Hey there, my names Matthew and I'm thrilled to be joining a community where people recognize old-school D&D stories as part of the genre! My journey to these boards was a long one. Started with Guardians of the Flame as a teen in the late 90s, then Asian LitRPG, and now getting into English LitRPG. Trying to at least. I view Westworld as the dark end of the LitRPG spectrum with adult elements, and .hack as the confused side of the dark end of the spectrum with a PG rating. I view Guardians of the Flame as keeping in line with other 80s titles that I gobbled up as a teen because they were great examples of "Keeping it too Real": where drugs flowed freely, plot lines had to be explained in the afterword so the author could impart their nihilistic inspirations from Norse mythology inspired Operas, and not everyone was trying to make something that perfectly translated to the screenplay format. A fate modern writers with mass exposure to movies are probably incapable of resisting, as I know I can't help myself. Which is perhaps for the best. Part of my excitement for finding this place was because everywhere else I'd ventured so far had a sort of closed off, "outsiders that don't understand our genre are trying to steal it and make cash grabs!" An attitude that would have excluded the makers of Westworld (inspired by Red Dead Redemption, BioShock, and SkyRim) because they created a story worth experiencing without using any obvious "game" mechanics. Like mechanics found in D&D, Asian RPGs, or MMORPGs. Certain very enthusiastic and well meaning gatekeepers of the LitRPG community want the gameplay stuff because they love that particular type of gameplay stuff, but that very desire belies that the very enjoyable BioShock Infinite, an RPG, exists with a trippy ending and a first person perspective throughout with no in game combat log. Stats and dice were created to add more to gameplay than the old Sierra style dos games could provide. Where typing, "use sword on dragon" would slay the dragon. A gameplay experience that was exciting and fun because it gave players a new experience with better graphics than anything that had come before. However at that time D&D enthusiasts and Zork nerds complained about the "rigid" elements of those games in the same way that Fallout 1 & 2 fans were disapointed with the prettier but less versatile Fallout 3. A fully interactive environment with optional turn based elements will never satisfy those that only want incredibly story telling with a fun-enough combat and gameplay system. All those gameplay elements, going back to D&D, only existed as a fascimile of a real challenge and as a way to acquire mastery of a game as one would have gained experience and confidence in the real world. Otherwise everythings "Use sword: Kill Dragon". Just like 80s writers did blow, got too real, and gained inspiration from Wagner Operas that were already inspired in a crazy dark way by the limited Norse source material; maybe we all can't help but to be a product of what came before, which then informs all that has come after. Influencing readers and writers. Wagner's "Ring of Domination" likely inspiring Tolkien, or possibly the source material used by Wagner was the same material used by Tolkien. Regardless of its ultimate inspiration, we got a hobbit genealogy lesson, elvish, and Tom Bombadil. In Westworld we got a story that would with little in the way of alterations be just as intense and disturbing in a virtual world as the real world. In LitRPG we get a story that can be literally anything, from Portal World stories, to virtual reality games or "simulations", to a behind the curtain look at an adult themepark going off the rails over 35 years. LitRPG can be the boardgame Jumanji, or D&D inspired Guardians of the Flame, or a one off episode for any tv show in need of filler. Theres so much damn potential in this genre its almost intimidating to get started. Now would be a good time to apologize for derailing my own introduction, but I'm currently in an excited and unrepentant state similar to Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas when he first discovered Christmas Town. I feel like I've been shouting, "What's this!?" for years without an outlet that is, on the surface, interested in different opinions; and whoever reads this post will be getting my pent up full volume blast. Sorry I'm not sorry. I will apologize for the quotation mark abuse, but in my head there are already TV-Trope style elements to LitRPG that require emphasizing words or concepts that have more layers than could fit into any single paragraph. Once again, the names Matthew. Howdy!
Thanks! Going to poke around and then hopefully jump right in, I need to refind the tutorial on getting a torch / using the coin. Starting on a new forum is a bit like leaving a starting city in Everquest for the first time, in the middle of the game night on a character without infravision and ultravision. I don't think turning the gamma up is going to save me this time.
Haha. Sounds like you'll fit right in. I too started with Guardians of the Flame series. Love those books. On the top right, if you hover over your gold total, new options open up.
Typewriter and Newspaper acquired, didn't have the discipline to wait for the torch. Also holy shit thieves are everywhere. Is necroing threads frowned upon round these parts? Don't want to go starting new threads when I could bump an older one... edit: Also thanks again for the warm welcoming!
Haha, I have banked it all. The peasants (pretends not to look at gold rankings) may try and steal the last gold piece from my pocket! edit: realized I couldn't buy with banked funds, withdrew just enough to buy a torch, repeatedly failed to buy a torch because I hit update cart instead of checkout for some reason. Went into a panic spiral because someone could have taken my gold, then realized I'm an idiot. Also hitting update on the cart crashes the cart if no changes are made. I'm already contributing!
Also note, some items in some shops will only be visible if you have enough gold OUTSIDE your bank. We've also got some trinket items you can buy for like 100,000 gold then resell for 100,000 to kinda safeguard it. It's definitely a work-in-progress but fun haha Thanks for the other bug. The multiple item cart update is broke too. Waiting on Xenforo 2.0 to come out later this summer.
