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Argue
Sep 29, 2005

I represent the Philippines
(TWI)

quote:

The plot-armor most of the Named Characters have is actually the thing I like about TWI. Almost all of the chapters end on a good note, which is why the ones that do not have so much more impact. I know it's somehow seen as a mark of good writing when the good guys die or at least not succeed, but I'd rather re-read the whole of TWI twice than even a single book of depressing stuff like GoT or Malazan.
The plot armor does come off close to the end of volumes, but I haven't worried about named characters dying mid-volume since the Halfseekers survived fighting Garen. Which suits me fine, I guess--the stakes certainly do feel a lot cheaper as a result, but hey, I like reading about Jelaqua and co just talking to people and hanging out.

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Ramie
Mar 2, 2021

Only Villains Do That is really finding its feet, now. It really puts a smile on my face to think of how the author is getting back in the saddle with a story of this quality. Hope he's doing alright. Realizing I was mostly skimming TWI these days cut off my enthusiasm for the medium at the knees for a bit, but between PracGuide, Threads of Destiny, Beware of Chicken and now this, I'm still having fun. How's Katalepsis lately? I lapsed after Tenny got... enfleshened.

Apropos of nothing, today's chapter of He Who Fights With Monsters was the first time in a hundred-odd chapters that I laughed. lmao. that should tell me something

Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.
Worth the Candle updated with exactly one chapter.

A big flaming stink
Apr 26, 2010

goethe42 posted:

Are we sure it's
Ksmvr the slavers found?

the slaver was able to recognize them in an instant, so its basically only ksmvr or yvlon who could be that easily recognizable

90s Cringe Rock
Nov 29, 2006
:gay:

Cicero posted:

Worth the Candle updated with exactly one chapter.
Timeskip, kids, Doris starting to heal, and :doink:

Affi
Dec 18, 2005

Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA
How do levels really work in twi because I think the max is 100 total but generally youd want capstone skills. And have levels consolidated.

Like Pisces is level 60 split between two classes that will probably consolidate which is pretty insane considering. Also Typhenius is almost 70 but in 3 classes.

What happens with consolidations? Do they lose levels or aare they added?

90s Cringe Rock
Nov 29, 2006
:gay:
The funniest thing about litrpgs is when the author posts "oh poo poo I made a mistake in my spreadsheets"

tithin
Nov 14, 2003


[Grandmaster Tactician]



Affi posted:

How do levels really work in twi because I think the max is 100 total but generally youd want capstone skills. And have levels consolidated.

Like Pisces is level 60 split between two classes that will probably consolidate which is pretty insane considering. Also Typhenius is almost 70 but in 3 classes.

What happens with consolidations? Do they lose levels or aare they added?

There's a few chapters in book 2 where Ryoka basically theorycrafts the max level is 100, but it's split between all the classes an individual holds and that the stronger individuals, specialise in a single class.

Consolidations wise, the levels seem to be added together, but you end up at a lower level than both of them combined

Infinity Gaia
Feb 27, 2011

a storm is coming...

tithin posted:

There's a few chapters in book 2 where Ryoka basically theorycrafts the max level is 100, but it's split between all the classes an individual holds and that the stronger individuals, specialise in a single class.

Consolidations wise, the levels seem to be added together, but you end up at a lower level than both of them combined

Even that is pretty much just a total theory, considering how ridiculous some of the oldest characters can be I suspect levels can get pretty nuts. It seems like there is both an overall level scaling and a per-class level scaling, so people slow down their gains both when they have a lot of overall levels and when they have a lot of levels in one specific class. I think at one point it was stated that the average person has like 4 levels in 6 classes or something silly like that.

It's also entirely possible Aba isn't the spreadsheet litrpg type and the numbers are largely arbitrary and in favor of the narrative.

Lone Goat
Apr 16, 2003

When life gives you lemons, suplex those lemons.




A big flaming stink posted:

the slaver was able to recognize them in an instant, so its basically only ksmvr or yvlon who could be that easily recognizable

They were all on TV all day.

