EDITED: As my question was poorly worded. Okay, hopefully you're all games and you've heard of Ingress. It was developed by Niantic, and was the foundation for Pokemon Go (which could also be included in this). Now, this is a massive MMO. Only it's mobile, requires people getting off their arses and going to portals to capture, and you level up (but skill up). So my question is if someone wrote a book about people specifically playing the game, whilst walking about the streets of the real world (which is the point of Ingress), would that qualify as LitRPG? This is not whether a book SET in the world of Ingress was LitRPG (blatantly not, as it's just a tie-in). Hopefully that's clearer
I downloaded both Pokemon Go and Ingress, but I didn't have roaming internet connection. So sad to say I was hardly able to play them. I downloaded a sample, but the books are pricey...
Sorry, meant if a book was written about people playing the game (with dramas added), would that count as LitRPG?
Opinion Depends on the approach, really. There are Elite: Dangerous books, there is an Albion Online book, but since they are fantasy books based on a game, without revealing the game mechanics, I'd probably not call them litRPG. Thinking along the same lines, you can write a book that is about these agents trying to hinder or help the Shapers to take over/help our civilisation. You may or may not use levels, statistics, and depending on that, you would or would not call it a litRPG. End of Opinion The "definiton" of litRPG, I think, is not very restrictive, but I think the main point is having game elements.
No No, the Elite books definitely aren't LitRPG as they're in the same vein of all the 40k books. My poorly worded question was whether if someone wrote a book about people specifically playing the game, whilst walking about the streets of the real world (which is the point of Ingress), would that qualify as LitRPG?
I̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶,̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶I̶ ̶b̶a̶r̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶A̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶I̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶.̶ Nevermind... I read it wrong twice. I posted a similar question and my own opinion: https://litrpgforum.com/posts/4968/
I really think that this is one of those where the answer would be...yes and no. Going with a definition I remember from another post, litRPG is a sub-genre of an overall genre called Game Fiction. So, in the sense it would definitely be Game Fiction, however, I don't think that it would be easy to place in the LitRPG fiction. Not saying it isn't, which is where the yes and no come from. I've noticed that much of the in-game and portal world brands, all have the trope of the characters POV fully being inside the game environment, effectively making all of it a variation of portal fiction. So, while I think that it could easily be done as a Game Fiction, I don't think it would be accepted as a LitRPG story, which isn't the same thing as saying it isn't one, just that it would be hard to get the readers to accept it. Now, that being said, I do have some gestating idea's in my idea folder that runs along those lines, however, it's still mulching.
Quoting myself here from an earlier thread "Haven't done a lot of research but a big part of my new take was because I read an archived exchange by a guy named David Artman talking about supplemental guides for table tops, that used the expression "Lit RPG" back in Jan 2009 but for players interpretations of passive (or non passive) results from roll charts. http://davidartman.com/games/rpg/litrpg Was a fun read and I don't think it messes with the actual Literary novel time-line side of the LitRPG history at all (which I feel starts back with Guardians of the Flame and Quag Keep(?)), but it got me to thinking about a LitRPG Chinese serial played from a computer game like WoW, The King's Avatar. Then I realized that the narration was actually about a First Person perspective but that was conveyed with game terms and assumed "inferred" results from game actions, like with the inferred emotional non-ambivalence conveyed about odds on a roll chart, except instead of providing emotional engagement it provided a non-existent visual narrative which the reader can imagine. The characters knowledge of the game and what should occur because of a successful attack lets us see it, even though the player himself cannot. So I don't know what this is called outside of LitRPG with more serious writing, but I'm calling it a "Suspended" Game Narration Perspective for now and it helped me tackle some problems with my ideas about LitRPG and the LitRPG Lore subgenre. As what I consider LitRPG Lore is way more popular than what I consider LitRPG." I'd say it could be LitRPG or not LitRPG based on how the narration takes place. So say the character has VR augmented goggles and he's at some elite stage of a game, or taking advantage of a bug where normally off limit "social areas" have been flagged as acceptable for a game meant only to take place in the park or during ultimate frisbee matches. So in the game where slow moving zombies appear in a VR hud for a player (and spectators) and the fun-run participants or frisbee competitors must dodge non-existent obstacles that interrupt the normal straight line / predictive path of their competition, then that could all be conveyed while integrating the real world. Add in power ups and the limits of a players field of view within the glasses and with reflective surfaces (like for a vampire game with advanced AI and where contestants aren't allowed to touch), and there are plenty of confounding variables in an "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" sort of way. Power-ups integrated with already existing tech like cameras nearby or a preset "scan" of the players body if there are uniforms involved, could help narrate all sorts of things. Think activating a dash like ability that picks up another power up and then returns the player to their original position as some sort of astral projection / other game-lore based reason. The other players could totally see that take place and have their own actions undermined by a power-up whose only purpose is to steal other power-ups. A power-up that allows the player to run through one hit kill monsters, without killing them, would be a good way for real world MMO building of a train, in effect turning clipping off and granting invulnerability to certain game based obstacles. Allowing walking through walls / mazes and monsters while gaining threat. I'd say it could totally count, but it would require building up the world in a super fun way that allows the "suspension of perspective" to the first person perspective of the main character based on what we know, or are told, will happen in accordance with the game rules. Plus if the augmented reality is an offseason way for all sorts of athletes to build up fans for more technical or just pure athleticism based meets like the Olympics, you have a built in cast of beautiful fit people and some very interesting pre-event promotion options. Michael Phelps going full dolphin and avoiding a kraken in a public pool while totally unaware kids retrieve weights or pennies from the bottom to learn how to swim for example. Michael Phelps escapes the kraken and gets a towel, and some kid who has no idea who he is stands nearby drinking a capri-sun type juice and asks him why he swims like a spastic. "202# Pre-Olympics coming soon!" Tons of options, but it would require that the game mechanics be meaty enough for the AR features to rule the game portion of the story and provide reader immersion. Mess up the balance (like telling the story of people acting like idiots / larping in inappropriate places) without spectators being able to see their actions, and its more of a comedy trope that already takes place when TV shows poke fun at larpers or D&D. There is another trope where D&D is played as though its full immersion, and technically I guess that would work too, but it doesn't seem in line with the AR tech you're talking about. As full immersion takes away from the sci-fi / futurist elements of integrating game tech and game rules with the real world. Which is why I see LitRPG as ultimately informing a future "Games" genre, because even lay persons can anticipate the problems of the tech and add their own workarounds.
King's Avatar was a good one. I hope they continue it, supposedly it was sponsored by McDonald's, which would make sense considering how often product placement for them showed up.
NP, the books do a serial chapters do a better job with the twists and turns, and fleshes out the conflict between the guild and the main character. I remember a few other Japanese anime series using an upside down McDonald's "M", or a "W" as product placement. Something about the afterschool city kid hangout makes it popular in Asia for some reason. Zhan Long (I can't believe I read it as long as I did), had some really blatant brand name dropping as part of the story. From the cars the characters drive to their clothes etc, definitely an aspect of wish fulfillment for that story when it comes to foreign brands. Not something you'd see outside of Disney / teen focused products in the US (which name drop products like Star Bucks specialty drinks and music singles), because for the adult segment the "brandless" stuff right now is more popular. I guess English speakers view brand bragging as gauche, or maybe just distracting for our stories and we've got no problem in the appropriate venue with humble bragging and showing off money. I personally look forward to product placement after Chuck, Community, and 30 Rock. NBC's budgetary woes made for some silly TV. Unfortunately Hiro from Heroes poisoned me to the Nissan Versa, and now every one I see on the road is just a reminder of that shows decline.
