Current opinion on the story
Added 2024-05-13 15:19:44 +0000 UTCHi! So, the usual chapter is coming in under and hour, but I wanted to take some time to test the waters here.
Basically, the number of patrons here has been steadily going down for the last six months or so. It's not really to the point where it's a financial issue at all, so far, but it's a worrying trend. And mostly, I worry about what this means about and for the story.
If it continues on a constant decline like this, bluntly speaking, this patreon will die out before the story is over. So, I'm asking you what you think. Are there glaring problems that have been growing in the background that I just can't see? Is the story just becoming boring? Is there a pacing issue? Or am I worrying for nothing? Am I taking too many breaks?
I genuinely don't know.
No matter what's said in the comments here, I won't suddenly turn the story upside down, but If you have some healthy criticism to give, now's the time.
Thanks in advance for your input. Reading the patreon comments is always the brightest part of my day, I truly want it to last.
(I'm also opening this post to 'members'/previous-patrons, so the people who've left can still give their opinion if they want)
Comments
Granny Moon Dragon is awesome, though. And from a meta perspective, she was a pretty necessary character to slingshot Sofia's story trajectory into a lot of uber-powerful (400-500) people's orbit without it being arbitrary every time.
Drew
2025-03-07 02:03:56 +0000 UTCLove your work. Apologies if this is in bad taste
Joshua Aarons
2024-06-12 21:25:03 +0000 UTCThe only thing that has bothered me was that the teacher arc slowed down personal progression considerably. Part of the draw for me is seeing those numbers go up on the status screens and what not, almost as if they were my own, so it's bummer when things slow down like that for so long. Make no mistake though, I understand the importance of arcs like the teacher arc. I wouldn't unsubscribe because of it though. That seems a little ludicrous
Joshua Aarons
2024-06-12 21:24:16 +0000 UTCI only subscribe for a month at a time when I’m bingeing to catch up with the story. I don’t like reading a chapter at a time and I don’t want to wait for the Amazon release, so I wait a few month and then catch up on royal road and Patreon. Sadly, the Patreon app doesn’t let me do reader mode like royal road does, so it’s harder for me to read the chapters on Patreon. Nothing wrong with your story. Usually I get bored of a series around book 4, but you kept things changing and relevant, so I’ve never been bored of your book. Please don’t stop until you’ve finished, I want to know how it all ends.
Randi Reed
2024-06-10 19:46:58 +0000 UTCIts mostly a natural thing, i'm not saying its good, but readerbase decreases over time as the story continues for years. Newer stories will always sell a lot at the beginning and will continue a slow decline. If they're very successful this decline is not too fast, but it's always there no matter what. Most authors cope with this by writing more books in the sidelines, building a larger readerbase from every new book they create (like I do) solely trusting on a single book for your earnings is not really good. Maybe it takes you time to write, but making a second, third, and maybe a fourth book is recomended to keep earnings well.
Pancakes Witch
2024-06-06 00:33:18 +0000 UTCI love the story, and I intend to keep following it. If I had a critique, it would be that is hard to predict how long any arc will be out how many side tangents it will have, so it's hard to gauge how invested I want to be. The crab/ worm war throw me for a bit of a loop, for example. You've proven that everything will be relevant at some point, but while I'm still in the middle of a New arc I hadn't expected it can be a bit rough. Sofia's reactions are always fun regardless, though.
Nathaniel Cloud
2024-05-16 15:29:40 +0000 UTCI've become a patron and then left around 3+ times by this point. I just resubed today actually. The main thing that drives me away is honestly just choosing how to spend my money, even if this story is in my top 10 to read I don't have the money to support 10 different authors. So I come and go every few months. I don't think the story has gone downhill or anything lately at least not that I can remember, a lot of times I just wish the chapters were more condensed. It feels like such a let down to read another author that releases weekly's massive chapter and then have these chapters end so quickly. I personally wish we got longer chapters on a less frequent basis, but I can see how difficult it can be change something like that after 400+ chapters with this current length of chapter. Not to mention it could negatively affect other patrons who prefer the 5 chapter a week schedule.
RainbowCatTopHat
2024-05-16 07:07:41 +0000 UTCThe biggest problem is granny moon dragon, it dramatically lowered the tension of the story for Sophia to have someone that freaking powerful looking out for her whenever she asks. Add to that a couple of slow arcs. Add to that this being an expensive Patreon. Add to that the fact that you stubbed the story on RR, so aren't going to be gaining many new readers anymore. You see the picture.
quantumsoma
2024-05-15 15:45:07 +0000 UTCThe story somewhat recently became simultaneously low stakes and very exposition heavy. Declaring that Sofia could gain heart tiers beyond S removed all suspense to that point, because of course she'll get at least S. She spent like a week's worth of chapters meandering through a house during a trial (which previously meant near constant action and suspense.) This fucking pokemon battle, while fun in concept, is kinda goofy and just doesn't fit a daily chapter schedule at all. The time skips feel awkward. Sofia's only goal is a vague "get stronger." To be honest, several of these problems will probably disappear naturally as soon as the trial ends or nears its end. But the biggest issue in my mind is that this is a damn expensive patreon. 12 bucks a month gets you Kindle Unlimited which is objectively a better deal in every conceivable way. This remains one of my favorite stories I've ever read, currently only barely nudged out by Ar'kendrithyst, and personally I will remain subscribed for so long as I can afford it, but with the first books moving from free RR to paid Amazon, your active reader base is much more likely to dwindle than grow.
Mrluigi1111111
2024-05-15 06:27:32 +0000 UTCI’m still loving it, but she’s literally on the moon. Nothing that happens here will have consequences after she leaves. We’re really just waiting to see what she gets from the Gotcha. The lore building helped previous trials, but the stakes don’t feel high here and the lore trickle on the moons is just a bit too slow.
