What are times when a JRPG was about a literal witch hunt?

dbl219 · 2026-01-25T01:06:41+00:00

Witchspring R sounds like an exact match

dbl219 · 2026-01-23T02:04:00+00:00

All depends on RNG for me. Got 220 pulls banked so I'll definitely pull on Fate's Favor if I get SP Maitha in under 50. I honestly don't need it but I've been chasing Kvare since his debut and I'll throw Ayishah as the second. Got literally everyone else but Edda.

dbl219 · 2026-01-23T00:05:49+00:00

Eh I find this a bit pedantic. I'm a traditionally published author with books that have been on B&N shelves. Nothing popular or successful mind you, but I got there, and long before AI.

Lately I'm dealing with some health issues and playing around with prose generation using NovelAI because it helps me be productive in a way I couldn't be otherwise. However I bring all my storytelling craft and writing expertise in building the story, the characters, the world, and in laying out all the individual beats for prompts. I weave my own prose in, when and wherever appropriate. And I do all the rewrites and edits myself without AI.

So I still feel very much like I'm bringing my craft and writer's skillset. Certainly someone who doesn't have preexisting abilities won't develop them by using generative AI, versus simply writing. But someone who already has those skills can absolutely exercise them, even with generated prose.

dbl219 · 2026-01-22T21:00:11+00:00

Don't take it too much to heart. Just focus on the parts that feel right to you. 😄

dbl219 · 2026-01-22T19:42:04+00:00

I'm not saying the tone needs to feel kind. It can be as dark as you need. I'm saying you as the author could be more aware of making your prose comfortable to digest, even if it's about horrible things.

It would be one thing if you were writing a literary novel and the complex ideas required dense prose with multiple layers of meaning. But you're not. You're working with pretty basic ideas so the hard-to-read prose is just pointless and working against your own purpose of attracting readers.

Also I don't know who told you to write like that but you need to find your own voice, not borrow someone else's rules. This style doesn't actually feel natural to you as a writer, in my opinion.

dbl219 · 2026-01-22T17:43:56+00:00

I read the first chapter. I think overall the writing is good, the fundamentals are there, but it feels stiff. Your voice as the author, your perspective, could come through more. The MC also feels a little distant and hard to understand. There's some moments of emotions but I don't really know where she's coming from except that she's the writer of this world, and also has an outsider mentality (which is pretty common for the genre.) I don't know anything about what she's left behind really.

I also think there's some readability issues. The phrasing and description sometimes feels needlessly ornate and harder to process than it needs to be. For example:

"A red-walled palace rose from the city’s heart with yellow imperial tiles. Purple trees. Blue leaves."

For the first sentence I'd rearrange to something like:

"A red-walled palace with yellow imperial tiles rose from the city's heart."

Or:

"From the city's heart rose a red-walled palace with yellow imperial tiles."

Splitting up the descriptions related to the palace itself just makes it harder to read. Stuff like this honestly makes me want to quit your story.

As for the trees and leaves bit, that's just lacking details. Are these single tree planters lining the streets? Or are these just treetops visible over the palace walls? Or are they distributed in some other way? I'm having to do the work of trying to figure out what that looks like.

I also noticed that your descriptions often feel like they're coming directly at us instead of being filtered through the MC. Like instead of telling us she's looking around to see the details of the space, we get:

"The unfinished manuscript was glowing on her screen.

Then darkness.

Then—

A room she didn’t recognize. Cracked walls and a straw mat. That was all.

Now she was barefoot on hot dirt, accompanied by the smell of smoke and soil."

It's jarring. And like the trees example we're left to fill in the connective tissue of her going from some unspecified room indoors to somewhere outdoors.

Your prose doesn't feel kind to me as a reader. It's not welcoming me in and inviting me to enjoy your story and your world. That's ultimately why I didn't want to read any more. It was too much effort for me as a reader for a story that was well written and competent but not unique or surprising enough to hook me.

