'Not A Villain' Webcomic - Saisuke is putting their Group on hiatus. Sandra blames TENka.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 231

TENka has many strict policies. Sandra resents almost all of them.

50 Comments

Too bad Kleya doesn’t recognize where her skills are needed and instead is fixated on the game as the only way to be a hero. I wonder how long it will take her to figure this out?

No city would ever let her in alive. Remember?

seriously. even if they want her skills, everybody wants her dead just about. they would rather lynch her than use her expertise. her tiny corpse would be hanging from a street light. while people danced and sang around it. they might even make it a holiday.

She COULD offer to train someone remotely though. Act as tech support, basically, and send programs for them to install.

She might even be able to use her magical hacking powers to fix things, but that’d be too risky. She also probably has a server on her sub, but she’d risk Bandit tracing the signal.

Since when is bandit’s connection with TENka common knowledge?

Pretty much since the beginning. http://navcomic.com/archive/page-80/ has Sandra talking about how The Bandit was TENka’s newest player.

I wonder if in this setting, “Programmer” refers to anyone who is tech literate.

I’m a programmer, but I sure as h*** couldn’t fix a broken server. I could set one up if the hardware was good, and maybe diagnose the problem if the hardware was bad, but when it comes to actually fixing it, I’d be no better than anyone else who works regularly with computers. Especially so if there were no Google or wikipedia or something I could use as a brain extender.

What, you mean that you can’t do everything with computers? 🙂

That’s what it sounds like as well. But that is kind of how it is today. I mention that I can program and all of a sudden family and friends want me to fix everything computer related. 🙂

… I can fix viruses. I fix viruses good.
Kill it with fire, and then start ’em on Linux.

i like your solution to viruses. 🙂 wish people would stop loading them on to my comp. 🙁 seriously how is it people who know nothing about computers always seem to know to turn off my anti-virus software when “checking there e-mails”. FYI people no longer get to touch my comp.

It’s cuz otherwise they wouldn’t be able to open that delicious email. 😀

Which is why I own a shirt that says I won’t fix people’s computers. Knowing computers does not make u a miracle worker.

Yes it does. I fix computers (PC based, please) work on networks, do databases, program in a variety of languages, train people, and write books in my spare time.

Specialization is for ants. 🙂

Resentment against TENka?

Say it ain’t so!

::excessive amounts of snark::

Seems a bit early for Kleya to reveal that she could get those servers up and running. But while Sandra is making the obligatory dig at TENka, would more Game servers really be her City’s top programming priority?

Maybe more local server for essential stuff like climate control frees up enough bandwidth for the Game. She never says more Game servers, just more servers. So her city might be renting servers from Tenka now to keep the city itself running.

the Romans knew where the bottom line lay. keep the masses entertained so they don’t fully realized either how your exploiting them or how horrible their existence is. this is the same thing. Life and the Game are just the most popular forms of entertainment. if there isn’t arena fighting in the Game then I will consider eating my hat.

id guess less of arena fighting and more like free all round pvp like a virtual hunger games type deal.

meant in addition to that. cause who doesn’t like formal showdowns? with large crowds screaming your name. over and over. sounds like something else, doesn’t it?

Jake gives me the impression he is regurgitating something he has been trained to say. but then, hard not to just spit out the standard party line when dealing with people who want things. hard to say if that policy has fact behind it or just a desire to keep all the programmers it can under their thumb.

She does have a very good point though.

So does Bandit. Shipping people is dangerous, especially for something as rare in this world as programmers seem to be.

And after how people hunted them last time, why would TENka ever let the programmers go out in public?

They both make good points. That’s something they have in common. Maybe Sandra should divorce her goofball husband and [SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY], which would leave Patrick free to appreci[SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY]’s “art”.

Of course, The Dude might be the real beneficiary of Bandit’s ability to make a g[SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY], raising the question of whether Bandit and Kat will ever [SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY] or if they’ll have a three[SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY].

The most fun thing to think about would certainly be Jane and [SHIPPING IS DANGEROUS AND RESERVED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY].

and [IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?]

[OF COURSE IT IS!]

Jake: *Play default disclaimer suck-it-up tape*

If you are in need om money 2 days delay might be troublesome, but I’m sure Sandra has the funds to pay a little in advance to cover the gap.
Otherwise, I think a delay is just what this group needs. Some time to talk, develop some trust (*giggle*), and discuss tactics, goals and group stance on popular issues.

hahahaha, there does seem to be a rather obscene lack of trust in the group currently. even Jake and Brandon, who work together, don’t seem to really be of the same mind on anything.

Too bad Kleya won’t be stepping up for that role…

*please prove me wrong please prove me wrong please prove me wrong*

not happening anytime soon. the more talent she shows, the more people will want her. and the greater risk there is of being exposed. she will keep her head down and her nose out of it unless something drastic happens.

I would say that Bandit is might to try to bait Kleya out here by saying that he’s not the only programmer in the group, and that Kleya’s an outsider and should be in a city anyway, which then Sandra would answer by saying that she already tried to talk to Kleya, and that Kleya already refused.

