions that I should just forget about the story and draw porn, but, despite what my teenage self would have imagined a long time ago, that actually gets kinda boring. I’ve drawn a lot of porn… so much porn…
Please tell me your thoughts and ideas below. What do YOU hope to see from me in the future?
Thank you all so very much!
I also posed the same question over on my Deviant Art if you’d like to follow the discussion HERE
Both follow Bree further and full twisted extent that brought this story together. Definitely stay with these characters.
Also print version of this whole part would be awesome!
Pardon me while I get up on my soap box…-hup- ah, here we go..
First off I’ve been a reader since around the time Teal went ‘splat’ after falling from the bridge. I was fascinated by both the artwork and the plotline, I’m familiar with the workings of the Dungeons & Dragons type system – in fact I used to do tabletop RPG back in the late 1990s – so I found it rather interesting.
Looks like your question in general is…Where should we go from here? Well, take a step back and look at things in perspective – in spite of all the months of adventuring, this was really all one singular jaunt out into the world. Everything up to this point was but one little quest. So..What should come next?
Maybe look into Sephni’s life in the kingdom. Explore on her relationship with Bree some, build some (more) depth to the main cast of characters..Maybe there’s something their hometowns are going through that might develop into another story arc. Again, I see this as a ‘Chapter 1’, so to speak. Maybe Bree hits it off with Mr. Lucky? (Poor DM)..Or is she more interested in Sephni on a personal level like Moonblade and Lassa? Maybe this could be a “Prequel” to present-day Delve? You’ve got lots of great stuff to build off of here. (I only hope you drawing hand is up to the challenge!)
good surprise !!! and first
You’ve put so much effort into establishing the background to this story… I see no reason to abandon it. If you can think of further stories to tell with these characters, great… If not, well, the comic is called Delve. Perhaps it’s time to Delve into a new batch of adventurers as they Delve into the mysteries and insanities of this dungeon.
No matter what, don’t force yourself to come up with a plot just to keep things going. I think we’ve all seen at least one television show that went a season too long, a movie sequel that didn’t need to be made… Forcing it would just be an insult to the good work you’ve done so far.
To tell you the truth, I was drawn to this story when you claimed that it was partially intended to give the finger to the “moral guardian” soccer moms. Still, I found the story far more entertaining than a lot of other stuff that claimed to be “porn with plot”.
If the story remains the “other side” of an RPG, world building could build on the overall theme. I mean, the whole story has been one location in a game world, there could clearly be others. (Kind of hard not to use other Web Comics as comparison here.) Possibly take Bree and the others out of the dungeon and into some different campaign in whatever setting you’ve placed this in.
IMOHO, I’d read it if you chose to continue it.
Do as you wish but, as for personal taste, I want goblins! Some time ago you drew a fanart with the cutest and most evilest goblin chick ever (she dealt on uberlander slaves) and I was hoping to see her in the comic at some point. Hard luck mine! She could do at least for a good secondary neutral-evil character, really.
Also, as a side note: your art has evolved a lot. I like your quality improvement (it was good at the beginning and it’s much better now in general terms) but I sorta liked better the more “classical cartoon” tendency and matter colors you used at first, hope you get what I mean.
But you cannot satisfy everybody’s wishes, so do what you must.
>Do I instead begin something new, perhaps with a better grasp of what it’s all about from the get-go? Do I make a fresh start with new characters in a new world that makes, perhaps, a little more sense than something Brian might have scribbled in his Trapper Keeper back in high school?
No, I think you should keep going in this world. The characters have been great, too many of various species to name here, but have been very appealing and can clearly be developed in many directions if you choose to do so. You could easily keep Bree as the central character and I’d recommend that, though Teal is my, er, gal — or blob if you will.
As for porn, I distinguish that from nudity, mild erotica, and such. I’m all for those and have no problem with where you’ve gone so far. Porn, no.
I basically just come for the art, I’ve lost track of the story many times and this recent twist (she’s from the future now? or something?) is no different.
Where do you go from here? Somewhere that includes likable characters and cool scenes, I guess. Although a plot that one could actually follow would probably be a nice addition to the well-drawn nude elf babes.
I suspect Bree somehow merged with her player?
There are parts of plot hard to follow, definitely. But maybe if we explore world around the dungeon it could start making more sense? Not sure. I would really like to see more of those characters, definitely. If the world outside the dungeon wouldn’t make sense, maybe make the party visit another world?
