WOOT Character Creation

Nickname: Emma

Race: Paraguayan Human
This particular kind of human comes from a relatively unknown land in the South American wilds, where Spanish is the first language and soccer reigns supreme. They are well adapted to dictatorships, corrupt politicians, pot holes, and summers that last 420 days a year.

Level: 30, (dinged last saturday)

Class: Aspiring Writer
Character doesn't really know when she'll be able to officially call herself a writer, so she's eternally stuck with the aspiring class.

Subclasses: Screenwriter, Journalist, Advertising copywriter, Freelancer Writer of Lots of Different Stuff
Bills have to paid.

Professions: Cat-raising, Book-reading, Soccer-watcher, Glam Rock/Metal Listener, Video Game Player
All maxed out, except for the cat raising because the player can't seem to stop adopting strays.

Current quest:
Emma! You've discovered an awesome forum! Now introduce yourself.

Hi everyone!
My experience with LitRPG is quite new, since I had no idea this was a genre. So I've just recently started reading LitRPG as well. I read Ready Player One, Ender's Game and Warcross (which isn't LitRPG I believe, but is about a videogame) a while ago and I recently started working on a novella that falls into the genre after experimenting with some sci-fi and fantasy. I'm currently reading Awaken Online after finishing Temple of Sorrow, but I'm still new to the genre conventions and tropes. I've learned a lot reading through the posts!

The reason I decided to write a story that mixes sci-fi, fantasy and video games is because I love all three of them. Stories and video games have helped me survive the roughest times of my life and they've definitely taught me so many things that have probably defined a lot of who I am today.

I write short stories and comics in Spanish, mostly, because I live in a Spanish speaking country and all the money making contests are in Spanish. These are my only writing credentials. However, most of the books I've read are in English so I do feel more comfortable writing in English, even if I accidentally mix some Spanish sentence constructions into my work. I try to filter them out but sometimes they get through.

I'm still on the virtual world building stage of my novella. I have the first chapter down because I open with the real world. Because I'm new to the genre, I'm kind of winging it but I already have a relatively clear idea of the things I like and dislike. I've been using Scribophile (a site where you can swap book critiques with other authors) but I haven't found a lot of people there who write or read LitRPG specifically. So I'm very very happy I found this forum! I had a WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE kind of moment when I discovered it.

So far, I've planned out my novella to be understandable by people who aren't gamers or solely fans of LitRPG, but I fear that I'll fall short if I cater to the more hardcore LitRPG fans if I do this. I'm still figuring things out. I definitely need beta readers.


Things I'm not sure about/need to learn more about/need help with:
-How to integrate stats into the story and make it interesting. (I'm not a big fan of huge character sheets, so far)
-How to mix the real world with the game world so it's they blend in seamlessly and they don't distract from each other too much
-How to format quest prompts and NPC names or descriptions. I don't know if there's a standard or if every writer kind of decides how to do it.
-I'm a complete noob to the publishing industry, whether it's traditionally or self-publishing. But I'm learning, albeit slowly.
-I'm taking a long time to do the world building because I don't want it to be too similar to WoW. I played WoW for two years in a hardcore raiding guild and I haven't gotten into another MMORPG that way ever since, so it's my biggest reference and I keep falling unintentionally into things I got from there.


Things I can help people with:
-I'm a decent editor with story progression, character development and style (if that's what it's called). So I'm open to helping people with beta reads.

-My boyfriend is an artist and he's usually open for commissions. (He's done all the comics I've written) He doesn't speak English but if anyone needs a good artist and can't afford something too expensive, hit me up and I can help translate whatever it is you need.


Quest completed!
Wasn't that hard, was it?

 

Welcome!
My novel, Login Accepted, started the same in the real world, but transitioned into the game world by the second chapter. I used a character creation room as a transition point to acclimate the readers into what they could expect (besides a snarky AI). It's a bit of a cheap way to use description and class explanation without being too obvious I think.

As for your third novel, Warcross is what is more or less classified as GameLit. A novel that uses a game world with game elements but not nearly as stat heavy. I'd recommend Mogworld if you liked that approach.

 

Ahh that's the difference between the two. Well, it's more LitRPG because I want to flesh out the in-game world and have like 70% of the story take place there. I just don't want to lose the connection between the real world (and her initial motivation for playing) and what happens in-game.

I felt betrayed by Warcross because it didn't satisfy my needs of experiencing or enjoying the game itself.

