Life is Feudal Official Forum

[Hallegra]

I was browsing the LiF site when I saw this board put forward by the devs:

http://lifeisfeudal.com/Discussions/latest

There are many good ideas that have been asked for over the course of LiF, and it even takes you back to when Bobik suggested a volumetric UI.

It's been over 2 years since that board was started, and while we have certainly had a lot of balancing, there aren't really many features that have been added. There is no modular building, pygmies are in the works but haven't been added. Horsedrawn carts are a couple years gone, the sawmill has taken a vacation. Herbal gardens, horses, and trebuchets are the only things I can think of off the top of my head that have been added to the game for the last 2 years that have had a significant impact on the game. I am somewhat concerned about, at this rate, how long it would take to implement, well, pretty much anything new in the MMO.

[Sharana]

While completely true there is another point of view. You do need a working game that you can expand on content. Making the fundamentals takes longer then producing content for a working game. With the focus on the MMO the game is still not "born" to start filling it with content. Yes YO can and many want improvements there, but the situation is either keep polishing YO and adding content and putting the MMO as side project which won't happen or as now working on the MMO and throw some stuff in when it's implemented on the MMO. Then when the MMO reaches a stage where the shift is from mechanics to content (later in wave 2 and after release) YO will benefit as well.

Most of the players were sold on the MMO and not on YO. They won't be OK with delaying the MMO for the purpose of adding more content. The latest YO patch which turned out to be problematic and even caused a mess after the release with some server configurations (mainly servers running on Linux and not on Windows which is the officially supported OS) delayed the next MMO testrun with about 2 weeks for example. The MMO is already long overdue, putting brakes on it and using dev manpower for content isn't very wise at this point is it?

I know the info that comes out is very limited, because the actual devs that have the interesting information don't read and write on the forums. The community managers as in most other games prefer to post finalized stuff which ends up in weeks no info with instant next MMO test run in 3 days (friday's devblog announce for Monday as last time). So:

- horse drawn carts are coming yes, there is buggy "alpha" version that is getting stuck a lot still. Doubtful that we will see it next testrun, but a miracle can happen. It's important, game changing and generally nice to have feature, yet it's in development only since December 2016 or so and there is mainly 1 (one) coder doing it while working on other stuff as well.

- instanced battle system which is fundamental part of the MMO gameplay. Lots of resources are going there as it's pretty complex mechanic. It was extremely optimistic to expect the introduction of the first version in the upcoming MMO testrun given that the development started at some point in February.

- traders posts mechanics and economical foundations. Lots of work going there as well, the initial version was expected in early May, so not in the upcoming MMO testrun again

- without mentioning obviously lots of work is done server side to deal with the problems on server borders, connectivity problems, the broken tiles that caused crazy lags and stuff like that


Only after stuff like that where the MMO becomes a game on it's own (war system, economy network) and is actually playable (stability, server borders, connectivity) which will be marked with wave 2 the devs can start implementing more content by reworking cooking with new stuff (not just changing few recipes), making more siege equipment like the ladders they promised, finishing the natives, adding the armor skins, more regional stuff, religion, sawmill, new buildings etc. But we aren't there, are we?

[Azzerhoden]

For the most part I agree 100% with what Sharana says there. My only issue is with the tidbits that are dropped on what is being worked on.

It smells of favoritism to the rest of the players when a guild appears to have inside information. What makes it even more frustrating is that there isn't really anything there that would grant any guild an advantage. Its just some details as to what is being worked on.

That's the type of information that needs to be coming from employees of Bitbox, not from one of the largest guilds in the game. I find it baffling that Bitbox doesn't get this. Just come out and say in a Friday update that horse drawn carts are a bit buggy and that instanced battles are being worked on as well as a working trader system.

That's the type of info players want to hear.

[Hallegra]

I agree with Azzerhoden here. While I appreciate how active you are on the forums, Sharana, it is rather concerning that Vanirs seem to have all this insider information regarding the game. Really speaks of favouritism when the information players are getting is mainly from a player guild, not the devteam and said guild knows things before the rest of the playerbase as well as runs the official discord... And it's not even the largest guild anymore.

[Sharana]

Yes, Bobik usually holds weekly briefing in Vanirs TS informing us about their progress...