The nudity separated this from other dungeon quests but the story pulled me through to the end. That and the collection of uneasy allies and improbable partnerships. I like your sense of the absurd. Go where the pen takes you. It hasn’t failed you yet. Start a new quest but bring in the old die-hards for guest cameos. Or not. Maju has good advice. Bring in some of the backstory from your vote-incentive files.
I’d vote that you do what inspiration strikes.
Which is another way of kinda’ shrugging and saying I don’t know the best direction, and I think the best direction lies in the path that makes sense to you, not some arbitrary thing others might pick.
It’s possible that what you pick would be something that I’d stick with or something I’d wander away from. However, if I picked a thing and said “this is the thing to do” and you did it, then I’d give a bigger chance that it’d go awry, as you’d be going towards my theoretical vision and it might not speak to you as well and would result in a lesser story.
You’ve got to go with what makes sense and will flow for you. Your creativity will need to power it, after all.
With the recent turn of events, I feel if we do something where the webcomic go down the path it’s still going. I would be happy with a once a week instead of a every other week thing but thats just me and know you have alot more going on with family and all that since this is like a hobby.
The porn is interesting to say the least, different flavor compare to others but this comic is more adult themed compare to other fantasy webcomics with nudity. I say keep it going in the same direction but maybe explain more on the other demihuman races that we’ve seen so far. Am more curious on how the elves get along so well where other settings it be lucky if they just tolerate eachother.
As for the side characters? Be interested to know where they came from. Like the cats and wererats. What was the wererat thats in the comic background before he became what he is today? I mean, go forward but let the characters have a dialogue or throw the side characters background that we know very little about. Possible plots.
Keep going! Lots of good stuff to explore still with Bree and company as they try to climb out of the 99 levels.
Can’t remember what date I first started reading… Know it’s been a few years though. Being honest have to admit I came for the boobs, but without the story probably wouldn’t have stayed.
One thing I always was more curious as I read through the comic is what the drow queen’s intentions were (probably the DM’s doings, but something left unfinished). Still there are many characters that have only a partial story like the Orc girl in Syn’di’s realm, the “hideous” cyclops. A lot of potential to explore.
Either way, seems Bree’s story is about over.
How about sticking with Bree a bit longer? Maybe she gets trapped in some magical portal and gets transported across multiple genres, using her rogue skills and various misplaced magical artifacts to go from one place to another as she tries to get to her forest home? Or maybe vored by a dragon and remains in its belly for a month or so…
In the end, this is your world. The Delve seems much bigger than just a few caves. It’s your choice how far it reaches and who will explore it. But wherever you focus next, your audience is guaranteed. Thank you.
Yep, I agree with this. Delve should take some pointers from Bob Ross.
“This is your world. You’re the creator. There are no limits here.”…
“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” …
“Talent is a pursued interest. …
“There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.” …
“I guess I’m a little weird. …
“Let’s get crazy.”
What brought me to the comic?
I’m gonna be straight with you, it was the boobs. I like boobs. Your comic had a lot of boobs. It also had great characters, cool art, an awesome story, and some really intriguing ideas. But I’m gonna wave the perv flag, if I see an adult comic advertising nudity, I’m probably going to check it out at least once.
What kept me reading it?
I love these characters to death. Bree, Teal, the Dracomage, all the side characters, I just really wanted to see their story unfold.
What would I have liked to have seen and didn’t?
You had a habit of shuffling characters out of the plot. Like the Dark Elf subplot, I don’t know where that was going or even if you remember it existed. I feel like a tighter outline might have served you well.
If I remember right at a few points there were reader votes on where the plot should go next. I guess it just so happened that the readers opted for the shorter route!
I’ve been following Delve for a long time. Your enencumbered art style and attitude, to me, allows a fun interpretation of how a D&D game could have gone.
Like any dungeon crawl, some characters finish and some get re-rolled.
A fresh quest with the some of the current lineup seems like it’s in order. Maybe to track down the source of evi that corrupted the elf prince, or some backstory of another character?
> What is it that drew you to the comic?
Art style (and nudity) would be the reasons to give it a chance.
> What kept you reading it?
Again, the art style, and nudity presented in the right way. But much more important, the characters, including many or even all?? of the minor ones. All with their own stories and interests. I absolutely love, the moonblade-lassa-story, and yes, I may have cried on occassion. I massively enjoyed Paraxyss and the events involving her, got many a laugh out of them. Ahh .. and so much more …
> What would you have liked to have seen and didn’t?
I honestly cant say. Perhabs that we sometimes see interesting characters that too soon lose focus again, but I wouldnt want to miss them either. Perhabs an occassional unconnected side story featuring them?