…Except that that’s really the only way that conversation could go, and I don’t think Aneeka would waste a page on something that could only happen one way. So far, she’s been pretty good at making sure every page always answers some question or another.

other than ego, why would Kleya answer Bandit on such things? she might get irked, but I think she has enough wit to understand that since he is TENka it might be bad to respond to such baiting. at least in ways that she can’t deny later, that is.

“Who spots him?” doesn’t sound right.

‘Spots’ is a verb and can be used in that context. Usually refers to someone whose job it is to keep an eye on someone else.

MMmm. I don’t think so. If that’s what was meant, it should be “Who spotted him.” It could be that that person is continuing to spot him now, but even then it would be better to say “Who is spotting him?”

As is it’s just awkward unless ‘spot’ has some sort of unique meaning within the context of the game. Which is, of course, entirely possible. We know next to nothing about the game.

Maybe it’s a future thing, as in, “Which group spots him when he gets into the game?” and it’s just lingo so it’s “Who spots him?”

hey now guys, don’t point how poor the grammar of the characters is. they can’t help it if they are designed too lazy to speak properly. bet you don’t speak any better in real life. I know I don’t and I hate using bad grammar if I can help it XDDDD

“It could be that that person is continuing to spot him now,”

Yeah, that’s kind of the point >.> I imagine it’s a term related to the game (as you postulated) but people do not have perfect grammar at all times.

I’m honestly more disturbed by the lack of a comma after ‘as is’ in your statement.

A “spotter” in rock climbing (specifically, bouldering, which is done at short heights without a rope) is someone standing on the ground who tries to ‘catch’ you when you fall (where ‘catch’ means ‘start the deceleration earlier’ – they still let the mat take most of it – this spreads out the forces on your body over a longer time).

he could be asking if saisuke has help in the game. someone who goes ahead or fallows behind to help him. even though we have seen him solo against 4 players the game seems to be based on 4 man(or girl) teams. making it odd that he’d be alone.

Why are programmers necessary for server set up?
Servers are a hardware issue, not software, unless I’m missing something?

Bad things have happened to most people who would know the distinction, what with the apocalypse and the anti-hacker mobs. It could also be future lingo that anybody who makes computers run is a “programmer’, or that there are so few skilled people left that each of them is responsible for any computer-related job that comes up, with “programmer” becoming the term for such jacks-of-all-trades.

that’s rather well reasoned. although there is nothing but the situation to back it up, I like it enough to endorse it because there isn’t a better explanation. cause like nature, I abhor a vacuum.

Servers also involve a fair amount of software configuration, especially if you want them to communicate with other servers… But that’s sysadmin, not programming.

If the whole City is essentially on life support (controlled climate, oxygen replenishment, etc.) then maybe they need some custom code written to monitor and adjust whatever equipment they’ve had to jury-rig together from salvage. For that matter, if they’re building servers out of salvaged parts, someone might need to write some custom device drivers.

I was curious about Bandit’s “spot” remark as well. It could mean “spot” as in providing backup or support, e.g. in gymnastics, or Bandit might be asking who Saisuke’s financial backer is–“spot” can mean “loan” or other ways of covering expenses for someone. Or, since Saisuke has been out of action for a while, perhaps he’ll have a big come-back orchestrated by his handlers and Bandit is speculating on who will play the part of the “first” one to spot (see) him.

I was assuming the last one. That his first appearance during his game session is orchestrated so that someone would come across him or see him from a distance, so that ‘spot’ would mean ‘to see’

In the “spot” debate it never occurred to me that there were multiple meanings that could be taken. With the context it was used, I instantly assumed “spot” was like unto the designated “Spotter” one uses when working out with heavy weights, ie. the guy standing with his hands ready to lighten the dumbbell if you find you’ve taken on too much.

So, in this context, I assumed it meant basically his backup, since he’s pretty much a one-man show…he’d have to officially have a “team mate”, but people would barely even glance at whoever it was unless something went drastically wrong.

Since I assumed that meaning (perhaps erroneously), I immediately began speculating thereafter that perhaps his obvious eagerness when asking the question was a hope on his part that there might be a chance for him to volunteer to fill that role, thus painting him as the eager fanboy in my mind.

After this debate, I am of course rethinking that impression, but it still lingers in my mind as the most possible explanation.

im in agreeance with your spotter theory since the game seems to be based off of 4 man teams and he is running solo

after carefully reading all the comments, i have one thing to add to this discussion. Why hasnt anyone noticed that Sasuke is joining a group. And we might finally meet him (without the jaggy screens)

not nessecaraly that was the Dude jumping to conclusions the team manager hasn’t specified what saisuke is doing since even she hasnt been told. 🙂 not wanting to sound mean but you may want to look at that again.

In the context as I read it, spotting in this case means covering his entrance fee and hosting his game play. It is obvious that there is a cost based on the entrance fees and credits that citizens need to put up to play the game and how outsiders earn food.

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 231