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I was a little hesitant to read it given that there appears to be an actual MLP unicorn pony as part of the main cast, but I'm giving it a shot for a bit anyway.
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Aug 2, 2021 02:22
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That Wizard Space Program does the most annoying thing in serial fictions: It spends the entire 2nd chapter painfully explaining how the magic system works, and the local area. It isn't done organically at all, just a thin veil over the design document. Otherwise it's kinda boring so far. Edit: yeah, this is just magic + kerbal, but somehow not interesting. Peachfart fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Aug 2, 2021 |
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Aug 2, 2021 04:13
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Peachfart posted:That Wizard Space Program does the most annoying thing in serial fictions: It spends the entire 2nd chapter painfully explaining how the magic system works. It isn't done organically at all, just a thin veil over the design document. i haven't read this one but wizard tower handles a protagonist who knows a bunch of magic well. There's a little explaining when he's talking to his apprentices and doing experiments but mostly it boils down to 'i do this poo poo in my sleep, im a 200 year old wizard'
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Aug 2, 2021 04:16
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New PracGuide and new Patreon PracGuide. The Patreon one was about young Neshamah and was interesting. It contained an interesting reveal about the setting - the Gods apparently had at least one world before the current one, likely involving some different sort of wager, and that Demons are from that world and not actually from the Hells or even connected to devils). The main chapter just seems to be a set-up chapter. We're apparently heading to the end-game since they're going to be assaulting Keter immediately after arriving in Salia. Catherine is all hosed up and broken mentally and choosing to just not think about stuff like Hakram. It seems that the Evil stories were not actually destroyed, and were instead just "stopped" or something. It seems very likely that there'll be some sort of title-drop situation where they effectively redefine Evil narratives ("the practical guide to Evil"). Also the Bard is still alive, though I have no idea how that's going to be relevant, since Bard no longer has her powers. And they made all the Good stories into some sort of book artifact (amusingly being labeled The Book of Some Things). Kind of curious about how that will be used; it might somehow give them the ability to alter Heroic stories to their benefit.
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Aug 3, 2021 08:20
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Worth the Candle fired off a few epilogue chapters and there's some more coming within the next week or so.
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Aug 4, 2021 18:20
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In the TWI Pisces chapter, the crazy Emir wasn't the same one that has a bunch of Earthers locked in his basement and developing cannon, was it? Methods seemed similar.
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Aug 4, 2021 21:23
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Gnoman posted:In the TWI Pisces chapter, the crazy Emir wasn't the same one that has a bunch of Earthers locked in his basement and developing cannon, was it? Methods seemed similar. Not the same one, different places on the continent. That Emir you're referencing was out in the middle of loving nowhere, and loved to break people - not specifically earthers. The Naga is basically the ruling body of the slave cities from what I can guess
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Aug 4, 2021 21:45
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I was remembering the same "mind-broken into obedience" aspect, and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something Important.
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Aug 4, 2021 22:18
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Yazdil (the naga with Kent Scott in the basement) seems interested in brainwashing them but doesn't go beyond that. Emir Riqre takes it further and tries to "rebuild" his slaves. E: At least, I assume Yazdil doesn't go as far as Riqre did. We haven't seen him do so, but who knows how deep his basement goes. Narmi fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Aug 5, 2021 |
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Aug 4, 2021 22:52
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Larry Parrish posted:i haven't read this one but wizard tower handles a protagonist who knows a bunch of magic well. There's a little explaining when he's talking to his apprentices and doing experiments but mostly it boils down to 'i do this poo poo in my sleep, im a 200 year old wizard' I wanted to thank you for telling me about this story, it is pretty decent.
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Aug 5, 2021 03:37
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These epilogue chapters for Worth the Candle (three more just dropped) are just wonderful. I think Joon's version of heaven is pretty good too, and it's hard to see obvious ways to improve, at least for me.
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Aug 6, 2021 03:49
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this latest PracGuide chapter is lovely. quote:“These are the lives we live, Catherine,” he gently said. “We kill and we win until we lose and we die. We are the children of the knife. And so I still love you, even though I watched the woman who used to bring me lemon tarts bleed out on the stairs. Even though you killed the man who taught me it was all right to be as I am, that I should not be fearful of it.” EE is good at writing a lot of things, but the intimate pains are always his best. dude knows the ways the human heart breaks.. the Charlatan arc still lives rent-free in my head the latest Worth the Candle chapters are real good too! really leverage the overthink-y-ness that suffuses the work as a whole, but towards a gentle purpose. never thought it would take a turn for slice of life, and so fun too
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Aug 6, 2021 05:24
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Wales is also apparently planning on writing a speedrun version (suggested by fans), which is maybe the most hilariously Worth the Candle thing I can think of. For most works, even most LitRPG's, that would be stupid or pointless, but I can see how it could be really neat for WtC.
