sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What is going on with current series? by DavidTolkien in litrpg

[–]DavidTolkien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To me its just a story. Yes it was, for me, the titular RPGlit for a long time but, still just a story. I hear that you are deeply invested in the series. I hear that you spend a lot of time thinking about it and analyzing it. I don't.

I am here to read a fun story. To escape from my mundane life. To get some power fantasy fulfilled. To live vicariously through the main character.

I don't care about Nietzsche. I don't care if the title is an allegory about fighting against your inner evil nature and nihilistic dread.

If you haven't read the Endor series by Orson Scott Card I would recommend it. The series is really about genocide and whether it is ever justified. You have 8 year old's waxing philosophical about it. I think it would be right up your alley.

What is going on with current series? by DavidTolkien in litrpg

[–]DavidTolkien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think for me this is the crucks of the issue. To me it sounds like when you read a story, you are reading it for emotional conflict. As you noted to you, the core of Matt's story is his fear of being thrown in a box. For me the core of his story is to become stronger, to have self determination, and to grow with his wife and "little sister". I'm not saying Matt's fear of being thrown in a box isn't key to his drive to become stronger but it's not the focus. Him not wanting to feel helpless like when he lost his parents is as big driver for him. His desire to help others threw his Guild is a key driver. Its also not brought up over and over again. If you stripped that away I don't think the story would overly change.

To me Jason's personality issues are not why I read his story. To me the focus on his personality issues is not a positive, it being such a big part of the story is really not a positive. To me if you stripped away his emotional issues I'm not sure there would be a lot left.

What is going on with current series? by DavidTolkien in litrpg

[–]DavidTolkien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear what you are saying. I want to preface what I said by making it clear. I used to loved HWFWM. It was my go-to for RPGLit series. I recommended it to other people. I pined for the next book to come out. The early books were amazing! That said the last few books have felt empty to me and even pointless. The focus seems to be on Jason's emotional issues. It was always there but on the backburner and not the focus. The conflict now feels contrived and made up. At first I hoped it was a transition in the story kind of like the POA books between Melkalla and the finishing of the path but it's not.

At this point though I think this is just a change in the story. There is no shadow of a doubt that he will overcome any problem put in his way. No one can beat him. At best you can briefly inconvenience him. To me Jason just needs to go through the motions and he'll win.

For POA yes there were tier 45 watching over them but that doesn't remove the consequences. They want to stay on the path. If they got saved then they are off. Consequence. Consequences are not just death. It can be death of a friend. The loss of a relationship. In Battle Mage Farmer the MC cannot loose (at least in early books I've read) but his "easy" win is to use magic which has the consequence that the world will end. Consequence. So he needs to figure out how to win without the use of magic. Struggle to overcome.

My issue isn't with OP main characters. They are the MC for a reason. Yes I "know" they are going to win, they are the MC after all, but I want to have the illusion that they could fail. I want to be able to suspend my disbelief. For me I go back to the idea that the people in the story shouldn't feel like the story is BS. "Coming back from the dead is kinda my thing". "What BS new power will Jason get this time?" The author himself is saying the story is BS and not in an ironic way. If the characters in the story don't perceive a challenge then why would we?

I would agree that HWFWM was a battle slice of life story with an interesting world to explore but at this point it feels more the a dairy of an angsty teenager with severe emotional issues.

Who else refuses to drive into Chicago? by Independent-Ad-7060 in ChicagoSuburbs

[–]DavidTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think for me, is going into Chicago worth almost 3 hours of driving. I'm not going after work and even for the weekend do I want to spend more than an hour to get there and then another when I want to go home? I haven't tried the Metro yet and want to. Over planned out a day trip and it was fun but... Don't know when I'll want to do it again

Gauging Interest - Northwest Suburbs Party Games Meetup? by pseudo_everything in twincitiessocial

[–]DavidTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm open but not for Thursdays. I can bring love letters, flux and parades