Now seriously, is everything about guilds and epeen for some people? Hate to break it to you, but guilds have very little to do with it. I have the information which I shared for the simple reason that I chat with some of the devs from time to time. If I switch the guild tomorrow are you going to say devs favor guild X now? Or you think that if I'm no longer part of Vanirs my license on the communication lines will expire and I will no longer get answers on questions? If that's the case what has the guild to do with it? Not to mention there are many players who builded some kind of relations through the reports and help and get many answers as well. There are even players who know people IRL that are part of Bitbox and sometimes interesting stuff can be heard. So if they don't say anything on the forums that means devs share info only with Vanirs then... In which case the easiest thing to do is just not to say anything here on the forums if it hurts the feelings of some. The intent was just to share some not "secret" information, because the devs aren't very active on the public Discord channel lately as they are heavily focused on the next MMO testrun and community managers as said in almost all games don't really share anything without approval that something is for "public release".


As for the Discord - "runs the official discord" is quite a statement. Vanirs did set it up for better communication with the devs which greatly benefited everyone as the devs there are actually active generally speaking and answer lots of questions. The ones "running" it are Arrakis and Saxxon, few Vanirs have the moderator tag sure, but that comes in hand only for removing old and unneeded channels or setting up new ones if there is need for such.

[Hallegra]

I think its more about the fact that you’re constantly dropping information that is news to the community that isn’t mentioned by the devs. The concern would be the same if any group of players was consistently quoting information that wasn’t publicly available. Especially if:

Yes, Bobik usually holds weekly briefing in Vanirs TS informing us about their progress...

I’m sure a lot of people would be happy to wait patiently for LiF to go through the development process if more information were given about what exactly is going on.
And in this case, you’re not a dev. You’re a player. You have opinions about the state of the game that, like anyone else, are influenced by your experiences. You experience these firsthand and this modifies your view of the game. On the other hand, a dev is expected to, like a GM, be an almost impartial entity. You wouldn’t expect a dev to get involved in guild politics or ban an opposing group from a server. This isn’t about epeen. Notwithstanding that pretty much everything that’s being put in has been affected every player equally, its how it looks when concrete information is so hard to come by yet a group of players has consistent access to insider info? That's what makes it frustrating.
The discord stuff is a good point as the communication from the devteam’s end has really become better since it’s been up.

[Azzerhoden]

I have the information which I shared for the simple reason that I chat with some of the devs from time to time.

Fair enough, but you see, the perception is the issue, not the facts. While I appreciate the information you share, there is no reason why that information cannot come directly from Bitbox.

[Chuto]

Making Sharana member of a Bitbox team will solve your issue.
I think we all should be happy if someone, no matter from which guild, is willing to share some news with us when they are true.

[Dragmar]

One of the things that kind of bugs me is that some of the information Sharana finds for us he finds on russians sites. Interview, social media, etc. So it does some time seem like the devs, or atleast some of them, are more comfertable sharing things in their native tongue.

As understanding as that can be if you don't feel you completly master english it does seem a bit unfair that the russian speaking community get's more information as things are progressing then the rest of the community.

[Gastenns]

I like the chilling effect this conversation will have for others that gain information from the devs or from reading another language interview. As a member of the "favored" guild almost of this is news to me from this post except one which I read on the public forums. However I'm sure people who gain information will be happy to keep it to themselves in the future rather than share in the future. Maybe we should try to avoid creating a mortal like community around this game. Vanirs like all guilds have wanted more information. We actively work on helping to report bugs and work with developers through the same emails and channels available to everyone else. We are very lucky to have some great players and leaders who are very active to solve problems in the game and conduct a series of interviews with bobik to help inform ourselves and the community and we should all be thankful he took the time to keep us up to date. We should also be thankful for players like Sharana for sharing what small tidbits he learns.

[Azzerhoden]

One of the things that kind of bugs me is that some of the information Sharana finds for us he finds on russians sites. Interview, social media, etc. So it does some time seem like the devs, or atleast some of them, are more comfertable sharing things in their native tongue.

As understanding as that can be if you don't feel you completly master english it does seem a bit unfair that the russian speaking community get's more information as things are progressing then the rest of the community.

Also a good point Dragmar, and I completely agree. Good on Sharana for digging this out and sharing it here.

[Jownz]

I'm sure the dev's are focused on getting a working, optimized game released before trying to push out content. If this was your concern after the game was released, I would agree with you.

Information from developers should be shared with the community. Inside information given to any one guild or person could lead to unfair advantages. Simple as that, there are no excuses.

[Azzerhoden]

I'm sure the dev's are focused on getting a working, optimized game released before trying to push out content. If this was your concern after the game was released, I would agree with you.

Information from developers should be shared with the community. Inside information given to any one guild or person could lead to unfair advantages. Simple as that, there are no excuses.

As Sharana has stated though, this is information gathered through singular efforts of watching multiple channels. Can't fault em for that, or the guild.

Definitely an issue that needs to be addressed by Bitbox though. Perhaps they need to bring on more staff to gather and share this type of information.