Litrpg sins
So, as a first post, I’m going to write about Litrpg, the genre, the madness, the culture! (I told you I’m going to wander on topics). So what is litrpg? litrpg is a genre of fiction combining game mechanics and story telling. Many are likely aware that various game IPs such as Dungeons and Dragons, Civilization, Warhammer, Battletech, and a whole bunch more, have novels written in their worlds. But precisely 0 novels from these IP have game mechanisms in them. Litrpg is the genre where the game mechanisms are not only present, but often help drive the story. It technically fits into the larger genre of gamelit, all of which might be considered part of the genre of progression fantasy. While this is all technically true, the lines are blurry and the fanbase for all of them is basically identical (which is to say gamelit fans also like litrpg and vise versa, making the nuanced distinction mostly the domain of pedantry, and that deserves its own dedicated post). The important part is that litrpg focuses on having game mechanisms, specifically rpg mechanics, as a core part of the story and often key to driving the action.
Now that I’ve thoroughly bored you with an introduction to the subject matter, let’s talk about some of titular sins found in litrpg. Now these are neither unique to litrpg nor are they universally present. In fact, of the authors I follow closely, these are fairly rare. But they are common sins, and they can be darned annoying, so let’s get started.
We get it, you’re special.
One of the most prevalent sins, and most obvious, is the sin of making the main character of singular nature to an unreasonable extent. They’re a top gamer, they join the game and immediately get a secret class, they find special boons, they find secret exploits. Everything they do is unique and special and secret. They check wikis (when they exist) and use that information to become even more special and secret. They use their l33t g4m3r sk1llz to leverage boons from the company (which is usually behind some secret dystopian plot, because of course it is) in order to gain even more SECRET POWER.
Now this is not a criticism of the main character being special, nor of the power fantasy being taken, nor of the fact that it makes power creep inevitable (that’s the next sin). This is a criticism that the story is using every opportunity to drive home exactly how unique this character is. It’s really tiring because the tone spoils any foils the character might have. Their biggest rival is the game (if it’s not actually secretly working to secure this character’s power) and the smallest setbacks end up sending the character into massive imposter syndrome spirals. This is, by far, the most annoying sin for me. Especially when the protagonist is being whiny and edgy about it.
Dramatic power creep
This one is especially not unique to litrpg. It can be found in most genres of fantasy, from Star Wars to Dragon Ball. (So you beat second deathstar but how about MASSIVE GALACTIC DEATHSTAR?") What makes this especially sinful in litrpg is that there are numbers. The easiest grounding tool in the universe is to do the math, and lo, we have systemic (often literally) failure to abide by the mechanisms of a game to keep things in check. This often leads the authors to bring about bigger and badder opponents which takes the scales up another notch, and then another notch, and then another notch until we’re parodying Gurran Laggan, which itself was a parody.
Now, given this is progression fantasy, power creep is actually a feature, but there’s a difference between “I’m stronger than I was before” and “TAKE THAT” and hurling a moon around. (Maybe there isn’t and I’m just blind, but given that authors like Dakota Krout and Christopher Johns can manage growth without obscenity, I think I’m right about this). The biggest complaint about this is when it’s paired with the first sin and everything spirals out of control and we end up with books that make the new Star Wars Trilogy look sane and balanced. (I hear your boos Jay from Eons of Battle and they mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer).
Secret Secret, I’ve got a Secret
This one is fairly unique to litrpg. With few exceptions where the whole point of the genre is to keep secrets, litrpg has a monopoly of secret keeping by the main character. This one also ties into the first one, but even when that one is avoided, keeping secrets is a mainstay in litrpg. Let me break down exactly how it works: Our protagonist finds something special in the game (be it item, class, deity, or otherwise) and chooses to conceal this information from everyone for personal gain. Now that’s whatever. Don’t make public what gives you an edge. But it never ends there. No, now that we’re lying about this, we have to lie about more things, and more things, and more things, and eventually one begins to wonder how the protagonist can keep their stories straight because I sure can’t. And they keep it secret even when revealing it would bring his party, group, cotorie, whatever, closer together. When it’s poorly executed, this doesn’t even drive the party apart, they just trust our protag blindly because he’s so strong!
Now I get strategic secret keeping, not updating wikis with you special knowledge and what not, except that nobody seems to update the wikis, even when they’re not actively suppressed. One wonders how anyone knows anything about the game, given that all the players are apparently running around keeping opsec that would make the CIA jealous. One also wonders why anyone sticks together, given that they clearly can’t trust each other, since everyone is keeping all these secrets. This is probably the second most confusing sin of the lot led only slightly by…
The Great Firewall
This is a very hit or miss one, but it’s fairly common, even in litrpgs I’m a huge fan of. Somehow (through mechanisms not explained in hardly any litrpg books) the Company (yes, it’s a capital C Company, these organizations often act with a level of lattitude resembling a state instead of a corporation, including but not limited to: imprisonment, slavery, running entire cities, and executions) somehow manages to keep the internet radio silent in the wake of the Biggest Thing since Betty White. Wikis, blogs, videos, all kept offline. News articles revealing mishaps and game function are actively removed. Screenshots, pictures, and forums are systematically deleted. One wonders where the internet is being hosted given the level of control the Company can exert on the public sphere.
And that’s what makes this so confusing. Nobody can do that at this level, not even China. Admittedly, the Chinese don’t usually try very hard to circumvent the great firewall, but they could, and from what I’ve read it’s not even hard. To go one step further, why are you silencing free publicity? This is like trying to kill people promoting your hit single. Why? (I’ll grant that at least some stories attempt to justify this with some pretty vile things happening behind closed doors at the Company, but that’s an exception, not the rule. Yes, even though these are nigh omnipotent organizations, they still aren’t prone to actually doing abnormally shady things. Just normal corporate shady things).
Why me?
This is probably the mildest sin of the lot, making it the last and least of them. If the first sin is driving home that our hero is special, the final one is not having a reason for it. It exists in a juxtaposition between “I am the best at gaming since ever” and “this is an entirely new game unlike anything which came before”. Our protag, despite supposed skill, end up bumbling about for the first quarter or half novel, learning all the systems in this new game. So why are they special? If they’re no better than everyone else at intuiting the game’s systems, then why do we care about their l33t sk1llz?
Thankfully, this is a reasonably uncommon sin, that usually gets at least some effort put in to explain the why. (that reason need not necessarily satisfy, but at least there’s a fig leaf) I’m not saying that every story needs to explain how our self-insert is special, but if you’re going to drive home how special they are at every turn, it certainly helps make that less unpleasant if we know why.
In Conclusion
Lest this seem like an overly critical piece, many of these stories are still very enjoyable and fun. Litrpg has many tropes, but two core ones are self-insert and power fantasy. As you might have gathered, the sins directly relate to these tropes and are mostly just taking these tropes to 11. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a power fantasy. They’re fun, enjoyable, and a good time. But taking it to 11 often breaks the suspension of disbelief and makes the world feel as artificial as the game they’re supposedly playing.
Until next time, take care of yourselves
-Wo’ah the Wise