Discussion VRMMO novels with overhyped real life aspects?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by aattss, Nov 21, 2017.

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  1. aattss

    aattss Well-Known Member

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    Does anyone else sort of roll their eyes when a VRMMO novel reveals that the VRMMO is a secret project made by aliens which gives top players superpowers or is secretly part of a government plan to emigrate humanity to another planet with superpowers? VRMMO novels are a power fantasy about being really awesome in a VRMMO, not about how video games let you compensate for real life problems even when it doesn't make any sense and sounds contrived as hell. And it pulls my suspension of disbelief when this MC becomes a RL billionaire due to gold farming, and that's only important in order to solve this boring and cliche problem by over-money-ing this son of a rich family and win over this random girl.

    I mean, if the protagonist randomly gets a cheat that makes him more powerful as his MMO character becomes more powerful, that's just his cheat with a VRMMO theme. Still not necessary for VRMMO novels, but can be fun in its own right.

    And a problem that can occur even in some JP LN, why does the VRMMO have to be the most popular VRMMO in the world? It could be an average VRMMO, but it would still have the super cool technology and billions of players. This especially comes to mind when they talk about realism. Standard RPG mechanics aren't unrealistic due to insufficient technology. They're unrealistic because making it more realistic wouldn't necessarily make the game more fun. Which is why I'd find it more believable if this VRMMO with weird, obtuse, "realistic" game mechanics had its own cult following, instead of also being the revolutionary awesome VRMMO everyone plays.
     
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  2. Molen

    Molen Well-Known Member

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    and some novel has these "you die in real life" if they are killed in the game...

    as for realistic mechanics, well, there is a novel about realistic vrmmo, a japanese LN. i forget the name.
     
  3. bkwusa

    bkwusa Well-Known Member

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    I think all that comes down to power fantasies. The reader puts himself in place of the main character a lot of times. As such a person who is a shut in constantly playing computer games can dream of him playing computer games will make him rich and famous. It's the same reason wuxia characters are overpowered, why Harry Potter is the chosen... and so on and on...
     
  4. Robertp3001

    Robertp3001 Active Member

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    I can agree with most of what you say. When it comes to a novel based VRMMO it has to be the most popular and revolutionary VRMMO at the time or the reader is probably not going to care much about the VRMMO world. I think the "real life aspect" being more popular is trying to grab hold of the feeling of the better graphics of our time. People often associate better graphics with better game much in the way VRMMO are trying to say more realism means better game.
     
  5. Echoes

    Echoes 【Wandering Monk】

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    IMO, LMS is the best in world building. Like, the game mechanism, the reality aspect of VR, and the freedom it give to the players.
    And the real world aspect of this novel is decent enough, just some old dude with super-computer-self-learning-AI starting buisness and stocks and some shit.


    p.s. I could be biased tho, because LMS is one of the first novel i read.
     
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  6. hammyhamham

    hammyhamham Only existing and not living

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  7. Robertp3001

    Robertp3001 Active Member

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    I guess the premise behind LMS is better than most. Still has futuristic AI that can anything and noone else has one. The size of the server farm required to host an AI that powerful would be hard to imagine.
     
  8. char

    char Well-Known Member

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  9. noire125

    noire125 Belongs Nowhere

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    Well, they're after all written with inspiration from reality with addition to a lot of fantasy. May it be wish fulfillment or the illusion of being the main character, all of it is there to entertain. If I wanted something realistic out of reading fantasy stories, I'd rather look at my neighbor's life, or my own; which is as exciting as a generic chinese novel: sleep->wake up->go to work->go home->rinse and repeat xD
     
  10. zenla

    zenla { Totally human being} {Kingdom building fanatic}

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    Personally I roll my eyes over OP mc in reality is automatically OP mc in game.
     
  11. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    Because most VRMMOs are written by authors who never actually played a VRMMO. Neither do they even want to write a VRMMO, they just picked VRMMO cause that is what is "hot". What they truly wanted to write was a real life LitRPG, but since those lack the crowd flare and overlap with isekai, they went the VRMMO route.

    Hence why you get stupid interactions in VRMMOs and unbalanced systems that make no sense.
     
  12. genocidegrand

    genocidegrand Well-Known Member

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  13. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    You can make a real VRMMO interesting. As someone who played an MMO and made people's jaws drop all the time all while in a balanced system. The difference was simply skill and understanding of how to exploit the system. The problem is that most authors have not been top gamers in their lives, most of them are doing just that "wish fulfillment". They can only imagine how its like at the top, but they can't base it on experience. Hence why they are forced to stretch it out into ridiculous proportions.
     
  14. Elawn

    Elawn 『Binge Reader』

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    Pretty sure you should throw away any pre-conceived notions about life and the universe in general before picking up a novel from NU, especially if the genre is part Science-Fiction. Just saying. :blobpopcorn_cool:
     
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  15. batotit

    batotit Well-Known Member

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    Well, it's kinda stupid if the MC is playing only the 3rd most popular VRMMO game in his world. And it is kinda boring if his adventure in the game doesn't affect him in real life and he is still the school janitor and stuck with a nagging harpy wife with 2 loser kids. I see a novel like that and its a guaranteed 1 star and I move on
     
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  16. replay

    replay ★Milk and Honey smelling Merchant★

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    imagine looking at the top of the mountain. . . ..
    .
    .
    .
    sorry can't imagine for it sends me shivers. . .
    why?
    i got fear of heights. . . .
     
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  17. tahzib1451

    tahzib1451 Title?is it food?

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    Ark is good too...and the MC is a real solo player...LMS MC distrusts ppl but still depends on them...lol the "Battle Slave" and the "Grass Porridge Cult"...
     
  18. Amaruna Myu

    Amaruna Myu ugly squid dokja (●´∀`●)

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  19. LuftRauser

    LuftRauser [Count LuftCula] [try to get active II]

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    Log Horizon, a world where there's a combination between 2 of it to become one. Cool mmo system too
     
  20. aattss

    aattss Well-Known Member

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    Saying that being powerful in an MMO is worthless unless you're also powerful in real life is the same a saying that being powerful in an MMO has no inherent value. In which case, why bother writing a power fantasy centered entirely around being powerful in an MMO
     
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