Yahtzee Wrote a Book

[Sevenfest]

I regularly watch ZP.. it's a highlight of wednesday coming back from work to see which game's been lambasted and after a patch of sub-par reviews it's good to see him back to form, Just Cause 2 being a worthy example.

That said, this so far seems a side-project that's going to need to simmer. The writing style reminded me of fan-fiction.. regardless, I enjoyed the excerpt which is all that matters really, so if I can find this in a store I might grab a copy, especially at that price. I'd be curious to see how Yahtzee's talent develops, if it does at all.

Also, not getting the LFG 'rip-off' claims. If anything it seemed more of a 'doff of the cap', a reference rather than any long running aspect of the story. I can see there being plenty of tributes in the book.

Though just from saying that I had an image of George Lucas on Robot Chicken..

GL: "And I ..thought they smelled bad on the outside?"
Fan: "YAAAY, JUST LIEK THEY SAID IN TEH MOVIE"

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Rather shockingly amateur. Certainly doesn't benefit from his trademark rapid delivery, which effectively mitigates the occasional weak joke. Definite nod to Pratchett with markedly lesser charm. I think he can do better, and maybe he does.

For the record, it is possible to write well using excessive, flowery language, but you've got to be almost flawless. The moment you drop a subpar image or descriptor is the same moment you lose the reader. You've revealed yourself as puppeteer, and the show is over.

 

[masqueblanc]

Well, I was excited before the extract, and now I am torn between excitedly leaping up and down and cursing the fact that I have no money. I shall have to go off and rob someone's granny, then I'll be right back to preorder it ^^

 

[OANST]

Holy crap. That was laughably bad.

Screw you, its a satire of mmo's which goes about it by making the story that one of the npc's, Jim, has become self aware as have many others. Anyone who has played an mmo will understad the humor involved. if its not your cup of tea then get the hell out of the tea party.

I liked it, and I already ordered it a month back. Hope it comes soon.

Oh, no. See I'm not saying that I don't understand it. I'm saying that it's bad. As in poorly written. Glad that I could clear this up.

Well I think your wrong, glad I cleared that up. Really - what were you expecting from Yahtzee? Stephen King? Its a cheap book that is good in its own context.

I'd like to see you do better.

Stephen King isn't very good, either. Granted, he's miles ahead of this, but he's not exactly one of the greats.

You'd like to see me do better? No, you wouldn't. You don't want to see me do better. You just want to act like a petulant child and stick your tongue out at me.

Look, I'm sorry. The language is stilted. It reads like someone who thinks they are clever trying to be clever except that it isn't clever. The dialogue is terrible. It's conversation written by someone who apparently has no idea what people sound like when they talk. Everything about it screams amateur.

Also, it strikes me as strange that some of you are so vehemently defending a man who has made a career out of being insulting against insults. "But, but you're being a big jerk"! Yeah. Okay. Maybe I am. But isn't that why you love this guy so much in the first place? Because he's a big jerk? He's a super troll, and while that's occasionally amusing, it's certainly not a basis to ignore his own failings. He's a bad writer. This is really bad.

He's a jerk in an Ironic, satirical way. If he just mindlessly fired into games, nobody would like him. He clearly doesn't, as anyone who has seen his videos will surely agree.

I would agree about his writing skills, though. It definitely screams amateur. However, he does have some time to improve. I wouldn't dismiss him as a writer, yet. Terry Pratchett has come a long way from his first novels.

If you want to be admired for being a jerk, you're going to have to be a lot more ironic, and self aware about it. That's Yahtzee's strong point. He's not really a jerk. He's just created a character, a persona that is a satirical take on a 'jerk'. Most of what he says is true though. It has to be, otherwise no one would relate to it. He's certainly not a 'troll'; not by any definition I've came across.

He's admitted to overlooking good things in games and exaggerating their flaws because that's what his viewers like about him. So basically, he insults the work of other people to get a laugh. That's pretty much the definition of a troll. I'm not saying that he isn't funny, or that he isn't good at it. Let's not try to say that he's objective, though.

