Totally under rated being "mixed" reviews.

This is probably the most balanced sandbox builder I've played to date.

Your skill tree is complex without being OP as you don't just gain ridiculous typical MMO quality stats. For example, if you want to build something, you need to first begin with forestry. To get your forestry levelled up you need to inspect trees/take bark/branches from them (which you can use along with stone you gather from terraforming to make tools) and then when your forestry is high enough you unlock logging which allows you to begin on chopping down trees. This leads to carpentry which of course allows you then to begin preparing the logs properly for contructing your buildings by sawing out the necessary boards of different sizes. You or someone else is also required to have the knowledge of forging which is about the 5th skill in the mining skill set, so that you can make nails.

And as for terraforming, this is no minecraft "punch punch punch" goodbye dirt. No siree, this requires effort and time, and a lot of trips back to the edge of your mine shaft to dump countless amounts of dirt from your inventory weighing you down onto a pile, just as you would if you were digging in real life.

While it is complex and a grind, it's a fun grind that feels realistic and is actually very fun and addictive, unlike the typical sandbox builders where you just gather 200 wood for a basic shack and build it in no time at all. What makes it even better is how difficult it is to construct the needed weapons to destroy these buildings. So all in all a very balanced game thus far.

As for combat, for those of you who know war of the roses/mount and blade, this is very similar, directional attacks with realistic physics (body swinging into attacks to make them do more damage) and different kinds of damage given/taken by different weapons/armor (piercing, blunt, slashing etc)

This is only the testing game too, and only small occassional updates are coming through as the developers are working on the main mmo coming out next year that will feature many more things including a karma/alignment system for your actions. More info can be found at the bottom of this page http://lifeisfeudal.com/LiFYO#compare