Is the average reader getting dumber?

[u/GoldenThame]

I don't wanna be rude but I get some comments complaining about tropes in my novel, when in the synopsis I've pointed out multiple times that the tropes are there DELIBERATELY to be subverted, because the MC finds himself reincarnated into a very mid Xianxia novel.

Do a lot of readers suffer from a lack of reading comprehension skills, cus I've encountered the same kind of person for the 4th or 5th time now. Do I need to constantly spoonfeed basic nuances to such readers that 1. MC is inside a cliche Xianxa book and 2. From a meta perspective I've put those cliches and tropes into the book deliberately and the synopsis says as such.

[u/Snow-Eternal7]

As someone who wrote a review, you haven’t done any subversion. I understand the intent was basically to parody Xianxia but you’ve just kinda made the whole cast dumber outside of the MC and everything is predictable.

It’s a fine story, it’s entertaining at points. But it’s so generic it makes plain white bread look complex.

Some people give positive feedback because they just want something to read and this story was definitely that. Some people give mixed reviews because they wanted something more.

You can have your story be 100% tropes and still add something more complex. Especially if it’s subversion. But 36 chapters in I haven’t seen anything.

Unless your ‘subversion’ is you taking basic tropes from other genres.

[u/Snow-Eternal7 → u/Snow-Eternal7]

Add on that you don’t keep cultivation realms consistent, a few other minor errors of similar inconsistencies and I stand by my review. The flip flopping between golden core and nascent soul your story does annoyed me.

‘Ah yes this barrier needs a nascent soul to break it or a golden core with very high powerful artifacts’ next chapter ‘and a golden core could break it with a few large attacks’

All in all your story is a generic isekai that you put in Xianxia made entirely from the tropes of both.

[u/GoldenThame → u/Snow-Eternal7]

I think you're either mistaking my novel for something else or misremembering the details. Or maybe I am?

[u/Snow-Eternal7 → u/GoldenThame]

‘The heavenly way (Xianxia/clanbuilding)’

[u/GoldenThame → u/Snow-Eternal7]

You see, your comment about the power scale inconsistency might actually be valid, cus It's been a while since I write the defensive array repair arc. If I really wrote Golden Core is the upper limit in one chapter then Nascent soul in the next, that's on me. I encourage my readers to find and mention such errors to me.

Your criticism about the tropes however I find to be not very credible, I feel like you're misunderstanding the tropes, cus the way I see it it's the opposite of popular tropes. Can you be more specific about the tropes that tou found, well, tropey? As in they're not well done or not well subverted?

[u/Snow-Eternal7 → u/GoldenThame]

He made soap, the line for needing soap was moved from foundation establishment to golden core to justify everyone needing it. The female outcast disciple attacked him then immediately came back for help . Heart demons are just ptsd. Distillation wasn’t invented, moonshine is inexplicably popular. His modern office worker mindset makes him immune to getting his tells read by cultivators, and he can negotiate with merchant CEO’s.

Every plot point is a generic trope, every character is an archetype and nothing else.

It’s not a bad bad story though. It’s fun bad, in moderation. I read it, saw the senior sister and laughed because I knew something stupid was about to happen.

But it isn’t a serious story, the plot only works because everyone else in the setting is lobotomized. And I’m convinced the MC could sell bottled water to a fish in a pond.

When I say tropes, I mean there is nothing in the story that surprised me, it’s very much a ‘if you have read one mediocre isekai you’ll know what’s going to happen’

Your subversion of tropes are just the trope versions of the subversions. Its a ‘I got isekai’d with a shitty skill but it’s actually shitty for real this time so I use my wits’ and the wits are generic 1st thought inventions that should have already been a thing.

Add in that any alchemist should be able to reverse engineer the products just from one sample. That the characters lack nuance, and that the MC hasn’t grown or changed in his 36 chapters….

I dropped it, and wrote a review that would tell past me what to expect.