Anyway, that's all beside the point. I really think it was bad. I wasn't trying to win brownie points or get laughs. I just think that it's poorly written.

 

[adderseal]

Great writing disappears from the page, as it becomes the imagined world in your head.

The more I read this sentence the more I realize how utterly brilliant it is in its simplicity. So, so true.

 

[Mr. Grey]

Sorry, I have to say that this book was bad for me.

Not nearly good enough to pay for it in my opinion; there are some things in this book that has already been done before that I take a deep concern with, the dialogue feels stiff and I can't discern a real personality from any of the characters and how some of the characters react entirely seems out of place and uncalled for.

If this is the best he can muster up for a teaser to get me - honestly everyone else, I just figured this to explain my opinion - to purchase it, I just honestly can't pay for it. I've read bad books before, ones that started promising and ended up being complete and utter trash.

While this won't be that bad, the ones that were certainly trained me to know when I see a book that's a trap. And my alarms are going off that there is a landmine right in front of me.

The good news is that I see potential and that he can get better. I'll check out his next book and see if that remains true, but this one certainly isn't my cup of tea. Again, I've read worse, five to be precise... three of which started promising.

 

[The Ambrosian]

It started off and I was thinking it was a bit mediocre, but I started to get into it, and will be buying it.

 

[AngloDoom]

Being a total lit-fag, it does jab me a little that it's not that well written, a bit "clunky" as others have said, but I like new concepts and ideas that explore new regions so I'll probably end up at least checking it out. Hell, I read the 'Twilight' stuff simply because I thought it was an interesting idea, Hollyoaks meets Vampires. It wasn't exactly a great book, but I liked the ideas and I appreciate someone trying to make something new. Even if some of the 'new ideas' books just come off as a kind of self-indulgence.

 

[Magnalian]

You got to admire the amount of Fan Fascism. When someone says it sucks they 'have to back it up' or 'do better themselves', yet you can safely go 'OMG IT'S AWESOME' without any kind of argumentation.

Funny.

Doesn't that happen all the time? If the majority of people like something, when somebody says they don't like it they get questioned.

 

[DayDark]

You got to admire the amount of Fan Fascism. When someone says it sucks they 'have to back it up' or 'do better themselves', yet you can safely go 'OMG IT'S AWESOME' without any kind of argumentation.

Funny.

Doesn't that happen all the time? If the majority of people like something, when somebody says they don't like it they get questioned.

It does happen all the time. I don't think the problem is that the negative get questioned. Ideally everyone would be questioned, the positive equally. One says something is awesome, another should go "why?", just like the negative. Then we wouldn't be swimming in all this relativism, where everybody is discussing the quality of the writing, without analysing the writing. It's like everyone wants to address it, without touching it.

 

[Midniqht]

I hate when only snippets or sections of books are released for preview...
Personally, I have to read more than one chapter to decide whether I like the content or whether I'll be able to connect with the characters at all. I don't understand all the people that are jumping to conclusions after having read this small section.

I've already got mine preordered - it's cheap for a book. Why the hell not?

 

[Remzer]

preordered it ages ago from amazon.co.uk

Same. Only from amazon.com.

Now STOP spamming my Escapist!



(just kidding - it's worth it... Spam on!)

 

[AMMO Kid]

I don't read much, but I'll probably pick up a copy after it's out a month or two(pre-ordering always makes me feel like I have to read it right then).

 

[Andrenavarro]

I haven't posted on this forum for a long time, but somehow I ended up reading this whole thread after I checked out the MOGWORLD preview and felt the need to say something.

There is no rule for writing. What you like in a writer might be what someone else doesn't. Someone said this bit...

"The day was wearing thin and the sun was making exaggerated yawns and meaningful looks at the horizon."

... is show-off, flowery writing that is just a long, cute way of saying "it's getting late". Which is a valid point. I happen to like that bit. I like it when a writer thinks of new and creative ways to express something. This passage gets the idea through in a fun manner, and to me there's nothing wrong with it.

