Why dungeon books will become there own genre and might even consume LitRPG

Ive been thinking over this for quite a while and I'm starting to think LitRPG will fade into the background and instead we will be left with dungeon books or as I prefer to call them grand perspective books.
My reasoning for this is simply one of storytelling, as much as I find LitRPG loves to say its a distinct genre and doing new stuff in reality most authors just treat it like portal fiction with some stats added in there is currently a bubble around LitRPG as games are currently popular but LitRPG doesn't inherently have much new to offer as a genre other then switching between to worlds which most treat as a chore. Grand perspective books on the other hand have alot to add seeing the world from what is usually an alien perspective a way of writing what is essentially management fantasy which if it sounds boring keep in mind great leaders are managers too strategy is a whole genre of its own
These books have also have on multiple occasions become extremely popular with a much smaler sample size then litRPG Bobiverse won best scifi of the year on audible in 2016 and dungeon born was one of 5 runner ups for best book of the year while not exactly hard numbers of popularity it shows there is legitimate interest in Grand perspective books and perhaps they are just too far in there infancy without even a name to form into a distinct genre quite yet

This is in no way to belittle LitRPG or attack it It is simply an analysis of why i think LitRPG is more likely to end up a sub category of fantasy as its not using its natural abilities to the fullest this of course can be changed with more writers writeing cross world books where one character dosent stay in one world forever

 

Would love to hear everyones input on this ive been considering some of the individual points in this for a bit and they all came together neatly in this picture so i thought instead of bringing them up individually i would bring them up at once

 

If they're all as enjoyable as Dungeon Born was, I wouldn't mind if they became more of the norm. I thought they were already their own sub genre of Dungeon Core? Honestly, Dungeon Born for me wasn't even really LitRPG as much as some are, but it was the gateway drug for the genre. Thanks to stories like it, I plan on being here for a long time.

 

I could see dungeon books solidifying a large market share and developing a very loyal fan base, but I see Gamelit growing in a more inclusive way, with the hardcore, more rule-and-stats bound LitRPG (and dungeon stories) at the center but an ever-expanding audience enjoying portal stories that involve gaming in some way. I also think that this is good news for the genre, including dungeon stories. If everything reduces to a tighter, harder definition, it'll be harder to maintain and might be doomed to become a dense white dwarf with a smaller number of highly-committed (and eventually nitpicky and bickering, I fear) fans. On the other hand, if the category continues to grow in new ways, more and more readers will continue to flock in this direction, and a portion of those readers will discover and enjoy dungeon stories, keeping writers of those stories motivated to grind out their cool-ass brand of LitRPG. Just my thoughts as a reader who discovered the genre through WILD WASTES.

 

Yes, I see it that was as well. The success of LitRPG has opened the door for player-in-game stories based on just about any genre. I'm expecting a rush of books about being trapped on an island full of enemies whilst a deadly storm closes in...

Someone could probably even write a successful 1st person Pacman story if it wasn't for the risk of being sued!

 

This couldn't be happening. Not here, not now!

Surrounded by the spirits that had risen from their graves, his friends, his victims, his past at large, fear rose in Pac's heart. "Waka waka," cursed from his flapping lips faster than he could process. "Waka waka!"

 

So while there isnt any direct definition I have found for these books its something along the line of the book and specifically the main character has a wider more strategical perspective on things, manages an area or there body, grows said area by there presence and hard work

The wording is quite broad on intention as i think it should be as inclusive as possible

examples
any dungeon books
LitRPG town builder segments when they get more spesific about what they are doing
and I would also say the entire destenys crucible series although its not the best example
EDIT:
forgot to include bobiverse series and royal ooze chronicles on that list

 

We can judge some of this by looking at games in general.

There is a genre for dungeon building. (Dungeon Keeper and spinoffs)
There is a genre for RPGs with story focus (Life is Strange)
There is a genre for pure hack and slash (Diablo)
There is a genre for MMORPG (WoW)

The list goes on. I can say based on pure money, any one of these has outliers. Judging Dungeon 1 (an indie spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper which is an EA IP now...) against WoW is sheer folly. WoW has Blizzard's backing and they're a monster that is able to propel their projects forth into micro transaction, subscription, and expansion money.

Now, my point was as follows - books aren't much different. Travis and Aleron can be compared to a B list studio in terms of pushing power - but if Brandon Sanderon is like Blizzard and could rollercoaster any one of these 'genre' or 'game' categories by putting gout a book. It's not the sub category specifically, it's the quality of story telling, amount of stories, and the name behind it that make genre stronger - not which type of popup boxes are checked. Urban Fantasy, as a book genre, is a great example. It's got a ton of big names, has a lot of books out each month, and some high profile stories. It also has an asston of not so good stories because the indie side floods the market.

But this indie flooding a market concept can be seen in games too. Take Match 4's of any sort - or Match 3s. Bejeweled is one of the more popular ones, but there are tons of new ones each month on Google and Apple stores. Success results in mimicry but mimicry does not duplicate success or cause a genre to swell in popularity.

