I heard mention of this site after checking out the LitRPG page on Reddit, and wandered on over to the forums after reading the first dozen or so chapters of The Wandering Inn. I've learned a bit, just by checking out and reading the posts, but I'm curious about a few things here.

- What are the reincarnation stories like, here? I've heard mention of them, but with no frame of reference, I've got no clue what they're really like. I mean, I've seen that sort of thing before in fanfiction -- it's actually a fairly common way to have self-inserts in the Naruto fandom now, thanks to the story Dreaming of Sunshine -- but I'm guessing this stuff isn't related in any way, shape, or form. How did they come about? What are some common storylines? What sorts of genre are the stories falling into? What do you think I'd be surprised by? If you read it, what sort of tropes do you absolutely hate that keep popping up?

- I have no idea what light novels are. I'm guessing they're... mainly Chinese (?) web fiction, also translated into English, but I could be wrong. What are they like? Can you tell me of any really stand-out ones (actually, that goes for all of the stuff listed, really)? I notice from one thread that people kind of have a love-hate relationship with the tropes from this one, so what do you actually really like about them?

- LitRPG. I know what it is, for the most part. But, one thing I don't know much about is it's roots. I... think it started with the Russian writers? Maybe? I know it's fairly big on this site, but is that a new thing? Actually, how recent even is LitRPG thing here?

- Someone mentioned VR as something separate from LitRPG, so I'm curious about that, too. I've got a story idea that might suit that definition better, so it intrigues me. Is there any definitional difference, or is saying they're different things like... I don't know, like saying caramel can't be a dessert item?

- Is there anything else really big on here? That's the stuff I caught from just wandering around at random, so I probably missed stuff. Enlighten me in my foolishness.

-light novels 're just like what they 're called, 'light', in constrast with normal 'heavy' published novels
mostly light novels' targets 're teens, young adults
it tend to has less drama, romantism, etc.
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-'light novel' can be said to start from Japan, all those LN got translated to Eng. for Eng. readers, after a while, people started writing their owns

-most CNs WN/LN 're xianxia/wuxia, only a few have the Western-setting like Western's or JP's LN/WN
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-reincarnated stories in RRL 're mostly 'inspired' by JP's LN/WN, some by CN's if they 're xianxia/wuxia, though considering it's been around for so long, RRL's reincarnate-theme fictions tend to be 'less' self-fullfilment (or more 'mature') than the ever-so 'Everything-for-the-Fan' JP's LN/WN (stuff like Harem, OP MC, etc.) recently

there're 2 main patterns of reincarnating-theme fictions
+dying in accident or being killed in modern Earth world then being reincarnated into fantasy medieval world with full memories intact
+dying and reincarnated into the faraway future world (fantasy world)

there're other variations but all of them 're built upon using those 2 patterns
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-VR meaning the fictions evolve around some guy playing VR game, most of the time VRMMORPG

-litRPGs 're fictions with RPG elements, stats, level, STG, DEX, etc., generally, meaning litRPG genre includes VRMMORPG (most of the time, sometimes there're VRMMORPG without Game-like elements)
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-what u often stumble on in this site 're:
*litRPG fictions:, which includes:
+fictions in which the world has Game interface and other elements
+VRMMO
+apocalypse
+dungeon building
*reincarnated fictions
*xianxia/wuxia(aka Martial Art) fictions (xianxia = characters can become immortal through practicing M.A, wuxia( = world evolves around M.A)
*transport/transfer into another world

though 1 year ago, it might've be a little different, for now, for every 100 fictions, ~90 of them 're litRPG, ~50 'reincarnate', ~30 'transport', ~30 M.A, ~20 xianxia, ~10 neither-of-those-genres (1 fiction can have as many as all of those genres all clumbed together)

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-litRPG offers an easy way to measure characters' strength, abilities, it's also a part of VRMMO fictions

-reincarnating trope helps skipping all the neccessary characters' developments, giving MC's motives in the new world, explaining the would-be-used convenient & advanced knowledge of modern Earth

-a few years ago, when people start getting bored of all the Harem, HighSchool Student Life, Superpower with Mecha-vs-Sword-vs-Gun, someone came up with the idea "Hey, let's have some guy killed in accident by a truck and reincarnated in a medieval fantasy world", the story being full of fresh cookies, no more HighSchool-Superpower-Characters, no more HaremKing-OP-MC, thus reincarnated theme start becoming a new trend

-slowly & slowly, someone else said "Hey, if it's a medieval fantasy world, wouldn't it be even better if it's game like?", thus, we've litRPG

-and then some guys started wondering "Hmmm, i just recently see a nice 'Stuck in Game World' LN, it's even quite well-known, how about VRMMORPG then?", thus we've VRMMORPG to read :v

-as for VR, i don't know exactly where it started, but most likely JP, 1 of the 1st well-known VR LN is 'Sword Art Online'(JP) after all, there're also 'Log Horizon', 'Overlord', etc., it just so happen to be popular among Russian authors, just like M.A-theme is popular among CN & Time-traveling/wind-back among KR

I think VR / LitRPG / Reincarnation stories all have the same roots - authors that don't want to have to make up a backstory for their main character. So MC can be some random Everydude *just like you* and is thus relatable. That way the author can have their fantastical fantasy world and also not have to worry too much about creating a believable main character - after all it's just some random guy, he can do literally anything without really straining the credulity of the audience.