It was also said the use of the adjective "flamboyant" without any further clarification is an example of bad writing. Writing doesn't need to be chewed up for the reader. Great writing tends to leave a lot to the reader's imagination, and a "flamboyant sign", in my imagination, was a really overdone, exaggerated sign. I needed no more than that to keep reading -- frankly, that's as much as I needed to know about the sign.

But the bit that means, to me, that Yahtzee does know how to write (something I already thought from his reviews and website), is this:

"The debate ended when someone ran down the street outside, loudly ringing a handbell, and every adventurer in the room immediately bolted for the door. Within seconds the three of us and the innkeeper were the only people left in the inn. All was silent but for the sound of abandoned chairs and barstools gently rocking on their back legs for a moment before falling over with a clatter."

This paragraph created a vivid and comical image in my mind as I read it thanks to how skillfully written it was. Not to mention, in an earlier part of the preview, using the letter Y as a point of reference as to how the city is built, which also did a good job of inspiring the my imagination.

So, to me, this preview is well-written and fun. What I liked about it, you might not like, and that's valid (especially if you present examples and arguments instead of throwing adjectives around).

Writing, and art in general, are subjective. Trying to convince one another here that this is good or bad writing will lead nowhere. And insults will make sure whatever you say next is given even less thought.

 

[TJM8]

the quote on the front says its not just for gamers, but judging from that chapter i think anyone that hasnt played a dungeon crawler or mmo will miss 75% of the references

 

[Kubanator]

I haven't posted on this forum for a long time, but somehow I ended up reading this whole thread after I checked out the MOGWORLD preview and felt the need to say something.

There is no rule for writing. What you like in a writer might be what someone else doesn't. Someone said this bit...

"The day was wearing thin and the sun was making exaggerated yawns and meaningful looks at the horizon."

... is show-off, flowery writing that is just a long, cute way of saying "it's getting late". Which is a valid point. I happen to like that bit. I like it when a writer thinks of new and creative ways to express something. This passage gets the idea through in a fun manner, and to me there's nothing wrong with it.

It was also said the use of the adjective "flamboyant" without any further clarification is an example of bad writing. Writing doesn't need to be chewed up for the reader. Great writing tends to leave a lot to the reader's imagination, and a "flamboyant sign", in my imagination, was a really overdone, exaggerated sign. I needed no more than that to keep reading -- frankly, that's as much as I needed to know about the sign.

But the bit that means, to me, that Yahtzee does know how to write (something I already thought from his reviews and website), is this:

"The debate ended when someone ran down the street outside, loudly ringing a handbell, and every adventurer in the room immediately bolted for the door. Within seconds the three of us and the innkeeper were the only people left in the inn. All was silent but for the sound of abandoned chairs and barstools gently rocking on their back legs for a moment before falling over with a clatter."

This paragraph created a vivid and comical image in my mind as I read it thanks to how skillfully written it was. Not to mention, in an earlier part of the preview, using the letter Y as a point of reference as to how the city is built, which also did a good job of inspiring the my imagination.

So, to me, this preview is well-written and fun. What I liked about it, you might not like, and that's valid (especially if you present examples and arguments instead of throwing adjectives around).

Writing, and art in general, are subjective. Trying to convince one another here that this is good or bad writing will lead nowhere. And insults will make sure whatever you say next is given even less thought.

I think there's a skilled and renowned writer who would disagree with you there.

Spoiler

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Also, there was no flow to it. The problem stemmed from the fact that Yahtzee is a descriptive writer (Denotes facts and information) rather than a narrative writer (uses connotation to provide information). Maybe after Yahtzee works on a few more books and improves a lot, then his ideas can come to life as they should. But for now, they're unique ideas presented in an awkward format.

 

[Andrenavarro]

I haven't posted on this forum for a long time, but somehow I ended up reading this whole thread after I checked out the MOGWORLD preview and felt the need to say something.

There is no rule for writing. What you like in a writer might be what someone else doesn't. Someone said this bit...