If Aleron stopped and wrote a spy novel, people would raise an eyebrow but a number of his fans would probably buy it just to see. From there more people might swell to the spy genre because of one "gateway" book from an author who works in another genre.

Anyway, I guess we can derive three points -
1. shit's complicated and all connected
2. Writing to genre to ahead of the curve of popularity verses writing a good book is silly.
3. We have other examples of this in different mediums, use those examples as guideposts

 

Ive been trying to explain this for a long time but I believe that a genre is not its definition but its atmosphere and the definition only serves to explain the atmosphere in a more comprehensive manner so that people unfamiliar with it can understand it. This is the root of the problem with LitRPG and aleron right now his definition does not define the atmosphere but lists his books and some of the more popular books aspects excluding all else constricting the genres creativity and innovation which is crucial for an emergeing genre

 

It's hard to use Aleron's definition or list because he curates against authors who he doesn't like. It's a super one sided example.

And creativity isn't expressly required since UF still stands on it's own despite being 75% the same generic near Twilight with different level of dickings storyline. (True Blood based on Stackhouse, Annitia Blake, etc.)

What is needed above all is time, if a genre can continue to be a thing in 10 years, then it has more ground to stand on. And I'm not talking one or two books or even a dozen early portal fantasy that fit - but a large number of works being put out constantly to show traction and a market.

But agree with a genre not being its definition. But I also believe that Dinner Dash isn't a damn RPG no matter what Apple says.

 

this is exactly my point a definition should not clash against the atmosphere especially not the most popular even if worst definition his definition is terrible yet as it has gained popularity it becomes violent and aggressive towards things that claim to be part of the group yet dont follow the definition which means any innovateve and possible genre defineing books like killing fafhrd and the gray mouse or narnia because there not tolken fantasy

what about the druid chronicles heartstrikers all of shadowrun the dresden files the list just keeps going on at a certan point a genre his critical mass of books that can be accepted as a part of it usualy 2-3 larger threads (shifter/demon urban)(mage urban)(mashup/ect. urban) once these are established trope writeing becomes a thing with authors writeing in just the tropes of the genre based on what they have read allowing for a high quantity of decent to good books as writeing from tropes requires signifigently less imagination and skill and is also harder to mess up

 

WAKA WAKA is the perfect title for this one. Not to be confused with WAKKA WAKKA, the tour-de-force memoir of Fozzy Bear, subtitled, THE DRUG-FUELED, BLOOD-SPLATTERED ORGY THAT WAS THE MUPPET SHOW.

 

ONLINE WAKA WAKA ONLINE: an excerpt from the Paku Paku chronicle

“Waka waka,” I said, running for my life from the graveyard. I ran harder than I’d ever run before, as if I were being chased by the vengeful ghosts of my friends and family. The friends and family that I had just put to rest, or so I’d thought at the time.

Let me back up for a moment here and explain how this whole wakapile got started. My name is Paku Paku, and I used to be a researcher for the pharmaceutical MegaCorp Pfizer-Bayer. My friends and I developed a new nanodrug to combat male pattern baldness, erectile dysfunction, and could be used off-label to increase penis size. It was also pretty effective as a weight loss drug, but I figure that was more the result of an increase in physical activity caused by having hair again, combined with a larger Waka that lasted a long Waka time. But there was a side effect that none of us knew about: when you die, your spirit rises from the grave like some sort of angry cloud.

That doesn’t explain where all the sheets came from. That, I still don’t know.

“Waka waka, waka waka-waka WAKA!” I exclaimed, still running for my life. I veered toward my office at Pfizer-Bayer, where I figured I would be safe from the vengeful ghosts of pharmaceutical research past. My legs were aching though, and I didn’t know if I had it in me to keep running. “Waka oooOOoo,” chanted the ghosts following in my wake. It’s a sound that, I fear, will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life until I, too, eventually join my friends and colleagues as an angry sheet wearing gaseous cloud when I finally pass from this life.

Because I was also addicted to wakawakawaka.

My breathing ragged, knees weak, and heart about to leap from my chest, I knew that I couldn’t continue like this. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my bottle of wakawakawaka. I ducked into an alley and paused to catch my breath, glaring my hate and rage at the innocuous plastic bottle, half-filled with rattling pills.

I took one out and steeled myself. “Waka waka,” I said, and swallowed the pill along with my rising tide of anger at this waka situation. Waka waka! I thought to myself angrily—but all of that was forgotten when I felt the rush. Hair sprouted from my head, sticking out in all directions, and my waka engorged and broke free from my pants to stand proud, like the top of a skyscraper that had fallen on its side. I felt like I could do anything!

I roared my challenge to the world, “WAKA WAKA!”

My freshly-arisen friends turned blue, one and all, and began to flee from me. I started running again, still heading to my Pfizer-Bayer office. I had found a goal, a reason to continue existing; I had to get the clinical trial list and collect every single waka pill from every single waka trial participant, in order to stop the apocalypse from happening.

Challenge accepted, world. Challenge. Waka. Accepted.

 

This is the best Waka post in the history of posts.

 

Have we just witnessed the birth of the PacPorn genre?

 

Wakka wakka hey now