Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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Stuff and Nonsense
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The LitRPG Game Room
What a coincidence, I actually discovered this genre yesterday and started listening to Accidental thief by C.J. Davis. I really like this genre and am definitely planning on reading more LitRPG.
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New Blood!!!
I don't visit the Introduce Yourself & Buddy Read Invite threads much... I sign up for too many things, as it is, without adding more options to the Master List... I visited for 2 weeks in November, to populate 2019 with things I wanted to read, and now it's back on my ignore list :)
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In on topic news, looks like you found one Soo hasn't read yet... she's read dozens, I think... she chews through them so fast...
LitRPG Recs ~ List Made 12/10/18 ~ Updated 06/07/20
Delvers Inc: Welcome to Ludus
Tower of Babel: SpeedRunner
Way of the Shaman: Survival Quest
Ascend Online: Ascend Online
Arcane Ascension: Sufficiently Advanced Magic
The Completionist Chronicles: Ritualist
System Apocalypse: Life in the North
Threadbare: Threadbare Volume 1: Stuff and Nonsense
The Good Guys: One More Last Time
The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born
Crystal Shards Online: Dodge Tank
Cradle: Unsouled
Street Cultivation: Street Cultivation
That's my Go To & read LitRPG list that I put together a few days ago. I asked the LitRPG community for input and these were some of the suggestions due to the series I enjoyed reading. I'm currently rampaging all over the System Apocalypse series. I was suppose to wait for Iain but I ran away with the steam. They're kinda short. 9 hours is only 4.5 @ 1.9x speed. Bwahahhah
I didn't add the series that I enjoyed reading. I guess I should do that too. Some of them are still releasing.
Really Timelord Lain? The only reason I am reading this one particulary is because Scribd has basically decided to deny my acess to almost everything because I listen too much. This was one of the books that was still available, and the whole LitRPG sounded awesome so I started listening to it.If you had to recommend me one (only one!) book in this genre, which one would it be?
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I'm curre..."
I hear ya... East was 5hrs... Justice Calling was 75 minutes...In an Absent Dream is 2.5hrs... all at 2x speed...
Everything is either short or super long, because short books are usually the easiest to speed up further... it's the long, dense ones I need to slow down, so 40hrs takes 28hrs instead of 20hrs...
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Soo just made a long list of books she's planning to try (probably right after you opened the page, so you missed it)... she's also planning to list books she's read already...
I, on the other hand, am new to the genre... planning on trying Life in the North in the next day or so, tho, which Soo is loving...
re: Scribd: they can do that?... that sucks... generally, I thought services like Scribd were unlimited... I did a Google search... have you read this?: https://support.scribd.com/hc/en-us/a...-
Another option is the Soo Method... she returns 75% of the audiobooks she buys on Audible for her credits back... probably works well because she reads so fast so she's returning faster than most people can listen to an audiobook... involves a lot of emails to Audible support, tho, I think...
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btw, it's iain now Lain... and Timelord is more of a title, you don't have to use it as part of my name :)
I only email like once a day. Maybe 2 at most. =)
I'm going to come back for that list Soo. I have that as a category on my bingo card and wasn't sure where to go for LitRPG.
@Iain First of all, sorry I butchered your name! I didn't know yet what you want to be called yet, so I decided to just fully write your name. But apparently I still butchered it, haha. Do you prefer Iain or Eeyawn?I indeed didn't see Soo's post yet, missed it! Great Soo made a list, makes it easier to choose things haha! (Thanks Soo!) I looked at Life in the North, sounds like a really good book! Gonna see if I can get my hands on it somehow.
And yeah, I have read about what Scribd does and how they try to make it sound like they have our best interest at heart. :/ Me and my sister-in-law both noticed on the same day suddenly some titles got blocked, and then well, for me now almost everything is locked. They say they are unlimited because they leave some titles available. But in truth it is just a smart trick... So, it kinda sucks . I used to use Audible, but it is so expensive.
@Soo Is it really that easy to swap books? :o What do you give as a reason? Because I do have some books on Audible I would love to swap!
Audible: 1) Need to be a member.
2) You can return anythimg if you want to.
3) I use the Customer Service Email system to return books.
Audible is expensive in all but ok for what I do. I look at it as a paid lending service. I read a lot and I make a point to get my moneys worth.
I own over 160 audiobooks from Audible. In two years, I have l listened to probably 750+ books. If I love the audio, I buy the book. Usually hardback & ebook.
