Book 4 and Cliffhangers
So I learned a lesson releasing Book 4, people do not like cliffhangers. It was the finish of the first arc of Jim's story, so I figured I could get away with one. I figured wrong. Oh well, I'll just have to avoid them in the future.
Onward to book 5 and my oft-forgotten Blog. I seriously need to update this thing more. In any case, I'm busy charging through book 5, tentatively titled Noob Game Plus. I had written myself into an overpowered corner of the universe with Jim's ability to take levels in any class. As an exercise, I wrote a rough draft of the final battle and I was going full DBZ to make it work, which wasn't exactly what I wanted to do.
So I've fixed it with the 60 level cap. That means that Jim's total level can't exceed 60. If only there were ways to cheat or a demon who knew all the rules and how to break them. The results have been very interesting so far with lots of progressions and branching out into different classes than we've seen from Jim before.
As an author, I find what limits a character to be more interesting than when they are totally wide open and able to resolve any problem at the snap of their fingers. Flipside, OP Jim is just so much fun to write at times.
Other things, I've finally bitten the bullet and moved Noobtown out of full first-person storytelling mode. I'd had a few 3rd person bits here and there, but pushing a story home when it's purely from Jim's perspective gets me into trouble. The whole Bashara Jim plot would have been much more interesting from her perspective than his. Book 5 is still mostly from Jim's perspective(first), but I'm adding in commentary and character development for other characters(third).
If you ever want to talk Noobtown, I'm on Facebook and do frequent the Facebook group. A question there will usually get a response the same day if not sooner. If you want to email me, ryan.rimmel@gmail.com is my actual email address and I usually respond to that weekly . My day job is installing robots in medical facilities and its been... crazy lately.
The second arc of Noobtown will be Jim coming to grips with what it means to be a hero and what kind of hero Jim wants to be.
Still working on book 5.
ReplyDeleteFirst Ryan, everyone hates cliffhangers. Who actually LIKES cliffhangers? Ok, so aside from masochists? Second, I didn't see that as a cliffhanger. Jim kinda won, kinda lost, then got tossed through a Demon door. Moving past that point would certainly steal from the next book. Also Ryan, this is as of today, my favorite book series. I don't toss that around lightly, I've only stated such maybe twice, in the last decade or so. Nothing you've done so far, in my opinion, could have been executed better. The exclusively 1st person perspective thing? Kinda awesome. Also makes a great way to hide stuff from the readers perspective, in many different ways. We only know as much as Jim, except for the little epilogue bits, which is dandy. Nay, DASHING DANDY! I am pleading with you not to change that!!! Other perspectives though, would also be great, for some side-quest boooooks...? (Hint) I'll admit, that riding on someone else's should for a minute would be fun. Mostly to observe them, observing Jim's shenanigans. Maybe experiencing some of their off-kilter logic first hand wouldn't be terrible. This comment was entirely too long.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thanks.
DeleteSo the 1st person to 3rd person POV shifts. I'm currently 60k words in and its about 50k or so of Jim and less than 10k from other perspectives. I think that is about the ratio I want to go with. Being able to hide certain things from the readers using Jim's perspective was fun, but now I can hide certain things from Jim's perspective using the 3rd party POV. Overall, it makes progressing the plot much easier. Basically using this approach I can write an overall longer book faster and easier because I'm able to use the 3rd party sections as bridges.
Plus, people's reactions to Jim are often times really funny.
I agree with the previous comment: I did not see that as a Cliffhanger. The book was good, and the end did not bother me at all. I would also like to state out quite clearly right now that, when it comes to litRPG, your serie is the best I have read, and there is no real challenger out there, even if, recently, I was able to find a few other serie that were above the average of the genre, but still, no competition.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I can understand the problem of having an OP character, I never felt that Jim was indeed OP (well, maybe, in a way): he was always placed in such situation that he had to go all in and use the full extend of his capacities to win, and, even then, there was a few very short calls. What I mean (because I know I am not making myself very clear), is that it never felt too much. Yes, one on one, and going full power, he could take down anyone in his party, without any difficulties. But he kept being thrown into situations that were just too much for normal people (or normal Chosen).
To be fair, I have always better liked characters that had a bit more than the rest. In LitRPG books, this translates by always liking better characters that have some unique or legendary classes, or some unique power. The versatility of Jim is that unique power that separate him from the rest, and I really appreciate that mechanic, and hope it will remain a strong element in the serie.
And please, just keep us informed of when the next book is due: I tried to follow you on Amazon, but I never get messages when you release a new book (something strange from Amazon, I guess).
A fan from Belgium
Thanks!
DeleteFirst draft is DONE, but I'm not satisfied with a few parts of it (big surprise there). I'm shooting for a December release, but we'll see.
Going to continue on from the other comments above me, Book 4 was NOT a Cliffhanger. It was an Arc End. Does it leave me wanting more? ABSOLUTELY. The fight ended, and now the next book will deal with Consequences. Honestly, I only have two real questions. (well, three, but the new class Jim chooses will happen super quick). 1. Will the poor cursed Man in the church ever be unpetrified? 2. Will Jim change his name, or will he change the jim?
ReplyDeleteTomin Masterbrook? Don't be so stony faced. Let me clean the slate here, Tomin has bolder role in the story than Jim understands. That's why Jim takes him for granite. Jim might igneous Tomin for now, but pretty soon Tomin will draw pebble together.
DeleteJim' name, and more, is a significant point in Noob Town Plus. RAFO (read and find out).
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ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate the humor of the coffee thing, I don't think it's great to spread misinformation.
ReplyDeleteThe coffee case was because McDonalds was heating their coffee to near boiling (190°). The 79 year old lady who sued McDonalds almost died. She had 2nd and 3rd degree burns and needed multiple surgeries. She was suing to pay her medical bills.
https://www.rd.com/article/hot-coffee-lawsuit/
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/16/13971482/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit-stella-liebeck
I loved the book (this really is one of my favorite series) but I cringed a bit at the description of the poor coffee burn lady. The reality of what occurred was different from the popular conception of what occurred, even if the comedians and tsk-tsk commentators ran with a particular narrative that maximized how silly it sounded to either
Delete1, get a laugh because it's their job to parody things and get a laugh, or
2, support the laziest sort of "kids these days and their coddling" narrative because it's their position that everybody has grown soft and dependent on having their asses wiped for them.
And they have, weirdly, driven a lot of the narrative to this day and few people have stepped in to correct it. I don't feel very strongly about it either way, but I do feel bad for the lady as what happened to her was actually quite serious and there's a reason why they changed their practices after the lawsuit. But she'll live on as a punching bag.