Rocinante
2024-05-14 18:04:28 +0000 UTCI think this novel likely has significant overlap with Primal hunter, in terms of reader base, and the nevermore arc has quite thoroughly poisoned readers tolerance for dungeon arcs. The even inside the trial MUST be relevant to plot outside of the trial, beyond Sofia's growth, else people will get bored in that vein i have another thought. Personally, I'm here to see Sofia break things. It remains my primary draw to this story, as the power system and the bullshit Sofia gets up too consistently get me cackling. On the other hand I am not entranced by the plot, and growth isn't enough to carry a story for most readers. We have many threads going on that have the potential to become interesting, but all of them are surrounded by mystery and/or beyond Sofia. Phaegid, the history of the system admins, hunting scripture, curing solvun, . What is even beyond our continent anyway? After the arc where she hunted down her sister, there have been no threats in Sofia's level. Only big ones that we either don't understand or are definitely beyond her. The closest is the trial, but then the only threat the trial poses is failure, and there's no tension in that at all. Having Sofia fail, kills the story so readers know it wont happened, same for the threats beyond her. That means the story lacks tension, There are no rivals, no wars, nothing poses a believable threat. Sofia has little to no connections outside of personal friends, that might require her to defend, as most are stronger or equal to her. We know nothing about the political conflicts of the world. There isn't a conflict the we can latch on to to provide real tension, and most readers need more than being invested in Sofia's growth to keep going. For example, There a resistance in Scriptures church trying to free their fellows for mind control via soul parasite, why on earth has Sofia not had more contact with them? She learned they existed, went okay, and went off to school. What does Sofia really care about outside strength and protecting her friends? Her values have never been tested or questioned, her interested have never really been at risk. I even remember a scene where Sofia questioned this and decided she didn't really know, and would just keep growing stronger till she figured it out. That's fine, but it means that as an author you need to put her in situations where she has to make hard choices that define who she is. Figuring out which monsters to hunt, and what imprint skills to get are not hard choices. Deciding whether or not to investigate a mystery is not a hard choice, of course she's going to investigate, it wouldn't be in the book if she didn't. There needs to be more. Also, this is all partly a consequence of the fact that the world doesn't feel connected and alive. We as readers aren't aware of anything happening in the world outside of Sofia's actions. she's a person of power with powerful friends, and yet, everyone and their mom is apparently a recluse, because on the world stage she might as well be a nobody. There are a lot of disparate pieces that don't seem to interact. The humans are apparently isolated from the world because of a leviathan yet we just don't care about this? There are powerful people who have clearly left cause of the trials and yet have there been any efforts made to connect to the world? Maybe, we certainly don't know. We have met several factions, kingdoms, sects, we even met a guild master, are any of them important? Do any of them interact? how are countries influenced by religion? Would the fact that Scriptures church is basically all mindfucked matter to any of theses other factions? Maybe, we certainly don't know. How are the phageid a secret that only the high rankers know about and fight. Surely there are factions that are aware and are working towards solutions, or are there other threats that the major factions of the planet are busy with. Maybe, we certainly don't know. Who even are the major planetary factions? We have met people who seem to be some of the most powerful people on the planet, yet we also have implications that we haven't even seen most of the planet, and we barely know anything about the activities of said powerful people organizations. Wasn't scripture summoning heros cause they were at war? I don't even remember what that plot thread was. Have we met the major factions or not? Maybe, we certainly cant say for sure. Apparently I had a lot more to say about this than I thought once I got going, and actually thought about it. Tldr; This story has a critical lack of believable tension, and there needs to be consequences to Sofia's actions. Furthermore when Sofia's world got bigger, our understanding of it did not keep up, and we are lacking critical understanding of how the forces of the world fit together. For the record I absolutely love this story But the magic system and progression elements can only carry the story so far. No plot can escape from politics and complicated consequences , and when it feels like the world has none, it feels inherently unbelievable and readers un-invest. This is because if a plot doesn't feel believable it might as well be no plot at all.
Inv7ctus
2024-05-14 14:21:42 +0000 UTCWould like to throw in that this is valid, and rying to make the event inside trials have greater implications on plot and characters ouitside of "face danger get stronger" is good advice. Though id argue with a the lore we've been getting this trial Mornns doing pretty good in that regard.
Inv7ctus
2024-05-14 13:32:35 +0000 UTCThis is the problem with poor thought out progression. You introduce new characters and plotlines that the older ones are forgotten and don't get any resolution.
Thunderhoof
2024-05-14 13:15:24 +0000 UTCYeah, that's the problem with OP progression stories. There's no stake on the protagonists they wouldn't die so why would there any tension tbh. I just read at the rewards or the skill upgrades at the end.
Thunderhoof
2024-05-14 13:13:28 +0000 UTCYeah this side arcs are quite boring tbh. I just read through the results or rewards in the end.
Thunderhoof
2024-05-14 13:06:50 +0000 UTCWant to be honest? Trial arcs or tutorial arcs are boring. If we know that there's no stakes here and nothing could kill the MC what's the point of slogging through the trials why not go to the end and see all the rewards. There's no progress in the story whatsoever. No character building, nothing.
Thunderhoof
2024-05-14 13:03:59 +0000 UTCGuess I will add my two scents. For reference I'm caught up early 400. I like to stack chapters since I always end up bored when I read daily, this often leads to me catching up then maybe subbing for a month and going back to stacking. Now kinda unrelated but also not, just more like my personal rant on what I'm currently reading... I have read quite a few LITRPG/web novels over the last few years so my preferences have definitely been changed since the early days of my reading. Personally I would say I have started to dislike what I would classify as "instance dungeons" that drags on. Now I don't like to talk dirt about the little guy (especially in public) and zogarth can probably take it (at least financially) so currently I'm trying to catch up and get through nevermore and finding it a drag (it's a hell of a lot longer than your trials it's also far more narrow in scope) , the reason is simply that once you have these "instance dungeons" aka isolated trials or actual dungeons that others can't really enter the outside influence that can be exerted on the mc often becomes quite low and drastically decreasing possible outcomes. Now what this means is that my head which try to see possible paths for the story as I read goes from having a lot of options to often ending up on a straight road. 1. Mc will survive. 2. Will anyone else die? (to quote Harrison Ford "it's not that kinda movie") So probably not. 3. Mc will gain some power ups in the "dungeon" and that's nice but it's still bogged down by this story that is now on this narrow trajectory or have little relevance later on. 4. What happens in the "instance dungeon" stays in the "instance dungeon". Beside possible power ups and very rarely a killed of character most of what happens in them have little future relevancy to the future story. Now I'm not caught up on shadow slave but all it's "instance dungeons/trials" while isolated had to do with extensive lore for the story making a lot of what happen in them still very relevant. Mentioning this due to the similarity of your first trial. This was very good as it allowed the introduction of characters that were still relevant and telling lore without doing an info dump. Now like I said I'm a stacker so I will probably be back once I have more chapters to binge. And like I said I don't think your trials have been too long or that poorly done, this was more of a rant on my current reading frustration. There is actually some novels out there and on RR were I think the "instance dungeon" were the worst part. Again not really saying you have that issue. But then again maybe I'm just wrong in my opinion since zogarth has been doing better since the nevermore arc... Some people definitely prefer to binge trials/arcs etc when they happen though as I have seen a lot of people asking if said arc is done on other novels before. I don't have a final answer for you but I really hope the novel don't die.
Andre
2024-05-14 11:14:35 +0000 UTCYeah I did pause my payments for the month. But it had nothing to do with the story. More so I just needed the extra cash, I did it for all my people I follow
Meganclare7
2024-05-14 07:29:13 +0000 UTCThe story is great, but the pacing feels like it's slowed down a bit. I also feel like she hasn't had as focused of a goal lately which makes her feel more directionless even if there is the main god killing goal.
Kvetha Fricay
2024-05-14 04:34:10 +0000 UTCStopped reading a while back, not sure why just felt like she became to op to quickly and the power creep was a big problem. She is basically.on the level of the super op world bosses or whatever they are (at the place I'm at) and just feels like she can destroy everything with no problems. She got to much power to quickly and now I don't really know where she should go from there.