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Iain is fine... Eeyawn is a pretty new development, since I stumbled onto the Disney Pokemon evolution pictures, and someone pointed out that it sounded like my name (Iain is pronounced E-in)... Eeyawn is just a baby Eeyore, if you couldn't tell...
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I've returned a couple books, as well... there's an option in your account settings the first couple times within a certain time period... not liking the book is a good enough reason...
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re:Scribd -- sounds about as unlimited as cell phone data plans... the first couple gigabytes are unlimited, then they start throttling...
I remember Scribd got the whole Harlequin romance catalog for a couple years... quickly learned that romance readers go through 10-100x as many books as the average reader... I think Scribd relies on the same thing most financial systems rely on to survive... the fact that 90% of people paying for the service will barely use it... like insurance...
Timelord Iain (Eeyawn) wrote: "I just started Life in the North, and it's pretty funny... Earth is deemed a dungeon planet and slated for conversion... and the MC is dropped into a max level area at level 1... or close enough......"I know right? Good mix of game mechs with plenty of story. Plus humor. John's spirit guide makes me think of genie from Aladdin. 😃😃😃
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That whole part where he says the MC can train in the Sexy Beast skill to win through charisma and animal magnetism, lol...
Bwahaha! Ali is great! He is one of my fav characters. Hope to learn more about him as the series continues. Audio is only available to book 4. The one I am about to finish. Hmm I need to read a couple of short books so I will start On Shoulders of Titans today and then wrap up the small reads. If you take a look at the Kindle book for AP series, I like how Wong shows stats. Nice little form.
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The game stats get to be a bit long-winded as the book progresses and the MC gains more and more low-level stats, but it was otherwise fine... I'm also a little worried about his mental state by the end, even if I agree with him in general, regarding Minion and the townsfolk...
So... basically... this is an alien invasion, if the aliens were basically the Dungeon Master in a tabletop D&D campaign... lol... interesting...
I liked the whole Powerleveling segment... interesting how the world isn't really structured to make leveling semi-safe, like it would be in an MMO... the numbers get confusing tho, since the MCs numbers don't tend to correllate well with everyone else's... enemy or ally...
Hopefully I'll have time for the next book in a couple days... I have so many books I want to read, or others want to read with me :)
I've read a couple or 10 of LitRPG books and while they normally are low rated for me (mostly 2-3 star reads), I tend to enjoy the world building and leveling in this fashion. Reminds of both playing D&D as a kid and playing computer games. While this is not for everyone, they are all easy to read/listen to, they all flesh out leveling skills and grinding for xp and gear and they all have a dumbass as an MC - even writers who know what Min/Max'ing is and are familiar with at least the overall target of MMOs are really not that creative when it comes to using power/magic and setting up a plot in a good way.
I like the town building/empire building parts of LitRPG better than the "I will reach level 1 gazillion and destroy my enemies" types. If going by Soo's list I've been unlucky as I don't know most of them.
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That's a targeted list generated by a LitRPG group... it doesn't even include the dozen or so LitRPG series she's read already... half her 2019 competition points are LitRPG... War of Aeternus, System Apocalypse, etc...
Yah. I have a LitRPG list of books I recommend because I've actually read them. The list I posted here was made by posting what I like on a LitRPG group and asking them to make recs. Not all recs were based on what I like (because authors like to push their work) but most of them should be what I will enjoy. I have two books in the try again spot because I did try them out and the opening did not hook me. I'll probably work harder with the Emerilia series because it sounds like the overall story arc for that is more of what I will enjoy.
Iain, if you speed listened to Life in the North, I am ABSOLUTELY sure you missed parts because there's a lot going on. I read parts and listened to the whole thing. I plan on skim-reading it again. For this style of LitRPG, the author did a pretty good job of juggling story & character progression with game mechanics & stat updates. He basically has Ali be the wicked genie that shoves out info as needed. I like that he has that as part of the story. Hardwired into the John & Ali's interactions.
You know, I'll probably get the audio in February and listen to it. I really like the way Nick Podehl is narrating this series.
So that town in the story is where the author lives. =) lol
It's cute and not a bad idea to add what you know to your stories.
Story world. Yup. Alien/something invasion took over Earth & transformed it into a Dungeon world.
John's mental/emotional state will be addressed. I thought it was pretty good and realistic.
Author's weak point is some of the way he has females portrayed but not that bad.
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Dude, I know I missed stuff and I was more engrossed by the stat stuff than you were. hahah =) Just keep it in mind. The next few books are easier to follow and have little summaries for the main. I'm on book 5 now. Probably slow down since I have limited reading time.
