Elf Only Inn

Infobox Webcomic
title = Elf Only Inn


caption =
author = Josh Sortelli
url = http://www.elfonlyinn.net/
status = Dead/Haitus
began = May 23 2002
ended =
genre = Parody, online culture
ratings = Written and drawn by Josh Sortelli, "Elf Only Inn" is a webcomic set in the virtualization of a fantasy chat room. Though its cast represents a broad spectrum of gaming, fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, each character is actually an avatar for a chat room participant. Represented through their characters, it is about the relationships, neuroses, and sub-cultures that grow up around online communities. The Inn itself is a room within a larger BBS, though the exact technology involved — whether it is chat or an Internet forum — is vague. It is ostensibly dedicated to fantasy role-playing, and elves in particular, but in reality, very little quality role-playing takes place, and elves are in the minority.

The comic debuted on Comic Genesis (then KeenSpace) on May 23 2002 with a varying schedule, mostly appearing three times a week. It was nominated in 2003 for the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards for outstanding newcomer [cite web | title=2003 WCCA Outstanding Newcomer nominations | url=http://www.ccawards.com/2003ceremony/newcomer.htm | accessdate=2006-03-31] and won in 2004 for outstanding story concept [cite web | title=2004 WCCA Results | url=http://www.ccawards.com/2004.htm | accessdate=2006-03-31] . Sortelli officially put the comic on hiatus in September 2004, citing time constraints, shortly after its move to Keenspot. However, following an announcement in August 2006 on Sortelli's LiveJournal [cite web | title=It was like making a suicide pact, only worser | url=http://sortelli.livejournal.com/51858.html] , a new strip appeared for the first time in two years on September 11, 2006, with the "Inn" moving from a BBS to a MMORPG known as "Marauders of Gaia", and the old players are slowly trickling in to Lord Elf's new haunt.

Format

In the beginning, with the exception of a few black-and-white strips, Elf Only Inn was in color. Now, however, the comic is primarily in black-and-white, with only a few color strips. The panel count varies considerably, but six is the most common. It started out as a copy-and-paste comic, with each of the characters having one image modified in minor ways between the panels and strips. The author used this format because it represented the static nature of the avatars used in most chat rooms and online forums. Later on, however, the artwork became more dynamic, and he eventually abandoned copy-and-paste altogether.

Characters

References

External links

* [http://www.elfonlyinn.net/ "Elf Only Inn" site]
* [http://www.elfonlyinn.net/blinddate1.html Cross-over] with "Penny Arcade"
** [http://www.penny-arcade.com/2004/02/18/ Brief review of "Elf Only Inn"] at "Penny Arcade" following the above crossover
* [http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/s/o/sortelli/sortelli.html Josh Sortelli's] Elfwood gallery
* [http://sortelli.livejournal.com/ Josh Sortelli's] LiveJournal