Dragontouched tells a good story in comic form
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 14th 2007 at 5:06PM
The style is a little simpler than some of the other "screenshot comics" ("machigraphica"?), as there's really no editing on the shots at all. But you can tell that Autumnflare, the creator, is getting better and better at this as they go along-- both the storytelling and the layout are improving with almost every new comic. And it is super cool to see all the lore integrated so well. The story feels like both a part of the WoW universe and an interesting new take on it. I especially like the Consortium dude-- he seems more shifty here than I've ever seen them ingame.
So good stuff so far, and I'll bet there's even better things to come. Are we entering into a whole second generation of WoW comics?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Screenshots, NPCs, Comics, Fan art
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bryne Sep 14th 2007 6:31PM
People who put together machinima comics like this need to have better video cards. Dragontouched looks terrible.
Spencer Sep 14th 2007 6:35PM
Boring and poorly written, plus screenshot comics always look terrible.
Varja Sep 14th 2007 7:25PM
It might last longer then 'The Scout Report', but I'm not sure there was a First Generation of WoW comics.
There are just some webcomics based around WoW, just like there are webcomics based around space opera, gaming, xbox, nintendo, IGN etc. Nothing really generational about it at all.
Varja Sep 14th 2007 7:30PM
It looks suspiciously like it was made in the comic creator app that ships free with Macs and is somewhat lacking in useful functionality.
Hammer of Grammer is amusing, well designed and features high quality and very original looking graphics. This does not.
Adnarish Sep 14th 2007 8:06PM
Unfortunately the image quality of Dragontouched story is rather low, it's a nice read anyway.
My favorite of all WoW comics is still Equinox, at http://www.martianwarmachine.ca/
eh? Sep 15th 2007 6:48AM
This is a great BEGINNING to a story. It does start off rather slow, but thats the way many great stories do. The first few pages offer not enough story in too many panels, but you can see an obvious improvement to this in the later pages. I will definitely be adding this to my weekly comic reading.
To all those knocking the comic when it is just beginning and improving, constructive criticism is nice when it is specific. Making general comics like "its too boring and poorly written" does little to aid the maker of the comic to improve and is a disservice to you as it discourages people from producing creative efforts for you to enjoy.
Autumnflare Sep 16th 2007 9:56AM
To answer a few points:
@1: My video card is fine, but the program I use limits output to 72dpi. There is a "professional" version of the program that will allow me a 300dpi output but it's $70 and I can't afford that right now.
@2: Nobody is forcing you to read it. If you don't like it, that's your choice.
@5: Thanks, and yes I agree, 72dpi is crap for image quality, but that's all the basic program I'm using supports. I hope in the future to be able to upgrade, but I wanted to see if anyone actually bothered READING it before I considered shelling out 70 bucks for a more specialised program
@6: Many thanks and much applause. It's of great help to me if people tell me WHY they don't like something, but I've never done a webcomic before and thus I hope to improve in time but there are naturally going to be mistakes I make at first. Thank you for putting some very good points to the critics, and I hope you continue to enjoy Dragontouched.
~Autumnflare
Theserene Sep 16th 2007 3:19PM
Personally, I quite like them. I am a big fan of the Equinox, Defender of the Horde series with it's over-arching storylines and good plot.
Humour is a key part to me though, drama is excellent but it helps to have a little bits of funnies.
echou Sep 16th 2007 4:53PM
I tried to give this story a chance. I read up to where the main character reached the Caverns of Time, but as soon as the dragons started to talk with a hiss, I knew I couldn't force myself to go any further.
IMHO Dragons are not serpents. They do not flick their tongues in-and-out like a snake. They are powerful, wise, and should inspire awe. Having them speak with a hiss totally killed it for me.
I'm not a huge buff on WoW lore, but having a Night Elf seek wisdom from a human, and then head off to Stormwind didn't seem right to me. I mean, the night elves were once immortal. They have thousands upon thousands of years of knowledge and history. I highly doubt that a human would be the first person a Night Elf Druid would turn to for advice and Stormwind the first place they would go to seek wisdom.
Spencer Sep 17th 2007 11:03PM
@Autumntouched
I apologize, my comments were vague and condescending, but I was tired and hadn't had my beer yet :(
To be specific, the comic shows promise, but for the 20 or so pages that held my interest, it played out quite a bit like those annoying quests you get in WoW the ones that bounce you all over the damn map just to talk to people. Sorry, but that's not a narrative, it's a travel log. As for my comment on the writing, no offense, but the style is a bit undeveloped, amateur and juvenile, you may be telling an interesting story, but it's lost in your 10th grade diction.
And again, I don't like screenshot comics, half of the art of comics is the illustration, and I consider stuff like this plain and simple cheating. Sometimes the humor or story makes up for it; unfortunately, this is not one of those times. In conclusion, keep working on it and it may turn out that I am just a pompous ass who doesn't know anything.