DACK FAYDEN
Feb 25, 2013

Bear Witness

90s Cringe Rock posted:

The funniest thing about litrpgs is when the author posts "oh poo poo I made a mistake in my spreadsheets"
I love this. Especially if I'm reading through well after the fact so they already fixed the scary broken math, which I totally was going to notice yessiree :allears:

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006

DACK FAYDEN posted:

I love this. Especially if I'm reading through well after the fact so they already fixed the scary broken math, which I totally was going to notice yessiree :allears:

There is a certain contingent of these stories' readers that actually pay attention to the math and get angry if it's bad and they scare the poo poo out of me.

Anias
Jun 3, 2010

It really is a lovely hat

Megazver posted:

There is a certain contingent of these stories' readers that actually pay attention to the math and get angry if it's bad and they scare the poo poo out of me.

I don’t get angry, but my brain just does math if it sees math pretty much. However, Being angry about numbers going up wrong is a time honored goon tradition. If you haven’t popped your head into games or d&d or home to find out which numbers going up not-square irritates your subconscious, a world of silly posts await you!

90s Cringe Rock
Nov 29, 2006
:gay:
man I don't even see the maths half the time

yes huh wow you say you got another quarter percent efficiency on your macro good job rain

I don't even count the orders of magnitude most times, a five-digit number and a seven-digit number are just numbers until the story tells me that one number was bigger than the other

90s Cringe Rock
Nov 29, 2006
:gay:
and when I played jrpgs with it as an option I changed the windows to be pink or purple so it's not like blue boxes stir a delightful nostalgia in me

Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.
I like numbers going up but Delve takes it to a ridiculous extreme

shirunei
Sep 7, 2018

I tried to run away. To take the easy way out. I'll live through the suffering. When I die, I want to feel like I did my best.
On these kinds of stories it gets to a point, fairly quickly, where the numbers stop having any of kind of perceptible impact on how the actual story plays out. At that point I just scroll past them, but even before that I'm probably skipping most of the actual number porn to just catch any new annotations. The delve stuff is particularly ridiculous because its opining on these marginal percentage gains... that we would never know about except the MC goes on and on about it as if it matters in the slightest.

Anias
Jun 3, 2010

It really is a lovely hat

Yeah to be clear this isn’t me staring intently fascinated by numbers, this is me glancing over them and my subconscious says “nah, that isn’t .1%” and I mostly ignore those twinges. The stories that have done the best with silly numbers are stuff like siphon and Azarinth healer where the numbers are essentially measuring progression to the next character growth and the mc is invested in pushing them up. Quantifying leg day via the omnipotent system to make the character do leg day is at least as compelling as checking BMI and protein intake or cultivation stages or years of wizard school. It’s a setting/plot device that serves as quick shorthand for signposting where we are. To put it differently, “Oh our class just leveled to 499, we must be on the edge of ascension” is at least as interesting as “it’s the last day of school”, or “the first day of winter.”

Ytlaya
Nov 13, 2005

OscarDiggs posted:

For PracGuide, what are the chances are that Catherine ends up as the white knight, and then ends up in direct conflict with black?

Where in the world do people come up with this stuff? This would be bizarre even if the White Knight wasn't still alive (and with a bunch of unresolved elements to his character arc to boot).

This is probably even more baffling than the constant "Catherine's gonna become the Grey Knight" comments that used to show up when she was still Squire.

Selkie Myth
May 25, 2013

90s Cringe Rock posted:

The funniest thing about litrpgs is when the author posts "oh poo poo I made a mistake in my spreadsheets"

I've done that.

In my defense, I've got three dozen tabs and a few hundred formulas running around. I started off with a strong organizational system, but a "quick scratch check" here and a dirty formula there, and it's become a mess.

