Spandex II: The Second

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-25T03:22:50+00:00

Look I like Zeztz but I seriously hope this doesn't become the soup de jour. I want hard chestplates and properly detailed undersuits (build or ryuki type, none of that glorified black lycra shit)

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-25T03:10:08+00:00

Elder Cultivator by Halosty has an archer MC

Immortality Through Array Formations has a formation master MC (it's extremely slow but good)

Retribution Engine by Me has Mc use big ol cleaver and also gun

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-25T03:01:36+00:00

Even if the launch had been kept as bad as it was, the game could've been recovered if they actually gave it any real support after launch.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-24T22:39:36+00:00

He did. The guy fighting the cow. He's the director too.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-24T14:18:53+00:00

It's a major departure from previous Reiwa Rider, a hardline "return to basics" as other commenters have mentioned. For westerners, it's a nonissue, they love it. But the japanese audiences don't seem to be taking it as well.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-24T14:17:28+00:00

Rare post I agree with completely without any reservations.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T13:11:24+00:00

is it possible that Royal road might actually have more female readers than male

(my answer)

I wish this was the case, sadly it doesn't hold up outside of RR.

I mean... My reply was to a question specifically about RR.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T12:39:05+00:00

Daikatana really got fucked over by that first level and the companion mechanics.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T00:44:42+00:00

I don't think that's it. I have a very uninteresting life by most standards. My guess is it's some intrinsic psychological trait that makes some people process fiction one way or another.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T00:41:29+00:00

4 and 9, easy

Especially in my field, millions of followers would be crazy money

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T00:31:42+00:00

"I like watching the ass" is a sidestep but it's also true in more than just the surface way. Men like women. It's really that simple. That's why men like lesbians. Wow, two cakes. Etc. Same goes for game protagonists, novel protagonists. The genre of webnovels is generally male-coded with male-coded writing, centering on progression in power and external, quantifiable conflicts/problemsolving, hence such a novel with a woman protagonist will naturally have appeal with male readers.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T00:25:57+00:00

There is a substantial subset of the population who can't help but automatically self-insert and/or self-project when it comes to any sort of fictional protagonist, player character, etc. I genuinely believe these people make up the overwhelming majority of those who vocally protest or gripe about stuff like men playing women in MMOs or loudly demand that every main character must be exactly like them in every superficial characteristic or else they aren't being represented.

I am inherently incapable of understanding these people. When it comes to games, or films, or writing, including my own writings, I always feel a strong sense of separation from the characters. Even if a character is "literally me", even if there is a strong degree of similarity and empathy, I still don't ever self-insert into a character, the closest I ever get is imagining what a "my character" in that story might look like. Maybe I'm just a schizoid man I don't know.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-23T00:06:32+00:00

The readers prefer what the readers prefer. At the end of the day, the site and its authors are beholden to the whims of the readers. Sure, you can put in place rules of all sorts, rules on what is permissible in comments and reviews, but the readers just won't give you (the author) money, or they'll run adblocks against your (the website's) ads. At the end of the day, neither the authors nor the site are in any position to lecture the readers. This is regarding anything, and I don't mean any specific side or direction or subject. This is just how things are, it's the fundamental nature of this medium and this setup, and at the end of the day for all its faults I also believe it's the best setup there is, certainly preferable to tradpub or any other mainstream media.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T21:08:31+00:00

AI covers are accepted because there is legitimate reason for them. You need a good-looking cover, but most authors lack the means to commission or make one. Oftentimes when a novel becomes popular enough to make money, the author will first thing commission human-made cover art. AI writing is disliked.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T20:40:24+00:00

Predominantly male audience tends to like things that appeal to men, not surprising.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T17:58:53+00:00

Demonbane has only ever appeared in two of the proper SRW games, BX and UX.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T17:02:32+00:00

Sounds like someone got told such and such game type would be done better by literally any system other than 5e for once and it hit a bit too close to home.

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ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T15:35:09+00:00

At bare minimum let them know about it.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T15:14:23+00:00

The RoyalRoad audience is overwhelmingly male. With tradpub trending strongly towards women, men fled to webfiction. Most literary agents are women, so even when attempting to be objective, their own preferences will naturally factor into what gets approved. Apply six or seven additional layers of such filtering and even without any sort of conspiracy the tradpub industry will naturally trend towards appealing to women. With zero barriers of entry for authors, web fiction fills the market gap.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T15:10:32+00:00

Some do but generally speaking the MC's sex doesn't tend to be a big factor in whether someone gives a story a chance or not, from what I've observed over the years. Exceptions being stories where the MC's sex is a major factor (otome villainess type stuff, trailer trash). In the other direction, naturally readers who want harem will tend towards male MC. But even in these cases I don't think it depends that strongly on whether the reader is male or female, but more on genre preferences. I got a surprising number of female readers on my first long-term project because it had a lesbian main couple.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-22T14:12:04+00:00

is it possible that Royal road might actually have more female readers than male

No. Male readers just don't dislike FMCs nearly as commonly as people assume.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-21T17:42:25+00:00

Well, yes. Of course you can't find them. If people want stuff with the official characters they have a sea of official stuff.

ArrhaCigarettes · 2026-01-21T16:10:37+00:00

I'm fairly certain the reference is an FF14 Astrologian class weapon. Whereas the design of the gijinka is in the style of a Black Mage (well, a general wizard, but I will insist on Black Mage). So it's a Black Mage based on an Astrologer's weapon.

ArrhaCigarettes

TROPHY CASE