It’s with a really heavy heart that I write this but…
The next scene, Chapter 12’s recap, will be The Pocalypse’s last scene.
I’ve thought about this a lot these last few weeks and I’ve come to the conclusion that even though I still love telling this story, doing weekly scenes and slowly nudging the story forward has become a chore and obligation, not the fun and fulfilling hobby it used to be.
I do want to continue the story, though. I started my art career in game development. I love making games. I started The Pocalypse knowing that I’d be making games with the art assets I’d be creating along the way. As of now though, there’s just no time. It can take between 4 hours to 2 days to make scene and on top of life and work, I can’t make games. I even had to take a working holiday just to re-vamp the site. I don’t know how I found the time to make The Monolith but I remember how enjoyable development was and how amazing the reception was for such a simple game. I’ve decided to continue the story in the form of a game. What that game is or when I’ll be done with it, I don’t know yet but I do know I need to shed scene-making from my schedule in order to make one. No Kickstarters, no Patreon, no hiring outside help – just me and the drive and motivation I get from building something that progresses every time I work on it. And something that isn’t bound by a weekly schedule or deadlines. For all the incredible backers of TPD2, I haven’t forgotten about you. Any and all perks will be carried over to this new project.
I’ll be ending the Patreon now but I’ll of course leave the site up for any new updates and for everyone to look back at the Archives. Who knows, a few months, weeks, or even days from now, I might change my mind and start Chapter 13 but, for now, I’m ready to go down another route.
It’s been an incredible 11 years. I’ve learned so much about myself and all of you. I can’t thank you all enough for all your support. The Pocalypse wouldn’t have made it this long without each and every one of you. Whether or not you want to follow me on this new path, please know that I love you all for making The Pocalypse such a big part of my heart, mind, and soul. Onwards we go :D
Enjoy Scene 77 – “New Favourite”! Special thanks goes out to Shalidar – find his sprite in the scene :D
I understand if you change your mind you will have your loyal fan base
Will you be continuing the side quest though? Also, idea, how about you go and do some more next fall, if you want. Give yourself a break then come back!
Oh! That is quite sad, but at the same time I totally get it Joe! It’s hard keeping something up for so long and still have the drive to keep it going… I’ll never forget this amazing story and the thrill I’d get every time a new scene was up! I’ll definitely keep checking here from time to time because I love your art, don’t you worry about that :D Thank you so much for eleven years of storytelling, cool characters and for being so friendly and dediacted to your loyal fanbase ✨ If you ever feel like doing chapter 13, rest assured that we’ll all be there! I know I will :)
we can also help pitch ideas as well
This is both sad and exciting news. I mean our last parting words from the characters is “Joe, put some clothes on”. Jokes aside, I’m looking forward to what your mind cooks up for the future, regardless of what format it’ll take.
Thanks for all the laughs, all the mystery, for this awesome and wholly unique webcomic.
See you later, Joe! Be that when it may be!
Oh right, this may be my last theory in quite some time:
Arborry seems to be quite jealous of Uncle Harry due to being liked by both Rusty and Jess, while being distrusted by Jess, abandoned by Rusty and overpowered by Harry. This unusual emotional response must be due to his botanical contamination. We’ve seen how plants can be exceedingly emotional, not only in the anger and killer intent of the plants towards all machines as well as Joe when he destroyed a few, but also in Scrufflebeck’s loyalty regardless of said event. I guess this counts as another major difference compared to the emotionless machines which is a nice bit I hasnt considered before.
It was amazing while it lasted and i will always remember the great times i had reading this!
I wish you all the best in the future and great success in whatever you decide to do next!
Well that was quite a shocking news. Part of me hoped this was a really early April Fool’s.
All the greats that I read will be gone now. Already my list is full of comics that ended or haven’t updated in years. I don’t even know if it’s worth looking at anything on Webtoons or other sites or all that is out there are just mediocre cliché stories and “quirky teenager girl’s coming-of-age story No. 134”.
Ehh…
But I do I understand, I do. It’s just… weird. Probably because it’s so sudden.
I really don’t mind if you take a long break, or even if you switch to like a bi-monthly, or half-a-year upload schedule, but I do care about this story, so I hope you’ll come back to it one day.
But even if you don’t thank you, and I mean truly: Thank you for all the entertainment you gave us during these years. It’s been a more entertaining decade with this comic around, and best of luck to all of your future projects.
webtoons you say? quite a wee bit of silly gems on that! Tower of God, Love Advice from the duke of hell (very funny imo) , my daughter is a zombie (also funny and completed) , … etc!
Thank you for all these awesome years of ThePocalypse! its appropriate that your news is titled “Time to Go Another Route…” during this month of March. (because march pun)
Like all the others here, i too am sad, but understand why you are doing so.
Sometimes we need a new change of pace, everyone does especially after the last few years have gone crazy.
Wishing you all the best in whatever endeavors you go into from onwards!
also, maybe i missed a notice regarding your old clicker game and tower defense. but where’d they go? gone with all the other old flash based things a year or 2 ago now?
Hey Joe! Long time reader here, i wanted to thank you for all the fun you’ve brought us all over the last decade and wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!
Awww so sad … but definitely looking forward to this new arrangement !
thx a lot for these 12 chaps champ ! ciao ;)
NNnnnOOOOOOOooooooOOOooOOOooo*deepinhale*oooOOOoOoOOooooOOOooo!!!
