Webcomic / Experience Boost

From left to right: Keran, Vedrana, Theron^note He normally doesn't look like that, and Zhusen

Vedrana: Well, hurry up. Don't leave me alone with all these idiots.

Keran: The other players? Aren't they, sort of, your people?

Gold Beggar: U GOTS N E GOLD? I NEEDZ SUM GOLD!!!1

Vedrana: I hate my people.

— Strip #4, Community

Experience Boost is a webcomic by Robin Brooks that follows the adventures of Keran, Vedrana, and their friends (and enemies) in the fictional MMO Realm of Quests. Early strips are mostly one-shot gags about the various quirks of playing MMOs, but as the series goes on it progresses into a story-based comic with multiple arcs centered around Keran and Vedrana's guild, One Crit Wonder, as they progress through the game's raids and various features. Despite ostensibly being a comic about video games, there's a strong focus on how the characters, and the people they're attached to, interact in the world of Realm of Quests. Along the way, they all change and grow as people- some for better, and others for worse.

The comic ran from 2013-2019, completing its story. The full comic can be read here.

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Tropes found in Experience Boost:

• 0% Approval Rating: Orhan and the Order of Swords suffer from this after Theron exposes Orhan's misdeeds. After that, the only reason anyone wants to team up with them or join the guild proper is the loot that they bring in. But even that's not enough when Ohran truly flies off the handle.
• 20 Bear Asses: This kind of fetch quest shows up several times given that the comic is parodying MMORPGs. Much to Keran's displeasure.
• Abilene Paradox: While trying to knock out their dungeon and raid achievements, Zhusen and Vedrana keep their initial party together, despite the fact that one of their teammates, Daranger, keeps challenging Vedrana's strategies and is trying take control of the raid. Vedrana's trying to be patient with him because she believes kicking Daranger will upset Zhusen...who also would rather he be kicked, as she reveals after Vedrana kicks him. It turns out nobody else was too happy with him, either, as one of the other random players is openly celebrant when he returns from being AFK to find him gone.
• All for Nothing: Orhan doesn't accomplish a single long-term objective of his master plan that the entire endgame of the comic is devoted to, and doesn't even accomplish much of his short-term objectives either. About the only thing he successfully managed to do is waste a bunch of players' time, but they were all having a blast with the massive inter-faction conflict, so nobody really cared.
  • To a more minor extent, the Treasure Hunt Arc. Theron, Lysandra, and Zhusen spend dozens of strips in a high-stakes treasure hunt against both the Vanguard and the Legion that pushes Theron and Lysandra's patience with each other to the breaking point (and both of them seriously considering offing Zhusen to nab the treasure for themselves...only for them to find out that it's a lute- a weapon for bards that none of them can use.
• Anti-Climax: The story's final battle is ultimately ended when the Game Master has to initiate a server reset due to the sheer amount of PvP going on in the new expansion zones.
• Art Evolution: Compare and contrast Keran and Vedrana's first appearance with how they look in the final strip.
• Bad Boss: A part of Orhan's laundry list of character flaws. He's completely unforgiving of even the simplest of mistakes, threatening expulsion from the guild, and frequently uses up the Order of Swords guild resources for his own personal benefit. It ends up costing him his prestigious place as leader of the top Realm of Quests Guild, and the entirety of the guild's membership.
  • Vedrana was apparently this on her previous account, Sharah. Part of why Orhan was able to wrest control of the Order of Swords away from her so easily was that she was got extremely frustrated "whenever things went south". Part of her Character Development is learning to take it easy and be much more patient with her guildmates, aided by Keran and Lysandra's moderating influences.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Zhusen is able to rally significant amounts of players in extremely short periods of time all because she's a very nice person that everyone loves.
• Big Damn Heroes: xMurderBanex shoulder checks MurderBane (yes, you read that right) off of a high ledge and saves Zhusen just in the nick of time, causing both of them to plummet to their dooms.
• Costume Evolution: As the characters acquire different gear, their outfits change as well. Actually causes a bit of drama when Keran blows Vedrana's money on cosmetics, causing her to race to make the money back.
• Coming-Out Story: A small arc in the story is dedicated to Zhusen coming out as transgender. She's received well by her guildmates and the many, MANY friends she's made in the story, but Theron's reaction causes some friction between them.
• Deus ex Machina: Orhan's machinations are ultimately brought to an end when Castor informs the Game Master that he hacked Theron's account and took away all his possessions, resulting in a permanent ban of his main and alternate account. Bonus points since the Game Master literally descends in a pillar of divine light.