> Do we follow Bree further?
As much as I would hate to lose Bree and other characters, Im confident that you will present new or old ones with the same love you did before, as long as you have a story to tell including them.
I have read this comic for quite a while. I greatly enjoyed the characters, the plotlines, and the artwork. I found Delve on Top Webcomics, and began reading because of the pleasing… scenery. I continued reading because I develeped an interest in the characters, and the story.
I read some of the comments, I find there’s a mix of keep going, start something else, leave it as it is. I cannot give you the answer, but you are asking for suggestions. I would love to see at the very least a conclusion, something that ties up the loose ends we have so far. Two halves of Beddigan and potential relationships, Kindall who is somewhere, Jen and why Bree is dressed like her (the way she spoke, it sounded like she might be Jen), Brian and the D&D gang, and many more.
Ultimately, I believe I will follow you, no matter your decision. I will read your comic if it’s this one (new quests, or just conclusions), I would read another comic if you started a new plotline, new characters etc.
You did a wonderful job. All these years, we all looked forward to the next page, and it was never so easy to guess what would happen next. I want to say thank you and on my own, and from three thousand readers of Russian translation. Thanks for all! And no one but you, the respected author, will be able to decide how best to continue. Do what you want. Your decision will be the most correct. We believe in you!
I’d like to see the same crew leave the dungeon & set off on some Town & Wilderness adventures!
I wouldn’t mind seeing a *little* porn in the the story, just as payoff for a lot of the teasing we readers endure. I wouldn’t make it the focus of the story, but I wouldn’t cut it out altogether.
I started reading delve a long time ago. I originally read it for the PLOT when was bit younger. now i read for the plot, story and characters. would love to see you continue making web comics, if we followed bree’s adventures or not.
Is that Jen touching her ear to confirm that she’s an elf?
It happens I’d like to see a happy ending where Bree and Brian reconcile and end up moving to the same city where they can be together and continue playing Delve. Then give Bree’s story a rest, work on other stuff, and revisit Bree & Co. when you have a new story to tell. That’s my suggestion, for what it’s worth.
I wanna stick with Bree!
K so, if I were writing this I would make Jen and Bree kiss… Like some weird narcissistic thing to the next level…
Kidding of course. I see an easy transition of Jen just needing an escape and becoming Bree literally to get away from the “real” world. Maybe throw in some line about how long she was going to stay and her replying that there is always some adventure to keep bringing her back blah blah. Then you have an blank slate with a few key characters. A new dungeon, a threat from invading Naga… whatever you want for the story just include some clothes please. I hate to trample on someones art style but even though I like the story I would like something I can read at the office ya know?
Well now we know who the people dangling from the base of the platform are 🙂
I can’t remember how i found Delve originally, it’s been many many years i’ve been reading now (and i still vote every day).
Initially it was the boobs. Well no, that’s not quite true, it was the art style. There was a lot of colour and the comics were well drawn and not too cluttered.
I kept reading it for the story. The boobs are nice and all, but you know, too much of a good thing, you become blase about it. I wasn’t sure if you have a plan sketched out for the story, i know a lot of comic artists do, or whether you were treating it like an actual D&D game, and doing dice rolls for what happens next. Either way the result has been good, and it’s been an enjoyable read 🙂
I agree that the story is important, and having read your books i know that you can spin a good yarn 🙂 Which story you tell, sorry that’s up to you. I can’t wait to read it.
I started by getting hooked by the art, and then staying for the story.
I loved the idea of a first/low level party starting into a dungeon and the interactive dungeon master in the story itself. I would love to see more of the world – discover more races and get to know more of the ones we love. As much as we love the current characters, it might be a great journey getting to meet new ones. And nothing says the ‘old characters’ cant be cameo’d in or help out in a bit of deus ex machina.
Whichever way it goes, you will have a continued fan in me.
I started reading this around when teal was showing are her family.
For me, I think it was the casual nudity coupled with the nerdiness of a well designed roleplaying campaign world. Though I was a little bit disappointed when bre’s real world counterpart confirmed that it was a roleplaying game rather than a world of it’s own, but I liked how both worlds ended up colliding at the end anyhow. Though the main reason I was mildly disappointed in that forth wall break, was when the Draco Mage broke the forth wall back in 2014 it was awesomely done treating us readers like we were seers. And I liked the idea of this very D&D world being a parallel dimension rather than a created child dimension to our own.
I think the parts that sold me on the world were both the playfully fun cast and the attention to world-building, good arts are always a bonus. And like the others above me, I’d not consider this a “porn” so much as a story where nudity is causally present. (which is a nice thing).
