First things first, as someone who loves sandbox games and the middle ages, LiF has a huge potential for me. I've played Wurm, and a raft of other voxel sanbox style games (aka, Minecraft style games), but LiF is really a unique snowflake. That being said, there are some flaws in the game that make it harder to play. My perspective is from someone who prefers a solo game, over a Co-Op (LAN style) game, and prefers a stand alone server to an MMO.
The Good:
- I really like the interface, the way it is customizable and the subtle medieval touches to the game.
- I'm cool with the limited wildlife, and the elements of danger that are present. I play solo (currently) and being the hermit on Newb island I still find challenges in trying to get a house built (still haven't done it, yet).
- The classless system is excellent.
- Crafting is a challenge, but unique in the need to work directly on the materials rather than in a crafting grid, or tool. (Clicking on sticks for a primitive tool for example).
- The server options. This is an excellent idea, since I'm playing LiF as a sort of Skyrim (without the quests or fantasy elements) single player game. I don't have to grind for hours to mine, or build structures.
- The stand alone personal server. Wow! Just a great idea! I haven't been able to get this to work for me, and would prefer a Linux build (for my home server), but it is just a fantastic approach to building the game. I can see a future where one could play LiF:MMO and have a portal to a guild only server.
The Bad:
- The Skill Cap. I would like an option to set it to infinite/remove it from a server, so that one could play Hermit style.
- Some of the Recipes. I like the primitive tools concept, but am less thrilled about some of the tools as they progress. You have to have smelting (a third tier skill) before one can make a chest. A primitive chest or basket would be great. I get that you've ordered things for an MMO, but with the way that skills grind, you'd have to play for three or four days solid before you could make a chest (due to a need for iron). Having made medieval chests in "real life" metal is really optional.
-) - The TAB to switch between mouselook and cursor. This feels very clunky, as the game can throw you out of mouselook mode for various errors (that yes you can suppress, but this is tedious as you have to find the error and check the pop up box to suppress). Ideally an option in the menu could fix much of this.
- Documentation/Wiki. There isn't an exhaustive list of recipes or tutorials on how to progress to building say a "Large Keep". This may seem like a nit to pick, but since I don't have a recipe list in game to see what I can build, it can be frustrating to build a saw, or blacksmith's hammer, as I flail around trying to find the materials. I'd settle for a PDF with a list of materials that can get me from start to a set of non-primitive tools. I know in time the Wiki will be better, but right now it is hard to play the game with the limited information out there.
The Ugly:
- The peaceful skill organization: The prerequisite skills do not have a strong logic to them, and are a huge stumbling block to gameplay. For instance in mining, I must learn Terraforming to 60 and Mining to 30 just to smelt ore which I cannot store in a container, as I need nails to make the container. Therefore I am dumping a large amount of resources that I could use later in order to skill up to a point I can smelt them. The same goes for logging. It would be preferable for the player to DO something with the product of their online labor other than ditch it. Otherwise I'd rather see the ability to gather and process resources become independent of a skill chain (bonuses to quality and processing as rewards of the skill chain would be preferable). The ability to make a blacksmith's hammer would not remove the economy of the artisan blacksmith's masterwork hammer on an MMO.
- Tiers vs Skill Cap. Having the skill cap plus the Tiers doesn't make any sense, in combination with the recipes. You're already limiting access to items via the recipes and tiers, and then you have a skill cap that locks a player out of getting any better (due to the cap) without tearing down a skill. I get that you don't want uber players who can do everything, but If I want to build a small hut, I usually hit the skill cap before I can complete building. Again, a reorder of skills/abilities or an inflation removal of the skill cap can remove this very artificial penalty. I'd even say that a in game daily degradation of skills hardly used would be an improvement over having to sacrifice a tier of woodworking (for instance) in order to plant an apple tree. Using bonuses/rewards/"masterwork" abilities rather than locking base abilities (eg. in real life nothing prevents me from chopping down an oak tree versus a pine tree; a tree is a tree according to my axe and my muscles). This would make the game more enjoyable and immersive.
- Mod Support: I understand that the end goal is an MMO, but for all the server owners who choose to stick to LiF:YO I'd like to see some dev discussion about Mods (or Steam Workshop). I think that allowing a healthy Mod community to add content to this game would be a net benefit, as the game itself has a brilliant niche that it can fill nicely after a little more shaking out. Other sandbox games have allowed mod communities and the results have often times taken games in directions that the developers initially did not foresee, but have made the game more interesting and richer for the content.
All in all a great beginning. I wish you much success and hope you continue to polish this diamond in the rough.