Calleman20
2024-05-14 03:20:22 +0000 UTCThe story is kinda amazing, even now. Switching from simulated trials to physical trials was a good decision. It seems like people desire escalation. I see it, the story has been in status quo for a while. Looking forward to whenever we meet Anna.
Forint
2024-05-14 00:01:21 +0000 UTCHope you find something soon!
ErrebanRrereban
2024-05-13 23:30:46 +0000 UTCSo it's looking like theres about three reasons for the drops- A/ The world is going through multiple recessions, food and everything costs more. People are getting poorer and patreon is a luxury. B/ People think the story is lagging. This has been in the comments on and off since the first trial. I've been reading the whole time, it's probably never going to stop being a comment. When you go back and read, or read the books the pacing is actually fine mostly. It feels like it lags more than it does because we're reading daily. I have more tolerance for this I think because I've read webcomics for 20 years and I'm used to getting a page a week, so arcs always take months to years. C/ Some complaint about writing style(and formatting?). I've seen things going from "who asks questions in there head?" (I do) to "Well I guess it's cause she's a girl and I'm a boy so I can't self insert?"(lol). Some of the comments might have a point, but a lot of them are pretty tainted by personal bias. There is some slow down on banter because Sofia is alone (and has been alone a lot, which to me explains how here inner monologue adapted), but she still sasses Pareths, and he's getting more able to communicate back which is just Really exciting to me. Bookie being able to talk is helping with that too I feel. The trials are a bit of 'a drag' I guess? But they're some grinding and have been a lot of information on how the world has worked. All the new information on the scribes has been through this trial. Anyway, if I hadn't accidentally subbed for a year I probably would have dropped a couple months ago because I lost my job mid last year and haven't found another one yet, food is expensive, and I'm having to moving soon because my rent is too high for this shitty rundown house that the landlord won't fix anything in
Non
2024-05-13 22:46:35 +0000 UTCI suspect that lots of people are like I am currently and just feeling a large financial squeeze in life. I come back and binge read every three months or so and would gladly stay subbed all the time if I could afford it
James
2024-05-13 22:27:01 +0000 UTCFormer patreon here who stayed in the free membership and continues to read on RR: Simply put, I give myself a cap of 25 € per month on this website to just keep memberships going even if I'm not heavily invested in the stories at that point in time. When I got a bit burned out with the story and the current arc began, I had pledged for eigth months total and was above my cap, so I cut the stories I wan't invested in at that time. As to why I haven't rejoined: to be honest, from what I can see from the first paragraph of each chapter on the patreon, Sophia is still far from finished in her trial and there is nothing "I simply can't wait for and need to read RIGHT NAUW" and until I saw this poll in my notifications, I was just content to wait for something to hook me again.
Songy
2024-05-13 21:47:20 +0000 UTCI feel that for this trial arc, as well as some of the arcs before it, there has been a lack of overarching tension/suspense. I feel like I could not read for the rest of this trial arc and probably guess at what the final outcome will be with relative accuracy. Whether I’m correct or not doesn’t really matter as that’s what it feels like. I also agree with the pacing issues, I feel like arcs have been needlessly padded out with what feels like filler, for example the most reason card battle just feel so disconnected and irrelevant to the rest of the story I just don’t care. I feel like I could skip all the related chapters and miss nothing important. To counteract the negativeness I will say that when the story is good I still really enjoy it, it’s just that good has started to be interspersed with way too much what feels like filler.
James
2024-05-13 21:33:32 +0000 UTCIle to reed trials in one go and don't have much money so I'm waiting for being sure that trail will end and I'll be able to know all her gains there and that will be the moment when I will rejon in paying tiers
roxurio10003
2024-05-13 21:12:55 +0000 UTCThat's a good point. This is probably my highest cost patreon subscription.
RoruRedTailedDolphin
2024-05-13 21:03:15 +0000 UTCI still like this story a lot. I do feel like the pacing seems slower than it did in other chapters, in that scenes seem to be getting split up into multiple chapters now that might have better fit into a single chapter in retrospect. Also, the number of cliffhangers seems very forced, and the sheer volume of cliffhangers in recent chapters is exhausting, and actually has me caring less about the resolution of any given cliffhanger.
RoruRedTailedDolphin
2024-05-13 21:02:38 +0000 UTCCurrent Arc (level 249 filter) just feels grindy and dragging. There is probably a reason for the exposition and backstory. But it feels like alot of time not getting very far.
Inusan
2024-05-13 20:29:57 +0000 UTCShe has not left the moon yet....
Scott McCarthy
2024-05-13 20:12:45 +0000 UTCYour Patreon is just on the expensive side for me.
Rasmus. G. Mulvad
2024-05-13 20:03:40 +0000 UTCPacing feels a bit slow. Despite learning a couple new spells and whatnot over the last arc, having Sophia and company being locked into lvl 249 for two arcs now has created some drag. Love to see the numbers go up!
Stephanie Creasy
2024-05-13 18:53:00 +0000 UTCIt just cost more to support than other stories. There wasn't an option at a smaller tier.
Wade Eyerly
2024-05-13 18:38:21 +0000 UTCThis is my favourite WN and the only one I have gone on Patreon for. I'll occasionally let my Patreon sub drop before renewing because I like to let some chapters build up and then binge them.
fluor
2024-05-13 18:29:14 +0000 UTCI am still reading the patreon chapters as soon as they come out and have been enoying it a lot, but something that I have noticed that is bugging me is there is no overt issue/plot right now. Sure there is the issue with scripture, the deep, the phageid, and maybe the missing admins etc. But the issue with those is that they are all long term issues. There is nothing "interesting" happening in the short to midterm other than Sophia needs to get stronger. But that is only so interesting for so long. There should be situations we're she can use her improved strength to overcome some issue/villain. Idk the best metaphor I can come up with is that right now kinda feels like goku training to one day fight someone stronger, but all we see is him training with kami and never see him fighting other people who are causing other, smaller issues in the mean time. So right now she is stuck in this trial for a year without being able to improve and being limited compared to normal. That's fun and interesting but not enough to be a plot hook on its own imo. Her needing to fight the destroyer was cool but idk it never had any sense of urgency because the time limit still feels so far away and it also felt like you gave her an out with her runes so she could just walk away if she needed to. I guess that is what I am trying to say, there has been a lack of urgency/legitimate consequences for failure (for herself and others around her) for a bit of time, and that can make things feel like they are just dragging on. To me I have been feeling that way probably since she reunited with her sister. Again I am still enjoying this a lot and these seem minor to me, but I do think there is room for improvement in that regard.
Tdthy
2024-05-13 18:27:28 +0000 UTCSo far, anyone who has played with Sofia has been harmed. The crab got out in one piece, she didn't steal anything from him, she didn't gain anything. Maybe if she got extra mini quests/insights from deep as part of the power up. Maybe Sofia is becoming a little too polite, following the path painted by others.