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Aug 6, 2021 07:13
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Cicero posted:Wales is also apparently planning on writing a speedrun version (suggested by fans), which is maybe the most hilariously Worth the Candle thing I can think of. For most works, even most LitRPG's, that would be stupid or pointless, but I can see how it could be really neat for WtC. lol. yeah actually, since so many of the chapters are like deep meta discussions it would be funny for Jun to just tell people to shut up while he breaks the sound barrier because of two entads that won't let eachother touch or something.
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Aug 6, 2021 08:23
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I hope he'll find something else to write after this. He's been consistent and his writing is good.
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Aug 6, 2021 08:40
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He's already started writing the next thing, actually:quote:This Used to be About Dungeons is a comfy slice-of-life adventuring story that ocasionally features dungeons. Sounds like a nice little story. I can certainly see why he'd go for something more chill after the traumafest that WtC was. edit: it's up now - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45534/this-used-to-be-about-dungeons Cicero fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Aug 6, 2021 |
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Aug 6, 2021 09:03
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Larry Parrish posted:lol. yeah actually, since so many of the chapters are like deep meta discussions it would be funny for Jun to just tell people to shut up while he breaks the sound barrier because of two entads that won't let eachother touch or something.
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Aug 6, 2021 09:06
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I haven't seen it mentioned in the thread yet so I figured I would leave a recommendation for 12 Miles Below.Author's Summary posted:The world is in ruins. It's a well-written action-adventure story with an interesting setting. You can set aside the 'unhinged demigods' and 'ominous prophecy' to start with as it has only been mentioned as background detail thus far. At the very least I recommend giving the opening chapter a try. The story can be found on spacebattles or royal road right here.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:32
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I can second 12 Miles Below, I have actually been meaning to recommend it here.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:58
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Same. Cool setting, a nice bit of Blame!.
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Aug 7, 2021 02:06
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I like 12 Miles Below, but keep in mind that all signs point to the story being set in an MMORPG and the main character is an NPC.
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Aug 7, 2021 04:39
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Narmi posted:I like 12 Miles Below, but keep in mind that all signs point to the story being set in an MMORPG and the main character is an NPC. I had the same concern but the author's note at the end of chapter 32 addresses this issue. With the quality shown so far I'm willing to wait and see.
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Aug 7, 2021 05:11
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Narmi posted:I like 12 Miles Below, but keep in mind that all signs point to the story being set in an MMORPG and the main character is an NPC. I thought that was clear from the story description/teaser blurb?
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Aug 7, 2021 05:23
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quote:“That’s two Cokes, two waters, and whattid you say honey? A kefir?” I'm still working through them, but lmao. The epilogues for Worth the Candle are exactly my type of meta.
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Aug 7, 2021 08:37
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Larry Parrish posted:I liked it enough to sub for the Patreon. It's probably my favorite litrpg besides TWI and ar'kendrythist. Pretty much entirely because the numbers and poo poo are just there for context. Holy God if I get tricked into one more tabletop nerds theorycraft session disguised as a novel I'm going to actually kill someone. Hey, I wanna ask you a question: Since we were pretty in agreement on two of these novels I decided to check out ar'kendrythist and... I dunno if it gets better later or what, but I finished book 1 and I feel largely unimpressed? The main character rockets to ridiculously overpowered incredibly fast and the plot moves at a very strange pace where the author will spend 3 chapters going over the minutia of some of the mechanics of the world and then rapidly rush through what should be an important character moment in a single one. It also goes pretty heavy into pointless math and blue boxes, with a significant dose of in-universe minmaxing. I'm willing to accept that it may just have a bad start, but maaaan.
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Aug 7, 2021 09:00
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Infinity Gaia posted:Hey, I wanna ask you a question: Since we were pretty in agreement on two of these novels I decided to check out ar'kendrythist and... I dunno if it gets better later or what, but I finished book 1 and I feel largely unimpressed? The main character rockets to ridiculously overpowered incredibly fast and the plot moves at a very strange pace where the author will spend 3 chapters going over the minutia of some of the mechanics of the world and then rapidly rush through what should be an important character moment in a single one. It also goes pretty heavy into pointless math and blue boxes, with a significant dose of in-universe minmaxing. I'm willing to accept that it may just have a bad start, but maaaan. It has a very bad start. But I like it because especially as it goes on, but even from the start, Arcs spends an insane amount of detail on things. Every place Erick goes feels like a real place where people live, absolutely nothing feels magical in the handwavey sense. Anyway a huge part of the story is also how Erick makes waves so being strong is part of it, but it's worst in the beginning. Later on it has more context and it's more like he's a heavy hitter with a big toolbox, but there's always a bigger stick. So his advantage is knowing the right people to survive getting really hosed up or whatever. Anyway I would have never have picked it up and certainly never made it past book 1 without a friend telling me to persevere. I think it's worth it, but I'm not surprised youre skeptical, either. Also, it's a slice of life at heart, just one with an overall plot. Not as slow as TWI, though, and with a much smaller cast. Larry Parrish fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 7, 2021 15:16
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Peachfart posted:That Wizard Space Program does the most annoying thing in serial fictions: It spends the entire 2nd chapter painfully explaining how the magic system works, and the local area. It isn't done organically at all, just a thin veil over the design document. Glad I'm not the only one that bounced off of this. Chapter 3 has multiple pages where one character is teaching another rudimentary English, yeesh. It's like if Delve started the story with all the boring programming and calculus stuff instead of tricking you with it forty chapters in. No thanks.