> as a story where nudity is causally present. (which is a nice thing)
I think you meant that nudity is casually present, and I totally agree about its niceness. More, please.
However, that might be one of those fortunate typos: the idea of nudity being causal is, well, intriguing. Probably why witches and warlocks went skyclad. 🙂
When a wise man finishes the last page he closes the book… and starts a new one.
I’ve loved the strip from the beginning. I hope you can continue it in any form.
Oh hey stephni! Did not expect that.. Wow.. Guess bree didn’t need to get nommed huh?
Okay onto the comments for the whole delve.
How did I get here? I punched “slime girl webcomic” into google and wound up here,
got hooked pretty quickly by the quirky humor and D&Dness of it all. And the great writing.
What would I have liked to see but did not… Hmm I suppose Teal using her semiliquid nature to solve some puzzle, or just slipping out of handcuffs cause she can, I find the concept of a character who’s body isn’t solid and thus can’t be simply tied up very intriguing, also the concept of storing stuff in their own body.
Regarding where to go from here? That I’d have to say, go with your gut, there’s plenty enough room for more adventure on either side,
I favor keeping with Bree a bit more because there are so many brilliant characters I’d like to see more of. and I’m somewhat curious as to what would happen when dracomage and Brennifer? Jeree?.. Fuckit, Bree. Face off again next. Or if, as a result of Jen leaving the game goes unfinished in the ‘normal’ world causing dracomage to just vanish, and what madness would result from such a power vaccum would create, or if that delve is only one of many and slowly decays and dissapears leaving the characters to go sneak into someone the fearsome DemonicMagus’s delve instead.
Regarding the bendy reality business, I think some of it should be further explored, but perhaps not fully, nothing wrong with a little mystery and a few unanswered questions.
But your gut hasn’t led us wrong yet,
So I think if you do take a new direction, a few more pages tying off some loose ends first would be nice. I’ll let you figure out how to handle the delve banners and tagline if you do start fresh. Maybe have the occasional cameo from the current characters though then, people will do their nut seeing Teal swing by unexpectedly. after a few months of new-delve.
And definitely let the story lead, it’s worked aces for you so far right? 😛
Much love <3
Desi the Succubus
Hi Wormius!
First, some serious thanks are in order. I have been following you for a long time (not since the VERY beginning, maybe, but pretty close), and it has been quite an enjoyable ride. You’re the best.
If you’re interested in what kept me coming back to Delve (in order to help you decide what to do in the future), I’d say three things:
1. Great art. I love all your characters! They’ve got personality, each one has it’s own unique look and flavor. I like that you go for a cartoony look and feel, and that you’re not going for perfection. But I also appreciate that it’s way better than a typical comic/cartoon in terms of quality. Reminds me a little of good old Warcraft II — goofy at times, yet evocative
2. Great characters and story. I already said I love your characters, but this time I mean it not from an artistic perspective, but from a story perspective. When the sharpshooter cat came bursting in with the hippie hyena band and the alligator king, I just melted. Sure, they were all side characters, but it’s often having a rich cast of great side characters that makes a story great. And Bree, of course, was a fantastic character. And at the end, there, you managed to pull on my heart strings a little bit: seeing how sad Bree was to see her (fictional) friends get consumed by a devouring monster (the end of the game?) was kinda powerful. It reminded me of how it felt finishing video games, tv shows/anime, and books growing up, and having to say goodbye to those characters I had come to love. So there’s definitely more to what you do than just the art.
3. Bree, getting captured, stripped bare, and tied up. Every time it looked like she was about to get captured, I secretly shouted for joy 😉 So, whatever you do, you should definitely have this happen (frequently) to your hot female characters!
I think another fantasy setting would be great! Different characters, different story, roughly the same world, maybe? I don’t know. Or start completely fresh! But your fantasy world was very beautiful and very evocative, so maybe keep going with that. Other than that, I can’t really help you, but I can say I will definitely follow with interest anything you happen to do 🙂
Quite a few loose ends too I think…
1. I remember DM working on a massive robot device.
2. What about the stone statues of Bree and friends?
3. How will Sephni’s kingdom react at Kindall’s betrayal? Does he have loyalists in the ranks?
I like happy endings. I also, in spite of loving porn, am incredibly vanilla and not really into the sub/dom capture/control fetish business. Also the whole “it’s actually a game” back-and-forth doesn’t do it for me. It’s part of why I stopped reading Guilded Age.