Little Dragon
2024-05-13 17:51:27 +0000 UTCSo, 6 months ago puts us roughly around the beginning of the school arc. I could see some people being put off by that. And now we're in the trial arc, which is kinda grindy. There's been some plot but mostly killing stuff, so if you're a reader that's plot focused that isn't ideal. The book release on Kindle/KU was only three months ago, so the timing doesn't correlate directly. That said, I have to assume that your conversion rate for free sites->Patreon went pretty close to zero when the stub went in, but don't have the slightest idea if Kindle/KU->Patreon conversions would make up for that.
Mark
2024-05-13 17:49:13 +0000 UTCI'm someone who fell off as a patron due to financial difficulties but the only thing I've found an issue with is pacing. I'm sure this'll be useless feedback but I love the action and comedy elements of the story and love the absurdity of Sofia as she plays off of other characters, but when it's the long lonesome grind sections of the story those elements either appear less or get bogged down in the fighting as well. I love the idea of the trials from a world building perspective but narratively it kind of pulls the breaks on character interactions which feels like some of the best bits of this story. This story really reminds me of Exterminatus's "Everybody Loves Large Chests" in the absurdist humor but I think being able to include more of that into the grinds might make things less of what feels like a slog at times for readers.
Dethati
2024-05-13 17:39:27 +0000 UTCI like the trials well enough, but especially this most recent one feels like it's dragging on. Given that in terms of days to deadline it's just gotten started, this one's going to be easily two books equivalent, which is just too much.
steamrick
2024-05-13 17:35:38 +0000 UTCThe system inn the story feels lacking and every time you need too grant Sofia a new ability but you have limited skill slots you tac on a title system through a dagger, a new summon through one of the deep ones or a mana heart through a trial. This makes the system feel incomplete and shallow. There is a difference between bugged and incomplete just ask EA.
Fate Hydrax
2024-05-13 17:30:42 +0000 UTCTo make something clear I support several writers and I don’t plan to cut off any as long I have the money to support them.
Michael Zinkstein
2024-05-13 17:25:53 +0000 UTCStory is great, but the current trial arc I do not like
The3picPr0
2024-05-13 17:23:34 +0000 UTCProblem is not the story i think. More likely how people spend their money. I am supporting more than one person on Patreon. If you think about it supporting someone is a kind of luxury. If you don’t have the money for it you can’t do it. Now logically spoken, it is a way cheaper for the people to buy the book on KU. Look at the support package the other way around. I pay xx Bucks a month to read the chapters ahead of Royal Road. After I catch up I get a number of chapters each week but I have to wait for them again like on Royal Road. Only difference I am ahead of Royal Road. Now people cut of the support, go to the next writer catch up and after this they cut the other guy. To stop such behavior you need something unique to stop people from cutting off. Even exclusive Sidestories would not work. After read they would do the same. Maybe offering some long time benefits? I don’t know if you can see how long one is supporting you. But if you give longtime supporters something like name one character or they could be come up in some sort of credits in the next afterword, that maybe could motivate them.
Michael Zinkstein
2024-05-13 17:23:25 +0000 UTCFor me it is just that I dont like the current Trial Arc its going on for a long time already. I am stockpiling chapters on RR atm so I can read the whole trial at once, cause the wait is killing me xD Everything else is fine :) But that I had to cancel my patreon membership with you was more because of my financial situation. I purged basically my whole patreon support. Anyways keep up the good work and when my Situation gets better again please look forward to getting my subscription again
Daniel Budde
2024-05-13 17:16:19 +0000 UTCEverything up to finding the sister was great. Academy was well-paced even though you frequently made comments about having to rush. This current trial feels like it's dragging on too long. You're making an entire book out of something that probably only deserves half a book at most.
E
2024-05-13 17:15:34 +0000 UTCHello, I've been following the story for a while! The story is great but I think I interrputed Patreon for a while because I was broke ? More seriously, sometimes I get really into something that I've just discovered (could be a new novel I'm binging) and I don't read new chapters as they come. Once they pile up too much, I reevaluate "do I really want advance chapters ?" because sometimes the free chapters caught up to where I was and/or I don't feel hype atm (because I was so into something else). So maybe a few measures that could avoid this problem without having anything to do with the story is : - actually releasing chapters less often but compensating by making them bigger (could also be positive for writing maybe ? Bigger chapters are tastier individually, so it's more hyper ; it can keep us addicted better, even during flatter tempos) - having a bigger amount of advance on Patreon (in terms of time) : for example, Mecanimus's stories (The Calamitous Bob and Changeling) have a few MONTHS of advance chapters, making it very hard to stop once you've begun (not complaining) if you want to keep following the story I think that once you have a backlog it's not really more effort to do 2 or 20 advance chapters so it shouldn't necessarily reflect on the price
sebsebs
2024-05-13 17:15:30 +0000 UTCThe story is great, I just only subscribe for a month every so often and binge-read all the new chapters at once. Furthermore, I deliberately wanted to read the current arc in one go, so I'm waiting on that too.
Nicholas Paterson
2024-05-13 17:05:39 +0000 UTCI think your primary issue is the earlier chapters no longer being online for free, and that is largely limiting you to you current readers (and it's not like WE wont buy the offical version just because the original iscstill up). No major issues with the story. The school arc felt abruptly finished and left some plot threads undeveloped. This current arc, unlike previous filters, if we compare to RPG games, seems less linear and more open ended in nature. Without the intermediate goals of getting to the next floor for example, Sofia is left wandering more in hopes of finding what to do next. We still know nothing about the bonus task or how exactly Sofia is going to go about upgrading her scribe. The result is the pace feels a little slower in this arc. More importantly than these knitpicks, dont start losing confidence on us and continue writing the best planned, creative, and executed story you can. We have faith in you. If I think of more feedback, I'll jot it down.