M. Night Skymall
Mar 22, 2012

Infinity Gaia posted:

It'd be cool if at least one of them ended up near Pomle. Maybe Yvlon? It seems like learning some martial arts would really help out with the realization she may as well fight with her magic metal arms rather than a sword. Also I hope that, unlikely though it may be, none of them end up near Flos. But one of them probably will, because... Flos, I guess.

I'm a little disappointed NO ONE important died in the ultra deadly raid. Like, I know TWI has a very low mortality rate in general, but it really seemed like they could've killed SOME D-list characters. gently caress, even the goddamn just introduced prince guy got to live! He would've been so easy to kill for drama!


I finally caught up to TWI so I can read spoilers, a mere 4 years after I started reading it or something. Patreon chapter spoilers. Yvlon has a sword art, like maybe she could make her arm into a sword t1000 style and still use it, but it seems like she has to keep the sword to do her curve of the moon, also the weighted blade feels iconic after the way she killed the adult creler. I hope she ends up with the slavers. Honestly I hope the slaver arc is short and brutal, gently caress slaver arcs, but it won't be. Pirateaba's already setup a bunch of Roshal stuff so now it's gonna be volume 8: time to learn about Roshal. Ksmvr in Pomle would be great, they're the most likely to not care at all about him being antinium, being more agile will only help him, and it's the best opportunity for him to catch up some. Pisces will probably end up near Fetohep, so Jecrass maybe, or he could save Raelt. Not sure where ceria would go, but I guess Flos, maybe I'll actually read those chapters for once. All that feels a bit on the nose though, so probably not that exactly. Also they totally killed some D-list characters, that adventure team with the dogs lost Bram and Makki, huge loss here I definitely remembered their names without having to go look it up. My favorite part is that pirateaba didn't even bother giving names to the random adventurers killed by the blademaster at the end, just the ones who were slowly bleeding out until the Deus Ex Paladin.

Plorkyeran
Mar 22, 2007

To Escape The Shackles Of The Old Forums, We Must Reject The Tribal Negativity He Endorsed

Selkie Myth posted:

I've done that.

In my defense, I've got three dozen tabs and a few hundred formulas running around. I started off with a strong organizational system, but a "quick scratch check" here and a dirty formula there, and it's become a mess.

Clearly you should post the spreadsheets for the latest set of patreon chapters so that we can find all the irrelevant math errors and the places Elaine has failed to properly optimize.

Omi no Kami
Feb 19, 2014


Goodness knows how hard it must be for Hungry to keep the stats consistent in Katalepsis when the math never comes out straight.


Hungry
Jul 14, 2006

Omi no Kami posted:

Goodness knows how hard it must be for Hungry to keep the stats consistent in Katalepsis when the math never comes out straight.




I can't tell if this is a joke about how the brainmath mechanics could be taken as a metafictional riff on the nature of stats in webfiction, or if it's just a joke about how 90% of the cast are lesbians.

Omi no Kami
Feb 19, 2014


Hungry posted:

I can't tell if this is a joke about how the brainmath mechanics could be taken as a metafictional riff on the nature of stats in webfiction, or if it's just a joke about how 90% of the cast are lesbians.

I was mainly going for a lame reference to Heather taking the admittedly-challenging task of figuring out how to make a love triangle work and escalating until it looked like brainmath. Also the gay thing. :)

Peachfart
Jan 21, 2017

Only Villains Do That is great. I'm catching up on the story after leaving it for a week or so, and the following line made me laugh my rear end off: (very mild spoilers)
That was when the true, bitter reality of it sunk in fully: rather than an RPG world, I was living in a giant gacha game.
There are still less than 30 chapters but the story is great so far.

90s Cringe Rock
Nov 29, 2006
:gay:
"a broken bottle the size of the world"

Aw, so sweet.

Peachfart posted:

Only Villains Do That is great. I'm catching up on the story after leaving it for a week or so, and the following line made me laugh my rear end off: (very mild spoilers)
That was when the true, bitter reality of it sunk in fully: rather than an RPG world, I was living in a giant gacha game.
There are still less than 30 chapters but the story is great so far.
I enjoyed the latest chapter, with the hero's lot and the books.

edit: oh no is raine going to insist on a children's card game

90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 09:44 on May 2, 2021

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!