But I’m a special snowflake full of contradictory wants, what you REALLY need to do is what you can consistently do and feel content with. Whether that’s plot-free rape pr0n, constantly sketching new pin-ups as you improve your technique, drawing porn-free tales of scifi adventure, or flogging it all and becoming a fry cook because “it never paid the bills and burned me out.”
Good luck, whatever path you choose. I’ll be around, watching and applauding.
I would urge you to keep exploring the paracosm you created. It’s full of interesting ideas that your readers have told you they liked. ust take a look at Fawkes backstory. I would love to see the tale of how his evil opressing emperor was killed and why he got so angry about that. Or the tale of how the ex-Empire is currently dealing with the weird situation of having a, y’know, DEAD Emperor. And that’s just ONE of the things of your world.
TL;DR: Keep teh universe, don’t limit yourself to the Delve.
Well, I mean, you set up some stuff with the other characters that, while resolved on some level could still bear out a bit more “delving”. The Dracomage is still out there (funny nickname for “Dungeon Master”/DM xD), and you’ve only touched on the various secondary characters. So, yeah. Plus, as I said when we linked: us smut guys gotta stick together!
Taco Bell is just ass. I ate there *once* when they first came to town…30? years ago. Dis-gus-TING! Don’t waste you money on it. Get real stuff if you have a Mex yen.
I don’t remember where I saw a banner ad that led me here, but I was shamelessly caught by the nudity. I stayed because I found it quite refreshingly unique, in that rampant nudity wasn’t also locking the plot with some sex every other page. A good plot, unique characters, great art & a nice take on the old-school RPGs I’ve played.
“Now I’m coming to the point where I need to decide where to go from here.”
Hmmm, well Bree still has to get *out* of the dungeon with Stephi, but she’s made a few friends on the way that could help…But it’s a cinch that they can’t take the same path out as they took to get to this area. But it’s a good point to wrap it up, even if it all stops with the end of the game from the *players’* point of view. After all, I’d like to see the “real world” effects of all of the 4th Wall breaking that happened to them.
As for another story in the same setting, or even an entirely different story, I’m willing to stick around long enough to see what you decide to do…And wait for you next project, should you decide to do one. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this story & would like to see what other strange, twisted thoughts might be swirling around within such a deranged mind.
😉
i think she had a car accident.
At the end of every adventure there is a pause were the adventures re-equip, and divide the treasure.
aaaand roll credits! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGufy1PAeTU
I absolutely love this comic. I want to see more of all these awesome characters and their further adventures. But if this truely is curtains for them then I look forward to reading whatever you create next :3
I love delve! I came here because the art style was very high quality,
and the trope-referencing/subverting plot was clever and funny. (The fanservice didn’t hurt either…) But I soon came to love the ragtag cast and all their quirks, flaws, limitations, and virtues. The Teal, Phawkes, Beddigan arc was what hooked me, but I also really love poor Moonblade. I’m glad she finally got her wish, but also that she’s grown and connected along the journey.
I would be happy to see more of these characters, but I’m also ok letting their adventures wrap up and giving them closure. I think what would be best is whatever story would get *you* excited. You’ve mentioned that this project has been taxing for you, and I really appreciate the effort you’ve put into creating and sharing it. I hope your next project is invigorating and keeps you coming back for more. I’ll definitely come along for the ride! 😀
PS: if we do wrap up this great adventure, I *would* like to see an epilogue montage for the memorable side characters we met along the way. I like the way those provide closure.
Initially, was just ‘collecting’ the invotives (liked the sexy, shoot me), took me a long while to actually start reading (have a number of webics regularly read already, and finding the spare time to start archive delving ( 😛 ) took awhile), butt once did, enjoyed the story, the fact it took awhile before the first bewbies appeared didn’t concern me (nor did it drive me off when they did spring forth) as the story was the most important thing for me (not saying the bewbies aren’t, just if the story wasn’t intriguing, wouldn’t care about the bewbies) and you are not gratuitous in regards to showing the flesh
Came for the fanservice, stayed for the plot. I second an epilogue if you choose to finish with these characters.
needs more dwarves.
My recommendation is this:
Go where you’ll have fun creating the story.
Whether that’s more adventures of Bree, the same players with different characters, or a completely new setting and cast.
Of course if the story progresses in the same background world, or a closely adjacent one, it’s possible to have some of both. Whether it’s back in time a bit leading up to Bree’s story, or new characters that meet the current cast later on. One of the great things about fiction is that as an author you have a lot of leeway to do something very different (if you want to), and still connect it to your previous work.
The important thing is to keep on making something that you enjoy making, wherever that takes you.