Following from the wonderful discussions in this thread, I'm now trying to finalize each category, so I'm asking for feedback to see what the larger community thinks of these tags. Mission statement (or what we're doing): - Define 'tags' in order to eventually create a filterable LitRPG database so that users can easily find stories they want to read - Tags will be based on the different 'types', 'flavors', or 'story element' that affect reader enjoyment, taking into consideration subjective personal taste. For example, technically, if a story is well-written, it shouldn't matter if the MC is male or female, but a lot of readers specify male or female MCs when they ask for recommendations, so there will be a tag for the MC's gender. This thread (or what we try to do in this thread): - Ask for general thoughts on the first three tag categories: world type, trappings, and main activities - Readers: do you have a preference for either? Can you think of any LitRPG story that doesn't fit? - Authors: do your books fit into these categories? What tags are we missing? - The whole list of current tags we have so far is in the next post, for anyone who is curious... But right now, let's look at the first three categories: ____________________________________________________________ Category #1: World type: World type: [COMMERCIAL GAME] [GAME GONE WRONG] [GAMIFIED DIGITAL REALM] [REAL WORLD WITH GAME RULES] Explanations: [COMMERCIAL GAME] - Stories that feature characters playing a commercial game, meaning a game that aims to make money in some way or another. This includes games that are seemingly commercial at first, even when the characters later on stumble upon hidden agendas or conspiracies. The core concept of this category is that the game should generally function like games we have nowadays. Core features: - Generally has lower stakes - Lower chance of the game having extremely punishing features, like permadeath - Lends itself more to a fun, light tone, without lasting consequences - Closer the experience we currently have as gamers - Has a higher tendency to be self-aware Potential pitfalls: - May lack direction and tension - To build up tension, the story may resort to unbelievable and contrived real-world plots, like playing the game for money to support dying relatives [GAME GONE WRONG] - Stories that feature characters playing a game that has been corrupted in some way. The core concept of this category is that there is something seriously wrong with the game code, which might be the result of a glitch, hacking, or rogue AI. Core features: - A disaster scenario, where characters often find themselves trapped, which usually entails high stakes - Concrete motivation and challenges to overcome, such as beating the game in order to log out Potential pitfalls: - The trapped concept has been done to death - The reason the characters become trapped in the game is often unrealistic - The story section before the characters become trapped is often predictable [GAMIFIED DIGITAL REALM] - Stories that take place in a digital realm built for other purposes, for example, military training, rehabilitation or punishment of prisoners, education, or to store the human consciousness after their death. Core features: - A wide variety of settings based on the intended function of the digital realm, allowing for creative premises for the story - May include disaster scenarios, where characters are trapped - Generally has clear goals and higher stakes - More room for game-like elements that are not viable in commercial games Potential pitfalls: - Unrealistic realm design and premise for getting characters into the realm in the first place [REAL WORLD WITH GAME RULES] - Stories that take place where the game world becomes the character's reality. This includes all portal fantasy, where characters are transported to a game-like world, or when the real world is transformed to include game rules, or when characters suddenly gain the ability to see stats in the real world. The core concept is that characters are in a fantasy world with explicit stats. Core features: - Closer to general fantasy - Tends to be more immersive - Generally has higher stakes, and usually real-life threats like pain and real death - Less focus on balanced game design, often allowing for more fantasy-style freedom of skills, and for characters to become unique or special Potential pitfalls - Some stories have no need to be LitRPG and would work better as straight fantasy or sci-fi - Less focus on game design may result in sloppy mechanics These are not rigid categories. Each category offers different aesthetics and tropes, so it might be better to think of the overall feeling of the setting rather than the actual