Why do a lot of games in novels just come off as terrible?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Silentstorm, Dec 29, 2019.

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  1. Silentstorm

    Silentstorm Well-Known Member

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    I kinda tend to notice that a lot of stories about MMO's or being trapped inside of a game lead to descriptions that make the original game sound amazingly awful or way too unbalanced, particularly for games that are supposed to be massively popular, sure, sometimes the story is about a bad game but it's pretty rare.

    It's just, it feels like writers only make standard fantasy novels and only make it be a MMO because it's a popular theme, it's the only reason i can think of for why games can have players that can easily beat everyone else(the main characters most of the time) and why the games have unique jobs/equipment/familiars/skills or something that only one or two players can get and are massively overpowered.

    Like, i get that a lot of fantasy stories have a chosen one or a really damn talented character and equipment that is one of a kind, but MMO's tend to not do that, there is a reason why guilds exist, and even when MMO's have event or contest exclusive content...they tend to not be massively overpowered because they know that would only piss a lot of people off, but good thing that MMO's in LN stories aren't like that at all most of the time otherwise the main character would be forced to not be the best or just not massively overpowered in comparison to the others, seriously, i can't think of many games even at pro levels where one gamer wins all the time or has no problem at all beating other pro levels, there is always some hardships in tournaments.

    But in LN's the games are balanced in such a way that one or two players can destroy guilds by themselves and it's just...i can't see a game like that being played by that many people.
     
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  2. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Because the games are usually an afterthought added on after the story is written
     
  3. Boredgasm

    Boredgasm Well-Known Member

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    People don’t have much firsthand experience with those VRMMO games, so they probably romanticize it a lot in their writing, which is why it tends to come off as a pretty shitty game. That and “MC” effect.
     
  4. natsume142

    natsume142 だが、断る

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    not all author is an avid mmo gamers, maybe that's why they suck at explaining thing?
     
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  5. Astaroth

    Astaroth empty

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    I've wanted to write an RPG novel for the longest time, but whenever I think about all the math and double checking previous chapters to keep the game mechanics consistent throughout the novel I quickly lose all will to write.


    But instead of that you can just write a bunch of crap and then forget about it and voila you've got literally every RPG webnovel around.
     
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  6. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    The problem is that many authors have never actually gamed at anything more than casual levels if any at all. So they have no clue how to make a skilled player and have to resort to stupid things like special snowflake classes and etc.

    I don't particularly mind it for stuck in game world novels too much because well, we don't often exactly know how the game was prior. Some stuck in game novels, people are simply taken to a similar world LIKE the game but may not be exact. In other cases, there could have been changes or alterations as game moved from game to reality or etc.

    But for MMO novels where MC is not trapped, I agree that there is absolutely 0 way such games would be popular at all. Most events just give vanity items, and even if you get an OP item, it is usually at end of an expansion when it'll become useless in a month or 2. And anything overpowered is often game balanced by the devs.

    This is why I don't read any MMO novel unless MC is stuck in the game, cause as someone who gamed more than casual, I can't help but cringe every time. Especially since authors don't need to resort to these things to make MC cool if they knew what they were writing.
     
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  7. Sherrynity

    Sherrynity I see no God up there… other than the chaotic void

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    Because VRMMORPG with advanced AI tends to be more complex than your usual game and therefore prone to bug exploitation…?

    Remember; the more complex a system, the more bugs will appear.
     
  8. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    You mean MMO novels or litrpg where people live in a game world, not actually playing a game? 2 different genres.

    As for balancing game mechanics, the solution is simple, a formula. Make a formula, a calculator and do math of top end and low end. This way you limit how strong a person can be at the top end or how weak they are at the low end and maybe do a mid end calculation and wala. That is what I did pretty much, I just created a bunch of characters with random stats and ran them past the calculator I made to see how much damage they would each do. And tweaked my formula from there.
     
  9. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    What do you think of this
    https://www.novelupdates.com/series...-bogyo-ryoku-ni-kyokufuri-shitai-to-omoimasu/
    And also Overgeared?
    Overgeared made me feel cheated since I was never interested in a Swordsman protagonist. The initial story certainly wasn't about that
     
  10. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    Itai no way is a comedy, in that case I don't particularly mind if the game mechanics are broken since its not meant to be taken seriously. Even then, the devs actually did nerf the MC a bit after she performed cheat like performance in the tournament. So even a comedy had some sense which is much more than can be said about the serious novels. The other thing is I don't remember anyone saying the game she is playing is a top game. It just happens to be one of the many games.

