YMMV / The Games We Play (The Gamer/RWBY)

• Base-Breaking Character: Jaune himself. Whether his Character Development flows logically from the events of the story or he is merely In Name Only are things that certain readers disagree strongly about.
• Broken Base:
  • Some readers love the lengthy internal narration, while others think it hurts the pacing.
  • Some readers mention that the increasing escalation have turned them off of the 'fic, while others see nothing wrong with it.
  • The amount of spam and off-topic posts in the main discussion thread has gotten to the point that the Moderators have placed a permanent banner above the reply box warning users to not spam, and to keep away from NSFW Omakes, as a large number of characters are only sixteen. It is worth noting that out of the (current) forty-two thousand posts in the thread, the most frequent posters account for ten thousand posts between the top ten users alone.
  • The Luck stat. Some readers are displeased by Jaune's neglect of it, while others disagree, and arguments get heated.
  • "Alarm", specifically the What the Hell, Hero? speech from Jaune's grandmother to him. Not everyone agrees with her accusations or Jaune's lacklustre response to it.
  • "Defeat" split the readers between those who thought things had taken an unacceptably dark turn and those who were fine with it.
  • "Hidden Enemies" made viewers split over Isabella and her actions regarding her children. "Reintroductions", which gave Bianca's point of view on the whole shindig, reinforced the split.
  • The Jericho Falls fight, specifically how Jaune has pulled trump card after trump card after still more trump card from his sleeve like a poker cheat, has led to some readers thinking that it is getting draggy and dull.

• Genius Bonus: There are a lot of mythological and religious terms. Knowing what they mean will greatly enhance your understanding.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Jaune cracks the following joke to Jacques in "Caverns".
  "Then your eulogy is gonna go something like 'We are gathered here today because this one asshole couldn't stay alive,'" I replied, making sure my face was completely serious.
  • God and the Snake: I'm beginning to wonder if the final boss Jaune fights is literally going to be the god of Grimm.
  • Back in "Landing Party", Onyx said that “Always good to have a healer along to keep us in one piece, too.” Fast-forward a few chapters...
    Pacifist: You know looking back it's amazing just how badly this passage has managed to invoke Murphy. With the healer having torn everyone apart and now proceeding to remove his mothers (sic) limbs one by one.
  • After canon Volume 3, it's chilling to realise just how different Adam could have been if not for Raven and Jaune's influence.
  • Ren killing his grandfather to save Nora from Conquest comes off as this with the revelation that Nora and Ren are orphans in canon.
  • In spite of his training, Jaune winds up being unable to save a loved one from the apparent Big Bad. Are we talking about Jacques - his father - and Conquest, for this, or Pyrrha - his love interest - and Cinder Fall for canon?
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In "Mobs", Jaune said 'It wasn’t my fault I couldn’t see through walls'. Many chapters later, thanks to Clairvoyance he now can.
  • After canon Volume 3 Chapter 10 introduced the Grimm Dragon, several readers commented that it reminded them of Ziz.
  • After canon Volume 4 Chapter 8 introduced the Two Brothers, it brings to mind Jaune and Malkuth.
• Memetic Badass: Every sunset, the hunters of the world look worriedly at the horizon for a sign of Ziz. Every sunset, Ziz worriedly looks for a sign of Jian Bing.
• Memetic Mutation: "Not a quest.", Luck stat "Halping", "Jaune OP pls nerf", "Ryuugi is a tease"
  • It should be noted that "Not a Quest" is a memetic mutation for all of the SpaceBattles.com creative writing board, not just TGWP, popping up whenever people get annoyed at people saying We should do X next, where 'We' is the main character and X is an action. Meanwhile "Luck stat halping" and "Jaune OP pls nerf" have become Discredited Memes with everyone else slapping down the fool stupid enough to invoke it. Eventually spam post regarding them have led to Ryuugi stepping in to request a stop to their usage.
  • Jaune Arc, Humblest Man on Remnant!
  • *Puerile giggle*^note The Catchphrase of user Datcord, who has the talent of finding Accidental Innuendo in almost anything in the story.
  • Glacium Frost's near constant denial of having an archive whenever others refer someone to it.
  • Jaune Arc, Magical Tiger Man
• Paranoia Fuel:
  • Raven and her portals. Apart from Jaune, it's an open question as to if anyone can see her in action and no one knows what her limits are. She could possibly waltz in right past every defence, kill someone in their sleep and get out with no one the wiser.
  • From "Hidden Enemies" onwards Jaune speculates In-Universe that Ozpin - one of the most powerful and influential men on the planet - could be another of the Riders. He has no way of telling because the Rider infecting Ozpin could have a different infection vector from Conquest and War, one that he can't detect yet.
• Shocking Moments: It starts with Jaune throwing himself down a Giant Nevermore's gullt to rip it apart from the inside, and only gets more intense from there. Highlights include;
  • The White Whale heist, involving bluffing the hell out of a crowd that includes Ozpin, accidentally waking up Ziz, then abusing Dust Crystals and Observe to rip Penny's arms off.
  • The moment when the story takes a Genre Shift, the Conquest arc. Jaune goes with his father on a routine Grimm extermination mission that careens wildly out of control, with tens of thousands of Grimm invading through tunnels, the second Knight of Grimm, Crom Cruach showing up to utterly wreck everyone's day and a Pandora Shell being opened. It's then revealed that the bacteria of the Pandora Shells are sentient, and one of the Four Riders, Conquest. Jaune is forced to kill the infected Hunters, he himself only having been saved by his mother melting the ground and freezing the air. From there, he almost manages to save his father but then the Creator of the Grimm shows up and derails everything, turning what had been a harsh but possible struggle to a Curb-Stomp Battle that lasts seconds, turning almost all of what we thought we knew of Grimm on it's head in the process.
• Spiritual Licensee:
  • Some readers have compared Jaune's constant exposition on why he's doing what he's doing to Burn Notice.
  • The deal with the Grimm - masterminded by an Eldritch Abomination, Mankind exists because they allow it and will end because they demand it, the protagonist in a unique position of interest to them - has reminded some of Mass Effect.
• The Woobie: Poor Weiss can't seem to catch a break when it comes to Jaune. First she gets defeated by him after he plays up her fears and gets taken hostage, and when they meet again, she is defeated by him once more and gets her Tragic Keepsake from her mother taken away. Jaune of course feels especially guilty for the things that he does to her.
  Weiss: Please... It's the last thing she was able to give me before she... please don't take it. Please...

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