xkcdsuckstravaganza

by czwheeler

48 comments

1 Hexadecima { 10.18.10 at 8:07 pm }

Okay, negative fifty billion points for your fuckup with the word “romanticize”. It has nothing to do with love—the idea of ‘romance = love’ is a more recent development. Originally, the Romanticist movement in philosophy viewed the universe through an idealized lens and was disconnected from reality. It was essentially medieval, and lay opposite to the Reason (big R here for importance) of the Renaissance Humanist movement, which sought to revive the logical underpinnings of thinking that were established by the ancient Greeks. “Romance” as we call it today comes from “romanticized love”—love which is ideal and pure. (Similarly, the French call novels “romans” because they’re idealized, and the whole thing does indeed derive from “Roman”, since it was popular in the Middle Ages to claim to be a legitimate heir to the Empire.)

tl;dr: fuck you and buy a dictionary, that’s not what romanticize means AT FUCKING ALL. This is not the first time you have gotten a word horribly wrong because of your intuitive understanding of its meaning, and BITCH, I AM DISAPPOINT.

2 Trevor { 10.18.10 at 8:41 pm }

I think that instead of linking to wikipedia you linked to a non-existent page. That probably means you’re completely incompetent in every way, and will die sad and alone.

3 Mr.G { 10.18.10 at 9:10 pm }

Hexadecima, Eleventy Billion (Big E-B here for importance) points to you for trying too hard.

Isn’t “intuitive understanding of meaning” how we define words? By how they are used in our language? If I were to use centuries-old definitions of words, I could castrate your language, too. But I won’t.

4 Dylan { 10.18.10 at 9:10 pm }

Agree with everything except the map one.
That map is dope. It’s well-researched, it looks good, there’s no errors, it’s just a cool piece of work. It’s not a bad thing that he wants to make money. It’s a marketable product, dude. Guy doesn’t want ads on his site; he sells posters. Made a comic that lends itself to posters, and the comic is also quite cool–not just a Robert Smith picture. This isn’t an obscene concept, or even moderately unusual.

I agree that xkcd is getting worse and worse. I agree that, besides the map, these last few weeks have been particularly awful, but you’re so damned set on EVERYTHING HE DOES BEING ANATHEMA TO ALL THAT IS PURE that you’re ignoring how that map is really cool, actually. It’d be much less cool if it hadn’t been researched, of course, but it HAS, and it’s accurately sized, which is indeed nerdy, but just because it’s nerdy and Randall’s nerdy doesn’t mean it’s bad by association. It’s not like he has some shitty Midas touch, he just has plentyyyy of shitty ideas. He should drop his comic to weekly, not 3x weekly, so he has more time for better ideas.

Most importantly, you’ve yet to make fun of achewood for having a link to it’s subscription service on every single page, but it does.

5 Quixotic { 10.18.10 at 10:00 pm }

@Dylan if he wants to sell posters he can sell posters, but that doesn’t mean just because something will sell well it’s a good webcomic. It was kind of cool the first time he did it, but he did literally the exact same thing this time, and I have little doubt that he’ll do it another few hundred comics from now again. The problem isn’t that Randy is trying to sell things. It’s that he gives us an advertisement for his new poster IN PLACE OF A REAL COMIC. Other comics might have banner adds, or links to subscription services, but few rehash their old material in a way that adds nothing new except another item to the store and say it’s a new comic.

I agree with dropping the comic to weekly (or less) “so he has more time for better ideas,” and this comic was indeed a good idea the first time it was posted. It’s just not the second time around. It’s ok for Randy to want to make money, but he should either not post his rehashed ideas as an installment webcomic or come up with new ideas in his webcomic and sell those.

6 Quixotic { 10.18.10 at 10:04 pm }

Also Carl you forgot a grade for #805 you useless fuck, go die.

7 anon { 10.18.10 at 11:12 pm }

@Dylan

How do you know it was well researched? There’s no explicit evidence of this; Randal didn’t write his usual blog post about his exhaustive and overcomplicated methods.