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Just keep it in mind. The next few books are easier to follow and have little summaries for the main..."
I haven't been paying attention to the game I'm playing much, so I was able to pay more attention to the book, than normal... not saying I didn't miss anything, I'm sure I did, but not enough to warrant rewinding...
My game doesn't require much attention when I'm leveling a build that kills things just because i run near them... I have unique boots that cause explosions wherever I walk, and my main skill is to summon a vortex of knives that spin around me cutting things that survive the explosions... then the things I kill blow up, killing others... I just run as fast as I can and watch the enemies die... the MC of the book could learn a thing or 2 from me ;D
I may sound dumb but I’ve no idea what LitRPG is. But, reading the descriptions of a couple of books listed by Soo, I was wondering do you consider Ready Player One as LitRPG as well? Anything with a virtual reality / game element in the story is considered LitRPG?
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Anything wi..."
RPO fits, I think... most LitRPGs are more direct in their RPG elements.. and aren't necessarily optional... in this one, Earth gets forced into the role of dungeon planet by aliens... people wake up one morning on a character select screen, basically... the MC of this book has an HP bar, extra-dimensional inventory space, etc... all the hallmarks of a video game... and he has to figure out how to survive (4 billion people die in the first chapter of the book, which is day one of this new world)...
Some other LitRPGs on the list are closer to RPO, I think... with people physically entering into game worlds...
I just never directly correllated RPO as a LitRPG, because it's a standalone book that reminds me of some other books I've read, like The Reality Bug
Iain, what game are you playing? Hahahahah! That sounds like awesome & lazy fighting.I put RPO under the LitRPG umbrella as LitRPG lite. It's considered a GameLit because the story takes place in a game but it doesn't go into detail about the game itself. Basically, you don't read a bunch of status updates about what different game parts mean and what skills/experience you gained in expanded detail.
LitRPG is a story that integrates the game mechanics & has it be a part of the story. You get in depth information on what the game is (as the player finds out) and updates on experience/skills gained as they play the game.
Like Tao Wong has a nice character sheet that shows John Lee's level/skills/experience/etc in the System Apocalypse series.
In the other series that we are reading, Arcane Ascension, it's more like Gamelit because the story frame is like what you get when you're playing a Role Playing game (tabletop or video).
We should add a definition for LitRPG on the first post. Let me cobble a good definition and we can stick it up there. I'm not a huge fan of everyone going to Wikipedia and thinking it's the Truth to end all truths.
Man, I had a reason why I wanted to come here and post and totally forgot it. It was about SA too! Maybe I'll remember later.
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I put RPO under the LitRPG umbrella as LitRPG lite. It's considered a GameLit because the story takes place in..."
Path of Exile... this trailer for the current league gives an idea what combat's like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Cpi...
Over the years, the game has trended towards faster builds that clear entire screens at a time, aided by triggered utility abilities that increase your survivability, or just kill more things for you...
I've found it to be a perfect game to play while listening to books, because I don't have to pay too much attention, unless I'm trying the highest level endgame content (of which the game has a ton now, after 5 years of league mechanics and new content every 3-4 months)
I tend to play about 4 months a year, through the winter and spring... every time I return, so much new content has been released that it practically feels like a new game, even when they haven't added any new acts to the campaign (Act 11 should be coming in 2020 with the 4.0 release)
I will check that one out. I have a few games I played a lot last year and trying to phase out of them because I intend to have less play time this year.
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It's a free-to-play online-only Action RPG... 95% of the MTX is cosmetic... only thing that can affect gameplay is the extra & specialized stash tabs, for storing more items to sell or share with alternate characters you make...
Much of the gameplay revolves around 3-month leagues, which test out new game mechanics beforee they're either abandoned for being clunky, or rolled into the base game at a less frequent rate (league mechanics tend to appear in every single zone, but baked in mechanics appear every 5-10 zones)...
Trading is primarily done through external trade sites, supported by developer API... sites like pathofexile.com/trade (newer official site) or poe.trade (older 3rd party, which existed back when people had to make item shops on the forums)
The game also has SSF-mode leagues, for people that don't want to deal with trading or partying, and track their progress against others who don't trade... SSF = Solo Self-Found...
The one thing I don't think that video showed, is the Passive Skill and skill gems in gear systems... it's a bit of a mix between the Materia of FF7 & the Sphere Grid of FFX...
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-s...
It can be a bit daunting... it's generally best to start with a low-budget build guide, until you become familiar with the system...
