What's your reason for not writing LitRPG fiction?

[Cookiez_N_Potionz]

I just thought: Hey, since I read enough LitRPG, maybe I can write my own. That was my goal. I also love writing about supernatural stuff and magic

 

[HotConsensualSalt]

Because I don't like reading the genre either.

LitRPGs and isekai seem to lack the parts of RPGs that I actually enjoy. I don't want to read a system or an OP protagonist or someone cheating the game. If I want to play an RPG (TTRPG or video game) I want to play with friends and/or build a cool character. I don't want to be the strongest or whatever. I don't want a harem. I don't want to be OP.

I don't want to cram game mechanics into a story. I want to write a story. RPG game mechanics were abstractions meant to help tell fantasy stories. I don't wanna backport those abstractions into a story. There's a clear mixup/confusion of signifier and signified in my opinion.

Other readers on this site enjoying it is immaterial. If I don't want to write it, I'm not going to finish it, no mater how popular it might be.

 

[Anonjohn20]

What's Your Reason for Not Writing LiRPG Fiction?​

I see the LiRPG genre as a popular genre that quickly attracts readers. Even if you release any LiRPG fiction on RR, it can quickly gain attention compared to other genres. Well, RR is indeed a heaven for LiRPG (almost all writers know that).

I myself published the dark fantasy fiction on RR, and it took over 400 pages just to get the first rating (and the rating has not increased). Compare that to new LiRPG fiction on RR, which tends to get ratings quickly with 50 pages.

Well, the quality of the content does matter; perhaps my writing isn't good enough to attract new readers to leave ratings (I don't deny that). However, this is not my focus in this thread (this thread is more intended to highlight LiRPG as a preference).

I know the LiRPG genre can be written interestingly and provide fast engagement; however, I don't intend to write any fiction in this genre... at least now, due to preference and to focus on my current fiction (I like my dark fantasy stories).

My question is, perhaps you also see the potential of LiRPG but have not intended to write it now. What is your reason for not writing the LiRPG genre even though this genre is popular?

Note: I respect other LiRPG fiction authors. However, this thread is meant to see the preferences of other authors towards the LiRPG genre who choose not to write it despite the promise of quick engagement.

This thread has gotta be ragebait for any grammar nazi around. 11 chances to spell LitRPG correctly, and this person dodged all of them.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

This thread has gotta be ragebait for any grammar nazi around. 11 chances to spell LitRPG correctly, and this person dodged all of them.

Oh, you mean we're not discussing Lithium-Ion Rocket Propelled Grenades? My bad!

 

[CinnaSloth]

I had wrote one before; A book that is essentially half done, with all the numbers, with all the stats, maths, adventures, and characters, etc etc etc....
It's saved offline. To be real, I didn't even know LitRPG was a thing when I wrote it. I didn't even know it was a thing a minute ago, I looked up on google what LitRPG was just now.
What I wrote was before solo power leveling, and before all the esekai "level up" anime that people were latching onto early 2020s, But I just never published..
"6/6/2017" was my first chapter saved on my harddrive. the last entry before quitting was.. "6/24/2020"
"The Solo Leveling web novel was first serialized in 2016" which I never read because I never knew about it. "The webtoon adaptation started in 2018," I found out about it here, because my friend lives to read manga online and knows about everything before anything and everything ever gets an anime series. "The first season of the anime series aired in 2024" Which is when I assume most casual anime enjoyers found out about it. (~Dates according to google.)
The entire reason I started writing it, was because I was introduced to D&D, but never had a dedicated game. so I decided to create my own world, my own universe, with its own rules. and I played a lot of videogames, so a level up system just seemed.. easy?? or something? Idk what I was thinking tbh. But math was easy, so I just ran with the idea.
As soon as I started seeing multitudes of anime leveling up systems in online manga popping up, I thought, wth.. I thought my idea would be at least somewhat unique, but oh well... (I mean I understand now, nothing is ever truly unique, but i was still bummed at the time). I figured, I'll never finish the book before people get bored af of the stuff. It wasn't like my writing would have stood out amongst the crowds of actually drawn or animated series.. So, I dropped it. I figured the market would be so filled with it, mine would either be called a ripoff, or a copycat of something, when I had literally started it years prior, even before covid. Honestly, I just didn't care enough to continue, and I didn't want to be called out for something that wasn't true.
As is, I was already being called out on MANY things because, Orignially, I was on wattpad (screw wattpad), people there are incredibly rude, and report for zero reasons just cause your book does better, or they had a similar theme, or if they just don't like you. it was horrible, everything about that site was a horrible experience and I sat there and took it for years. Wasted effort... Wattpad would (allegedly for lawyer talk) steal stories and delete your account for no reason other than to claim those stories through "events" that you didn't even enter. I hated it there. "congrats! we're stealing your data. deleting your story. and here's your complimentary crappy code for a baby puzzle off amazon for winning!"
Which is why NOW i save all my stuff OFFLINE before posting!! ...........Angy noises........... I was a dumb kid for posting straight onto websites.. I just never knew better.. frustrations... stupid wattpad.
Anyway, I like it better here on Scribblehub. People are nicer, and are much more appreciative, and supportive.
Also.. What's RR? I only know of wp, SH, and Ao3, and a few mobile apps but those are annoying with payment plans, and all kinds of other mobile garbage... It took me a long time to find a home here. I adore scribblehub, and the community.

