Im starting to come across a really annoying problem with most LitRPG namely that everything about the world is relieved right of the bat in a normal book theyed tell you about the world and there would be some mystery but in LitRPG almost every things transparent heck id argue its more transparent then in actual video games certainly easier to access its really annoying when the MC get an item and you instantly see its a ring of billy the zombie slayer and it makes you kill zombies better i mean thats just SOOOOOoo interesting tell me more about its amazing ability to make you do +2%dmg to zombies and since you know exactly what it is and how it works you can feel safe in the knowledge its going to do absolutely nothing to the plot but perhaps make the MC kill a zombie and it it looks useless then of course the MC is either going to sell it or use it to kill a boss in a new and inventive!!! way (which really does nothing because the books writen by a person who can decide if the boss dies or not so theres basically no point to him doing it in an inventive way other then it makeing him more of a mary sue I mean I would have just preferred you gave the MC a better sword) so suffice it to say this really needs to stop being a thing stats boosts are ok as long as 1) thats not all the item does(unless it drastically changes gameplay)(this is actually good game design also) and 2) you dont know everything about every item you pick up instantly especially not the good ones it ruins all the mystery and fun of a new item and just makes it a number bonus
Doesn't that have to do more with the fans than the genre? No offences to the writers on this forum (aka all of you!) but most Litrpg books are rushed out. Well, compared to the ones handled by major publishing houses anyway. not because they want to but to meet demand and stay relivant . Quite a few authors release 2 maybe 3 books per year, that's actually alot! for a book to have layers of depth takes time to research and format, a few authors admit to spending years on a single book which is not a luxury many can indulge in, more so if writing is a hobby they do on the side of work, family and life. There are a few that do go the extra mile though and try to add layers to their tale, I've noticed that those books are either loved with a dedicated fan base OR they're considered boring since the progress and pacing is slow compared to other books in the genre, I mean if you either have your MC fight a giant spider in book one and get a legendary sword in book one to set him up for the rest of the story and get things going... or you have him fight bunnies with a butter knife for book one, upgrade them to weasels with a bronze knife in book two and then (drumrolls) alley cats with an iron pipe in book three!!!! Personally I'm all for murdering evil bunnies but there is something to be said about epic battles and adrenaline pumping action sequences! Just my 2 cents as a reader mind you,
I dont think that the readers are causeing the problem unless you want to say its caused by the expectation of what a LitRPG is I think the problem is caused by writers not knowing how to correctly integrate stats into there books yes a rushed book is harder to do right but that dosent change the fact that there are many authors who write verry complex books year after year Im not actually taking issue with power growth although I do have a problem with it thats not the argument im makeing what im trying to say is that its hard to have suspense in a book where you know everything about the MC incapsulated in a number without any real risks but a few obvious items that will do something at some point you just havent been told how they will be used for example in SAM theres a scene where two characters the MC knows nothing about are fighting although he does know there infinitely stronger then him not only that but he has no idea who they really are because theres no stat window poping up to tell him on is a level 5billion pizza chef named bob and the other is a level 5billion 4 million hotdog seller named doug in most LitRPG theres almost no room left for "show dont tell" and even less for mystery an example how it probably should be done is like awaken online where stats exist but there nowhere near the be all end all that they are in most LitRPG and a battle can easaly be won by a level 1 rouge tricking a level 99 sith lord to jump to his death so even though the MC is strong there strength isnt unasailable by those lower then him and it dosent feel like there unfairly beating bosses so much stronger then them when in most cases a normal player couldent dream of beating that boss because 1 good blow would kill them So I guess in summary a lot of it has to do with stats being a supposed controlling force in the world with all MCs being like neo from the matrix and somehow able to bend the stat spoon to there will and kill a boss they have no right to or do something they shouldent have been able to if stats were the all determining factor there set up to be in most LitRPG and telling you them exactly just makes the MCs feel cheaty
Ah I see your point. I've actually read a few books like that. Well tried to anyway. I usually categorize them under YA and ignore them XD I think those authors wrote themselves into a corner and so backtracked and placed a cheat item somewhere in an earlier part of the book just so the MC can use it to get out of the mess the author created. At least that's how I read those, loopholes R US! Awaken Online uses the stats thing too but the author decided to use RL logic (slitting someone throat = instant death) to bypass the beginner stage and turn the MC into an OP from day one, it's a loophole as well but it's a more open ended one rather then item X does Y.