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I will be sad to see Pocalypse end in this form. I’ve grown to love it: the plot, characters and, most importantly, the very unique style. I fully understand that you’re not enjoying it as much as you used to, and, in that case, rather than suffer through mediocre output, I respect your stance to end it. I do look forward to seeing what this comic’s evolution will be.
Thanks for all the years of awesomeness, Joe. I wish you and your family the very best. I’m gonna miss the hell out of your talent while you work through the evolution of this lovely creation. And I’ll keep my fingers, eyes, legs crossed hoping that some time in the (way distant, maybe?) future, you decide to revisit this. Catch ya later, Joe!
Oh and I found Shalidar! Cleverly done.
Love you guys :*)
Thank you so much for your support! I really couldn’t ask for better fans and I’m forever grateful for all of you.
I will definitely update you once I have something in the works – The Pocalypse will live on :D
Will you still be continuing the side quest, though?
And so it came to an end. I had started following this series since chapter 4. It has been a long way. Thank you, Joe.
wow 11 years. Sad it is. Thanks for all the fun.
I wish you could continue this… I’ve played The Monolith, and, while not perfect, it is pretty gosh darn good!
I also love this, and I’ll keep checking around every once in a while – at least once a month. I’ve been here from around chapter 5, and I love this!
Hello Joe
i understand your decision and when you find that you are ready to push more episodes i will be happy. Giving time to complete your own personal choices should be first. I had great time watching all your work with The Pocalypse. Im going to wait for your back as long as need :D
Cheers
SilverMaxy
Sorry to hear how much of a challenge it’s become, but glad you’re finding a way to innovate and keep the story going! I’m excited to see what comes next!
Boy. I don’t have words, but Thank You.
You gave us the time to create such an amazing story and shared it with the world.
I’m really going to miss your stories. this was an amazing trip, sadly it’s over. Thank you for telling us it will be over and not letting us hanging waiting for the next update like so many other webcomics,
I wish you all the best on your future endeavours. You’re a great storyteller and a very original one. Some just conform adding an animated gif here and there, yet you gave life and personality to your work.
Godspeed.
Welp, another giant seems like its gonna bite the dust. I know that may be a harsh thing to say, but I’ve seen this turn out too many times to count. I completely understand the burn out, and even more so I understand if it’s just the death of an era in your artistic endeavors, whichever it is, your health both physical and mental comes first, and the integrity of the piece is yours to determine. In short, I don’t blame ya, I kept coming for a reason, and I will hope to see this new game and its development and perhaps even its completion through.
But enough about the sad story, considering how long this has run, I rather end this with a heartfelt thank you for the decade and more of continued effort and creativity. This story always felt fresh and interesting to me. You handled twists like a pro many times. You awe’d us with the possibilities and the backstory. We may have only seen a tiny speck of this world, the history of its people and creatures, but it was an incredibly compelling experience. I don’t regret engraving the name “The Pocalypse” on my brain’s memory to follow it through from highschool all the way to the start of my career after graduation. Even through many browser bookmark wipes that happened in between. I hope for you only the best in return.
I’ll keep checking this page for the forseeable future anyway. I was raised in the era that led to Half-Life 3 memes. I can live with the hope that perhaps someday, even though the creators themselves assured the opposite, that the story will continue. So if you ever decide to come back to these scenes to continue, even if it is after months, years, even decades, I’ll be around. See ya, space cowboy.
This is emotionally huge for me. I have been with the comic for a very long time. For me, I can’t wait to see the series expanded in these other projects. But even though I know those projects are on the table, I still feel very sad about this quite definitive end to the story in this manner. Thanks for bringing me this wonderfully creative and engaging story for so many years. I look forward so much to what comes of it going forward, and appreciate everything until now. As one Canadian with a passion for story telling and creative media to another, thank you Joe!
I originally found this story through the pocalypse defense, and have been following it since. Sad to see it on indefinite (and maybe permanent) hiatus, but looking forward to seeing what you do next
Hey man, it has been a good run. Was hoping to see the end of the story but appreciate your efforts all these years. I’m running out of comics to follow!
It is understandable. Any project is time consuming. We love the series and wouldnt mind if you were to give a more time spaced scenes. We would still wait if your were to give them once a month or every two month. But what you decide will be. Thanks for all these years of the pocalypse.
aww I’m late to the news but good luck. Hey maybe if your taking a break from the the pocalypse and since you want to get back in to gamming you could update the monolith to warm up lol
im so gonna miss this comic i actually had to force myself to wait for a few months at a time before coming back for updates so i wasnt always clock watching for new updates
Oh man.. I felt genuine sadness after reading that announcement and it’s almost been a year. I just finished reading all the chapters from the beginning cause I’ve been away for a few years, so I had missed quite a few, but I hadn’t noticed that the updates had stopped.
Joe, if you ever read this, i want you to know that I’m really grateful for all your work. I’ve been reading the pocalypse since 2011 while i was still a student and I’ve loved it ever since.
I’m never going to forget what you have offered me man, thank you soooo much!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
I do hope your adventure is going well and this path is doing great
Glad to see the page is back up and running! Was afraid we were gonna lose the archives to this as well. Thankfully that’s not the case! Hope you are having a good one Joe!
so did they continue the story int he video game like they said they would most likely?