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Aug 7, 2021 15:33
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Worth the Candle actually finished now. I think the last chapter was chosen well. It's still extremely exactly what I expected from this kind of story, down to the brains and TRWG, but done fairly well rather than sneer-worthily. Time for the new fic: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45534/this-used-to-be-about-dungeons/chapter/729484/chapter-1-the-fig-and-gristle Also wizard space program really didn't live up to the basic premise, no
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Aug 7, 2021 16:29
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Larry Parrish posted:It has a very bad start. But I like it because especially as it goes on, but even from the start, Arcs spends an insane amount of detail on things. Every place Erick goes feels like a real place where people live, absolutely nothing feels magical in the handwavey sense. Funny enough, is TWI and Arc are also the two stories I do Patreon for. And I agree with everything you said about the story, it is good and is surprisingly unknown.
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Aug 7, 2021 19:57
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Peachfart posted:Funny enough, is TWI and Arc are also the two stories I do Patreon for. And I agree with everything you said about the story, it is good and is surprisingly unknown. I'm on the $1 legacy tier lol. I'm tempted to drop it just to pay the full price but, I like being rewarded for paying since the early days of the patreon.
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Aug 7, 2021 20:56
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I recently reread Arc and it is incredible how much numbers there were early on, it really is awful. Once that drops away and it sticks to stranger in a strange land + philosophy of magic it works much better. It's nice to read a portal fantasy where the main character is a social worker pushing 50 instead of a teen psychopath (hi jane).
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Aug 7, 2021 22:22
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mossyfisk posted:I recently reread Arc and it is incredible how much numbers there were early on, it really is awful. It's very funny that the CIA detail ended up not being what I thought it was (liberal virtue signaling) and was instead exactly what it would have been if I wrote it (something only a serial killer would do)
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Aug 7, 2021 22:31
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TWI 8.35 The Erin-cult among the Antinum is taking a very dark turn.
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Aug 7, 2021 22:38
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I suppose I'll persevere with Ark for a while longer then, it just really really lost me when it spent nearly an entire chapter talking about mana regeneration rates in excruciating mathematical detail. But if it lets down on that garbage later on it might be fine.
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Aug 7, 2021 22:52
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Infinity Gaia posted:I suppose I'll persevere with Ark for a while longer then, it just really really lost me when it spent nearly an entire chapter talking about mana regeneration rates in excruciating mathematical detail. But if it lets down on that garbage later on it might be fine. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But it's funny because you're right about the part where we find out that the numbers are basically fake anyway. Ar'kendrythist is one of the few stories to ask 'why would anyone invent a loving rpg system'? And it gives pretty good answers.
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Aug 7, 2021 23:54
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If you haven’t seen the shades as more than a passing reference yet, keep reading.
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Aug 8, 2021 01:13
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Goth goblin, martial artist ant, protective magic paint for infinitypear so that nothing happens to hurt him ever, this chapter of the wandering inn is going great. I sure hope nothing goes wrong later in the chapter.
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Aug 8, 2021 02:08
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90s Cringe Rock posted:Time for the new fic: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45534/this-used-to-be-about-dungeons/chapter/729484/chapter-1-the-fig-and-gristle Cicero fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Aug 8, 2021 |
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Aug 8, 2021 04:22
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+1 on 12 Miles Below. The other new one I've been enjoying is A Practical Guide to Sorcery. It's a wizard school series with a much higher quality of writing than most of RR. It has a trans (ish, it's a little complicated) protagonist, an interesting magic system that it nerds out on but relatively gracefully, and it does an excellent job of setting up a series of goals in a way that I find really compelling for a "just one more chapter" effect.
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Aug 8, 2021 05:28
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+1 for 12 miles below, was very enjoyable. I don't have an RR account and I'm a bit disappointed they don't have an RSS feed for individual stories.
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Aug 8, 2021 12:23
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