Smart execution of an audio book, story wandering.

I really like the option to skip the lengthy stat sheet updates, it makes the story smooth and prevents the jarring 20 min interruptions.
I do, overall, like the story but book 2 had some things that I did not enjoy.
The story wandered a long ways from the primary objective. I don’t mind side adventures but the whole book, apart from the first few chapters, was just an unrelated foray into new material and concepts.
The second thing I didn’t like is how deeply overwhelming every situation is. The MC barely has any affect on the outcome of the book and blindly stubles into situations that he is woefully underskilled or unprepared for. I don’t need to see overpowered MCs with a perfect solution to every scenario, but this book kept launching the MC into overwhelming powers. I guess there is the general theme that players with wealth are going to have drastic advantages but it seems so unfair that the game wouldn’t even be worth playing unless you were filthy rich.
The final complaint is the MC being useless and impulsive while his friends save the day. The price they have to pay to help him with his idiotic “plans” is way too high. I won’t spoil anything (I don’t think) but the MC through most of this book is just blindly marching into trouble that his friends have to bail him out of and they keep sacrificing unbelievable amounts of themselves for no clear reason. The book starts off early by talking about solving their problems with genius level thinking skills but then the rest of the book is “I need to stab and kill the bad guy” “… blind rage” “kill, kill, kill”

I’ll probably listen to book 3, if and when it comes out, but I’m hoping to see some renewed focus on the actual plot of the book and some progress on the decision making skills of the MC.

As a personal favor, I’d like the writer to stop using the phrase “shit a dick”. Of all of the dialogue in the book, it seems to be the most unnaturally contrived expression.