How on earth would you detect “errors” in the map? How would you quantify them?

Seriously, dude. He actually lists “making things up” among his methods right on the fucking map.

8 Semicolons { 10.18.10 at 11:30 pm }

Hey Carl,

Nice use of dashes

Also i can’t complain about the map too much because he did put in an obvious effort to make the map. Of course, nothing about the map is funny, and it is an obvious vehicle for merchandising. He should really just change XKCD to “I make maps and graphs about random shit in the hopes that neckbeards will put them on their walls.”

9 AKAThaSchust { 10.19.10 at 12:00 am }

Carl, you ugly bastard, my post for xkcdsucks deconstructing Randall as a shallow, pathetically insecure nerd was BRILLIANT and TOTALLY had not been done before AT ALL.

10 Timofei { 10.19.10 at 12:12 am }

Carl, when will you get around to installing that favicon, and maybe change the theme to something less ugly?

11 MalphasWats { 10.19.10 at 2:26 am }

@Timofei I see a favicon, it is a comical sadface. MAYHAPS YOUR INTERNETS ARE BROKEN?

12 Timofei { 10.19.10 at 3:28 am }

Yep, now that I fucked around with my browser, I can see it too. Weird.

13 Spekkio { 10.19.10 at 3:41 am }

Carl, If I wanted xkcdexplained I would go there. I WANT RANTS!

14 Llywelyn { 10.19.10 at 7:40 am }

Your commentary lacks in both fire and substance. It just amounts to short little quips about each comic grading it as F. Meat for those who are fans of your writing already, but there’s nothing insightful or even interesting.

The last commentary is particularly dull, given that it is done in XKCDExplained’s style, but without their quality or brevity.

15 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 8:34 am }

To Mr.G, who said ‘Isn’t “intuitive understanding of meaning” how we define words? By how they are used in our language?’

In fact, the answer here is no, not exactly. In order for a language to have meaning, its words must have collectively understood definitions that are shared by all of its speakers. In this case, the majority (as epitomized by a wonderful thing called the dictionary) is quick to point out that Carl is a colossal, uneducated douche, and you are too, for not thinking this through properly.

Consider the fact that the original post itself contains a dictionary attack (questioning the meaning of words). If we are to entertain your perspective that people make up the meanings of words from what they infer someone else intends, then the only logical course of action for Carl would be to assume that Randall knows what he’s talking about. He doesn’t have a position of authority because, in your (fucked up) little world, no one does.

(Correction to my first post—Romanticism is recognized as emerging during the Enlightenment, not the Renaissance. Note that this makes the definition of “romanticize” three hundred years old, at most.)

I apologise if the swearing is getting a little fucking out of hand—it was my impression that it is required to be clearly understood here.

16 Alsworth { 10.19.10 at 8:43 am }

@Hexadecima:

Romantic [roh-MAN-tik]: -adjective…

3. imbued with or dominated by idealism, a desire for adventure, chivalry, etc.
4. characterized by a preoccupation with LOVE or by the idealizing of love or one’s beloved.

Both definitions are correct.

17 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 8:53 am }

@Alsworth:

I will concede to you. But it doesn’t render obsolete my original point that Carl missed the validity of what you have listed as definition 3, and that he is subhuman for not looking up a word that didn’t appear to make sense in context.

18 Quixotic { 10.19.10 at 9:13 am }

@ Hexadecima it made perfect sense in context to everyone except you. Just because you don’t know the full definition of a word doesn’t mean no one should be allowed to use it.

19 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 9:42 am }

@Quixotic: I’m sorry, but you seem to be missing the fact that Carl called out Randall for that exact crime, and did so wrongly. I’ve been fully aware of both definitions of “romantic” this entire time, but assumed that “romanticize” was more correctly about Romanticism rather than merely being about all definitions of “romantic”.

I also believe I still have a case here, now that I think about it again: no dictionary actually says “romanticize” relates to that specific definition of “romantic”. How do you alter something to be “characterized by a preoccupation with love,” anyway? That only makes sense when revising a story! Yet clearly “romanticizing” is a much more common thing to do when it comes to ideas, memories, et cetera. Try replacing ‘romanticism’ with ‘sentimentalism’ and you’ll understand a lot better.