 

[Eldoria]

What's RR?

RR = Royal Road, SH's sister site in terms of functionality (it has the latest updates, the latest series, etc.), but RR is a global community for LiRPG. There, LiRPG can quickly become popular as long as they're well-written without requiring much promotion. And by the way, RR also offers paid promotion and novel publishing (for those lucky enough, their novels will be published).

 

[TiredofSystem]

I'm not a writer. But if I were, the last thing I wrote would be litRPG. I don't hate it, but it's not for my age anymore. Even my son doesn't really like it

Because I don't like reading the genre either.

LitRPGs and isekai seem to lack the parts of RPGs that I actually enjoy. I don't want to read a system or an OP protagonist or someone cheating the game. If I want to play an RPG (TTRPG or video game) I want to play with friends and/or build a cool character. I don't want to be the strongest or whatever. I don't want a harem. I don't want to be OP.

I don't want to cram game mechanics into a story. I want to write a story. RPG game mechanics were abstractions meant to help tell fantasy stories. I don't wanna backport those abstractions into a story. There's a clear mixup/confusion of signifier and signified in my opinion.

Other readers on this site enjoying it is immaterial. If I don't want to write it, I'm not going to finish it, no mater how popular it might be.

Yes, I'm tired of it. Sometimes their dependence on system stuff goes too far. I read a manhwa about a prodigy who can't do magic more than one meter away. He decide to be a short-ranged mage. I thought the MC would train to land a punch like a real man. Or at least doing a single push up. He used the system instead like a pampered brat.

 

[VKnives]

I actually love RPG systems and use Pathfinder 2e heavily for reference and balance for things in my setting, but some generic LitRPG systems I've seen for the genre are overly restrictive or needless.
I also loved SAO when I was younger, but most systems are really plot devices for the main character to find a way to "cheat". This also breaks immersion in some cases, because in reality, any community of gamers would instantly find every exploit in it. Then the extra steps a story takes so only one lucky protagonist is capable of cheating the system or getting unique amazing powers breaks immersion further. This is why I never cared about solo leveling.
I prefer realism for combat abilities, in the sense of everyone being a threat and no one being invincible, even in a magical setting.
So I use RPG system rules to reference for balance and how many actions someone should be taking in a round of combat, but hard numbers making one character permanently better than another don't really improve a story to me.
Of course there are exceptions, I still love SAO because it's literally within a video game, like .hack. There have been others I still enjoyed that weren't meant to be serious or dark fantasy like what I prefer. This is just why I never intentionally write LitRPG as a genre.

 

[Naravelt]

I've never liked watching or reading anything tied to levels, like video game worlds. I’d rather play real video games than read or watch something that mimics game mechanics. Experience is earned through knowledge of the past, the hardship of mentorship, and learning from mistakes, not numbers.

 

[MFontana]

What's Your Reason for Not Writing LiRPG Fiction?​

I see the LiRPG genre as a popular genre that quickly attracts readers. Even if you release any LiRPG fiction on RR, it can quickly gain attention compared to other genres. Well, RR is indeed a heaven for LiRPG (almost all writers know that).

I myself published the dark fantasy fiction on RR, and it took over 400 pages just to get the first rating (and the rating has not increased). Compare that to new LiRPG fiction on RR, which tends to get ratings quickly with 50 pages.

Well, the quality of the content does matter; perhaps my writing isn't good enough to attract new readers to leave ratings (I don't deny that). However, this is not my focus in this thread (this thread is more intended to highlight LiRPG as a preference).

I know the LiRPG genre can be written interestingly and provide fast engagement; however, I don't intend to write any fiction in this genre... at least now, due to preference and to focus on my current fiction (I like my dark fantasy stories).

My question is, perhaps you also see the potential of LiRPG but have not intended to write it now. What is your reason for not writing the LiRPG genre even though this genre is popular?

Note: I respect other LiRPG fiction authors. However, this thread is meant to see the preferences of other authors towards the LiRPG genre who choose not to write it despite the promise of quick engagement.

As someone who writes both in the genre, and in others, ultimately it comes down to the type of story, and the setting where it takes place, that will influence my decision on whether to include those elements, and how strongly to do so.

Primarily, though, I try to keep those elements as minimalistic as possible, because I tend to find it breaks immersion in the story and its narrative and can feel too bland when I'm writing or reading it.