Ytlaya posted:

Where in the world do people come up with this stuff? This would be bizarre even if the White Knight wasn't still alive (and with a bunch of unresolved elements to his character arc to boot).

This is probably even more baffling than the constant "Catherine's gonna become the Grey Knight" comments that used to show up when she was still Squire.

It seemed pretty much the most interesting option I can see happening right now. Ands she stopped being a Squire? My understanding was she either had to die or become one of the Knights for that to happen.

Other topic.

I just started Mother of Learning and I'm wondering.

Is it just me, or is it really homphobic and sexist?

Akoja is supposed to come off as this no nonsense, strong figure but she runs of crying at the mere thought of Zorian not wanting to go on a date with her and the vast majority of characters with speaking roles are constantly going on about girls and women and such. Plus all the endless forced heteronormativity is really setting my teeth on edge.

Sailor Dave
Sep 19, 2013

OscarDiggs posted:

It seemed pretty much the most interesting option I can see happening right now. Ands she stopped being a Squire? My understanding was she either had to die or become one of the Knights for that to happen.

Other topic.

I just started Mother of Learning and I'm wondering.

Is it just me, or is it really homphobic and sexist?

Akoja is supposed to come off as this no nonsense, strong figure but she runs of crying at the mere thought of Zorian not wanting to go on a date with her and the vast majority of characters with speaking roles are constantly going on about girls and women and such. Plus all the endless forced heteronormativity is really setting my teeth on edge.

Was there anything explicitly homophobic in MoL? It's been a minute since I finished it, but I don't remember homosexuality coming up as an issue. Or at all, really, which may be what you mean.

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!

Sailor Dave posted:

Was there anything explicitly homophobic in MoL? It's been a minute since I finished it, but I don't remember homosexuality coming up as an issue. Or at all, really, which may be what you mean.

Theres nothing explicitly from where I am 4 and a bit chapters in. And that is slightly an issue but not exactly. It's not as if I expect to be catered to in every piece of media all the time.

The issue is how invested the story is in forcing Zorian into a traditional heterosexual relationship when he is very clearly not wanting it. Like, Zorian could be Asexualand thats why they're not interested or gay, or they might be straight but trans. But all of this is being excluded on the "We must set up Zorian with a date (WHOS FEMALE. ABSOLUTELY MUST BE FEMALE NO OTHER OPTION IS ALLOWED)" on top of the premise that I've been sold on which is;
A bit of an arrogant prick learns the value of friendship and superior firepower on this time travel adventure. And the way it all looks at the minute, in that its a big exercise on the importance of men and women being together in a romantic way leading to a more fulfiling life. Which is, not great.

Of course, that's only the worst case scenario. I've not read enough to know how it's going to go, but I did want to hear other peoples thought and opinions on it and be disabused of my worries (or have them confirmed) before I sink more time in.

Foxfire_
Nov 8, 2010

Spoiler is about romance/sexuality in MoL The story as a whole will devote approximately nothing to romance of any kind. There's very rarely an occasional bit with a girl Zorian had a crush on in the past, and you've probably already gone through most of Akoja's presence in the story (she's barely even a tertiary character).

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!

Foxfire_ posted:

Spoiler is about romance/sexuality in MoL The story as a whole will devote approximately nothing to romance of any kind. There's very rarely an occasional bit with a girl Zorian had a crush on in the past, and you've probably already gone through most of Akoja's presence in the story (she's barely even a tertiary character).

Thats reassuring.

IShallRiseAgain
Sep 12, 2008

Well ain't that precious?

OscarDiggs posted:

Theres nothing explicitly from where I am 4 and a bit chapters in. And that is slightly an issue but not exactly. It's not as if I expect to be catered to in every piece of media all the time.

