Temperature check
Added 2024-08-19 15:23:46 +0000 UTCHey everyone!
We're closing in on 100 chapters and I wanted to get a sense of how you all felt about the story so far.
To be brutally honest, I'm not sure it's working, at least, not as a webnovel. Patreon growth has been flat or slowly declining for months now, and while I know the 2/week posting rate probably isn't helping, there are plenty of examples out there of other serials that post at the same rate and have done well.
So! How are you feeling about Thrones of the Fallen? I'm posting a poll below, but please feel free to elaborate in the comments.
Also, I know this is a biased poll, as you all clearly enjoy the story enough to be Patrons, but brutal honesty would be appreciated regardless.
Thank you!
Comments
For what it’s worth my sub payment method expired and I let it lapse a month or two to let a few chapters gather up to binge since the release pacing is the same on Royal road. That said, your book is wonderful and I’ll be keeping the sub active for a few months at least, if not until the end.
Jeremy Russell
2024-09-01 21:38:21 +0000 UTCThe problem with 2 chapters a week is people will unsubscribe until there’s more to binge and then pay 8$ for several months of chapters rather than the amount it would cost to stay subbed.
Josh Cothran
2024-08-28 02:28:23 +0000 UTC100% this. Sometimes you get these comments that read like "Author, why are you showing me all this build up when you could just tell me right now how super awesome and OP this character is." Some people love that, I guess 🙄
JustARandomPerson
2024-08-23 06:36:54 +0000 UTCLove the story but I think it would work a lot better as a book. Especially at two chapters a week the story just doesn’t move along fast enough for this format. I think it might just not hit that desire for instant gratification most serial readers seem to prefer where there is something big happening every other chapter.
Gimped197
2024-08-23 04:43:02 +0000 UTCI love the story and the characters, and this story has twists that surprise me and I love a story that can do that. Being brutally honest I think while some serials do post less often I think they are the exception and not the rule. I'm not sure on your strategy because I read it here, but lots of rr stories do swaps and shoutouts to get their stories in front of new eyeballs after rising stars ends.
Sickul
2024-08-21 07:47:25 +0000 UTCThis story is dark, gritty, and cerebral - not the typical fanfare of Royalroad. Now, I love it. BUT you also see authors making tons of money just putting out consistent trash with no depth or long term story plans where characters just gain power, dungeon, and slice of life. Obviously, I don't give any money to such stories nor read them much. But sadly, it's effective if you can just put out a 2k word chapter everyday (or even twice a day). Even if it's not good. Quantity is a quality all of it's own.
Draddock
2024-08-21 03:09:25 +0000 UTCI love your work, Phil, and you are an auto-buy for me! Re: this story. I love the world, love the world building. I know it’s a ‘slow burn’ but for me the pacing has become glacial, especially with only 2 chapters a week 🤷🏻♂️
Mark Timmony
2024-08-20 23:41:55 +0000 UTCOTOH you're doing an awesome job showing how Harald went from EVERYTHING being his dump stat to now just having 3s in Charisma and Wisdom. Sorry lol. I'm old and can't help but reframe litrpg as DND campaigns and such. Keep writing wordbro
You fool, Warren is dead!
2024-08-20 22:07:51 +0000 UTCI have loved the story so far. I appreciate the slow pace - You've done a great job world building and flushing out the characters. The dialogue is excellent. It's refreshing to have a book in this genre that isn't all numbers go up every chapter with the same old troupes. I'm sorry to hear it hasn't been a successful as you hope. I would compare this to super supportive.
Grant Whittaker
2024-08-20 21:53:39 +0000 UTCI went on a rant earlier about many of these dumb suggestions, and I didn’t mean to suggest Phil isn’t wise enough to discard any that aren’t helpful…just concerned that too much input would effect the creative process. Hew to the path
Johnny
2024-08-20 21:30:37 +0000 UTCAmateur fanfic writers offering writing advice irritates me. Some of em might be talented, fine, who knows. I just find many of these suggestions specious
Johnny
2024-08-20 21:27:52 +0000 UTCYeah on top of that a lot of the criticism is like a wish list for events or timeline/sequencing when without knowing the overall arc or what comes next is absurd. If Robert Jordan (just an example, think what u want about him or WoT) asked what readers thought after book 2 and they said they were dropping it cuz Mat was an annoying character, that’d be on them, since The third book of that series he turns into a badass. I just don’t get how anyone can level any criticism without seeing more. It’s wildly enjoyable as is…and yeah I went to Royal Road hoping for more like this and honestly most of it’s trash. Stay you
Johnny
2024-08-20 21:26:26 +0000 UTCI really like this book. Personally 2 chapters a week is a bit slow for me but I'm staying subbed to support you Personally and help contribute to your others work
Aaron Brooking
2024-08-20 21:15:46 +0000 UTCYeah I agree with this. At the risk of sounding elitist, most royal road readers don't seem to care about character work at all, and that's something you excel at. It's also what makes your actions sequences so great- when you care about the characters you also care when they fail / succeed.