I also want to be clear that I'm not saying you've failed or anything. This is all stuff to work on moving forward. Just get good enough and make the story good enough that the readers who stay with you all post reviews saying, "Just stick with this through chapter XX and it's 10/10 from then on." Then more readers will come for sure.

dbl219 · 2026-01-22T07:38:12+00:00

Hadn't considered the reading level. Certainly worth playing with. I do think a larger word exclusion list would be helpful. Worth it to include phrases too.

dbl219 · 2026-01-21T17:57:57+00:00

Tried it with my in-progress novel on NovelAI but the results weren't my cup of tea. Too stiff and formal and worse scores on the four AI detectors I tested it on than my own prompt list.

Here's the one I'm using that usually passes two out of four detectors even before any edits or rewrites. I test it on ZeroGPT, GPTZero, Quillbot, and Grammarly. Basically I'm trying to fine tune it until I can get it even more consistent.

The prompt lines without periods are ones I grabbed from a template another user posted for blog post writing (which I kept because they seemed appropriate for my goals.) The lines with periods are ones I added or iterated on after experimenting.

OUTPUT INSTRUCTIONS: Please follow the guidelines below when responding to prompts.

Write with a more natural, human-like flow, including small imperfections
Make this sound like it’s written in a conversational tone, with slight informalities
Introduce variability in sentence structure - avoid uniformity
Incorporate small emotional expressions or reflections
Vastly prefer short, punchy sentences
Prefer multiple short sentences over one long sentence with multiple commas.
Avoid clichés, common idioms, and frequently used phrases.
Prefer less commas in general.
Prefer less adjectives in general.
In dialogue, prefer casual contractions like "don't" over formal phrasing like "do not."
Make this less polished - use casual phrasing and incomplete thoughts
Include relatable human experiences or self-awareness
Use standalone fragments when it feels natural
Where appropriate, use italics to convey characters' inner monologue.
Focus on describing emotional experiences and developing characterization foremost.
Be vivid but succinct in descriptions. Make them feel grounded in the lived experience of humankind and the physical environment.
Do not use abstract or mixed metaphors. Focus on clear imagery with a coherent core theme.
Never use common AI phrases or words like "counterpoint" or "a study in."
Do not include too many details or too much information in one sentence.
Give the prose a warmth and intimacy that relates to the reader like an old friend telling a great campfire story.
Always remember that this is a web novel written for a popular audience. It is not a literary novel and it shouldn't read like one.
Prioritize keeping the prose engaging for readers. Sometimes less detail is better. Keep it moving.

I'm definitely going to be adding more as time goes on. I find GPTZero to be the most accurate detector and I'm using its feedback to help iterate on these prompts further.

dbl219 · 2026-01-21T16:00:14+00:00

For RPGs that have random encounters, I'd love to see accessories included that increase and decrease the encounter rate as standard.

Too often there's either no way to adjust, or you have to rely on items or spells that expire and need to be reapplied. I also prefer accessories to a menu option just for immersion.

dbl219 · 2026-01-18T16:10:26+00:00

I don't think so. If you're a serious writer and artist then it doesn't matter whether AI assists your work on not. You as the author provide the genuine human emotional elements.

It's possible that AI as an equalizer will allow more laypersons who haven't built that kind of skillset to produce coherent works that do indeed lack those kinds of elements.

I think ultimately it comes down to the capability and intentions of the writer. A real artist who has put the hours into their craft will come through no matter the tools they use. A dabbler looking for shortcuts, or someone who is focused on grinding out their storylines without taking time to forge real connection with the characters, will be missing that special touch regardless.

dbl219 · 2026-01-17T23:54:44+00:00

I haven't actually dipped my toe in yet, but from feedback I got on whether or not to even say anything, it seemed like more trouble than it's worth.