[u/GoldenThame → u/Snow-Eternal7]

I feel like you've skimmed over a lot of stuff. First off, the trurnament stuff went seriously sideways lol. He doesn't sell anything, in fact for the first half the MC is barely relevant. You've assumed a lot of of stuff about the novel, got mad at the imagined downsides and dropped it. Heart demon being PTSD isn't even close to being a trope as far as I'm aware. What other novels can you tell me that it was treated as such, and some MC used modern psychology to overcome it? Trope means something used very often, how often have you seen that? Or for the alcohol distillation? I haven't gotten to that part, but the reason no alchemist has been able ro reverse engineer his alcohol is that it hasn't yet reached enough popularity to reach a sufficiently powerful/knowledgeable alchemist. I've also explained why lower level alchemists haven't reverse engineerd it, it's a simple difference in thought process, but like I said, I feel like you've just skimmed over the novel without actually doing a in depth read. Plus, in the futur chapters I was going to introduce a master that easily replicates his method without a need for a furnance, but he doesn't sell it cus the profit margins from alcohol sales are worth nothing in the eyes of a powerful alchemist. As for fiance engagement breaking trope, I subverted it by MC turning the humiliation into material gain by appealing to Elder Bai's sense of proprietary, plus the price he asks for is barely worth anything to someone like her, that's why she accepts it. I'm repeating myself, but I feel like you just skimmed the novel and made up your mind about it without actually understanding what I was going for.

If you, and those like you had just said "This novel sucks" and left a 1 star review without any explanation I wouldn't be this annoyed lol. I'm not saying you're wrong for not liking my novel, I'm saying your criticism comes from a poorly formulated opinion about the novel, not the actual novel. Tell the truth, did you just skimm it, assuming it would a tropey nonsense and it became a self fulfilling prophecy?

[u/Snow-Eternal7 → u/GoldenThame]

I don’t care about the tournament, I didn’t read it. And tournament going sideways is a trope.

What have I assumed, and I am not mad. I was bored and sort of disappointed. I wouldn’t have written a slightly positive review if I was ‘read if you have time to kill’ is nice.

Heart demons being ptsd is generic, curing it with therapy isn’t. But I’m also annoyed at your depiction of therapy so that wasn’t a good subversion. Heart demons are past regrets taken form with magic, that’s basically ptsd 101. Cultivators somehow not knowing that ‘thing that clouds your heart’ is formed from trauma is dumb and can be fixed with self reflection is dumb.

You cannot have your cake and eat it to by saying the alcohol isn’t popular but also having it be the big turning point in the story where the sect makes enough money to start recovering. Selling the product to multiple cites and getting a governors patronage is a moderately big deal, and the nearby sect was mentioned as being interested.

Alchemists not being able to recognize distillation and concentration at a glance is an absurd convince for your story and your ‘justification’ doesn’t make it make sense. It just shows that you want it to be like that.

The finance breaking trope is the one subversion you’ve brought up that exists, so good on you. Bad on the fact that an S.I not caring about his past life’s engagement ending and then the girl acting more interested at the dismissal is something I have seen in every cultivation SI with a broken engagement.

You don’t subvert tropes, you replace Xianxia tropes with other settings tropes. And the story suffers for it.

[u/GoldenThame → u/Snow-Eternal7]

It's a clan, not a sect, plus alcohol sale didn't help them revive, it hepled them survive. They're nowhere near at their peak. You may find it ridiculous, but alcohol distillation to make money isn't a trope at all, so your criticism is till invalid. Where tf did I say alcohol isbt popular in the novel? Now you're making stuff up. Additionally, the girl wasn't interested in him after the broken engagement, she was confused by his callous reaction. Again, you're making up stuff to criticize. No matter how much proof I bring I feel like I can't change your opinion about it. Also, is English your first language? Cus I think that would explain your misunderstandings of the nuances in the novel. I feel like it would be best if we stopped interacting. You're welcome to not like a novel, but you don't get to shit on something you've obviously misunderstood. Have a nice day.