JustARandomPerson
2024-08-20 18:31:11 +0000 UTCI honestly don’t know if reg people can be relied on for legit criticism. (Mine excepted, lol, but then I’m not regular) Few people are actual authors or know the massive amounts of framing/world building/lead up required…story’s not slow at all, not every chapter can be a battle scene. This is great, I’ve read your other work, don’t stop. People read masterworks all the time and complain they “start too slow” or whatever the case may be…Wheel of Time, Tolkien, even stuff like Cradle all have haters that don’t know wtf they’re talking about. I get crowd sourcing opinions but usually people are kinda dumb?
Johnny
2024-08-20 16:00:15 +0000 UTCI like this fic and I'm not going to drop it any time soon, but the action is starting to drag. I feel as though the duel with Vic was unnecessary and possibly Harald's continued growth could have been better shown by a dungeon dive. I mention this as well as the perceived issues with pacing as I believe they're related. It seems as though Harald's duel with Yeoric has been "3 weeks away" for a couple of months now. I normally like fics that move a little slower, and have more of a low-stakes, worm's eye view of the world. Not everybody has to go defeat the dark lord you know. Sometimes a guy just needs to make rent. For that reason I'm not really a huge fan of the whole "every House wants Harald" plotline. All this is my opinion, so feel free to ignore it if you want. It's your fic. But I wouldn't mind seeing certain plotlines compressed and a slightly faster pace overall.
You fool, Warren is dead!
2024-08-20 13:13:15 +0000 UTCI love the story and in particular Sam is a really compelling character for me, and I will happily keep reading and supporting, but I have to agree about sequencing. Why are we getting a second duel when we’re not yet at the first duel? But this story could be really special, I definitely enjoy it as much or more than the rest of your work, I hope you keep it up!
PJ Thum
2024-08-20 11:39:31 +0000 UTCHmmm, this is my favorite of all your stories, however, I read all of those as novels. This story may read better as a novel in a single read based to the pacing of this first arc. Don't change a thing about the characters! Harald's growth to be able to face his initial duel is fast and feels kinda like cheating or maybe 'unearned' is more accurate. That it is taking forever to get to the first duel, despite the insane character leveling, produces this odd narrative parallax that reminds me of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene where Lancelot charges toward the castle yet never seems to get any closer. The second duel is confusing and muddies things. Narratively, It's a repeat of the first duel and therefore adds no further excitement; it just gives the reader the feeling that we are in for even more grinding levels in prep for a duel. How long will THIS one take? Is what we ask. Since we know the first duel guy is getting buffed by Lord Whatsisname (sorry, tired and my name aphasia is up to 11), why are we now having a second duel? Seems narratively redundant. But, I don't want to think this is a negative focus only. Us armchair critics do appreciate the very hard work you put into your stories. You are one of my favorite authors and I was introduced to you by word of mouth (TotF was the one they recommended and love too). It led me to buy and read all of your books). Regarding this story, have absolute faith that the dungeon setting will expand in imaginative and fun ways beyond goblin hack n slash. I think there is lots of room for the nasty politics and overall power plays to unfold in interesting ways. I still feel this is all mostly prologue so far and continue to eagerly learn more of this whole world and Harald, Sam, Nessa and Vic. I have stripped back most of my subs except four, yours is one of the four I keep. I'd like more chapters a week of course, but get it. I'd rather you focus on this story more than the various sequels you are writing as I see this as being something special. Keep challenging yourself as a writer, it is a fun ride so far!
ShivaMcTimber
2024-08-20 09:32:33 +0000 UTCI've actually just canned about 3 or 4 subs (but kept this obviously) this week because I cant justify them anymore, they were definitely good but they didn't have the consistency or quality of thrones, this is by far my favorite series by Phil
Dylan King
2024-08-20 06:00:19 +0000 UTCI joined after Phil expressed his initial desire to have a more stable source of income that wasn’t related to book publishing in order to have more consistent income and time to write other projects. I appreciated that as an idea so wanted to support it. Overall I’ve enjoyed the story and look forward to the releases. My biggest issues have already been addressed by others including pacing of the book and the scope of the book ( just two main settings). I’ve enjoyed the character development chapters a lot and think they’re important but they slow the plot down even more. I think there could be a better balance between character development and pace. I don’t read a lot of web novels but to me this reads more as a novel just broken up into chapters if that makes sense. I feel once a lot of chapters are done people will gravitate more to it or once large chucks are released as novels they will do well. Overall I’m enjoying the story and I’m glad it get to support Phil in a way he requested
Bradley Reuter
2024-08-20 01:19:57 +0000 UTCAh, also as another said above, it's painful to start reading a series only to run out of chapters in like a day, people just want more content to read before they take the plunge with a new book, so possibly when you get to around 150 to 200 chapters the patreon will grow more. Just my two cents.