• Early-Bird Boss: The Alpha Gopher, the level 2 boss. The battle takes place early in the story, and to properly gear up for it, Keran and Vedrana have to go into a populated area to find a crafter that can make them good gear.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Several examples stand out:
  • Castor may be an unrepentant Troll who delights in the comedic suffering of his fellow players, but even he looks disturbed when Keran seems to think he's asking for ERP in exchange for the gold she needs.
  • xMurderBanex is a potty-mouthed trogdolyte who wouldn't know social graces if they bit him in the arse which makes sense when you consider he's thirteen. But when Zhusen comes out, his sole remark is to make a quick (but not hurtful) joke about it, and afterwards, he's very careful to get her pronouns right, even correcting himself in voice chat when he slips up.
  • Credit where it's due, Orhan correctly genders Zhusen.
• Extreme Doormat: Zhusen's Fatal Flaw. She's incredibly nice and accommodating, and has a hard time saying 'no' to someone in need- to the point where standing up for herself causes her a near panic attack. This is actually weaponized against her in the final battle, when one of Orhan's former guildmates keeps her in a low-level zone by playing as a newbie who desperately needs her help. Thankfully, she asserts herself and goes to help her friends.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Strayth the Unbroken...at least to Keran. He's an NPC in Realm of Quests that takes credit for the slaying of the Dragon King, and half of Keran's NOTP.
• Fetch Quest: Being an MMORPG, Realm of Quests has plenty of these. Keran views them as a source of frustration, especially when it comes to fetching cabbages...which happens thrice in story.
• Flash Back: An arc of the story (starting here) details how Vedrana (formerly Sharah) met Orhan, and how they founded the Order of Swords together. And how she lost it following Orhan's betrayal.
• Forgot About Her Powers: Shortly after xMurderBanex's Big Damn Heroes moment, Zhusen sincerely thanks Murd for his Heroic Sacrifice and goes to rejoin the battle...only for her to remember she has the Pull of Mercy ability, and could have yanked him to safety before he died. Whoops.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Keran repeatedly points out things about the gameplay that don't make sense from a story standpoint, largely concerning the repetitive nature of grinding and raiding.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Subverted; several members of One Crit Wonder try to rally a force of Vanguard players to take the fight to the Legion during the final battle, and are completely unsuccessful. Played Straight when Zhusen asks for the exact same thing, and manages to raise a massive army of players in minutes.
  • In a more minor example, when Lanton the Fisherman's favorite spot is taken over by the Legion, Vedrana advises him to tweet that he can't fish at his favorite fishing hole any more. After doing so, a massive group of Vanguard players sweep the pond of the Legion, allowing him to fish again, much to his surprise.
• Heroic Sacrifice: xMurderBanex pulls one off in one of the final strips when he shoulder checks MurderBane (yes, again, you read that right) off of a ledge, saving Zhusen at the cost of sending himself off the edge too, leading to both of their deaths.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Orhan's master plan ends up with him getting permanently banned by the Game Master, largely because he hacked Theron and xMurderBanex's accounts to do it.
• Humiliation Conga: Orhan is subjected to this in particularly epic fashion. He loses his guild, his prestige, his chance at revenge, his Realm of Quests account, and to top it all off, based on Lysandra's comments in the final page, he might be facing IRL consequences from his parents!
• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Orhan forces Vedrana to return several crafting mats she was holding onto for the guild by threatening Keran with being ganked off the game. It proves effective, and Vedrana capitulates. For a while, at least...
• Loved by All: Zhusen. Because of her willingness to drop whatever she's doing to help someone, practically everyone on the Vanguard faction loves her. Even xMurderBanex.
  • Also, Lanton the Gnome Fisherman, who has dedicated his time in-game to leveling up as a sorcerer solely by fishing. He's viewed as a legend among the community for this reason, and a lot of Vanguard players hold him in high esteem for his dedication.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Orhan loses practically all of the Order of Swords membership this way. His treatment of Theron and xMurderBanex directly leads to Theron exposing his collaboration with the Legion and Blackmail of Vedrana, causing half the guild to leave. The other half quits en masse after he explodes on his guildmates following a series of failed raids in a personal vendetta against Vedrana's raid progress.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently Keran had an experience with a creep on Etsy. It's not elaborated on (of course) but given that it was brought up in the same context as the experiences with Orhan, one can imagine the severity.