Cyclone001
2024-05-13 17:00:55 +0000 UTCAfter writing this comment I realized it really comes off as armchair writer but since you wanted blunt comments I decided to post it. I do genuinely like the story and find it entertaining despite what I’ve said. Also I used quotes from the story because often feedback is super vague and quotes make it more actionable, but I know it sounds pretty rude, sorry about that. Lastly I am definitely in the minority for RR, I primarily read female lead stories and my favourite chapters are always conversations, so my feedback might not be proper for SSS. On to the comment. For me the issues with SSS are mostly style issues. If you compare SSS to similar stories written in the same format (serial, internal thoughts often in parenthesize) SSS is much more detached and has a lot more to tell. One major bit of this that I'm sure you've heard is passive voice, which shows up a lot and just makes things feel impersonal. Another bit is fluff, often I feel like a non-zero part of chapter's are sentences that don't need to be there as well as lots of unneeded adverbs. A small example is here in chapter 428: “And most importantly… Why did you not wake me up?” The most importantly kinda softens this sentence and makes it ironically feel less important. If Sofia just says “why didn’t you wake me up” it makes it seem like she is mad or accusatory which I think works better for both the scene and Sofia's character as real people don’t think most importantly before they talk about something. The importance of the sentence could've been conveyed through thought about how she could’ve been ambushed while she was sleeping or something of the sort. Maybe a thought about how she has to be more careful, might have made the stakes seem higher because Sofia is more worried. If Sofia isn’t worried then I as the reader don’t need to worry. Sentences like these come up a lot with unneeded adverbs which again make the story feel kinda detached and scenes less impactful. . On the note of detachment I think a lot of this comes from most of the chapter's simply describing what Sofia or others are doing without commentary or a strong narrator’s voice to give characterization. Example: “Sofia gave up with the hole. She crafted herself a bone coffin of sorts, attached a bunch of bone chains to it and changed the last ring of every chain to become a hook. She summoned her troop of a hundred skeleton rats through Bookie, and secured them all to the hooks with bone dominus. The entire process took about five minutes, after which she simply wrapped herself in a blanket and laid down inside of the bone coffin before closing it back on herself, and making it a blessed construct instead of Pareth.” I’m not sure how this paragraph could be changed but it’s pretty boring as it is, show not tell and all that. Maybe a bit of internal monologue where Sofia says she feels like a vampire/thinks or misses Astelia? Another note here is the use of passive voice (wrapped, attached, changed). The use of ‘after’ also makes it feel like I’m reading a list of some sort. Another important factor is that the paragraphs are always very short which breaks ap[art thoughts and makes them feel shallow. Longer paragraphs can let scene's feel longer and less flighty. There are many instances where they'll be a short paragraph with another sentence following it that could easily belong in the paragraph or should be in another paragraph not just hanging out alone. For example: “The secret exit wasn’t all that hidden, it was just a hole in the ground in a room guarded by four Veik royal guards. And it was just that, a hole, not a relatively clean and straight tunnel like everywhere else in the hive, a simple hole that looked like it had always been there. Everelle stood on the border of the hole.” The Everelle sentence feel’s weird to me just floating. It’s also possible this is just a me thing and/or a royalroad style thing. But I do think having sentences float like this makes scene’s feel much less detailed and immersive. The bits in italics are also weirdly flighty and light and I think affect characterization the most. I think this is because they're written like how we talk to ourselves, not how we think to ourselves. When I'm talking to myself out loud I make comments and say many rhetorical questions but I don't think that way, I may think the same thoughts but they're not framed as a question. when I saw this post I didn't think in words "I'm going to write a long comment" I just started writing the comment, the thought was ephemeral and not put into words. Sofia making these internal notes could be a really good character bit if she was called out on them, i.e she's kind of weird and talks to herself. Or it could be a commentary on how she's alone/without people who talk often and how that affected her. She talks to herself to cope. These types of character traits are what gets me invested in a character makes them feel human. Sofia doesn't feel human because she isn't often affected by her surroundings. For example: “What a mysterious person. It only makes me more curious about the Sunless. Where do they come from? Why do they work for the system?” Here Sofia is pushed down a hole but she’s thinking about anthropology which really takes me out of any drama or interest that an action like being pushed into a hole that might lead to the centre of the moon brings. There are many comments that Sofia makes like this and I think they really distract from the story. Although they could be good as I said above if she’s called out on being flighty and/or jumping from one topic to another super fast in her head. Overall I really like the worldbuilding of the story but I feel the style keeps the story from really being great. Sofia just doesn't feel real or relatable because she seems to think in a way in which I do not think. I should note again here that maybe other people relate to her and I am just very weird which is a definite possibility. But relation is necessary for empathy which is needed for me to be invested in the story. Since Sofia always feel’s absent from the moment, I as a reader also feel this way and thus am not immersed. Hopefully this was helpful and didn’t feel like I was insulting your writing or something of the kind. I’m only writing this comment because I really like SSS and want to see it succeed. Thanks for writing this story, I’ve really enjoyed it.
Noralations
2024-05-13 16:58:16 +0000 UTCFirst of all, pretty much everything that first hooked me to the story is still there: - The mystery around the deep, its enigmatic lords and their connection to Sofia - The weirdness around the system and how strangely it behaves (this has gotten even better lately, shifting from Sofia just getting weird, bugged-out skills due to a class mashup, to hints about Admins and Scribes with their own agendas and potential inter-system conflicts) - Sofia being completely insane and baffling everyone with it (this too has gotten more pronounced and I love it - who cuts off their own head to test a skill??) - Sofia's creative and unconventional ways of solving difficult fights (recently: stuffing a "skill grenade" into a hollow doll to get eaten by the destroyer, to name just one example), elevating them beyond mere "tyranny of stats" or "superior skills" so many stories seem to resort to - The shenanigans of the various gods / recessed, getting to see their various schemes, eccentricities, and f*ck ups, and how Sofia manages to play a part in so many of those - Delightfully weird and quirky characters (Ihuara, Bookie, Tartaros, Hatred, just to name a few) For all those reasons, I probably won't be dropping this story anytime soon. I can just speculate what's behind the apparent decline in subscribers: - As some have pointed out, both the story and Sofia's power progression have been somewhat slow recently. Not to the point that it's a problem (I think), but it is noticable that the recent arcs have been particularly long, with relatively few events of great impact over longer stretches of time. Personally, I think it's fine to give those moments a bit more space to "breathe" and to take some more time for smaller revelations and personal moments, but some people might be looking for a faster pace. I've noticed some other stories work more with time skips or other tools to pick up the pace once the MC reaches a height were progress is naturally slower. - Ever since finding Saria, it seemed Sofia lacked a goal beyond "grow stronger" and the extreme long term "defeat scripture". And she can do little to prepare for the second goal other than growing stronger (or if there are other ways, she doesn't pursue them). Some might prefer a bit more direction / perspective for the mid term, beyond the extreme long term. - I don't mind the reduced number crunching (love it in fact), but I think I've seen noticably fewer updates about skill levels and similar system notifications. - Few(er) cliffhangers (?) - I haven't counted if there really are fewer of those or if my memory's a bit selective here, and as a subscribed reader I'm grateful either way. But if I'm being honest, for more than one story, I've switched from Royalroad to Patreon because I had to know what happens next.
Kota
2024-05-13 16:51:06 +0000 UTCThe story seems to have slowed its pace down lately. I really like reading about how she comes up with crazy plans to defeat inadvisable foes, and I also really like the mystery of the admins and finding out more stuff about the world, as well as the interactions with other characters. The stuff in this trial is certainly bigger than what happened in the earlier ones, so I understand the arc will take longer. I don't know if it's just a perception thing since I haven't gone and looked at how many chapters different stuff has been taking.
Vorpal Corporal
2024-05-13 16:47:39 +0000 UTCFor me it's mostly the MC being a female... Noticed it a few months back actually, very few stories with female MC I actually finish, I just get bored of it after a while and drop them even when I don't want to... Calamitous bob, beneath the dragon moon eye just off the top of my head, great stories but get bored after a while... Probably because I can't really emerse myself? Being a dude, feels like it... Even more annoying when your story has some of my favourite genres included, necro with bone spec and isn't an edge lord/or complete cunt... Soo yeah sorry... Edit: looked through all the stories I'm reading right now and I'm down to 4 with FMC of about 30 ish stories and can already feel I'm starting to lose interest in one of them...