Dual.
2024-08-20 00:53:24 +0000 UTCImpossibe to hate vic lol
Dual.
2024-08-20 00:47:09 +0000 UTCHonestly, I think the poll results speak loud and well, nobody outright dislikes the series and most like it enough to keep subbed, keep on trucking man, you can make this story long and well supported, though I would love to see 3 to 4 chapters a week lol. As always thanks for the hard work man!
Dual.
2024-08-20 00:46:30 +0000 UTCyeah this is my one complaint, the pacing doesnt really make sense as either a serial or a proper novel. This is a lotttt of set up for him to have his first real fight. Like so far everything seems low stakes because we know that fight is coming
Joseph (Joey) Clarke
2024-08-19 22:21:58 +0000 UTCIt’s pretty great. I’d say that it currently is just suffering from a lack of wider scale plot progression that keeps a reader hooked. It’s still very clearly in its intro stages; Herald hasn’t even fought his first bully yet. I typically don’t sub to slower webnovels till they’re VERY established and I have tons and tons of chapters to read. At the moment I could see a reader enjoying the current bit, then unsubscribing till later when they can binge again.
Fleetpanda
2024-08-19 18:46:05 +0000 UTCAs a big fan of the Immortal Great Souls series I stumbled across Thrones of the Fallen on RoyalRoad whilst looking for an update on when the next IGS instalment was planned. I was impressed enough to subscribe on Patreon but I am not planning on staying continuously subscribed. This is in no way a criticism of the writing, world, or characters - all of which I thoroughly enjoy - I just don't find the pacing works for this format and while I am always pleased to see a new chapter drop, I am not on the edge of my seat waiting for it. If you do continue the current approach I will almost certainly resub once in a while to binge on new chapters but I am unlikely to stay subscribed continuously. I don't think dropping the subscription price or increasing the chapter frequency would change this for me, I enjoy binge reading your stories more than the chapters every week.
NewAshBurn
2024-08-19 18:31:39 +0000 UTCI love this series, dude like really enjoy it, the dialogue is really good, the premise is interesting and the characters are really 3d and amazing, I really hope you continue with the novel, it deserves it!
Dual.
2024-08-19 16:26:50 +0000 UTCtldr; I think the story is great and it's a shame that it isn't getting more traction. I quite like your execution with everything in this story so far: instead of Harold being a nobody, he's the son of one of the greats, and in a sense, is the son of the previous "protagonist"; instead of Harold solving his interpersonal problems through sheer willpower and the power of friendship, it blows up in his face and he has to rethink how he interacts with his friends; instead of Harold being completely independent, he recognizes the importance of relying on other people; I could go on. I also really like how the characters think things through. One moment that stands out for me was how our group practised formations prior to entering the 14th (that might be wrong, I'm referring to the goblin floor) and discussed tactics. I absolutely love this in fiction. If I was forced to critique, I guess one could argue that the plot with Yeoric, as well as how things have been progressing with the main plot line, have been pretty slow. Although, it was specifically advertised that this was supposed to be a slow burn. Like another commenter mentioned, given the recent chapters it's obvious that you're coming around to tackle everything that you've been building up to, so the above critique is a non-issue anyway.
IamTheCasualReader
2024-08-19 16:22:53 +0000 UTCThe story is good and the setting is unique in its depiction. That said, I've wavered from reading every post purely due to pacing. I initially became a patron because I hoped the duel with Yeoric would be happening on Patreon. That was like 30 chapters ago. That said, the characters are good and the interactions solid, yet the feeling of urgency in the plot isn't matched by the story's actual progression. Another way to put it is that the circumstances and Harald's mindset are dire and urgent, but I'd call the story slow-paced which causes a big dissonance when reading.
Christopher Abernathy
2024-08-19 16:20:52 +0000 UTCI'm enjoying it so far but have to agree with some of the other comments that it is taking a little long to get to the fight that's been building from the start.
