Discussion overly complicated things in novels(RANT)

ah that heavy object that deal with concept like linear universe nah I pass~

 

I sort of agree about cultivation levels/layers being too convoluted, but for all the other things mentioned I have the complete opposite opinion, I think things like currency, nations, locations and other parts of the world building it is overly simplified in most novels, to the point that I lose interest due to lack of immersion.

 

If you want to rant about something then read kyoukai senjou no Horizon first
Reading this one before u even care for some trifling matter like currency and city name you will be mindfucked by sheer number of characters alone not to mention every damn one had important role even little to damn whole thing not make mention how author picked many important historical events around the world

 

Don't forget the teeth clenching I have to do when little jokes between the editor, proofreaders and TL are left for everyone to see... or when you get one person explaining it just to get the other to follow up with an example or further explanation. Its a real headache.

 

I think you're exaggerating. You might want to watch something like powerpuff girls or whatever...
I personally find those things from your example both interesting and necessary. Of course, there are times when authors just overly complicate some things, but your examples are nothing special. It's quite normal, just think about currencies in real world, any currency has a system that is pretty much like that, the only different thing is that in the real world there are too many currencies and more complications than you can normally imagine. If anything those novels simplify things quite a lot.

 

well, I support the idea of simplicity for things that are not related to the storyline or plot development, but there should be some depth of youre going to simplify things. For example, if youre going to 100=1, then you should have your character mention money during his beginning so your reader develops thoughts towards the money instead of forcing them to know the money by using overly complicated numbers

 

You are not alone. I tend to ignore too much info in the novel and skip towards the real plot.

Most Jp novels like to use german, russian or any european names which are hard to pronounce and remember.

CN tends to have billions or millions of names, stages, substages, skills and author likes to post Too much repetitiveness and Information overload.

Why the hell people like hard things, huh?

You also forget to mention about hard to remember-character-names especially the chinese.

 

I skip them

 

I agree...
12 Inch = 1 Foot
3 Feet = 1 Yard
22 Yard = 1 Chain
10 Chain = 1 Furlong
8 Furlong = 1 Mile
3 Mile = 1 League
Why can they just do a 100 increment while adding prefix at the unit???

 

OMG, how could i forget!

 

oh, you actually remember that sort of shit? i never do. all i know is this: MC rich. MC OP. MC get bitches. thats it

 

maybe, but i kinda like it. makes them seem smart and shit. least, the MC is a damn god level genius in my eyes. mah boi reminds me a severly more badass version or artemis fowl for some reason. dont know why, either, really, maybe its just that he smart.

 

From what I understood, they push buttons, magic happens. Yay.~

I compared it to math because both felt like learning something complicated that won't be useful later in one's life.

 

Close enough.

 

I wouldn't call it overly complicated , i mean it's not advanced maths or something .

But well , just ignore what you don't find interesting and that's it.
I like cultivation system for example , but i could care less about the currency.
ED has a difficult to remember titles and cultivation system, i will give you that , also to be honest , i don't read it with much detail. I think Bao made a glossary so if you're interested you can check it , if not just ignore it.

 

Hmmm... I've been thinking about it and I think also if you add a "role" it is easier to remember.

For example, It's much easier to remember who's who in a party made of a mage, a healer, a theif, a vanguard and a tank, than remember the members of a knight platoon.

This can also be applied to other things, but for the sake of my argument I'll focus on towns and regions.

Regions can be easy to remember if they're the mountains, lakes, prairies, snowy, desert, etc region, as in that case they are easier to remember. Even better if the names correspond to that, a good example being Xenoblade Chronicles with Gaur Plains, Makna Forest, Eryth Sea, Satorl Marsh etc, which are memorable locations (You usually remember the second part tho~).

Towns are even more dependent on the role. Let's be honest; Noob Village is a horrible name for a village, but it's pretty clear what village it is referring to. Similar names can be used for "Imperial Capital", or "Portsmouth" (that's a real one), or, idk Game of Thrones has some good ones "Winterfell" (snow), "King's Landing" (capital, by the sea), etc.

As for cultivation stages, if each stage has a purpose other than lolimstronger, it could be used that way. "Foundation" stage comes to mind when thinking for examples.

 

Asian curriculum tend to emphasize memorization so they probably eat these names as desert. Chinese skills are fanciful but generally have a few key letters that describe level and purpose of the skill.

 

The money system is quite simplified in most novels,but I don't really think about it,the cultivation system I admit is a bit too much for me,I don't really remember each and every one of it,but if you want true mindbreaker,then read mahouka's magic theories or kyoukai senjou's whole novel,those two are the most complicated novels that I have ever read and most likely every one here feels the same