Wouldn't it be smarter to have the files labeled by year, rather than by how many years the comic has been running? That way the page wouldn't have to be updated every year.
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Maybe it's because some comics ran for a few years and then stopped for a while.
Edited by Telcontar That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.
How about we split the list into two?
One is for comics that are stilling running. For these instances, we can categorize them by year, like "Since 1998" or whatever.
The other is for long-running comics that's discontinued. In such instances, we can just use the "10+ Years" names.
The key problem in qualifying Webcomics as Long Runners is a: How many they post a week and b: the propensity for Schedule Slip inherent in a volunteer medium.
The Video Game sister page has the following standard:
To be added, a franchise should have at least six games in its main series and span ten years. Sports games based on real-world leagues are generally disqualified, since they get an update every year.
This recognizes that non-Sports-based franchises are technically sporadic in nature, in that they do not have regular releases.
Thus, I propose a new standard, based on the Videogames' one:
A webcomic shall be classified as a Longrunner if it has posted at least one comic per week for 500 weeks. (Based on 50 out of 52 weeks a year for 10 years)
- These 500 weeks are in total, not consecutive. You could last for 20 years publishing biweekly and qualify that way. (Technically 19 years, 12 weeks.)
- For irregular postings, up to 2 comics in any 2 week period may count towards this number.
e.g.: Comic X posted on the 27th of March, didn't post again until the 23rd & 24th of April, and then didn't post again until the 10th of May. Under the exemption in the 2nd bullet point, the comics on the 23rd and 24th would belong to different "weeks" even if this would violate an otherwise-established release structure.
Continuing the example, if the author also posted a comic on the 27th of April in addition to the 23rd and 24th, it would still only count as 2 "weeks", i.e. you can't make up for Schedule Slip by posting a lot at once.
Essentially, this practically disqualifies any comic that posts monthly or bi-weekly that just happens to have been doing so for 120 months or more. Conversely, if an ambitious project struggles under its own weight but keeps posting, albeit irregularly, it's not punished for not meeting the standard the writers set up originally; though they also don't get any benefit from the early accelerated production. Granted, a comic that posts an average of 3 or 6 times a week doesn't get a bonus against a comic that has only posted once a week, but that's the price to pay in order to reward those who still publish consistently, even if it's at a reduced rate.
EDIT: As for stories outside of the main plot, I'm thinking they would count if they aren't either a Poorly Disguised Pilot or a Fully Absorbed Finale to another Webcomic by the same creative team, in which case they'd be counted as part of that Webcomic. Crossovers and Guest Strips count except when PDP or FAF as above.
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The current scheme was decided in a Trope Repair Shop
discussion so you'd have to bring it back there.
In light of recent removal by ozzi9816, I must ask:
Is this page REALLY limited to webcomics that are still running?
This sure isn't the case of the main Long-Runners page...
Edit: Courtesy list of comics removed:
- Doctor Fun. 1993-2006
- Argon Zark. 1995-2008
- Goats. 1997-2010
- Unlike Minerva and You Say It First. 1999-2003 and 2004-2013
- Polymer City Chronicles. 1995-2007
- Bruno. 1996-2007
- Ozy and Millie. 1998-2008
- Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. 2002-2013
- Errant Story. 2002-2012
- Theater Hopper. 2002-2012.
I would support adding those back — they did run for a long time.
That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.
So do I, by the way.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Prfnoff just added them back.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
1. There are webcomics that ended, but then the author continued the story in another webcomic. For example You Say It First and Walky Verse. Do those count as long runners?
2. If the comic started, say, in 1999, stopped for 2004-2008, then continued more or less uninterrupted, does this count as 5 (2009-present), 10 (1999-2003 + 2009-present) or 13 years?
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I'm no authority, but I'd be inclined to say "yes" to question 1 and "10" to question 2.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
I came in to open the same discussion as your number 1.
The Walkyverse deserves an honourable mention at the very least.
Political ends as sad remains will die
So is Archive Panic the new article for comic length by page?
Edited by doubleyouteeeff Not right away, not right away
Changed page layout and added commented out warning per [1]
Lee M
I'm PRETTY sure Rogues Of Clwyd Rhan should be here. Began as a print comic in the 90s before being transferred to the web and continued. I'm not sure how many strips there are, but even without counting spinoffs it's gotta be several thousand.
Currently co-writing a webcomic you can't read about on TV Tropes because the admins mistook it for porn.
Mr. Initial Man
A roll-call of comics that have rune for 10 years and longer.
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In 2002, not even Team Special Olympics or the Gangbunch Fora existed, so MS Paint Adventures being 10 years old is out of question.
Only 18 comics? What's the criteria for 'conventional long runners'?
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Apparently, it's a 1000 strips or more. But what counts as a strip?
Take for example The Goblins. I got no idea at what number of strips he is. But he does at least a page per week and all of them, except the first few pages are full color. Does a full page count as three 'strips'? Would the sunday update that's a bit longer for some webcomics count as two strips then? Would that overly complicate it? The Goblins started in 2005 and released about a page or more each week. That brings him at roughly 50*5=250 pages. If one page is one strip, he'll need another 15 years to become a long runner. If one page counts as three strips, he would need about two, three years to become a long runner.
The difference between for example, Biff with one image/update and The Goblins, with one page/update is quite big. But in a week time they produce roughly the same amount of drawings. If each update is a strip, then someone could potentially come along with a webcomic that's 25 pixels each update. He could become a longrunner in a month. So, to recap, what i'm asking is what exactly is a strip? How is it defined?
Pages. Like for MSPA, one of those "panel and text" is a page. for OOTS, it's the full page. for daily comics that are a few panels long, well that's one strip.
And on topic to this short discussion, my comic (not to pimp it, simply noticing on a trawl of TV Tropes) Castlevania RPG has 1750+ official strips in the main archive, but that's just the official numbers. Many comics are multi-part, multi-page strips, which by this reckoning count as one "total" strip. Additionally, there are side-arcs, back stories, and a cross-over comic all officially part of the continuity (and hosted on the site), which brings the total (last I checked) to over 3700 comics.
As I said, I'm not pimping (or trying to increase my own standing). Just a simple clarification of what "counts" would seem to be in order. Would help a lot of people answer the question, anyway. ;)
That One Troper Guy
There are a couple comics that are almost certainly worthy of this, but they don't meet the criteria. Neglected Mario Characters is the best example, running from November 1997 to January 2011.
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Hey, questionable content's 1000th comic was released in 2007, not 2009. look at the copyright at the bottom of the comic. unless guest strips don't count, which i didn't see written.
Phil Likes Tacos by Andrew Bilitz (http://fulltimeink.com/plt) has over 3000 strips, and has been running daily since 2002.
The webcomic LCD seems to have ended in 2013 - it should be moved to the second list from the active 1997 list
— Everything is wonderful until you know something about it.