Dear Readers; How much "RPG" do you like in your LitRPG's?

[Cookiez_N_Potionz]

I only have basic knowledge of LitRPG, but I think I did pretty good with my Webnovel

 

[MFontana]

I've always believed in social justice, even in fiction. In general, it's not that I dislike LiRPG genre, but I dislike the MC being the only one with a system. If you want to integrate a game system into your story, that's fine, but make it universal, accessible and enjoyable for all world inhabitants. Often, this simple thing is overlooked by authors, where only MC has a system. The question is, why only MC? Clearly, the author only wants to create a wish-fulfillment fantasy, not an immersive LiRPG. Make an OP MC with a system is the last, most ridiculous thing I'd think of to develop the MC's strength.

Another thing that makes me frown is that in the LiRPG genre, authors often ignore the lore of the system. Why does the world (or just MC) have a system? What is the origin of the system? Authors are often lazy about explaining the lore. Don't be lazy about providing lore just because you're busy writing about the MC's leveling.

In short, the LiRPG genre can actually be a fun genre to read as long as it's well-written and coherent, not simplified to just wish fulfillment fantasy.

This has been quite helpful, thank you. We're in agreement on several points as well.
What I can promise you, as far as my own stuff goes, is that I'm not skimping on the lore, or giving the system solely to the protagonist or leading cast members.

1) The System exists as a means of filtering the alternate reality's foundational laws through the scope of the protagonist's mind in a way that he understands it.

2) The system in the story is universal, and its rules apply to everyone in the story/setting.

As for whether mine is well-written or not, that's not something for me to decide. I can simply do my best, and hope my readers think so.

 

[Azhurie_Mythephan]

We need so much RPG that A.I.D.S becomes a secondary status effect that compounds on top of H.I.V., and bleeding is just you losing HP while your blood leaks and slowly disappears into the ether, but taking a potion will stop both the bleeding and heal your HP back up. We also need drug dealers that sell temporary stat increase items that come in the form of cigars full of highly illegal substances, with the side effect of an addiction status effect, and also the munchies status effect, along with some temporary weakening status effect after the buff wears off.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I've always believed in social justice, even in fiction. In general, it's not that I dislike LiRPG genre, but I dislike the MC being the only one with a system. If you want to integrate a game system into your story, that's fine, but make it universal, accessible and enjoyable for all world inhabitants. Often, this simple thing is overlooked by authors, where only MC has a system. The question is, why only MC? Clearly, the author only wants to create a wish-fulfillment fantasy, not an immersive LiRPG. Make an OP MC with a system is the last, most ridiculous thing I'd think of to develop the MC's strength.

Another thing that makes me frown is that in the LiRPG genre, authors often ignore the lore of the system. Why does the world (or just MC) have a system? What is the origin of the system? Authors are often lazy about explaining the lore. Don't be lazy about providing lore just because you're busy writing about the MC's leveling.

In short, the LiRPG genre can actually be a fun genre to read as long as it's well-written and coherent, not simplified to just wish fulfillment fantasy.

My stories on Pocket FM (that were here once upon a time) kind of skirt the genre.

Between Earth and Pyrroth has characters finding out that the game they played was based on a real world (kind of like Rosenberg's "Guardians of the Flame" except they can come and go between the two worlds almost freely). Game mechanics are absolutely minimal, with no stat progression, just some vague level terms and class names and special abilities. The game exists in the story but is not really a part of it (except as something for them to draw from the lore of, or to suggest new ability uses)

Digital Cowboy Dane has an ex-marine executed for murder wake up in a MMORPG universe. About 90% of the people there are NPCs (or "Non-Travelers"/NTs to the players, who are called "Travelers"). They have very limited stat progression and most are specialized in one area only - or they have a very broad base of skills but nothing that they excel at. Only the characters of active players get access to the "good stuff." And the people who died and were reborn inside the game but they are special cases... All players do have skill/talent/perk and attribute progressions but no actual classes or levels. In the setting, the system was built with an escalation of stats from an actual RPG (Aces & Eights by Kenzer and Company, but tweaked into something I'm 99.999% sure they would not sue over ... and 30% suspect they wouldn't recognize).

 

[Elmir_Arch-Ham_of_Omega]

Hard stats can work, strict numbers can work.
Just look at any story, movie, game etc. where it's about people playing cards or mahjong.
Or any story that's about legal proceedings.

If you want to make it a hard numbers game, you should, because you like it that way.

The only thing you need to concern yourself about as the writer is delivery.
Make it interesting and readable.
To quote Jeremy Iron's character in Margin Call "Tell it to me like I'm a five year old, or a golden retriever."

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Hard stats can work, strict numbers can work.
Just look at any story, movie, game etc. where it's about people playing cards or mahjong.

Heh - like Tim Powers's Last Call I think it was - about a game of poker... played with a Tarot deck...

 

[laccoff_mawning]

I'll write this with the context that I don't read litrpgs and much prefer normal fantasy. That being said, as I like games I have a few thoughts about it. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt since I'm not actually part of the target audience of litrpgs.

If you really want to make a litrpg, you might as well go all the way and incorporate as much gaming jargon as you can. As always, the important thing will be developing each gaming term properly. Don't have game terms you don't need, and don't have game terms you can't explain well.

Now, observe that skills, levels, experience, stats, classes/jobs and status affects are all trying to emulate reality.

Since game terminology is itself based on real life, it shouldn't be too hard to explain what each thing does, but specifics might need to change otherwise you're just emulating an emulation of skill, which is as stupid as it sounds.

For example, 'experience' might not make sense if you only get experience when slaying monsters. Maybe you want to change it to some form of life-energy that is absorbed from monsters and becomes a level increase when it gets full. It's the same thing as experience, but it wouldn't make sense to me to call it experience. So I change the name and keep everything else about it the same.

Try and be more creative than just numbers on a hallucinatory board. Take Danmachi. This is the greatest litrpg i'm aware of, and it's really creative with how stats come about, what's data is numerical and what each thing does, and even how you see them. In fact, if you want to make a litrpg, I think making a case study on Danmachi would be a very sensible idea.