If you assbags keep up with this shit I’m going to start quoting literature.

20 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 10:14 am }

Btw: Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd Ed. 2005.

21 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 10:38 am }

To elaborate on that last bit:

ro·man·ti·cize / rōˈmantəˌsīz; rə-/ • v. [tr.] deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; make (something) seem better or more appealing than it really is: the tendency to romanticize nonindustrial societies| [intr.] she was romanticizing about the past.

As you can see, there is nothing here to do with love.

22 D Johnston { 10.19.10 at 3:30 pm }

A few thoughts on comic 802. For starters, I don’t have the same antipathy towards this as our illustrious blog creator. It’s detailed all to hell, which I do like. I enjoy webcomics that take a few minutes to fully absorb. And, having absorbed this one, I know exactly what’s wrong with it.

First off: It’s complete bullshit. Unlike Randall’s previous maps of the Internet, this isn’t based on anything objective like membership numbers, page views or reach. He admits as much in the “About this map” section. The sizes of the regions are based on an oblique formula which doesn’t exist outside of Randall Munroe’s head. XKCDSuxRedux pointed out that it looks like he just drew some squiggly lines (I’ve used this technique to make maps before) and then dropped site names wherever they looked right. That doesn’t necessarily ruin the poster, but it’s an inauspicious start.

Let’s look at the detail on the map again. Most of the references are either weak gags (“Hey, ‘Jungle-Bay Mountains of It’s Complicated!’ I, too, have noticed that people on Facebook favor the ‘It’s Complicated’ relationship status!”) or attempts to make Randall look more Internet savvy than he really is. Why, look! He included QQ on his map, along with a reference to the Grass Mud Horse. Randall must be really aware of Chinese Internet culture! (Or he went to Wikipedia!) Or, check out Something Awful in the forums inset. It includes the Doom House, an actual SA reference. Good job, Randall! Couldn’t come up with anything more recent than 2003, could you? Nothing more relevant to the SA forums, which this is ostensibly about?

In his effort to cram in as much crap as possible, many of the jokes are written in tiny, smushed-up Squint-o-Vision lettering that’s impossible to make out even on the big map. I see that the dating site region is home to…enruny? And Deviantart is bordered by…hewgrum? Those two I was at least able to suss out through context (eHarmony and Newgrounds, to save you some eyestrain). Others weren’t so easy. What the hell is that between Something Awful and JLA? What about that weird-shaped island at the far left, next to the dating sites? How about those things around the “Isle of Mockery” in the blogosphere inset – are those names, or just errant smudges? It took me several passes before I realized that the tiny region at the west end of MMO Isle was meant to be KoL (Kingdom of Loathing), a game I actually play. If it’s that difficult to recognize something familiar, how am I to pick out something with which I have only a passing familiarity?

Clearly though, you’re not meant to care about sites with which you’re not acquainted. The purpose of this poster (let’s call it what it is) is to give folks some cheap giggles as they seek out sites they like or hate. Given that, the most shocking thing about the poster is the omissions. There is a lot missing here. Consider YouTube, almost the sole representative of video sharing sites (Vimeo gets a mention). No reference to Revver, or Viddler, or DailyMotion? No island of Blip, home to a thousand banned YouTube stars? The only games mentioned are MMORPGs – no Modern Warfare, no Left 4 Dead, no Bad Company 2, no Team Fortress 2, no Counter-Strike. All these games have clans of some sort, so why not mention them? There are references to Wikimedia and Wikia, but no prominent Wikis that use them. Most tellingly, there are no webcomics listed…except for Randall’s own little corner of the Internet.

Ultimately, this is naught but a weak attempt to milk a bit more money from an old idea. It could have been really cool, but Randall’s laziness and tunnel vision ruined it.

23 Ves { 10.19.10 at 3:59 pm }

“That map is dope.”