    As for overgeared, I dropped it pretty early, but from what I read, the game mechanics are terrible as hell. It's below 3rd rate game level. I'm shocked the game company that made it is the richest in the world when they output such junk quality game.
     
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  11. Astaroth

    Astaroth empty

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    Do you have a link for that novel?
    Overgeared has that same stat system as Legendary Moonlight Sculptor where characters get completely new stats/attributes in one way or another (from classes, skills, quests, etc.) and it just gets insanely bloated when there's some 20+ different main stats.

    And Overgeared's author is definitely not keeping any track, not even in the same chapters, I just read chapter 900+ something the other day and a skeleton received +5000 HP but still had less than 5k HP somehow.

    So all the stats and everything is just fluff.
     
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  12. Diametric

    Diametric Waifu Connoisseur

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    I think The King's Avatar is the best depiction of a videogame I've ever read.

    I think the reason why a lot of these games seem so bad is because hyperrealistic VRMMMOs couldn't use the same system normal MMOs do, since the ability to use actual combat ability instead of a premade moveset kinda fucks with stats.

    As well as this, making a story about a person playing a videogame makes it easier to bs your way through the plot than a normal fantasy, but makes it harder to make your mc overpowered. The solution is to just come up with some contrived way to make your mc op that completely breaks how a fun game would work at a fundamental level and hope nobody cares.
     
  13. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    trapped on game?
    something like SAO? it just like adventure on another world hmm imo SAO is hoahem... maybe cuz this cat expect hack.sign//G.U thing

    if we talking about video games on general imo most of it suck on balance thing still considering how video games scene these day hmm sure maybe not so fanstastic
    at least money warrior not limited to cn player since da age of micro transaction no?..... pfft

    for VRgame this cat surprise Only Sense Online actualy quite good one ya know~ sure with glaring marry sue Mc but given it slice of life this cat give sone leeway
     
  14. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    It should be immediately obvious that the main goal of video games and the goal of the games in these novels is very different. In the real world the idea is to make the game fun for all the players so the games have to balanced enough that everyone can contribute. In the books, the games are meant as a way to make the protagonist awesome so the concepts like balance and fun are irrelevant. This is true even when the games are well thought out like in "the King's Avatar" or "Overlord" because they're still not thought of in the same way as real games. The only title where the equations are a bit different is "Log Horizon", but the difference is that this book actually cares about party balance and human interaction more than it does about making the protagonist look good.
     
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  15. LockedPuppet

    LockedPuppet From the void, the circus horns~

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    Well this is technically an Otome Isekai, but Death Is the Only End for the Villainess had a genuinely awesome otome game concept. Basically, the original 'game' came with two difficulties: normal, where you play as your typical shojo protag and hard, where you play as the normal routes villainess years before the start of the normal rout. Apparently this comes with hsr own unique interactions, story choices, and character dymamics. Imo this GENUINELY sounded like an amazing idea for an otome and something I'd play in a heartbeat.
     
  16. Asf

    Asf 《《The aria of souls》》

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    Dont worry guys.
    All the broken mechanics of the game can just be blamed on that missing crazy scientist that single handedly code a blackbox in the system along with all the cheats, lifelike AI and everything else .
     
  17. moto

    moto Spam Bot

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    The simplest answer is people don't know how to go about writing a mmo game story without making it boring.

    It's like trying to write a fantasy world tied down by math and mechanics.

    In fantasy you want mystery, adventure, and fken vagueness.

    In a mmo you would need to write about mechanics, math of stacking abilities, functions of the game, and the game world elements.

    Now try to balance action, comedy, math, mechanics, game elements, lore, party/guild/alliance, character development, and worldly elements.

    Its fken hard and eventually spirals out of control as you introduce more mechanics, people, and events.

    It's why most people opt to write the story, characters, the adventures, and drop a vague game mechanics and elements here and there.
     
  18. DZ_Spellcaster

    DZ_Spellcaster Well-Known Member

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    So for Fantasy : A Wizard Did It.
    For Science-Fiction : A Scientist Did It.
    Something like that?
     
  19. Oddwaffle

    Oddwaffle Well-Known Member

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    Authors have never played D&D and they have to make a story.

    Anyone played MMO knows everyone has the same story. They are another fish in the can. They are average or maybe a bit better but never unique enough to be a hero amount the fish.

    Nobody likes reading story about average guy doing average things in an imaginary world. This includes the Japanese slice-of-life beta MC.
     
  20. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    Interestingly, the writers of Log Horizon and Overlord both played tabletop Dungeons and Dragons, and in fact they played in the same group. This experience sets them apart from most other otaku writers and you can tell how much this improves their world building and characterization.
     
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