Trial & error can lead to a lot of wasted time, since re-speccing isn't cheap... it's possible, but generally early on it's best to just make a new character... you get about 20 free respec points through the story mode, but by the end of the story you've allocated about 85 skill points between 1 per level and the extras you get from side quests...
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I'll stop talking about the game now... it's complicated enough that I could go on for hours...
Luckily, they implemented some tutorials in 3.0, to explain the core systems and the myriad league mechanics that have piled up over the years...
Before, the game just kinda threw you in the deep end and left you drowning until you got used to everything...
PC game or mobile? I try to stay away from PC/console games. Too easy to get sucked in and lose days of free time. Hahah
Someone recommended to me the chaos Seeds series and it is on Soo's try again list. Does that mean you couldn't get through it? Or you liked it enough to read twice?
Travis wrote: "Someone recommended to me the chaos Seeds series and it is on Soo's try again list. Does that mean you couldn't get through it? Or you liked it enough to read twice?"I tried reading & listening to it but the story did not catch my interest. I thought the writing to be weak and nothing really engaged me. The LitRPG group members told me to give it another try. I have to read the whole book vs just 15-25%.
I have a small bias against it. Author calls himself the "Father of American LitRPG". That's cool. It would be better if the writing was great vs poor to okay. Maybe the writing improves? Bad writing can be glossed over in audio by a good narrator but I didn't care enough to listen to it all the way. I will try again but it is low on the list.
I remember what I forgot to post earlier! =) System Apocalypse:
When aliens transfer to Earth, they become a version of what they are within Earth terms. Like the Yerricks are a minotaur like species.
I wonder how a human would change if one was transfered to an alien planet?
The idea that the mana influence changes people & things 100% is really fascinating and nightmarishly creepy. =D
/wave - I'm excited to try out some of these books.About Scribd... ergh. They blocked a ton of my audiobooks after I listened to 1 book recently. I cancelled for next month... we will see if I can stick with it.
I'm not sure about the LitRPG audiobook availability on other sites. I know Audible has them. I use KU and Audible as paid lending libraries. I'm definitely getting my money's worth. =)Join us when you can or just share what you're trying out. =D
Does Audible block your ability to return stuff? I just got that because I went a bit crazy returning stuff I actually didn't like.
alicat ♡➹♡ wrote: "Does Audible block your ability to return stuff? I just got that because I went a bit crazy returning stuff I actually didn't like."If you are a member, you can return whatever you want. You can return up to 3-5 in a month by using the easy click option but if you return more than that, you have to contact customer service.
I just use the email option for customer service and return books all the time. 85% of my books last year were audios.
I pay for Amazon Prime, Audible & Kindle Unlimited. The nice thing about having KU is that there are a handful of good books that you can get on their Read & Listen option. Most of those are books are either on sale at Audible or popular. Almost all of the LitRPG authors sell on Amazon and they are usually on KU for a period of time.
The other handy deal is buying the Kindle version of the book and getting a large discount for the audio on Audible. I don't use that option often but it's nice to have if I want both.
I read enough that I get my money's worth for the paid services. I own over 170 books on Audible. That doesn't count the ones I listened to and returned. That's probably over 700+.
I like owning print copies over digital/audio. I basically keep the audios that I love and buy a print copy of the books I enjoy via audio.
Soo wrote: "alicat ♡➹♡ wrote: "Does Audible block your ability to return stuff? I just got that because I went a bit crazy returning stuff I actually didn't like."If you are a member, you can return whatever..."
Nice - I'll have to contact customer service. I will look for some LitRPGs on KU too :)
Almost all of the books are on KU. I think there's only 1 or 2 that I'll be doing by audio only.
I read the last book for SA!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! It was SO GOOD and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book cause it should be bonkers.
I like Tao Wong. I'm going to try out his other books and see if they're worth reading. =) Will report once I get around to them. They seem to be fairly short books so it should be easy reads once I get around to it.
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Soo is always reading and recommending these types of books.
Virginie & I are already planning to try Way of the Shaman this summer: Survival Quest -- https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
There's also Arcane Ascension, which the group has read in the past: Sufficiently Advanced Magic / On the Shoulders of Titans... me and Soo are actually reading the 2nd one starting today, since the audiobook is finally releasing...
The idea for this thread, tho, is more spur-of-the-moment / random LitRPG Buddy Reads... first up is Life in the North, which Soo recommended yesterday...
Anybody interested in the genre is welcome... the more, the merrier :D