LitRPG Forum discussion

I'm wondering what you all think about books where the point-of-view changes often or for long periodes of time and/or from 3rd limited to suddenly 3rd omniscient?

There seems to be more of a trend in LitRPG that we follow the progression of a main character from n00b to 1337 status, so the head hopping seems to be less common.

Personally, I'm not a fan. I prefer a first person or third person (limited) since I enjoy following the development of the character and his/her discovery of the world (world building through discovery instead of info dump).

I'll admit it's sort of a pet peeve of mine, so I usually just try to ignore it and just enjoy the story. But lately I've been having a bit of an unlucky streak in books I've (started to) read. For instance in one of the books (book #2 of a serie) the main character sort of went awol when he joined an academy to study magic. Suddenly we were introduced to, and followed a totally new and unknown character (basically a new main character) for a couple of chapters. It might actually been more but since I got bored and stopped reading I don't know.



So my questions is as follows. What is your view on this and especially in litrpg? Is there any way to avoid books like this (it's annoying not finishing a book/series because of this)? Are there any known lists of p.o.v. specific litrpg?

Chiming in to share that I 100 percent prefer the MC's pov over multiple PoVs in LitRPG. I've even been guilty of skipping non main PoV chapters to get to what I percieve as 'the good stuff'.

I hate first person pov. I hate it more in romance or young adult fiction than in litrpg. It makes more sense in a game environment so I go with it. I don't mind the head hoping if it is not too often because I like to know what is going on and if that is the only way to make me aware of the big picture, so be it.

Using limited 3rd party omniscient helps getting some texture to the story. When something happens to the MC and/or his group, you can use 3rd party omniscient to have it introduced so that it doesn't feel unjustified. Someone shows up to meet and help the party? If you've been told a few chapters earlier that this might happen, it usually doesn't feel like the MC got a free ride. It is not necessary, but it helps.

However, it should not happen often. It should be a 2-page quick peek behind the curtain, then you're back to the MC for half a dozen chapters at least before you might need to show something else.

Changing completely the focus away from the MC? Probably bad. There's books where it works, but you need to know very quickly that you have two MC, and they need to be very different in outlook/behavior/fate/etc. An example of this is Krout's Divine Dungeon - you have lots of Cal-focused chapters and in-between lots of Dale-focused chapters, and it works well enough, because one is a Dungeon Core, and the other a budding adventurer and each brings a completely different perspective on the other. But once you see Dale a few times, you understand quickly he's also a MC, so it doesn't feel cheap when you change chapters.

Counter-example in the same genre is Brook's Station Cores. The perspective changes work badly because there's too many of them. There's a dozen "MC", which means none of them are MCs, and the chapters focused on them work less.

There's still people who hated that though. And it happens anyway - not everyone likes the same things.

Thanks for the replies. Sparked a few thoughts.

I can see how 1st pov at times might be tricky. I've read books where 1st pov has made me connect easier to the MC. But I've also experienced cases where it has fallen completely flat. Usually because of the internal monologue, thoughts or feelings just felt....wrong or superficial. I'll admit that might be the fault of the writing style or (possibly more probable) just me not being able to connect to the MC because of my own preconceptions or preferences.

Marty Stu/Mary Sue has at times also been an issue with 1st pov, but in LitRPG it hasn't been much of an issue to me since I kinda like the OP accidental hero trope ("Ooops.. a bug maxed the luck stats in char creation" type) in this genre.

Limited 3rd party omniscient? I do remember the old days of tabletop AD&D 2nd ed where the main character actually was the party. The player characters was "disposable" and would be replaced as soon as one died. In those circumstances I can see how "Meanwhile in the temple across the street..." scene changes would be justified. Actually as I think about it there is a series where I did enjoy that. Gaunts Ghosts isn't actually litrpg although it is a novel based in the Warhammer 40k game universe.

"... not everyone likes the same things." So very true. To be honest what I like might not be the same thing depending on genre, style, theme or time of day :-D

But it's fun seeing that I'm not the only one that has views (or strong views) on this matter. "I've even been guilty of skipping non main PoV chapters to get to what I percieve as 'the good stuff'." I probably should start doing this instead of just abandoning the book. I think I'm starting to get more than my fair share of did-not-finish and I sort of feel bad for not finishing books.

Ha! Never feel bad for not finishing a book. It is your mind. You can fill it however you want.

I agree with what Vincent said. Personally, 3rd is much easier for me to see the world and it's interactions, while in 1st person I tend to compare the MC with myself and often enough that means I view the MC harsher and will be the main reason I chose to return the book unfinished or give a lower rating.

99 percent against head hopping. Very rarely have I enjoyed it at all. Fine with 1st or 3rd limited (glued exclusively to the MC).

Dumitru wrote: "I agree with what Vincent said. Personally, 3rd is much easier for me to see the world and it's interactions, while in 1st person I tend to compare the MC with myself and often enough that means I ..."

1st person is always for a deeply personal story. It's a story about who the MC is. 3rd person allows you to focus on what the MC does. It's simple, but it's true.

(and the corollary is: never write 1st person unless you are very, very good at writing a character)

AHA! Vincent and Dumitru, I think you both just put your fingers squarely on something I've had difficulty understanding and expressing. It might actually be that one of the reasons why I get so annoyed is the shifting excpectations I have to the different points of view.

The book I'm dropping today (Started on it yesterday) after reading 32% is a 1st person pov present tense story and I've had huge difficulties "getting into" the book. I must admit I probably would have reacted differently to a 3rd person. But still the present tense and a bunch of small issues still would have bothered me. But maybe not enough for me to drop the book.