Basically; when I use the LitRPG elements in a story they are a part of the world that I filter through the character's perspectives rather than a hard, immutable, system that applies to everyone the same way. Otherwise, I prefer not to use them as anything more than context for the readers; IE: Calling a character a "Ranger", or "Warrior", or "Shaman" is a way to give the reader plenty of context to the kind of skills or equipment a character might readily use, or what their role in a battle might be without needing to exposition-dump a full character sheet.

 

[Jianzheng1w]

It isn't suitable for more psychological or personal/emotional themes. Even in the context of scifi. Imagine if The Expanse was actually a Eve Online style RPG in Holden's head? Would cheapen everything.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Hmm - what if we write LitRPG non-fiction?

 

[eternalparticle]

I think it's fun when reading but it isn't as fun when writing.

But yes at some point I had the idea of utilising the ability to use symbols in a way beautify the avg lirpg chapter so it is pleasing to the reader's eye.

 

[DireBadger]

I write some litrpg, but character sheets pad your word count, and some authors substitute mechanics for plot. It sucks.

I recently TRIED to read a book that was litrpg, gamelit, AND haremlit, about a video game character fighting for... something. Every bad trope of the genre. The writer stretched it out for seven books! It wasn't as bad as Chuck Tingle's Space Raptor Butt Invasion, but it came close.... I couldn't even make it through the first book.

 

[DharmaCA]

The main reason I don’t like writing LitRPGs is that the genre generally demands dim-witted and gullible characters (MCs, villains, practically everyone) to keep everything self-consistent. I also don’t like reading them, though there are some exceptions, especially those that don’t take themselves too seriously (and therefore I can tolerate their various plot holes).

 

[Representing_Tromba]

• It is too oversaturated of a market
• It has a bad rap for being of bad writing quality as a genre(part of the oversaturation)
• I don't like reading games, I like playing them
• 90% of the time it feels like wish fulfillment for often mentally sick people's
• Stat blocks are ugly and rarely add to the story
• Fantasy is right there
• I don't want to have to keep an excel sheet for every item and skill in the story(that is if I care enough to remember them all as most don't)
• I just personally don't like it as a genre. It has some benefits but none that I can't receive from other genres that can amd have done it far better.

 

[3guanoff]

• I am usually too drunk, too tired, or too inspired to keep track of the numbers.
• While there are, I believe, two prompts featuring a "system" with floaty blue boxes in the large disorderly drawer for book ideas, they are both too uninspired to be taken seriously and too drudgerous to be written lightly.
• Additionally, I do not believe I have ever played an RPG. Certainly, any computer games I have played had too little graphics to be considered video games. The height of my "gaming" experience has been playing tetris, in color!
• The idea that human potential can be adequately quantified through arbitrarily chosen attributes such as strength, agility, wisdom, and intelligence is harder for me to comprehend than magic, quantum physics, and mathematics.
• I will barely live long enough to finish the two web serials I started on this site.

Edit: If one wanted to merely write something popular, one should be writing adult content. Be it in the 90s or now such "literature" always has an eager audience.

 

[Jianzheng1w]

Hmm - what if we write LitRPG non-fiction?

Like a reality show documentary? A guy playing a game? It'll be alot of:

"He clicked with righteous fury, screaming into the microphone. "NO YOU FKING FEEDERS I'M GONNA GET DEMOTED". Spit particles flew into his screen, staining parts of it a dull white. He wiped his cheeto dust stained hands on his ragged black Tshirt.

"ENEMY IS GODLIKE!" the announcer said with awe. He slumped in his chair. Back to bronze."

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

We just need to write a LitRPG about a delusional MC who found a magic mushroom in the forest, ate it, and now goes around slaying beast and enemies in the name of the fairy goddess.

The fact actually is, he is a troubled teen who got 'mind controlled' by the fungus he ate, and is running around the real world in a delusion of training to slay the demonking and is killing and wrecking havoc on everyone.

However, due to the plot armour of being the MC, the police cannot catch him, or stop his reign of terror.

This leads his childhood friend to go into the forest to try and find him, to stumble upon a different fungi, which grants her powers to be able to stop this would be hero as the new demon queen.

Thus the two battle each other across the world, both trying to destroy the other 'for the greater good' but end up causing disaster after disaster for humanity.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Like a reality show documentary? A guy playing a game? It'll be alot of:

"He clicked with righteous fury, screaming into the microphone. "NO YOU FKING FEEDERS I'M GONNA GET DEMOTED". Spit particles flew into his screen, staining parts of it a dull white. He wiped his cheeto dust stained hands on his ragged black Tshirt.

"ENEMY IS GODLIKE!" the announcer said with awe. He slumped in his chair. Back to bronze."

Actually, that can be kind of fun - have you seen either the comic book (originally just a strip, first in Shadis Magazine, then in Dragon vbefore getting its own book) Knights of the Dinner Table, or watched The Gamers or any Dead Gentleman Productions/Zombie Orpheus Entertainment videos?
"I hide behind the pile of dead bards"
"I waste him with my crossbow..."