I'm just gonna be flat out frank with you guys: Equilibrium will not be continuing.
Some people are probably gonna be ticked at me, and I'm sorry for that. I really liked writing this, and watching it reach a height that I NEVER thought I would reach. I feel very proud of the level of quality that I brought to these 430 pages of content, and I would be very lucky to create another fiction that becomes half as loved as this one is.
I've got several reasons that I will list for you.
Number 1: School.
Number 2: Work.
Number 3: I'm a complete novice in every sense of the word. Like...
Achievement Get: GREEN
(Dang, I like tables.)
I was so stinking naive to think I could take every single idea I've ever had when reading other fictions on this site, and incorporate them ALL at once into a single fiction. RIGHT FROM THE GET GO. I was greedy as heck to try it, and I burned myself out due to raw inexperience. I lacked any concept of 'content management', and planning ahead to make my story something that could keep going at the same pace as it started.
I made plenty of mistakes because of it. Namely giving SO many complicated aspects to the system, and mathematically divulging an explanation for every single one. Passive skills, active skills, innate skills, consumable stats, normal stats, unique stats, race, class, affinities, traits, karma, potions, elixirs, gods, avatars, ELEVEN different types of items Peter can wear, and it goes on and on and on. I overwhelmed myself with literally writing the concept an entire game on my own, all in the span of 2 months.
Other authors are clever about how they do things. Like leaving a lot of the system to the imagination of the reader (which is done a lot more than you all realize because we Lit-RPG lovers have GREAT imaginations), or making it so a lot of the details don't need to be said.
I totally agree with a bunch of the readers that I should have made Peter's Karma 0 to signify his relation to 'Equilibrium', and finding a balance. I ADMIT IT OKAY. Dang it, that was a dumb move. (I know at least one person is saying "FINALLY!!" at their computer screen right now.)
And I could go on. There were tons of things wrong, but I essentially wrote myself into a sprint that I do not have the experience as a writer to maintain. If your response to all of this is "But _____ does this and he's got 23492 chapters!", then my response is, "I'm worse at this than _____." And I'm sorry for that. Truly I am.
I loved watching you guys geek out about details of this fiction. It was an unbelievable rush to know that thousands of people were looking forward to something that I made. I appreciate every single one of the "thanks for the chapter" posts, and I read ALL comments. Even if I don't have time to respond to them all, I never want you to think that one of your comments up until now wasn't read.
Every. Single. One. 100% guaranteed. Some of them hurt a bit to read, while others made me feel like I was on cloud 9. Even the ones that were negative I actually liked, because it kept me fairly grounded on improving this hobby instead of just plateauing because I was successful.
When I first came into this I had the mindset of "I'm going to write, and they're going to like it or screw off." and you guys beat that out of me nearly instantly. Not through negativity either. Through genuinely complementing what was good about my writing, and mentioning what you didn't like. It was humbling, but incredible.
ANYWAYS. Sorry for the list that turned into a rant.
I'd like to make a very tiny Q&A for things that I know everyone will want to know.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
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Q: Is this the end of Equilibrium forever?
A: No. I don't think so. I would actually like to finish the first book which deals with everything Peter does until he leaves the temple township. This won't happen until I practice and get better at writing though. I have no timeline for when that will happen, but I do intend to finish this book at least.
(By the way, 'Equilibrium' is just the name of the first book. It's taken from the name of the "Equilibrium Construct" which is the ultimate driving force behind Peter's power. The name of the series is..... I'll think of that later.)
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Q: Practice? Does that mean you'll be writing another series?
A: Darn right I will. I love Lit-RPG. I haven't stopped thinking about new ideas even while I was writing Equilibrium.
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Q: **** YOU, YOU DIDN'T GIVE US CHAPTERS, I'LL ****ING INVERT YOUR ESOPHAGUS FOR THIS YOU BETRAYING PIECE OF ****!
A: ... Yes.
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Q: Why did it take you weeks to get to this conclusion?
A: Breaking off equilibrium was a hard choice. I'm just as attached to it as you are. Remember that. It's my baby. I really needed to consider the situation, and make the best call. I don't want to force myself to write for the sake of something I don't fully believe in anymore. I only want to make content that I think is worth your time, and I could sense that I was close to not putting in my fullest efforts if I pushed any harder. You guys don't deserve less than 100%.
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Q: Did you vote for Donald Trump?
A: I'm not American, I'm Canadian......... so yes I did. I snuck across your pathetic borders and voted for him, 'cause your policies are weak as heck and nobody could stop me. You're welcome.
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Q: When do you plan on releasing the next book?
A: Not saying here. Even when I do release it I don't want to post a link, or notify all 3,000 of you when I do. I want to organically create a new series and see if I just got lucky with Equilibrium, or if I actually have what it takes to make some interesting content.
I'll release the series under this account, so the really devoted people will be able to search for it via Author name... but I'm not gonna stop anyone THAT devoted by making a whole new account. Don't worry though, if my content is worth reading then you'll naturally find me on the leaderboards, and if it sucks then you won't see it and you're not missing out! I look forward to working to earn your clicks again.
Also: if you do find my second series in the future, do not come back here and post the title for anyone else please. I can and will delete your comments.
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If you have any more questions I would very much like to answer them in the comments. I plan on being fully transparent.
I have disabled my donations that were linked to the website. I have no interest in 'accidentally' receiving a donation when I don't have any content to give in return.
If you are one of my Patreon members, I very much encourage you to cancel your subscription because I can not cancel it myself. I've included a link on my patreon page for the members that shows the link that explains why Patreon doesn't allow creators to disable their own donations. I personally think It's beyond stupid, and wish I could stop it myself, but I LITERALLY don't even have the option to. Dumb AF.
SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO MY VERY DEVOTED AND VERY PATIENT VOLUNTEER PROOFREADER:
[ adsgvf ]
Adsgvf is honestly so much more than a proofreader. He was amazing to bounce ideas off of, and discuss mechanics of my Lit-RPG universe. He singlehandedly caused my series to be twice as enjoyable due to grammatical correctness. That grammar has been a fairly consistent point that a ton of the written reviews of Equilibrium mention. It's because of him that my 'Grammar score' is the HIGHEST rated category of the fiction. In fact: this update chapter is not edited by him, so if you've found any grammar issues it's because I'm a total doofus without him!
Hmm. If I think of anything else I'll add it later I guess.
THANK YOU
Ooo. Fancy.