Sounds good but can we set it in a world that inexplicably has explicit game mechanics? And can the protagonist be absurdly strong because of some technicality that somehow nobody else has run into? I feel that would really set it apart from the competition.
The universes where each and every would-be hero is terminally stomped for merely thinking about going on a quest are uncountable.
There are countable subsets where something other than that happens, and one of those subsets is where the universe rules provide enough wiggle room for a hero to win.
It is all but certain we live in one of the former. Stories about the latter give us hope that we might not be.
Compare: Why do the Power Rangers not simply create the Megazord in the first place and stomp the bad guy before its inevitable enlargement?
I’m not complaining about a hero having some kind of advantage that allows them to go on an epic quest. I’m complaining about the devices of a) fantasy universes inexplicably having game mechanics like character levels and numeric stats and b) the protagonist being ridiculously overpowered, usually without expending any effort.
The former feels like a lazy shorthand so the author doesn’t have to be able to actually depict power differences well; just pretend everything is Dragon Quest and throw around a few numbers. The latter is instant gratification wish fulfillment that may be nice every once in a while but feels wildly overused.
Heroes can win without being overpowered. They can start out weak and grow with their challenges. They can even stay weak but persevere through it all. I think a heavily condensed Lord of the Rings clone would probably make for a more compelling story than yet another cookie cutter story à la “I Got Reincarnated In Another World And My Cheat Skill Made Me Level 9999 Instantly”.
Sounds good but can we set it in a world that inexplicably has explicit game mechanics? And can the protagonist be absurdly strong because of some technicality that somehow nobody else has run into? I feel that would really set it apart from the competition.
The universes where each and every would-be hero is terminally stomped for merely thinking about going on a quest are uncountable.
There are countable subsets where something other than that happens, and one of those subsets is where the universe rules provide enough wiggle room for a hero to win.
It is all but certain we live in one of the former. Stories about the latter give us hope that we might not be.
Compare: Why do the Power Rangers not simply create the Megazord in the first place and stomp the bad guy before its inevitable enlargement?
I’m not complaining about a hero having some kind of advantage that allows them to go on an epic quest. I’m complaining about the devices of a) fantasy universes inexplicably having game mechanics like character levels and numeric stats and b) the protagonist being ridiculously overpowered, usually without expending any effort.
The former feels like a lazy shorthand so the author doesn’t have to be able to actually depict power differences well; just pretend everything is Dragon Quest and throw around a few numbers. The latter is instant gratification wish fulfillment that may be nice every once in a while but feels wildly overused.
Heroes can win without being overpowered. They can start out weak and grow with their challenges. They can even stay weak but persevere through it all. I think a heavily condensed Lord of the Rings clone would probably make for a more compelling story than yet another cookie cutter story à la “I Got Reincarnated In Another World And My Cheat Skill Made Me Level 9999 Instantly”.