 

Welcome, Neighbor!
Do sign me up for beta reading or anything you need. My situation is a bit similar to yours. If you only read those three so far, you have a long way to go. From eastern influence (Light novels and Xianxia, which isn't exactly LitRPG but definitely works as one without the stats) to western influence (that is where most of your WoW background will go), there's so much to read. Believe me, this genre has almost everything you can think off, so it depends on your likes and dislikes. If you want to know a bit of everything, look for Dungeon POV novels and City building. I'm not self-published yet so I write on Royal Road, although I have diverse experience with other genres. This, of course, is only my opinion. About your needs:
1. There definitely are many types. Some people just write the story and integrate the stats after, others build it with them in mind. Some use huge character sheets (me), other go with a simple approach. It will all depend on how you plan to write (basically, the outline of your novel). Decide whether you want Crunchy (stats heavy) or Light (more gamelit like). Decide If you're going to use an existing Open RPG system as a base or create one from scratch. If you're going the crunchy way, you'll probably need huge stat sheets, but the Light way will have fewer elements and therefore is easier to write. Stats are essential, but it's very hard to keep it balanced. Only show the interesting parts and avoid the rest. I guess to give a more substantial advice one needs to look at the story.
2. A lot of people dislike the Real Life part of the novel, so it is often necessary to use some form of Time Dilation to make up for it if your MC is not going to be stuck in the game. In my novel, there is usually only one chapter outside the game. If you can find a reason for the game to affect the real world and the real world to affect the game it will be much easier to move seamlessly between them. When eastern novels use both, the Real Life part is often used to brag about the MC, how he is amazing in-game, how he is nothing outside but a god when playing, to show off his riches, etc. Depends on your style.
3. No standard I guess. But if you want a good example check Paul's Hack: A LitRPG Novel. I really like the formatting, including stats and quest prompts.
4. In one of the threads, Mr. Sullivan was open to questions regarding publishing, if I'm not mistaken. Might be a good place to start!
5. Worldbuilding is the bane of my existence. I spend so much time there I'm way behind on my writing. You definitely need to play other MMOs aside from WOW, even if just for research. Well, many books are about single player games, so they're not exactly a must. Also, check out worldanvil.com if you haven't.

 

Hello!

 

Hello, fellow new member!

 

There are some things about the game I know for sure, and I'm pretty sure they're not really unique:

-I don't want to rely too heavily on Eastern or European mythology to create the mobs, dungeons, bosses, in-game challenges or architecture. I'm trying to use Latin American influences where possible. (I'm finding t's really hard for me to get away from Tolkien and medieval aspects of fantasy) The world's history will be shaped mostly by the players. There are no factions so the divisions are mostly territorial/political/economic, somewhat reflecting the real world.
-There will be a strong political side to the game- castles, taxes, sieges, etc. (Here I'm going full medieval. Thanks Lineage II!)
-Fixed races and semi fixed classes, with a few tweaks that occur as the AI game server gets more advanced. (Here is where getting away from most MMORPGS becomes harder. My MC has a subclass that's a mix between a necromancer and a warlock but without the summoning abilities, so I'm still figuring out how to call that class)
-The villains or enemies will be other players, mostly.
-I want the game to have real world consequences, mostly in character growth.
-The game is at the early stages of AI and VR technology, so it's still evolving.
-MC is already at a higher level when the story starts, but must learn/relearn how to do PVP and recruit allies in order to advance. Here is where I'm figuring out what to do with the stats. If she's at a higher level there won't be a lot of levelling progression. Mostly new gear and playing techniques.
-I want NPC lives to matter.
-MC has a mount/pet that gains levels. He's a rebellious ostrich named Eugene.
-MC is proficient at crafting and designing gear and runs an underground couture empire that she uses to earn real world money. (Still haven't found a LitRPG that has been described as heavily talking about crafting so I'm not sure this will work)

And that's all I know about the in-game world and how it plays out for the main character.

 

I'm pretty sure it was a Facebook group. I have about 25 tabs open right now, and they're all reddit and different articles in a LitRPG review blog.

 

I'd love some!

 

My inner orc's stomach is rumbling.

 

Awesome introduction! And welcome!

I'm not that experienced either, but I can share a few thoughts:

-How to integrate stats into the story and make it interesting. (I'm not a big fan of huge character sheets, so far)
Depends on what you want to do, really. Some people love stats just as 'noise', which means they don't need to know exactly what, but they want them to be there explicitly, because it gives a game-like feel. Personally, I'm not a fan of huge tables that mean nothing, unless, the story goes into excessive details with the characters thinking about it and then showing us how it really works for them. So, I guess if the story has explicit stats, you need to tell readers what those stats mean.

-How to mix the real world with the game world so it's they blend in seamlessly and they don't distract from each other too much
I like it when books have some kind of structure to how the game world and the real world interact, like have clear sessions, or constantly shift in and out. However, I think it's really difficult to do two worlds well at the same time, since you have to link them thematically. (Hence, 'trapped in the game' is popular)

-How to format quest prompts and NPC names or descriptions. I don't know if there's a standard or if every writer kind of decides how to do it.
I think you can do whatever you want as long as you are consistent. I love it how every book formats things differently. I love seeing different ways people handle combat text, too. That's somehow fascinating.

-I'm a complete noob to the publishing industry, whether it's traditionally or self-publishing. But I'm learning, albeit slowly.
Me too!

-I'm taking a long time to do the world building because I don't want it to be too similar to WoW. I played WoW for two years in a hardcore raiding guild and I haven't gotten into another MMORPG that way ever since, so it's my biggest reference and I keep falling unintentionally into things I got from there.
Same here. So when creating my world, I went with what I wanted WoW to be like.


Your story sounds awesome btw.

 

Greetings! They also have unicorn horn chips in them, gives it a nice virginal taste.