definitions. For example, a story where a character is forever trapped in a commercial game and therefore the game becomes their real world might match [REAL WORLD WITH GAME RULES] better than [GAME GONE WRONG]. Or a story with a character trapped in a commercial game, but the tone is light and low-stakes, might actually match [COMMERCIAL GAME] better than [GAME GONE WRONG]. A story where a character is forced to play a game against their will (like a hacker trapping only the MC) might match the aesthetics of [GAME GONE WRONG] but if the MC happens to die while playing and therefore is trapped, but it's a commercial game, it might be better tagged [COMMERCIAL GAME]. Some musings/explanations: To be clear, I believe readers look for these common aesthetics in all LitRPGs: - Systemized skills and rules with some degree of explicitness - Creative world design (since LitRPG generally allows a higher degree of creative freedom than traditional fantasy/sci-fi that they don't have less need for 'realistic' magic systems, economy, politics, and all-rounded world-building) - Game-like situations and conditions, such as the feeling of progress, the sense of competition (win/lose) - Of course, good characters and a good story! At the very core, the differentiating elements between each of the listed world types may be: [COMMERCIAL GAME] - the reader's main interest is in the 1) realistic game design, 2) gaming references/nostalgia [GAME GONE WRONG] - the reader's main interest is in the 1) disaster situation and the challenges it presents [DIGITAL REALM] - the reader's main interest is in the 1) creativity, believability of the story premise and game world [REAL WORLD WITH GAME RULES] - the reader's main interest is in 1) immersion in the fantasy of the game world ____________________________________________________________ Category #2: Trappings: This should be fairly straightforward. Is anything missing? Trappings: [FANTASY] [MEDIEVAL] [SCI-FI] [SPACE] [MILITARY] [MODERN DAY] [SUPERHERO] [CYBERPUNK] [STEAMPUNK] [DIESELPUNK] [HISTORICAL] [OTHER CULTURES] [POST-APOCALYPSE] [ZOMBIES] [MULTI-WORLD] ____________________________________________________________ Category #3: Main activities: This should also be straightforward. Main activities: [OPEN-WORLD PVE] [OPEN-WORLD PVP] [ARENA/TOURNAMENT] [QUESTING] [DUNGEON] [LEVEL-CLEARING] [ZONE CONQUEST] [RAID] [WAR] [CRAFTING] [GEAR-CRAFTING] [SPELL-CRAFTING] [SETTLEMENT-BUILDING] [DUNGEON DESIGN] [TOWER DEFENSE] [GROUP-BUILDING] [EVOLUTION] [PUZZLES] All these 'activities' lend themselves to different kinds of story-telling. For example, [OPEN-WORLD PVE] is adventure-y in nature. [OPEN-WORLD PVP] lends itself to faction wars. [ARENA/TOURNAMENT] is PVP in a contained setting. [DUNGEON] is PVE in a contained setting. [QUESTING] often indicates a story-driven game, where the quest line serves to drive the story. [EVOLUTION] usually indicates a monster/non-human MC. ____________________________________________________________ Any thoughts and comments appreciated. Please feel free to say if you think it makes no sense or if you think the whole thing is a waste of time. This is something really fun for me and I hope by classifying LitRPG elements we can help the community realize what is done-to-death, what is missing, and if readers can be directed toward things they like, we can help the genre grow!
Spoiler: Tags: version 1.5 - working draft TAGS (version 1.5) LitRPG-specific tags World type: [COMMERCIAL GAME] [GAME GONE WRONG] [GAMIFIED DIGITAL REALM] [REAL WORLD WITH GAME RULES] Trappings: [FANTASY] [MEDIEVAL] [SCI-FI] [SPACE] [MILITARY] [MODERN DAY] [SUPERHERO] [CYBERPUNK] [STEAMPUNK] [DIESELPUNK] [HISTORICAL] [OTHER CULTURES] [POST-APOCALYPSE] [ZOMBIES] [MULTI-WORLD] Main activities: [OPEN-WORLD PVE] [OPEN-WORLD PVP] [ARENA/TOURNAMENT] [QUESTING] [DUNGEON] [LEVEL-CLEARING] [ZONE CONQUEST] [RAID] [WAR] [CRAFTING] [GEAR-CRAFTING] [SPELL-CRAFTING] [SETTLEMENT-BUILDING] [DUNGEON DESIGN] [TOWER DEFENSE] [GROUP-BUILDING] [EVOLUTION] [PUZZLES] MC class/role: [MAGIC] [UNARMED COMBAT] [SWORD] [SPELLSWORD] [GUN] [ARCHER] [BARD] [ROGUE] [PET MASTER] [SUMMONER] [HOLY MAGIC] [DARK MAGIC] [ELEMENTAL MAGIC] [NATURE MAGIC] [SHAPE-SHIFTER] [MULTI-CLASS] [DAMAGE] [MELEE] [HEALER] [SUPPORT] [TANK] [CRAFTER] [DUNGEON CORE] [NPC] [MONSTER] Story elements: [TRAPPED IN GAME] [PORTAL] [REAL WORLD GAINS STATS] [SENTIENT AI] [OFFLINE SCENES] [LOW-STAKE DEATH] [PERMADEATH] [DEATH GAME] [FAMILIAR] [HAREM] [NON-HUMAN PARTNERS] [SOLO PLAY] [GROUP PLAY] [FACTION LEADER] [UNIQUE CLASS/ABILITIES] [REALISTIC COMBAT] [SLOW LEVELING] [OP MC] [MORAL MC] Genre: [ACTION] [ADVENTURE] [EXPERIMENT] [COMEDY] [HORROR] [SATIRE] [SLICE-OF-LIFE] [REVENGE] [INTRIGUE] [MYSTERY] [CONSPIRACY] [ROMANCE] [EROTICA] [WISH-FULFILLMENT] Theme: [HERO'S TALE] [COMING-OF-AGE] [TRANSHUMANISM] Tone: [LIGHT] [SERIOUS] [HEAVY] [EMOTIONAL] [LITERARY] [SELF-AWARE] Game type: [MMORPG] [OPEN-WORLD RPG] [TABLETOP] [ROGUELIKE] [RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT] [MOBA] [FPS] [RTS] [OTHER] Game text: [NONE] [LIGHT] [MEDIUM] [HEAVY] Literature & book tags POV: [MALE] [FEMALE] [OTHER] [GENDER BENDER] [SINGLE] [MULTIPLE] [1st PERSON] [3rd PERSON] [TEENAGE] [NON-HUMAN MC] Series status: [SERIES] [ONGOING] [COMPLETE] [FIRST BOOK] [BOOK IN A SERIES] [STAND-ALONE] [SIDE STORY] Availability: [WEB SERIAL] [E-BOOK] [KU] [PRINT] [AUDIO] Content warning: [EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT] [SUGGESTIVE SEXUAL CONTENT] [NUDITY] [STRONG LANGUAGE] [MILD LANGUAGE] [GRAPHIC VIOLENCE] [AMORAL TONE] Spoiler: DEFINITIONS World type: Commercial game Includes games that are 'seemingly' commercial at first, even when there's actually some secret evil intent behind them that characters discover as the plot progresses, and also includes games where only the MC is trapped (like they die when they're connected to the VR and now their consciousness is trapped). The premise of this category is that the game still functions like a commercial game. Commercial game gone wrong AI-gone-rogue, or glitch-kills-people, or hacker-traps-everybody. The premise is that there's something seriously wrong with the core game code that puts the characters in that situation. Digital realm that exists for some other purpose Gamified digital realms that exist for... military training, prison, education, be an afterlife, etc. Real world with game rules Includes all portal fantasy, or when the world suddenly gains stats for any reason, or when the MC dies and is reincarnated as a character in a world just like the game he happens to be playing before death (but which is no longer a 'videogame') Trappings: Fantasy Medieval (to differentiate between finer shades of fantasy) Sci-fi (laser guns, scanning goggles and stuff) Space (spaceships, different planets!) Military Cyberpunk Steampunk Modern Day (real world gains game stats) Historical (Regency LitRPG? Victorian LitRPG?) Other cultures Post-apocalypse (something bad has happened to the world) Zombies! Multi-world Main Activities: (Can pick more than one) Open-world PVE Wandering around killing monsters, saving villages, fetching stuff for NPCs, etc. Open-world PVP Faction politics, clan wars Arena/tournament Basically PVP games Questing Quest-driven plot, where people get quests, complete quests, leading to quests getting more and more complicated and difficult Dungeon Find cave, enter cave, kill trash mobs, kill boss, loot! Crafting Gathering stuff, making stuff Equipment-crafting Lots of focus given to upgrading sword/magic armor/etc. Settlement-building Here's your village/city/town/castle -- develop it Dungeon design This is pretty much self-explanatory Tower defense Stop waves of NPCs from invading your home Group-building Main character(s) meet(s) and collect(s) group members and they go adventuring. Technically, harem-building will kinda fall into this category? Story elements: (Can pick more than one) Trapped Players cannot leave game / playing against their will Sentient AI Self-explanatory, I think Log-out Scenes 'Y' when a story features a significant real life story line, 'N' when offline scenes are not shown, are only alluded to, or if it's just one long play-through Permadeath In-game character can die permanently Death Game Die in-game, die in real life, or if the penalty for losing results in real-life death Harem MC is disproportionately surrounded by side characters who are attracted to them Romance Significant focus on love/relationship Erotica Significant focus on sexual encounters Solo Play MC is solo most of the time Group Play Focus on group dynamics Unique Class/Abilities MC gets a rare/hidden/unique build Realistic Combat Laws of physics apply as in real life, no HP system Young Adult (Not sure what qualifies...) All tags can be clicked on to filter only stories tagged with those tags, or clicked on twice to exclude stories tagged with those tags.
I like it. You might be missing a couple other "trappings". I can think of a couple GameLit or LitRPG stories focused on Superheroes, and while I can't come up with any Dieselpunk titles, as the LitRPG category grows, you're liable to have some of those stories show up, too.
Looks awesome so far. Hmmm, might want to add "monster girl" or "non human" as well? That's a thing in some Harems and apparently some people really like it, some people don't? Not sure how precise you want to go, but I imagine some people want Harem/romance with "non human partners" and some don't?