Mike
2024-05-13 16:45:32 +0000 UTCI dropped my patreon support due to money getting tighter due to being in between jobs. Was supporting four ongoing stories and I cut it to only one. Unfortunately I chose a different story to continue my support on. I'm still following this on RR and liking it, I plan on resuming my contribution here once my finances are healthier.
John Lentner
2024-05-13 16:43:41 +0000 UTCI haven't really been caught up in the story since...ugh I can't even remember the characters name. the Vampire Uncle, him being captured and released from whatever mind control thing. And then the big fight after that the school used Sophia as bait for or something. Again its been a long while. For me I noticed I was roughnly skimming each chapter at that point, and Im also reading alot of other stories. ADHD hits hard and honestly I think what happend is I got bored. Im not sure what it was exactly, it could be pacing, it could be that at some point Sophia succeeding became inevitable in my head and the stakes just weren't real, it could be that there just wasn't alot actually happening in terms of overarching plot or even interpersonal relationships between important characters, idk. But recently I thought to catch up. So maybe I will
Draeysine
2024-05-13 16:40:34 +0000 UTCHave you considered adding additional smaller tiers, like 10ch/$6 or a support tier without chapter benefits? I was spending way too much per month on stories and needed to purge. The easiest way to save money while remaining subbed to as many stories as possible was to unsub from most of the $10+/month stories. I'm still enjoying the story overall and will likely resub in a few months.
Anonymous
2024-05-13 16:35:42 +0000 UTCThe trails are a completely different world and it is hard for me to immerse myself because too much new stuff is introducted, making it shorter could help. The battle with Victor and the resulting titles was epic but I have to admit I don't remember much else of the trail. Also the story with her last name and the admins is interesting mystery. I like the small sidestory were she scares people by e.g. mentioning her last name or her dragon grandmother, maybe with a different PoV.
Pavlov
2024-05-13 16:33:26 +0000 UTCIf you are asking for problems about the story, then I don’t really have anything for you. Just a couple of minor nitpicks like I don’t really like teaching arcs. If you’re asking Why I stoped being a patron it’s more just it was supposed to be a one time thing and also it’s slightly more expensive than every other story which messes with my calculations on how many subscriptions I can take
Renn Hansen
2024-05-13 16:33:18 +0000 UTCThis arc is dragging for me.
General Raith
2024-05-13 16:31:59 +0000 UTCBeen reading since chap 103 was released and I loved the story overall but its just kinda started dragging on with more and more characters being introduced with our old one being seemingly forgotten. I almost feel the need to have a notepad for old characters you introduced just because they have become so utterly meaningless in the story like that apostle Sophie ressed no idea his purpose at all or any of them aside from skelly dad.
LUCE
2024-05-13 16:20:46 +0000 UTCI like the story and I like Sofia, but for me, instead of steady threat escalation to deal with her growing power, it would be interesting to solve more intersocial/interpersonal dilemmas. Stuff that her powers or any ability can just solve. I love characters interacting meaningfully and I think that's been a bit neglected. Midn you, I'm also about 10-15 chapters behind because of that, but I'm not planning to drop this unless my financial situation requires
GrimV
2024-05-13 16:12:04 +0000 UTCI'm sticking around cause I'm invested but it certainly feels like the story has slowed from the pace it has before. The stakes have also changed with it feeling like there's very few people able to challenge her left. That said I liked the stakes that were introduced of Sofia trying to protect her students and wonder how things could be changed to reflect Sofia's now ridiculous level of power compared to most people in this world.
Chrystal 1776
2024-05-13 16:09:08 +0000 UTCSo it may seem slow but honestly thats fine if you got your plan and extra on how it goes honestly doesnt matter what the reader thinks as the story will flow into shape
Marvin bennett
2024-05-13 16:06:36 +0000 UTCHey, i was a patreon some time ago and are currently Reading in royal Road again. For me its a Lot about the mysterious around the deep and the Casual Interactions with the lords that i liked alot. I think it Always Epic (and propably Brings people to get patreon around Fights or situations where the MC has some Epic Situation, Like everything going down and MC Drops in and saves the day. Also what i saw on other Stories and what i and some other people in the comments already pointed Out is the Low risk high reward factor, even If it Hurts to write Sometimes the MC has to get a setback so the reader sees losing is an Option. Of course its inportant to have a good Balance, dont need the MC Always to struggle even If she should be steonger than for example some Bandit or a third rate villain. Hope that helps. I propably will buy patreon again (have to say i am more a monthly supporter than one of the real goats Here) If there is a big interaction with her now Name father, Like fighting scripture and in the middle the lords are watching from the Side or something xD. But its already a great Story with a Lot of lore, and its Always hard to find a good Spot between Action, Progress and a good pace to the end.
Christoph Krusemark
2024-05-13 16:06:31 +0000 UTCMe personally about 15 chapters into the trial i stopped paying mostly due to funds but to come back the story was like Middle priority as the trials will be done if i came back in a month or 2 since things didnt seem as important as the arc with her and the dragons and the system etc. and yes i read a little about the stuff shes learning in the trial. So id probably fit mainly in its fine but maybe a little extra but as i stopped mainly due to affordability i still think the story is a 8/10 or 8.5 so far
Marvin bennett
2024-05-13 16:05:18 +0000 UTCIt might just be normal churn but the story is long enough to make it hard to pick up new subscribers
Ike5421
2024-05-13 16:04:59 +0000 UTCThis trial is definitely going too slow, especially for five chapters a week I think I got a little too caught up in describing everything from the start when I really have to skip stuff. I'll make it go faster after this battle.
Mornn
2024-05-13 16:03:49 +0000 UTCThe story feels slow, I like it when a chapter has something meaningful happen. My favorite chapters are when a problem comes up and gets solved during the chapter while still feeding into the larger arc. I am going to stick around for a while though
Ike5421
2024-05-13 16:01:59 +0000 UTCI look forward to chapters every day and have majorly enjoyed this story so far. I think you may be just running into the inevitable with serial stories; not every chapter is going to be the best most action-packed, intrigue filled chapter, and some people just don't have the attention span/patience for it. Far as I can tell though, you've only improved in your writing. Keep it up, and thanks as always for the chapters!
Tetrisman87
2024-05-13 16:00:09 +0000 UTCI personally really like the trials as a progression system. It feels more earned than "get to level cap, select option from list populated from achievements that definitely aren't cherry-picked to make the protag op". That being said, I do feel that trials could still feel earned while being shorter. I do still feel engaged from week to week, but it can be a surprise to look back and see how long we just spent on an arc.
Wensber
2024-05-13 15:59:39 +0000 UTCWe are missing a more short term and dangerous antagonist for sure...