Go back to the 90′s and take your hammer-pants with you. The map was not researched, randy fully admits he just made shit up on it. It’s basically the same fucking map he made earlier as well, with different colors.

Achewood can beg for money because there is no god and it’s a fucking crime that a comic that good has no other choice.

24 Mr.G { 10.19.10 at 4:42 pm }

Yea, Hexadecima, you didn’t understand what I was saying. Fun times.

25 Mr.G { 10.19.10 at 4:47 pm }

To clarify just to delay your pretentiousness a bit, regardless of the historical origins, if romance is used by today’s speakers in connection with love, (which you acknowledge – “the idea of ‘romance = love’ is a more recent development”),then that’s what it means. Dictionaries don’t define our language. The language that we as a collective use defines our language.

26 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 5:02 pm }

The Oxford dictionary’s definitions are regularly updated. Where do you think these changes come from?

They come from “we as a collective”.

It is not my fault that you assume your personal knowledge of the word’s definition is more correct than those of the Oxford researchers, who spend a great deal of time studying how “we as a collective” use words in order to make sure they capture the correct essence. Otherwise, the dictionary would be useless.

–

Now, that aside, all of the arguments I’ve been seeing in this comment thread pertain to the general definition of “romance” and encompass all possible usages of it. While there are some online dictionaries that say romanticize means “to present details, incidents, or people in a romantic way”, and then leave out restrictions on which definition of “romantic” to use, these dictionaries don’t have the same budget for ensuring that they get the meaning accurate.

–

But way, way, way more importantly, Carl was still wrong to attack Randall for his original usage of “romanticize”, and you’re all colossal douchebags for not acknowledging that.

27 V { 10.19.10 at 6:20 pm }

I’m a colossal douche and yet i’m with Hexadecima. Dunno why he started with the history class, but I’ve always read (in books, no less!) and used “romanticize” as a synonym for “rose-tinted idealism”; people romanticize jobs like astronaut or rockstar, xkcd romanticizes engineers, etc. I have no idea why you find it so strange. From a sociologicial standpoint, Munroe has a point: young love (or, less awkwardly put, teenage love) tends to be portrayed as a pivotal moment in life, a precious gem of pureness wich you never will grasp again in a pragmatic adult relationship. Teenagers themselves grow socilialized with this view of love, overexpecting and idolizing their ideals of a perfect match; the cliché of the Emo Git is born out of this.

But of course cleverness won’t last around and Randall fucks it up in two ways:

1) The alt-text vanishes the pretense of detached observation, making it sound waaaay too much like he got his ass dumped and he’bitter about it . That all caps LYING makes it all the creepier.

2) It’s batshit hypocrite. This is Randall “GOOMHR I LIKE X TOO” Munroe. Randall “CHICKS WITH A LINUX CAP ARE HOT” Munroe. I’t hypocritical and patronizing, telling you how sharing musical interests is a shallow substitute for the things that really matter in a relationship, like if she uses Windows 7. Ladies, that’s a dealbreaker!

Goddamn xkcd, making me write doomed paragraphs. I’m never defending you again.

In honor of 807, someone should start doing linkinparxkcd NAU.

28 Hexadecima { 10.19.10 at 7:14 pm }

“She”, but whatevs.

I certainly concur that, indeed, Randall delivered a steaming pile of hypocritical excrement with 807. That and his indefatiguable STUPID = TEH SUCK policy is really mind-numbing. We turn to the no-longer-disputed kings of xkcd analysis, xkcdexplained:

“Something tragic has happened in the Author’s life, and we feel that pointing out his love-life’s shortcomings or his relentless obsession with childhood would not be appropriate at this time.”

… which is a pretty damn good theory.

29 Neckbeard { 10.20.10 at 6:55 am }

@Semicolons

It hides my double chin :’(

30 Pedant { 10.20.10 at 6:57 pm }

Heh, Carl doesn’t know how to use the word romanticize.

If he were Randall, he would take this opportunity to ridicule the pedantic liberal arts majors who do know how to use it correctly.