• Not Good with Rejection: A good majority of the in-game drama stems from Orhan trying to get back at Vedrana for refusing to date him. This backfires spectacularly for him, and at the end of the comic, he's lost the #1 Guild in the Vanguard, all of his friends he made playing the game, his account (including his main, which he's probably had since beta), and, not to put too fine a point on it, several months of his life keeping up a grudge that benefitted nobody. Even Veldaz, who hates Vedrana with a passion, notes that going to the extremes he did was unreasonably petty.
• Painting the Medium: Different methods of in-game communication are indicated by different text colors in speech bubbles. Black text usually indicates speaking out loud on a voice channel, purple text indicates a private "whisper" chat between players, red text indicates general chat messages visible to all players, etc.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Ohran's alt, Narho, has the exact same facial features as his Ohran account. While his cloak did conceal his face, he's playing an MMO. Anyone who clicks on him can probably put two and two together when they see the alias he's using.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Ohran, during his anger-fueled rant when his plan starts breaking down, calls Vedrana (who rejected his advances) and Veldaz (who he found out was a girl maybe two minutes ago) sluts. Neither one of them are particularly fazed by this.
• Revenge Before Reason: Ohran's vendetta with Vedrana is a particularly creepy example of this. Ohran drives a massive harassment campaign against her using his guild, the biggest in Realm of Quests, as a weapon to make her experience, and Keran's, as unpleasant as possible. Ultimately culminates with him losing everything, including all the accounts he spent so much time and treasure on. All because he couldn't handle that she wasn't interested in his romantic advances in a computer game.
• Samus Is a Girl: Veldaz is actually a girl, and she was unaware of Orhan's vile behavior while teaming up with him.
• Sdrawkcab Name: Lampshaded; Ohran's alt on the Legion servers is named Narho. Just about everyone who sees it (and the similar player model, when his cowl is down) can tell its him. Including the Game Master that Bans him.
• Serial Numbers Filed Off: Realm of Quests is a parody of World of Warcraft.
• Sex Equals Death: Parodied; when Keran goes alone into the contested area, the roleplayers from the inn can be seen trying to continue their RP in the woods before Sajon kills them. The female RPer actually types out the scream in chat.
  Alt Text: They also just got finished using recreational drugs and picking on a nerd
• Sibling Rivalry: Orhan and Lysandra are brother and sister, and their relationship is, in polite terms, strained. Lysandra herself admits that she only interacts with her brother the bare minimum amount to keep her parents off her back, and apparently reminds him every time they see each other what a lackluster human being he is.
• Spotting the Thread: A part of Ohran's master plan was to ostracize Keran from the Realm of Quests Role Playing community by creating a hate blog filled with contempt for her fellow RP'ers. The blog went back months and was extremely dedicated and convincing, but it's all undone because he reblogged Keran's NOTP. Her roleplaying friends immediately realize they've been had, and come to help in the final battle.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The final battle is ultimately resolved not due to a grand conflict with a decisive victor, but because the large amount of effects and traffic in a new expansion area necessitates a server reset to keep all the other servers stable. And there was much grumbling.
• Troll: Castor the Bard and his guild specializes in this. Castor himself is THE troll of Realm of Quests, and most players know him on sight/when his name pops up.
• Title Drop: Keran tries to name the guild that she and Vedrana are starting "Experience Boost". Vedrana is having none of it.
• Treasure Hunt Episode: The Treasure Hunt Arc. Theron and Lysandra have to team up with Zhusen in order to find a hidden treasure chest with a unique weapon in a weekly event. To open the chest, you need the map item to know what area it's in, the compass to find it, and the key to open it- and as luck would have it, they all end up with one of the components to earn it. Unfortunately for them, the weapon turns out to be something none of them can use, rendering all the arguing and plotted backstabbing pointless.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: The Alpha Gopher, the first true boss in the game, is infamously difficult to get past. Without the proper gear and strategy, it's almost impossible to beat- as Vedrana and Keran's eleven failed attempts at defeating it show.
• Younger Than They Look: xMurderBanex's avatar is a bald, bearded dwarf, and he never uses the mic, which makes it difficult to tell for a while that he's actually thirteen in real life.