"The day was wearing thin and the sun was making exaggerated yawns and meaningful looks at the horizon."

... is show-off, flowery writing that is just a long, cute way of saying "it's getting late". Which is a valid point. I happen to like that bit. I like it when a writer thinks of new and creative ways to express something. This passage gets the idea through in a fun manner, and to me there's nothing wrong with it.

It was also said the use of the adjective "flamboyant" without any further clarification is an example of bad writing. Writing doesn't need to be chewed up for the reader. Great writing tends to leave a lot to the reader's imagination, and a "flamboyant sign", in my imagination, was a really overdone, exaggerated sign. I needed no more than that to keep reading -- frankly, that's as much as I needed to know about the sign.

But the bit that means, to me, that Yahtzee does know how to write (something I already thought from his reviews and website), is this:

"The debate ended when someone ran down the street outside, loudly ringing a handbell, and every adventurer in the room immediately bolted for the door. Within seconds the three of us and the innkeeper were the only people left in the inn. All was silent but for the sound of abandoned chairs and barstools gently rocking on their back legs for a moment before falling over with a clatter."

This paragraph created a vivid and comical image in my mind as I read it thanks to how skillfully written it was. Not to mention, in an earlier part of the preview, using the letter Y as a point of reference as to how the city is built, which also did a good job of inspiring the my imagination.

So, to me, this preview is well-written and fun. What I liked about it, you might not like, and that's valid (especially if you present examples and arguments instead of throwing adjectives around).

Writing, and art in general, are subjective. Trying to convince one another here that this is good or bad writing will lead nowhere. And insults will make sure whatever you say next is given even less thought.

I think there's a skilled and renowned writer who would disagree with you there.

Spoiler

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Also, there was no flow to it. The problem stemmed from the fact that Yahtzee is a descriptive writer (Denotes facts and information) rather than a narrative writer (uses connotation to provide information). Maybe after Yahtzee works on a few more books and improves a lot, then his ideas can come to life as they should. But for now, they're unique ideas presented in an awkward format.

Whether Shakespeare would have agreed or disagreed doesn't matter -- he's dead, so I'm afraid his opinion on this particular case will remain unknown. And his style wasn't the only style a writer could or should adopt.

To me, the writing in this preview flowed fairly well. I didn't have a problem understanding the location they were in, what the characters were doing or whatever was going on, and I had fun reading it. I didn't spot anything I would call, in my opinion, awkward -- what I consider clunky writing are some moments in Noah Gordon's THE PHYSICIAN or the first ten pages of Tom Clancy's WITHOUT REMORSE (I'm still debating with myself whether reading the rest would be an utter waste of my time). MOGWORLD seems like a fun book from this sample, and any further examination I will hold until I've actually read the whole thing.

 

[brunothepig]

First-person narrative, huh? Didn't see that one coming, given that you're always all about letting the consumer immerse themselves in a story (which, of course, is easier when the lead isn't saying "I" every second sentence).

Well, it's not your story is it? In a game, you're supposed to be driving the story, but a book already has a main character. Really, First person perspective does help with the humour, and a book doesn't need the reader to become the main character.
Anyway, I will be keeping an eye out for this.

 

[DayDark]

You got to admire the amount of Fan Fascism. When someone says it sucks they 'have to back it up' or 'do better themselves', yet you can safely go 'OMG IT'S AWESOME' without any kind of argumentation.

Funny.

Doesn't that happen all the time? If the majority of people like something, when somebody says they don't like it they get questioned.

It does happen all the time. I don't think the problem is that the negative get questioned. Ideally everyone would be questioned, the positive equally. One says something is awesome, another should go "why?", just like the negative. Then we wouldn't be swimming in all this relativism, where everybody is discussing the quality of the writing, without analysing the writing. It's like everyone wants to address it, without touching it.

People should give explanation for any opinion they have.

That's even better, then there's no reason to ask why at all

 

[TimeLord]

I knew I had forgotten to do something!

*heads to Amazon to pre-order*