31 Capn { 10.21.10 at 5:12 am }

ITT:

Romanticizing the circle jerk.

32 Nobody in particular { 10.21.10 at 11:22 am }

Uh. Guys. No matter what definition of the word we use, that comic is still pretty crappy! It is a crappy comic that is done poorly and we should make fun of it. So…I don’t think how we personally define the word matters! I AM JUST SAYING.

33 Enry { 10.21.10 at 12:13 pm }

Oh dear… looks like someone just got a bit of a rude awakening as to just how much of a majority of people used to read xkcdsucks purely for the bashing of xkcd and not because they had any interest in the “author” or what he had to say on other stuff.

But whatever man, don’t let it get you down… you linkbait people over here with what you’ve realized is the only thing they really want to hear from you. You linkbait the shit out ‘em.

34 Semicolons { 10.21.10 at 1:11 pm }

@Neckbeard

I too grow a neckbeard from time to time, but then i shave it off in a fit of self loathing.

@Hexidecima

I have to agree with you that the term “Romanticize” is often used incorrectly in todays speech. I also say that its improper use has become a colloquialism. When i learned about colloquialisms (such as, “that is way too much!” being an improper use of the word “way”) i also learned that colloquialisms are ok in an informal setting; an informal setting being a letter to a friend and the like.

You may argue this blog is a formal setting, but i will hold my ground that not only is this blog informal, all blogs are informal due to their lack of credibility; for all we know, Carl is really a zombie John Wayne Gacy.

So having established this blog as an informal setting, any and all colloquialisms are ok. This of course is a slippery slope because what constitutes a colloquialism can change drastically depending on who you ask; its a bit too subjective for my taste.

As a side note, all of this discussion should be an indicator that there really is something more to a language major. Its not all drinking beers and crying about the length of the next essay! And did anyone else notice how we all assumed Hex is a guy? I suppose i shouldn’t be surprised by this.

35 dickshits { 10.21.10 at 2:03 pm }

Colloquialisms are ok, but the other possible definition of the word romanticize can still be used, and Randall was clearly using it, so Carl is still a moron.

36 Blast Hardcheese { 10.21.10 at 2:32 pm }

Whoooa Hexidecima and the Curse of Rod-Filled Anus. Breezy language is why I read blogs in the first place.

Anyway, Carl. They’re kicking your ass over there on that blog you left behind. I dunno if Rob has no life or what but he laid pretty much all of these comics out on the road and ran over them about fifty times. Your commentary sounds almost as beige of prose as XKCDexplained. If you’re going to cover XKCD still but don’t have much time or energy, may I suggest that you choose the worst one and hammer it into the ground.

37 Obligatory { 10.22.10 at 1:06 am }

I’m such a competent guy I know what sucks and what doesn’t. So now I’ll use my mighty powers to let it be known to all world: this blog sucks.

It needs to be said, since it doesn’t seem to be obvious to people. I mean, look the amount of comments here, from perfectly good persons who shouldn’t be wasxting their lives for this.

Seriously, it’s not even funny, which it apparently attempts to be by claiming to be serious.

I’m now going to go and disintegrate because I hate haters.

38 Blast Hardcheese { 10.22.10 at 5:15 am }

It’s a new site. Give him another month before mocking his attempts to expand his cruel empire.

39 AKAThaSchust { 10.22.10 at 5:42 am }

“I dunno if Rob has no life or what…”

No, he doesn’t. Rob is a fat, lifeless zombie.

40 Blast Hardcheese { 10.27.10 at 11:49 am }

Ah.

41 Anonymous { 12.25.10 at 5:17 pm }

This blog sucks. Everyone’s taste in comic is different. Some like XKCD, some dont.
Bashing on it just makes it sound like your jealous.

42 CompanionCube { 12.31.10 at 10:54 am }

You guys are taking that map too seriously. I mean, really? Its a MAP of the INTERNET. Its not actually gunna be used by ANYONE for any practical reason. Chill Out.

Also, how does 803 suggest that teachers are dumb? He’s showing three different ways to handle a kid who beings difficult.