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:57:50 +0000 UTCI partially agree, though the shenanigans she pulls of to win some fights is very engaging.
Beeees!
2024-05-13 15:57:21 +0000 UTCThe more varied her skills the harder it is to have a creative solution to stuff, but I agree that it's more interesting. I'll try harder! The editing was hell but I got through it, book 2 is good to go for publishing!
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:52:10 +0000 UTCPersonally I really like it when Sofia interacts with the system and her skills, with her being level capped and doing her trial has slowed down her acquisitions of new skills and skill merges. I still really like the story and I'm going to continue to support you here on Patreon.
Custus
2024-05-13 15:49:08 +0000 UTCI often find myself skipping the fights. Especially this arc since I feel no real investment in them. If there is no hook to the fight, it's just a listing of her skills in a random order. To me the fights are the weakest part of this novel
WindGunner
2024-05-13 15:47:07 +0000 UTCI'll work on the pacing, I think one thing that's been slowing it is just how little time I've had to plan ahead lately, making me drag the action longer than I should sometimes... I also miss the wacky keywords but it's becoming hard to fit in without taking away some, Sofia just has too many options for things she can do already, it's actually becoming a bit of an issue
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:46:00 +0000 UTCStory is still great, no problem there. I dropped the patreon because i have less time with exams and life in general, i'll come back when i have more time👍
Tsukyo
2024-05-13 15:45:52 +0000 UTCFeels a bit stale, i put the story down for a bit to let chapters build so im quite a bit behind. But I agree when Sofia is by herself it can get a bit boring.
DidWeDoThat-
2024-05-13 15:44:50 +0000 UTCI think for me it's that challenges feel like a pause in the story. We don't see any of the characters other than Sofia, we don't get progression and they take a loot of chapters. I took a month long break (still subbed) and after 20 chapters it didn't feel like the story moved that much. Like it feels sometimes that even if I skip 15 chapters I won't have missed much. I still love getting chapters everyday, but the challenge arcs currently don't fit well into the narrative and feel like they drag on. Damn I love the Pokémon arc tho
ErrebanRrereban
2024-05-13 15:44:29 +0000 UTCI still really love the story, but gotta chose where I spend my money ...
Koala
2024-05-13 15:44:28 +0000 UTCI wish I could write more of the new novel tbh but just writing and editing SSS for amazon is already taking 100% of my time ;-;
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:42:57 +0000 UTCI think it's a bit of a weakness of the genre and Sofia's growth slowing down a bit lately. People like these LitRPG / Progression fantasy stories because they're low effort to get into and it's fun watching number go up. Particularly in the early chapters when the protagonist starts from nothing and grows rapidly. Unfortunately though when they get established and their growth slows down it's harder to maintain that same dopamine like appeal. Hopefully by the time you reach that point you've gotten your reader invested enough to stay (which for me you have) but not everyone is going to be attracted to the story transitioning to a slower pace. Specific to this story, Sofia kinda isn't in much danger anymore. She's established herself as a powerhouse at her tier and her only real enemy is Scripture who can't do much to threaten her unless she turns up at his doorstep. The major character development was seemingly resolved upon finding her sister, and the 'weak to strong progression' had it's major payoff at the Victory fight. The magic school arc was also kinda stagnant progression wise. I think a lot of the things that attracted people to the story are resolved or plateaued and people are hanging around because they're invested in the story at this point (or leaving because they're not). As for solutions I'm not entirely sure. The mana heart and going beyond SSS rank is compelling for a progression standpoint, but after she achieves it and attains her OP power where does she go from there? You can only get so OP before things start becoming meaningless. You could benefit from introducing more threats to Sofia also since Scripture doesn't really cut it anymore. Hell difficulty trials and such are cool and all but having an actual threatening antagonist cuts different to exploring dangerous environments. Just some thoughts though, I personally don't have any intention to drop this series
Lorevi Q
2024-05-13 15:42:15 +0000 UTCI don't like to cut into the number of advance chapters if I can help it, I'd like to make it grow, actually, I'm just always short on time is all... RR readership is doing alright, I think I lost about 10% of daily readers from the stub and it has been relatively stable since. There is no real influx of new people, though.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:40:45 +0000 UTCI havent dropped the patreon since i subbed but i do not read for a long strech so chapters can build up others might drop patreon for a few months for the same reason
TheLost
2024-05-13 15:39:51 +0000 UTCThat certainly has a part to play in this yes...
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:38:05 +0000 UTCI did try to make the trials be a bit less disconnected after some people expressed how strongly they felt about this during the first trial, still something to work on, I suppose.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:37:18 +0000 UTCStory is definitely still good. Pacing has been a bit slower this arc though. Maybe one or two things of note per chapter is how it feels sometimes. Interesting stuff happening for sure, but I've found myself letting at least a few chapters build up so I get a more satisfying chunk. As for the past 6 months... that's been all level capped stuff yeah? Important stuff and fun for me and many patreons to read, but a lot of litrpg readers are addicted to that mini dopamine rush of "numbers go up". Obviously you have baked in plenty of other meaningful progression, but some may be craving the next evolution or numbers progression.
Hodge Wasson
2024-05-13 15:37:04 +0000 UTCThis is just my feelings, but it feels like the story bogs down a bit. When it's just Sofia minimally interacting others it gets boring for me, and I know we have had some big revelations recently in the story but the minimal interaction with others just makes it feel like an info dump. Another consequence of the minimal interaction makes Sofia feel like she's just murderhoboing around and I just don't find that super interesting.
Knight_Redundant
2024-05-13 15:36:41 +0000 UTCPersonally I recently joined early this year so it can be a bit biased but basically I feel like this arc is a lot slower or maybe diluted than earlier. Could be because I was used to reading 350 chapters in a few days but we're nearly 60 chapters into a new arc with no end in sight. Personally I prefer high quality chapters with denser story than high word count on tight schedule. My most favorite patreon sub is releasing like 2 chapters a month if I'm lucky and I really happy that it stays that way. Or maybe the removal of the free chapters? I keep supporting the authors of novel I like even if I no longer read it, but usually unsub the ones that take down the free to read chapters (after I scraped them of course).
Natthaporn Hongcharoen
2024-05-13 15:36:33 +0000 UTCStory backbone is great but it's starting slow down. This only my opinion but it's starting to get somewhat repetitive and to many details that seem the same.
Mocherthrath
2024-05-13 15:36:29 +0000 UTCStory is great, left for own financial reasons.
