Life is Feudal Official Forum

[Worldsprayer]

So, I played the original alpha after giving money via paypal long before the majority had ever even heard of an idea called LiF:YO. I think I spent most my time helping to update and edit wiki posts. It was a broken affair though even then the vision was good and there. But alas, the server idea just didnt work and it went poof until YO could create the features while (I assume) they figured out their server idea in the background.

Well, I played YO for maybe 5 hours, life just got in the way and I wasn't able to experience it. So no here I am, finally playing the beta of a game I've waited 3 years now for. Abd it's looking good! The mechanics are working out for the most part and I haven't had to feel like im wasting my time very much...until now where I dont want to play at all...i am going to force myself just to see whats on the other side. Ill say why in a sec, but first some game theory:

As a low-level game dev myself, there is a science/art to making games, and part of it lies in a triumverate dealing with work/reward/interest. These 3 things, for a game or feature, need to be in balance. Work too hard for a reward too small, even if it's interesting, and the player wont want to play. On the flip side, you can have an easy and rewarding mechanic or game, but if it doesn't interest the player, then they wont want to do it, either not doing it or just long enough to accomplish another goal.

So that being said...I started construction. I got to level 30, decided to do masonry as a distract myself from construction and...


I literally don't want to do this anymore. In order to level construction (and masonry after it, and i assume architecture as well) is to half-make an object and then destroy it to get the points from adding in resources. The problem with this is that it breaks from the systems the other skills leveling use, which is to level the skill while performing supporting skills. Making a carpentry task? Well all that cutting and sawing of wood levels carpentry before you ever make the actual item. There are little gains throughout the processes to reward your efforts on different tasks, keeping it interesting and rewarding and challanging all at once.

Construction and Masonry do not work like this. You set up something you want to build, go mine rock for example (so much rock!), throw it in and hit assemble. But because often access to ALL the resources are not available in sad mass quantities what happens is the player gets stone (usually), adds to a building (forge most often) and the destroys it after getting the easiest points.
The issue is that at the moment at 33 construction, this nets .17 xp at FQ 1.25, meaning you're looking at iver 200 forges to half-make/destroy. Thats a lot of stone, and a lot of nothing accomplished to show for it except a higher number.

In this case, the reward is small, the interest is near 0, and challenge also low (which usually makes interest low too, humans are not often intrigued by simple things)

The major problem with this is that all the supporting actions to making a building dont HELP construction, but usually artisan, which I now have locked to not take up point space. So the majority of my actions have 0 reward in this process.

End conclusion: For a character interested in building buildings, there HAS to be something that rewards the player during the process of making a building that a) encourages them to make the entire structure for considerably greater reward (higher challenge, higher reward, more interest!), or create something that rewards the player with construction/masonry points during the actual building process, so that even if we dont finish the building (like now) its still rewarding. Like actually laying out logs, or stones in the building process. Anything other than how it is right now would be a step in the right direction, as is the construction and masonry leveling is not acceptable for a game.

Another big change I think would be getting rid of building maintainance and allowing the the required builders to get points for repairing. Right now I have a number of furnaces and kilns (which should be a construction structure btw) which are broken but no one can fix, but there are several leveling concstructors who, if they could build it, should in theory be able to fix it.

As it is you will not find a single construction character who says they enjoyed leveling construction or masonry at all because as it is it is purely boring and tedius. I do not want to play anylonger (though i will, but not because i want to, which is not the feeling a game should evoke) because when I think about doing what i've already done dozens of time yet HUNDREDS of more times...I just feel depressed and not looking forward to the future play time, which in a sense becomes wasted time because it wasn't ENJOYED.

I hope this is a good and valuable post and serves to some use. Happy Hollidays and Merry Christmas!

[Linbaba]

It's a hot topic, I've been spending hours on forum talking about this (while my toon basically grinds). Also made my own thread etc.

The majority seem to enjoy this aspect of the game, they also add that with better food, and minigames, and by grouping up, it all becomes very easy.

+1 anyway cause you've said some of the things I've already say, so gotta agree

[Worldsprayer]

If i had 5.0x FMQ, of course it would all be easier, everything is progressing 5 times faster It shifts the whole challenge/reward/interest by upping the reward so that makes perfect sense. Literally if someone EVER complains about a feature, that trimuverate needs to be looked at. I just had a chat with a masonry friend, he said that masonry 30-60 is quite easy compared to 0-30 because your skills are so needed in laying out bases, so in the natural progression of the game your talent is used, this is upping the interest aspect of the triangle even though nothing else changed. So it continues to reinforce my point: With all things being equal, same FMQ, construction should not be so greatly a pain in comparison.

[Linbaba]

I just had a chat with a masonry friend, he said that masonry 30-60 is quite easy compared to 0-30 because your skills are so needed in laying out bases, so in the natural progression of the game your talent is used,. .

That's closer to my point.

I don't mind difficult, or long, or complicated, careful, hard, annoying or whatever as long as there's a reason, a function, a point.

In words similar to a wise old man, I need a why in order to tolerate the how.

I really don't mind finding and cutting down wood in order to make boards and then make a construction on my base.

I do mind cutting down wood (just an example) over and over and over and over for no reason other thanto increase the stats