Nathan217
2024-08-19 16:19:32 +0000 UTCI love the story and very much look forward to Tuesday and Fridays. Sorry it isn’t getting more traction as folks don’t know what they’re missing!
Lorenz
2024-08-19 16:18:43 +0000 UTCI think you would get more numbers at 5 bucks for 2/week. Then once you get numbers drop a bigger amount of backlog for Patreons at a higher price. I know lots who won’t start a story until there are 100 or some other arbitrary number of chapters. I personally think the content is good and story fitting for the format, and would recommend continuing
Paul1441
2024-08-19 16:08:55 +0000 UTCEverything else is good, the interaction with his companions is fantastic. All the side characters are good, especially Nessa with some apparent dark past.
Ujjwal
2024-08-19 16:04:44 +0000 UTCI stopped reading for a while because I started getting bored of the same 2 settings, it felt like we just alternated between the mansion and the dungeon and the world felt flat. I've never liked dungeon crawling books so this is definitely a personal preference! I really enjoyed reading that one scene about Sam's new apartment and it felt like a breathe of fair air. I'm not a fan of Nessa, I'm not sure if it's because of the constant descriptions of how beautiful she is, or how damaged she is, but it feels like she was shoe-horned in as the feisty and beautiful love interest that we can fix. Personally I started feeling bored when it didn't feel like real stakes and the characters started feeling one-dimensional. And it takes too long to build up to some real stake (that fight that was supposed to take place in 2 months). But that's my personal preference!
Shinan Liao
2024-08-19 16:01:39 +0000 UTCIts a good story. The pacing could be better. As you said. We are approaching 90 chapters and Harrold hasnt had his fight with his 1st crew yet. The dungeon scenes are outstanding. But maybe have a few small time skips for training. I know its cliche but it works
Michael scott
2024-08-19 15:53:29 +0000 UTCHerald just doesn't feel like a worthy character to me, it felt like a random chance encounter turned him from a nobody to the most sought after man in Flutic. What takes other people years to achieve he did it in a month.
Ujjwal
2024-08-19 15:53:17 +0000 UTCBest of all your work, PLEASE don’t stop. Anyone that’s a hater doesn’t appreciate the craftsmanship. I mean Vic’s dialogue ALONE is a masterwork
Johnny
2024-08-19 15:50:06 +0000 UTCYh I really enjoy the story and just wish there was a way to get more consistent releases.
Fast Lance
2024-08-19 15:36:56 +0000 UTCGonna throw this out there, but I think this is a really amazing story so far. Very excited for it and the slower build up. In particular, I think the very beginning of the story showing his changed mindset and the sharp contrast before and after the seed are extremely well-done and relatable to the audience. Carrying that momentum forward is something that I think will be key in maintaining a wide audience interest. I will say that I hope you aren't too discouraged so far as I know it takes quite a bit of time to build up the Patreon audience. I think maybe longer chapters per release may help? Also I haven't seen this promoted much on Reddit, I think that may help drum up some interest. Last thing to note is that I love the world-building and action. Politics are fine as they relate to the status quo of Flutic, but I think people tend to prefer more of the world-building/action aspects more than anything else (I enjoy it all but I notice that the most popular webnovels tend to be heavy action/world-building/plot moving). Once the audience is sufficiently built up and invested in the story, more nuance can be pushed out, etc. Just my two-cents. I'm a huge fan of yours and look forward to all your works in the future!
Szage1
2024-08-19 15:35:50 +0000 UTCI'm intentionally something like... 4-5 chapters behind because I was kind of feeling like things were dragging a bit? Mind you it started to pick up the last chapter I read, and I can see hints that it will (team talking about speeding up), but I wonder if certain plot points have way too long of a half life... Like the upcoming duel gets mentioned every once in a while and I'm like "oh yeah that thing", and my interest in its result is waning. Like I said, I can see you trying to resolve some of those issues, which makes me hopeful, but I think the character and the world itself needs to move forward a bit quicker, or at least it could use some more stakes, excitement, and resolution in between these large plot points.
Dellerious
2024-08-19 15:31:56 +0000 UTCI’m certainly enjoying the story, and really hoping you finish it. At worst, please make sure it comes out as books!
L Ko
2024-08-19 15:31:03 +0000 UTCPersonally, I look forward to every Tuesday and Friday morning. Very much enjoying the slow burn and having all these characters fleshed out more. This might be a case where you simply need more advertising on the various boards (Reddit, etc.), interviews with influencers that have podcasts/YouTube channels, etc. I realize that to most likely justify the time spent writing, you need a growing ROI.
Ryan Williams
2024-08-19 15:28:24 +0000 UTC