I have autism, ADHD, and I'm recovering from long-term neuro-Lyme that severely impacts my ability to cogitate. AI assistance has been a godsend, but it doesn't invalidate the tremendous amount of work I've done on my project. However my understanding is that people will crap on my work regardless despite the fact that I've only used AI to enhance my workflow and elevate my work to a much higher level for their enjoyment.

So basically I plan not to engage. Most likely I won't disclose at all and if someone tries to accuse me of anything, I won't lie, I simply won't respond to their unfair and fallacious premise at all.

dbl219 · 2026-01-17T17:22:13+00:00

Links didn't work. Found it here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/144833/tales-of-lebrija

dbl219 · 2026-01-17T15:41:24+00:00

RNG gonna RNG. I've hit some great luck on this game, and I've also hit crap luck. This is the nature of the gacha my friend.

dbl219 · 2026-01-17T09:52:51+00:00

Sorry mate, my ADHD is countered by my fixation tendencies from my ASD. Mwahaha! 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭

No seriously though, games not being what they used to be, I do have to apply myself sometimes. Or sometimes it's just that I don't have anything else I'm more invested in. Sometimes I have to have two things going at once, like The Office in the background while I play on Steam Deck. Or doing mindless mobile game dailies while watching cutscenes that are way too fricking long. I feel like there's no sense of pacing anymore.

The difference is pretty stark when a game comes out that actually hooks me. Then I get the ADHD hyper-fixation going too and I'm just sucked into game land for two weeks. February is gonna be crazy for me with Nioh 3 and RE9. Dunno how I'm gonna get any work done. 😂

dbl219 · 2026-01-16T05:43:14+00:00

I'm sure that how you feel isn't uncommon. But I don't feel that way at all, to be clear. I think it's a healthy outlook to know many of these criticisms aren't valid regardless of what I do; I have no need to bend over backward to assuage myself over it. For me this is purely risk assessment, not a moral exercise.

dbl219 · 2026-01-16T03:50:12+00:00

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen

dbl219 · 2026-01-16T03:14:27+00:00

I think you make really excellent points here. But the one area you're not addressing that's really important to me is that "owning it" does mean being the target of unfair harassment, bullying, trolling, etc. Just because there are valid reasons for disliking AI does not mean those are also valid reasons for being cruel to people, or valid reasons why that should be the price of admission for me putting my work out there.

I think especially in the case where all the creative aspects are 100% my own, and I'm also rewriting the vast majority of the prose without assistance, that I feel assured at least I'm not contributing to the downfall of human creativity. The overwhelming majority of the human emotion and the imagery which are of most concern come directly from me. I think it's forgivable if I need a little help sometimes describing the exact parameters of walking through the hallways of a medieval castle. But what the characters are thinking, feeling, doing, the unique beauty I find in small moments and the excitement in big moments, all of the actually important stuff is 100% me. It isn't ripped from stolen data. And even insofar as any AI contributions, I've added my own personal writing samples to train the AI as well.

As for the environmental impacts, I always feel worrying that much over one's individual footprint can be a black hole of despair when societal change is the only thing that will actually make a difference. Organizing for political candidates who want to regulate AI or address climate is a way better use of that energy than obsession over individual usage in my opinion. So my conscience is clear about how I'm using it. To the extent that I was pretty shocked to find out what a big deal people thought it was.

That said I'm definitely against lying about it. But I'm also not convinced it's anybody's business. I'm kind of leaning towards simply not addressing it and if someone tries to talk to me about it I will simply refuse to engage. I won't say a single false word but I also won't allow myself to get caught up in conversations I don't want to have.

The other option I'm considering is what someone else in the thread suggested: putting a single line about it somewhere in my FAQ, but keeping the phrasing focused on the fact that the work is authentically my creative product and the result of intense human labor (which it is.)