The issue is how invested the story is in forcing Zorian into a traditional heterosexual relationship when he is very clearly not wanting it. Like, Zorian could be Asexualand thats why they're not interested or gay, or they might be straight but trans. But all of this is being excluded on the "We must set up Zorian with a date (WHOS FEMALE. ABSOLUTELY MUST BE FEMALE NO OTHER OPTION IS ALLOWED)" on top of the premise that I've been sold on which is;
A bit of an arrogant prick learns the value of friendship and superior firepower on this time travel adventure. And the way it all looks at the minute, in that its a big exercise on the importance of men and women being together in a romantic way leading to a more fulfiling life. Which is, not great.

Of course, that's only the worst case scenario. I've not read enough to know how it's going to go, but I did want to hear other peoples thought and opinions on it and be disabused of my worries (or have them confirmed) before I sink more time in.

The problem is that being in a time loop doesn't really lend itself to long term relationships, and Zorian is already really socially awkward. Not every work needs to have a homosexual relationship, especially when romance very much isn't the focus.

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006

OscarDiggs posted:

Theres nothing explicitly from where I am 4 and a bit chapters in. And that is slightly an issue but not exactly. It's not as if I expect to be catered to in every piece of media all the time.

The issue is how invested the story is in forcing Zorian into a traditional heterosexual relationship when he is very clearly not wanting it. Like, Zorian could be Asexualand thats why they're not interested or gay, or they might be straight but trans. But all of this is being excluded on the "We must set up Zorian with a date (WHOS FEMALE. ABSOLUTELY MUST BE FEMALE NO OTHER OPTION IS ALLOWED)" on top of the premise that I've been sold on which is;
A bit of an arrogant prick learns the value of friendship and superior firepower on this time travel adventure. And the way it all looks at the minute, in that its a big exercise on the importance of men and women being together in a romantic way leading to a more fulfiling life. Which is, not great.

You seem to have some issues about this. Talk to someone, maybe.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!

IShallRiseAgain posted:

The problem is that being in a time loop doesn't really lend itself to long term relationships, and Zorian is already really socially awkward. Not every work needs to have a homosexual relationship, especially when romance very much isn't the focus.

You are correct. Which is why I said I don't expect to be catered to. I do however, expect bullshit along the lines of "the only true and worthwhile relationships are between men and women" to be confronted whenever possible.

Megazver posted:

You seem to have some issues about this. Talk to someone, maybe.

I do, and I am. Did you not see my above posts?

OscarDiggs fucked around with this message at 21:21 on May 2, 2021

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006

OscarDiggs posted:

I do, and I am. Did you not see my above posts?

I haven't been tracking and compiling your every post in this thread/forum, I'm afraid. Good luck!

Sailor Dave
Sep 19, 2013

Megazver posted:

I haven't been tracking and compiling your every post in this thread/forum, I'm afraid. Good luck!

Their posts about the topic are literally on this same page. There's no need to be an rear end in a top hat about it.

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!

Sailor Dave posted:

Their posts about the topic are literally on this same page. There's no need to be an rear end in a top hat about it.

It's okay. We shouldn't expect object permanence from someone so busy despising the fact gay people exist.

But hey, I got my question answered and Mother of Learning has leaned away from what I was worried about and has become quite intrigueing so some good came out of it.

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006

Sailor Dave posted:

Their posts about the topic are literally on this same page. There's no need to be an rear end in a top hat about it.

There's nothing there about "hey I have some mental issues and I am getting therapy for them."

OscarDiggs posted:

It's okay. We shouldn't expect object permanence from someone so busy despising the fact gay people exist.

Hooboy. Okay.

Just for the sake of people who might have to interact with you in the future - someone might think you're acting a little off for reasons other than your identity.

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Affi
Dec 18, 2005

Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA
Jesus wept (over gay people)
He wrote a longass post about it and you said you should talk to someone about it and he referring to the longass post he just wrote said he did.

Also yeah the only openly gay relationship in mol is Zorian and bonedad

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