Lastly, because you’re all going to ignore what I say anyways: Have you ever tried calling costumer service for a computer? It sucks. Break your computer and call. Tell me you don’t want a password to someone who actually knows computers. (hint: most costumer service reps aren’t actually people with vast computer knowledge).

BTW. You are nerds who are upset because someone else isn’t nerdy enough, or is portraying nerds falsely, or some variation of that. Get over yourselves.

43 Valkyrie { 01.06.11 at 8:25 pm }

Carl, you are a dumb fuck. I hope you realize how pathetically idiotic you sound when you insult these comics. Just because you have no sense of humor or perhaps don’t have the intelligence to grasp some of the concepts in his jokes does not mean you have to post your shit all over the internet. What you did was basically just make a random insult against the joke and give it an “F”. I’m sure that took a lot of work. Why don’t you quit this fucking site and go jump in front of a bus. You miss the entire point of webcomics, which is that they’re supposed to be funny, which means you don’t go looking for ways to insult it. You’re supposed to read it, and if it’s funny you like it, if it’s not, you don’t. You don’t start reading already thinking the comic sucks. You have no ability whatsoever to be objective. I find people like you pathetic and depressing. The only good thing about you is that you’ve started this new website, as my computer did not allow me to comment on the xkcdsucks site. People like you are the reason there are so many suicides annually. They just can’t take it anymore. Get the fuck off the internet you retarded motherfucker. You could get a new job. Perhaps you could work at a farm as you seem to be really good at working with shit. I sincerely hope that after reading this comment your blood pressure will rise high enough to send you to the emergency room, you gay asshole. It’s about time someone other than your mindless idiot fans commented on this shitpile of a website. Also, tell Rob, that fucker who posts on xkcdsucks, that he should crawl in a hole and die. If any of you idiots had an IQ over 30 you would realize that xkcd is actually a funny webcomic. All you do is breed all sorts of hate and malice. This makes you a despicable person. If there is a God, he will, in his infinite wisdom, send you to hell long before your natural time. If, in response to my previous comment about breeding hate, you respond that this comment is in itself hateful, you would, for once in your miserable life, actually be right. To this, I say that you should fight fire with fire, and that you are a fucking moron. So get off the internet and go suck your mother’s cock. Yeah, you read it right.

44 Sir Ean Halezandaer Aidans 2 esq. { 01.14.11 at 3:51 pm }

What anonymous said is right. Different people, different tastes. I don’t understand why you all say that xkcd is . Maybe if you were smart enough to understand the comic, you wouldn’t be hating on it.
I know how it feels for people to not like your work. I may not be the real Sir Ean, but xkcd is really funny even if I am really low-tech and don’t understand the computer references. I hope you all receive as much hate for your work as your giving Mr. Munroe.

Thank you, have a nice day
•Sir Ean Halezandaer Aidans 2 esq.

45 Megacherv { 06.19.11 at 1:16 pm }

Okay, I’m going to be calm but honest here

Is this serious? Have I missed something before reading this? I really can’t believe that this guy is being serious. At all.

Instead of devoting your time to de-constructing something that is made and read for fun, just leave it

46 Norf315 { 06.30.11 at 7:06 am }

@megacherv
Thank you! Seriously people find something better to do with your life than tear down what other people work on. I dont see you doing anything but making this shitty ass blog with your crappy biased opinions

47 Norf315 { 06.30.11 at 7:13 am }

Did you know that 75% of the comments say that this site gargles balls like mouthwash? Why do you still do this blog? Were you not loved enough as a child and now you feel the need to make fun of other people to satisfy your need for revenge? What a loser.

48 Professional Mole { 06.30.11 at 2:45 pm }

Why do these people keep coming to this blog post written by a guy who doesn’t even read these comments to tell us to get a life? We don’t see them doing anything besides making shitty comments with their crappy biased opinions!

Seriously, people: Carl is not here anymore. Go be pricks somewhere else! I at least have the excuse that I still write for this blog, what is YOURS?

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