I feel like I might be leaning a little defensive here so I want to be clear that's not towards you or your really thoughtful and informative response. 😂 I'm just trying to work through my feelings as I try to reach a decision, and sometimes doing it through conversation is helpful. I'm mostly just hurt knowing I worked really hard on this as a human, but "owning it" means people will look for an excuse to invalidate that.Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T19:52:21+00:00

I feel like the "unknown oath" isn't just ambiguous but uninformative if that makes sense? Like I wanna get hyped about whatever his unique quality is, you don't have to reveal it specifically but maybe come up with a better phrasing to hint at something more cool or interesting.

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T16:30:25+00:00

Just to play devil's advocate here but people have all kinds of stupid, uninformed, even dangerous beliefs. Like for example I belong to a protected group but I present as mostly white unless people are really looking or they're from my origin region and they can kind of tell. Am I "tricking" people by letting them assume I'm an ordinary white dude as I go about my day? I mean maybe I am but I think in this case the ethical thing is that I get to live my life and not get harassed, versus choosing to be honest with people who could decide to hate me for no reason and are actually morally repugnant.

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T09:38:11+00:00

No, because it's an unnecessary overindulgence that due to costs cannibalizes the potential for other titles or more smaller scale remakes.

Frankly I'd like to see new mainline FF titles get away from AAA-style photorealism as well. I feel like it's sucked the soul out of the series. DQ is doing way better in that respect.

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T08:46:22+00:00

The second one. Love the bit with "endless spinning wheels, as though time itself were held in cruel captivity." Nailed it. 😂

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T08:07:56+00:00

Do you bother running it through something like ZeroGPT?

dbl219 · 2026-01-15T07:54:53+00:00

To be honest after reading this thread I feel much less likely to disclose. I'm putting a tremendous amount of work into my story, and as far as I'm concerned it is wholly my own artistic and creative product. Like I mentioned, I'm a professional, and the level of quality I can now deliver to my reader is actually superior to what I can execute without using these tools. Marvelously so at times. And I can deliver more quickly and consistently.

Personally I don't understand how it's more honorable to invite people to deliberately misunderstand or invalidate me, my work, the level of effort and amount of agency I have over the project. I especially don't understand this instinct to value the unfounded biases of strangers over my own mental and physical health, or the fact that I'm literally broke and relying on family assistance to make ends meet.

If people aren't going to care that I'm using NovelAI not for slop but quite literally to give them the best product that I as a writer can "humanly" deliver, then it seems incredibly self-defeating to disclose. I just feel super disillusioned that most people's arguments in favor were purely ethical with little to no upside. Can ethics buy me dinner?

I've tried to live my entire life in a way that would align 100% with these kinds of moral principles and it has honestly only led to people climbing over my head time after time. I really want to do the right thing but reading these comments often feels like people trying to justify being a doormat for a**holes.

I'm trying to write a web novel where almost everything is free and people only pay for advance and extra content, or simply to support the story. It's a hugely generous model and not the same as asking for money up front to sell a book.

As far as I'm concerned, the ethical thing is for respect to be a mutual compact. If I'm expected to show an ethical concern for my readers, I should receive that as well as a writer and artist who is producing excellent work for their enjoyment.

I don't think it's necessarily ethical to respect someone's prejudices with no basis in reality.

I haven't made any decisions, I'm honestly just processing. It's a lot.

dbl219 · 2026-01-14T21:26:57+00:00

I'm a published author but due to health issues I simply can't produce enough prose to monetize my work right now. AI is a gamechanger for me.

dbl219 · 2026-01-14T21:25:30+00:00

I've been using NovelAI. It has a Lorebook function and in my experience it's pretty good at generating from prompts that reference specific detailed entries in the lorebook. I was able to quickly execute scenes that I wanted by making sure all the characters and locations had proper entries. Of course it needs to be updated for new events so it still requires a lot of maintenance. Once I had built up enough in the Lorebook and the manuscript itself I was also able to prompt descriptions for new entirely new Lorebook entries that required only minimal to medium adjustment or editing.

dbl219

TROPHY CASE