What we LOVE about this game...

[Chakravanti]

Now, lets step aside from all our rage and bitching for a moment and try...just for the sake of doing so...to balance the mood. We know that this is alpha and there's a to-do list that rivals the UN agenda. We're all frustrated over this or that aspect of the game that's broken etc. There's more than positive-for-the-sake-of-being-positive rationale behind this though. It's clear that despite how much broken shit proliferates this game a lot of us find ourselves uncannily addicted to it. I think it's important we all take a moment to analyze why and let the devs know what we like and love about this game so that those aspects are preserved in future updates.


My top 3 are:

#1 - Diversity of activity - There's all kinds of shit to do in this game. If anything gets boring you're more than free to engage in almost any other activity which is equally rewarding.

#2 - Harvest Moon vs. WoW style mob farming - Character development is based around the creation and production of resources rather than just killing and looting mobs which have no reason to carry GP.

#3 - All the things I hate - PK Anywhere. This is arguably both the best and worst aspect of this game. We all know it's broken but the core philosophy behind it's current implementation is something I love despite it's currently flawed incarnation. It creates a kind of paranoia that fosters a far deeper bond of trust between those players that you do trust than any other game I've ever played.

[Cookie]

#1 The way everything completely changes all the time with new developments making adaptability essential. Sometimes it's a complete new game after the weekend update.
#2 The diversity of activity (See Chak's post)
#3 The absense of LoTR - D & D inspired fantasy elements -Elves, wizard spells, etc. which are okay upon occassion but rather too prevalent in gaming.

[Jfloyd]

#1= The ability to go weeks without seeing a single player, and when you finally do, it's a big event.
#2- The diverse amount of things to do. Every character you make is different.
#3- The constant updates, compared to most games.

[Chakravanti]

#3 The absense of LoTR - D & D inspired fantasy elements -Elves, wizard spells, etc. which are okay upon occassion but rather too prevalent in gaming.

How could I have forgotten THAT one. Excellent addition Cookie!

[sabinati]

too many things to even list, but off the top of my head, the sandbox playstyle, player effect on the game world, and the graphics would be the top 3 i guess.

[Chakravanti]

graphics

I can't pinpoint it....perhaps it's my love of old skool RPGs but something about the 2d game world here is just epic imho. In an age of where every bleeding edge game is so high end 3d that they can actually spend months of focused development within a single team of artists in one game just drawing eyes and expressions (Mass Effect 2), There something to be said for 2d games. Between, Wesnoth, TMW, and H&H I find myself curiously addicted to the artwork here.

All else aside Jorb, I must admit, your art is top tier.

[Jackard]

i dont really care for the art style - too tiny for characters to be charming - but I do enjoy the impact players have on the world and how they interact with each other. i like exploring too

[Chakravanti]

I've thought from time to time about a far more abstracted graphic style but for my musings it's less about art than mechanics. For what it is, I gotta say the trees are what most impressed me, namely the firs.


FYI, yes, this sis essentially an ass kissing thread. Not because I want anything from the devs butbecause there has been a fuckton of bitching about the game, not the least of it from me and mine but I do wish to expess some form of recognition and appreciation to balance it out and perhaps encourage others to do the same.

It has to be very difficutl not to take a lot of what is said about the game personally and I really admire J&L's ability to seperate opinion, rage & critique. It can't be easy to stay objective with the rnadom rage and hate that crop up from time to time. They deserve a feel good thread every now and then.

[Cookie]

Agreed. The simplicity of the artwork is a strength. This is one reason why I don't want there to be faces on the characters in the game. I don't quite know how to put it, but if our characters had faces they would start to look like your family, instead of my family. It would be bound to look like the way you picture a nose or a smile instead of the way I picture a nose or a smile.

[sabinati]

almost forgot, completely player driven economy, politics, and factions