You can edit titles now

 

I've been following this story for a while, and I really enjoy it.

Most stories set with the Gamer power set usually follow the same formula from the original webcomic, with instant dungeons, loot drops, crafting, Intelligence-based mage build with a thousand mana abilities, party systems, and so on. This averts that, and other problems with Gamer stories, HARD. The main character follows a Vitality-based tank build, focusing on being a tough Brute. The main character doesn't become friends with Taylor and the Undersiders for no apparent reason. With no party system, no instant dungeons, no loot drops, and no monster spawns, the story manages to avoid the grinding that most Gamer stories suffer from.

The main character starts out as a homeless druggie bum working for the Merchants for money to survive off of. That sentence alone would make this story seem like it would be trying to be edgy and oh so dark. However that's not the case here. For one, the author himself was homeless for a number of years, so he's speaking from experience. The drug habit (marijuana) is a coping mechanism, and truly is more in line with what might be expected of a more liberal college student. The Merchants in this story are mostly the result of bad press: one overreacting mother spreading the rumor of the Merchants forcibly addicting her son to drugs, and since that is the sort of thing that people would like to believe about gangs, that is what they will believe. They aren't a misunderstood group of good people though--they are still a gang that is a main supplier of drugs, that is composed of felons and villains.

The main theme of the story, on top of the personal journey of the main character (which is entertaining on its own), seems to be seeing the other side of society. It's much the same way that you would judge a man on trial for murder less harshly by knowing that his victim had killed the man's family--that the lens that society views the homeless and downtrodden is tinted by how different they are from you. It is less heavy-handed than I am making it sound though, with the story being just a good story told from an unusual viewpoint.

In summary, a good story set in Worm that is probably the best Gamer story that I have ever come across, that is amusing and entertaining. 5/5.

 

Definitely enjoy this one. It's a gamer fic that doesn't end up just being constant amounts of magic, lists of millions of skills, and infinite XP cheats.

I don't remember any jarring mistakes reading it.

Only problem is that the story's slowed down - it was a chapter a day at the start, but it's now been over two weeks. I (apparently) like Potato Nose's stuff - I'm watching all their story threads... But only one of them has finished, the rest trickled to a stop.

4/5, easily.

 

Been following this from the start.

The Most impressive thing for me has how the characters voice has really developed as his intelligence has increased. It's subtle and slow but when I realised it made me really appreciate the skill of the author. Also, the story is informed by the author's own experiences as homeless and it in some part informs how rich the story is. It gives it grit and real humanity.

It's very well written and I have to give it 5/5 for a worm story, up their with tabloid for me.

Unfortunately, the author lost his notebook with future chapters and plot line during a festival and it has slowed down commensurately since then.

 

Who even uses actual paper these days, though?

 

I do. Don't know why, but ideas seem to flow better when writing on physical paper.

 

So Potato Nose found some old notes with his formulas on them. Story is updating again, with five chapters since Christmas. Still got the good stuff.

 

Uhh, I don't see anything in the thread saying that he's abandoned it. Just that the story has stalled for a while.

 

I really don't know what he's getting at with trying to add another crossover element. Hope the reaction has convinced him to drop it.

 

I also hope he doesn't intend to make the Party system a big part of the story. It's okay if he's with Circus but otherwise I feel like the party system never adds anything to Gamer fics.

 

Nope, he's currently beyond a normal human in Intelligence. 1-20 is the range IIRC.

 

Yet more evidence that ignoring every post on spacebattles is the correct answer, even for the author.

Even more evidence that every single person who posts on spacebattles is somewhat precious too.