I'm not sure how many LitRPG stories feature this sort of thing, but one of the themes of the trilogy I'm working on is transhumanism. It seems a natural fit for the genre, so even if it's not a usual theme now, I'd venture to guess you'll see more of it in the future.
Do you mean some kind of "enhanced humans"? So I guess that would be a [TRANSHUMAN] tag under "story elements"?
Theme in the sense that it's one of the things the story is about. In fact, you might consider including a category for "Theme" that would include Transhumanism, Hero's Tale, and so on.
Okay! I see. I'll fix that. Just out of curiosity -- technically, a concept like "government uses a game-like VR to enhance soldier performance"will fit this theme? I think there's a LitRPG out there that's like that but I don't recall the title, since I haven't read it. (It's one of the futuristic-sounding ones) I'm trying to come up with a definition for the tag.
I would say that transhumanism includes stories where the mind is seen as the core of the human, and the body is either upgradable or disposable. If they're using VR to enhance a soldier's reflexes and such, I would say that's just using an advanced training sim. Dakota Trout's The Ritualist, on the other hand, is a good example of transhumanism, because... Spoiler the main character's body is terminated and disposed of after his mind is essentially uploaded into the game server.
Thanks! That makes it clearer. So, going by that definition, @Gryphon 's Incipere Online fits? Spoiler: mild spoiler about the premise ... since the MC is uploaded into a digital realm when his body dies irl. Also, stories where the world is about to be hit by an asteroid and humans get 'uploaded' onto a server?
Okay, I just split 'Theme' back out as one of the main category. I think we can have a proper discussion about themes later when we get to those categories, but since it's one of the things I haven't really managed to put much thought in, I'll start a mini-discussion here in case anyone has useful input, so by the time we get to the 'feedback' thread on themes we'll have something better than my super unbaked list. My initial thoughts: - I'm actually worried about this category, since I think that it talks about the 'meaning' of the story, which is something not very apparent (sometimes even to the author). Readers might not even agree on what the 'meaning' behind each story is. I want to be able to say Awaken Online has ' the exploration of the concept of good and evil' as its theme -- but does it, really? I guess we need to wait till the end to know. - Themes can be big or small, or very broad -- and since we would want a limited number of tags, we'll need to find things that are common in LitRPGs -- especially "things that affect reader enjoyment". Currently I have: [Hero's Journey]: start weak, gain power, save the world -- I think most LitRPGs will fall into this category (?) [Coming-of-age]: young-ish character learns about the world and its joys and sorrows and grows up (learning to take responsibility, etc.) [Transhumanism]: speculative scenarios where technology allows humans to evolve beyond their current limitations I'm thinking of adding: [???]: the main idea of "stopping the bad guy from doing something bad" but might not include the 'rise to power' journey of the hero. [Human Bonds]: the power of love and friendship -- stories that focus on interpersonal relationships, people looking out for each other, etc. [Love]: romantic love [Discovery]: story gives heavy focus to the exploration/discovery of the game world There must be more... (but maybe we'll try to keep it under 15 total tags?)
How about... [Fight Against Injustice] (I know it's quite a mouthful...) Because it's not exactly [Good vs Evil] (which admittedly makes for a better-sound tag, but sounds very epic fantasy), and it's not exactly [Save the World] -- or [Fight Against Evil] -- or [For the Greater Good] -- that's getting far, though. TV Tropes have [For Great Justice] (which sounds superhero-y), or [For Happiness] (which is way to vague, IMO)
I love it! <3 So... [Incidental Hero]: ordinary person finds themselves in situations where they have to fight injustice or external threats differentiated in tone from [Hero's Journey] in that the focus of the story is on what they "do", and not "how they became powerful and achieved great deeds"
Current 'theme' tags: Currently we have: [Hero's Journey]: start weak, gain power, save the world -- I think most LitRPGs will fall into this category (?) [Incidental Hero]: ordinary person finds themselves in situations where they have to stop bad things from happening [Coming-of-age]: young-ish character learns about the world and its joys and sorrows and grows up (learning to take responsibility, etc.) [Transhumanism]: speculative scenarios where technology allows humans to evolve beyond their current limitations [Human Bonds]: the power of friendship -- stories that focus on interpersonal relationships, people looking out for each other, etc. [Love]: stories that focus on romantic love as one of the main driving forces [Discovery]: story gives heavy focus to the exploration/discovery of the game world [Social Commentary]: I'll put this one in for stories that aim to reflect/comment on social issues If anyone can think of a better term for any of these, please feel free to let me know!
Er... so Artifex: The Maker's Blade is going to hit all of those pretty hard, save for Coming of Age.
Adding [Internal Struggle] for stories that deal heavily with personal issues, like dealing with the loss of loved ones. [Morality] might be another one, for stories that question the nature of good and evil.
