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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3080 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 15, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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On mobile so I can't pull up a long list of recommendations. But the politics issue doesn't happen in all parts of the genre. Or at least not all web fiction.

My biggest personal grip with litrpg is when the story reads like a D&D campaign converted into a novel. The fights feel like a string of meaningless encounters. The MC bumbles their way into saving the world. The setting is nothing but a contrived excuse to bully the MC when he is young.

My biggest personal grip with litrpg is when the story reads like a D&D campaign converted into a novel. The fights feel like a string of meaningless encounters.

This was the big problem with Worth the Candle for me. It felt like the author had a list of a hundred 'super cool D&D adventures' that he wanted to fit in, and just slotted them one after another, with only the barest excuse for why they were happening. I grant that this is somewhat justified by the setting, but it doesn't make it good writing.

That was a story I bounced off of early. I think I didn't get past the first encounter. Because it has that feeling. Yeah maybe D&D stories can be really fun and awesome, but most of them are trash. For good reason: part of the whole point of D&D is to get into fights that then utilize the mechanics of D&D. But if the mechanics suck or are boring in any way this whole strategy sucks. You are just gravitating towards a more sucky thing.

I can say I have tried to write at least progression fantasy, or form of litrpg lite. Its hard. I set out with a goal of keeping the blue boxes interesting and readable, but I think I failed even at that simple goal.

I do really love the genre though. I'd rather read awful LITRPG any day over most "good" fiction.

See I found that good. Actually I'm not sure why it would be upsetting to you. Oh no! Too many cool ideas!

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