Floyd
2024-05-13 15:36:19 +0000 UTCI still love her adventures, but as time progressed you lost a bit of the "original hook": combined skills. There has not been the opportunity to gather more words for wacky skill choices like "DISPEL MAIDEN" that can be excused, Sophia is really high level now after all. But the other thing is that the pacing is slowing down? Like, I feel that not that much gets done or the arcs go for a bit too long? Or they get resolved far too quickly for the set up they have. Fixing the pacing issue should be ok and bring the story back on track (also maybe some funny words)
Jackers30
2024-05-13 15:34:42 +0000 UTCI kind of believe it's not a story issue. You have been amazingly consistent. It's more of a long story on RoyalRoad and Patreon issue. New stories tend to earn more Patreon members. At some point it makes sense to stub and publish to generate a different revenue stream, but it also changes the way new Patreon members are brought on board. Some authors always keep a novel fully on RoyalRoad to get new people interested in them, and hopefully transition to Patreon and their published work. See braided sky for example. Publishing rarely works immediately and is more of a long term solution. So yeah, maybe put effort in making the best of that new novel you've started recently? And use that to draw readers in. To conclude: nothing is wrong with our skelly princess novel :)
Emanuil Glavchev
2024-05-13 15:34:18 +0000 UTCFor me it's what feels like a lack of progression and the big block of debt levels thar feels like more lack of progression that is coming. Earlier I took a month break (still subbed) to let the story build up a bit and hopefully get pretty far into the arc so that I would be "stuck" in the challenge for weeks. I then realized that even with 30 chapters it doesn't FEEL like Sofia hasn't progressed. There's been subtle stuff sure, but I think a big draw of the early books was the experimenting with new powers and that has basically stopped. There's also thw fact that the challenge arcs feel like a pause in the story. And this one has been going on a whiiiile. Love Sofia tho
ErrebanRrereban
2024-05-13 15:34:14 +0000 UTCHmm... I see what you mean, kind of, Sofia spending long spans of time alone just fighting etc certainly doesn't help.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:34:13 +0000 UTCThere will have to be considerable time skips at some points inevitably, if I had to guess with how I see things, we should be about a third of the way through the entire plot at the moment.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:32:07 +0000 UTCI'm loving the story. The only reasons I can see people leaving would be because they need to save money. I know some people say that the pacing is slow, but I personally like a slow burning read. Too many storys are aways so quick to move on to the next big thing...
Kennyevilmonkey
2024-05-13 15:31:37 +0000 UTCHow has the RR readership faired over the same time period? I have dropped stories for various reasons, but as long as the advance chapters do not start decreasing I doubt I will stop until SSS is over. But ya, lost of authors with patreons. Though to many newer ones seems to be the same request for a fraction of the advanced content, i have seen some 3 or 4 advance chapters for the same Shirtaloon charges for silver (which is 8 weeks, or 24 chapters). thsome might feel less guilt over dropping a author with more perceived patreons then one with less if they have built up to many.
Scott McCarthy
2024-05-13 15:31:26 +0000 UTCI think to a certain extent the issue might just be that you've lost the influx of new patrons you might otherwise have, since you stubbed book 1 on free sites. People come and go, but a lot less new people come when they can't start the story anymore without paying amazon.
Tejing
2024-05-13 15:31:23 +0000 UTCI do feel like the pacing of this part of the trial is a bit slow too, actually, it'll go a lot faster as soon as the boss fight is over.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:30:30 +0000 UTCI still like the story, I just never cared for any of the trials, since they are pretty much focused on Sofia alone and I usually read stories for the character interactions and the effect the character has on the world around them - which doesn't happen in a fictional trial or a trial on another planet. Currently still reading, but I did previously drop the story during both trials only to pick them back up later on. Other than that I don't see any real issues with the story, I just think the initial momentum might be dying down a bit, which is a thing with every story, but especially significant on platforms like RR where there is a constant stream of new popular stories - and if people find a new story that interests them they might subscribe to it and drop this one, since you only have a certain amount of money to work with.
SDCard
2024-05-13 15:29:11 +0000 UTCI know for me personally I left because I only have the funds for a few patreon at a time, so I like to rotate between my favorites every few months in order to somewhat stay ahead of royal road for all of them, usually royal road catches up, I read a few chapters and then get excited and flip my patreon. Haven’t had time to do as much RR reading lately tho due to life stuff. Nothing wrong with the story in my eyes.
IJustWannaRead
2024-05-13 15:29:02 +0000 UTCYeah that has always been the main reason people leave, I think, but other authors don't all face a constant decline like me, so I can't help but feel like there should be something I can do better somehow.
Mornn
2024-05-13 15:28:27 +0000 UTCI think it's becoming a bit repetitive, not exactly but kind off. I can predict where it's moving in general which is not the issue. The issues are with Sofia for me. She is becoming a robot as time goes on, I never expected too much character development and such in a litRPG but there were some here and there but those are missing. I'm not sure if it's a glaring issue or not but its definitely cutting on MY enjoyment.
Master man
2024-05-13 15:26:53 +0000 UTCI enjoy the story. I never impose my views on author creativity. Patreon decrease could be due to people deciding to wait for a stock of new chapters to build up before resubscribing again. At least, that is what I assume.
T E Low
2024-05-13 15:26:50 +0000 UTCLove the story however I think the pacing has gotten a little slow as of late. Also due to the massive level gaps between the high rankers I think some large time skips will be needed to reach level 400+ content in any reasonable time period.
Silver Dawn
2024-05-13 15:26:32 +0000 UTCIm not sure how to really put it but i was thinking about it the other day and the pacinf feels a bit off at times, like some of the mini arcs i guess feel inconsistent on how long they take, i still enjoy them but that may be something to consider
MeridianNeko
2024-05-13 15:26:30 +0000 UTCI look forward to each posted chapter, but the one thing that bothers me is that the complexity of the solutions to Sofia's problems hasn't scaled with her abilities. It seems like there will be several chapters detailing how complex a problem is, and then a one chapter resolution where the problem is almost handwaved away by the use of some specific skill in its standard way. Of course then you might run into pacing issues. Either way, I'm still enjoying the story, and I hope your editing time was productive.
DJ
2024-05-13 15:26:28 +0000 UTCAs someone that's left relatively recently I didn't have any issues with the story, I found other stuff and fully intend to catch back up when I can binge again
david kirkup
2024-05-13 15:26:01 +0000 UTCThe story is amazing, but sometimes it becomes too slow paced. But it's not a big problem. For example in my opinion there have been so many chapters on the moon but not much has happened
Vangelis Theodoratos
2024-05-13 15:25:39 +0000 UTCI like the story, but I am saving up chapters to read arc at once
Rhaid
2024-05-13 15:25:30 +0000 UTCProbably just the ‘not a recession’ going on. People have to be more careful with their spending and while your tales are certainly worth the money, a Patreon subscription is not a necessity like say food or utilities.
Tanner Hinze
2024-05-13 15:25:07 +0000 UTCTo me, it's more like money is getting tighter so sometimes you clean out your subscriptions to save some money monthly
JSaximus75
2024-05-13 15:23:36 +0000 UTCgot nothing that bother me, I like the story as it is. i don't know why people are leaving, but I hope it clears itself up. greetings from austria
Oke Bruhn
2024-05-13 15:23:32 +0000 UTCI think its just people finding other stories that interest them and not being able to pay for all the patreons. Your story is good but I think they want to try others too
Daniel Kaegi
2024-05-13 15:23:26 +0000 UTC
