I’m struggling mighty on how to describe Life is Feudal (LiF) beyond “you grind skills by crafting and gathering, that’s kinda it”, because while that sentence is correct, it doesn’t explain why I’m enjoying LiF so much, and why it has reminded me just how uniquely enjoyable an MMO can be.
Perhaps another example of recent activities might help.
Our guild has been growing, not just in member count, but also in character skills and infrastructure. One issue we recently ran into is that we didn’t have enough space within our wooden walls for all the crafting stations we wanted, so one member of leadership created a new spot for some of that. First that spot had to be terraformed (leveled out), which means you get a shovel and dig dirt. That dirt, or clay, or soil, depending on what you are standing on, goes into your backpack. You can only carry so much, and when you drop said dirt, you raise the terrain under you. This can be both annoying and helpful. It’s helpful when you actually want to raise the ground anywhere, but it’s a pain when you just want to smooth out an area, as you have to run further away before you dump your dirt. Dirt and clay are also used for crafting, so while sometimes you just want to move the stuff, other times you specifically need it for something. On top of that, even dirt piles have different quality levels, and the higher the quality, the better results you will get when using it, like say when growing crops (higher quality yield) or building (more durability). That means that sometimes you will just randomly dump dirt to move it, but other times you might dig dirt to get high-quality stuff for farming. The more you combine these activities, the more efficient you can be.
Going back to the example, once the area was level, that one member designated a bunch of spots for crafting stations. This means he builds the framework, and then the actual resources need to be brought to each framework to build it. You need a certain skill level to make the framework, but anyone can add resources and finish the job, and you gain skill points from doing that. So once he had the frames all in place, he asked if anyone was working on skilling up Construction, which is the skill you’d gain when finishing his frames.
That’s a skill I’m working on, so I spoke up, and he called me over to the construction area. Once there, I noticed he also had a large mound of clay, along with a bag containing the other resources needed. Clay is rather heavy, so he had used a cart to speed up the process of moving it over to his site. My job here was to dig clay from the mound, carry it over to the frames, and finish up the construction with the other resources from the bag, all which gave me a very nice boost to my Construction skill, especially because I activated my power hour of skill gain for this.
What I hope the example shows is that while LiF is, right now, mostly about gathering/crafting and character skill progression (plus PvP, though so far that’s not nearly as invasive as in other sandbox PvP MMOs), how you go about that is very deep, and highly rewards working smart as a group. That leader could have easily done the construction himself, but as his character isn’t skilling up the Construction skill, all those gains would be wasted on him. He also could have expected people to bring or find clay, but this again would have slowed the process, to the point that perhaps it would have taken longer than an hour to build everything, and the full focused gains of a power hour would not have been realized.
Right now I’m very, very tempted to start a guild, in large part because I think it would be a lot of fun to have a group of us all learning the game together, while working to build up our own fort/town. The grind is huge, both individually and because one character can only really focus in two areas, and there are many, many that are all intertwined, but that grind is the kind I enjoy. Seeing your town/fort grow is very rewarding, as is seeing new tools and weapons open up as you gain more skill points.
To start a guild that can claim land however you need 10 members, so if I don’t get at least 10 people, I’ll remain in my current guild. If you are interested, post here. What is really nice about LiF is that while the grind is huge, you can take it at any pace you want. If you go casual and can only play an hour or less a few days a week, not only can you still make progress, that progress you make still contributes to the guild. This isn’t a hard “if you can’t raid you can’t help”, or a “if you can’t max out, you can’t help in PvP or anything else”. Basic materials and tasks (like mining, digging, or harvesting) are always needed, and can be done by anyone, in any amount of time. It’s very flexible, and in turn, accommodates playing casual.
Hardcore Casual 
Making things is fun. Breaking things is even more fun. What’s the combat like?
Like Mount and Blade if M&B was laggy and had de-sync issues at times. I mean, it’s not TERRIBLE, but it’s not a high point for the game right now (though certainly could be with improvements to server performance and overall smoothness).
That said, plenty of people in my guild really do enjoy going out and attacking our Chinese enemies in their base.
Sounds fun, am I able to join from EU?
Yea, lots of guys in the current guild are EU and AUS. You pick what server you want to play on, it doesn’t region-lock.
what server you playing on and would I be able to join the guild you are in now if you don’t get enough interest or until that point? Gonna buy it now and give it a crack
Telmun server.
Current guild seems to have open recruitment at the moment, so yea, if this doesn’t work out, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t be able to join up.
I’ve made a character, name is Jonneh. Not had a lot of luck starting out though, spent a few hours learning the basics on newbie island then decided to transfer. Got a transferring character message for 20 minutes so decided to restart the client thinking it had froze, now it is telling me the character doesn’t exist. Tried making a new character and it is saying the ticket is used. Got a support ticket in so hope it is fixed later on, other people say they just had to wait for the character transfer to complete.
It worries me how much I enjoyed learning to make the side of a hill flat. I also managed to punch a wolf to death that kept on killing me in the newbie village.
Buggy game is buggy. My transfer was instant, so I wonder why yours was so slow. Hopefully the support ticket gets addressed quickly.
Well i just tried to leave newbie island and apparently my character went poof as well! Did you ever get your issue resolved Jonneh?
no still waiting
I just checked this morning and my character had finally transferred. Logged in for a few minutes just to test and all seems well.
I am game.
I’ll check it out this weekend. I’d probably be considered casual at best… mostly playing on weekends.
I just bought the game and I am interested in your guild.
Any thoughts on the opening stats or is it low enough points that it’s not a big deal?
Fairly sure its not a big deal. Also not sure what is ‘best’, if there is such a thing yet.
I read willpower is a big stat at first, but you can level up your stats so….
Bought this game a few months before closed beta’s and never actually played. I will check it out this weekend, but I’m game for joining you in a guild.
I purchased LiF back in 2015 and played 140 hours… Didnt know it finally was a MMO now until I saw your Blog 2 days ago. I would join your guild
While they fix the character transfer I’ve made another to get more accustomed to the game. I think I want to go down the path of an archer/hunter/healer. One thing I have noticed is there is no point in taking nature’s lore as you can just find a spot and set your character to search for something edible or flints and come back a couple of hours later with 30 skill points in it.
yea, afk-ability is key in determing what makes skills hard to train. if you tried that on the mainland you would starve to death, but you can still semi-afk them only checking the character to eat every so often. willpower is the hardest stat to afk train, masonry the hardest noncombat skill to train, and slinging the hardest combat skill, with cavalry 2nd behind slinging, kinda a distant 2nd though. if you know your final build doesn’t include those skills/stats then you obviously don’t need them, but if you’re unsure where you’ll end or what exactly will be in your final build, the above is a good starting point.
the above comparison is for stats, tier 1 noncombat skills, and tier 1 combat skills, of course.
I transferred off noob island. How do I find/contact you in game? I was placed on the south central coast in the desert. Character name is Uninvited Guest. Currently I am running N/NE to get out of the desert. Looking forward to joining the guild, whether that be yours or the one you are in.
We are in square 42, north east corner of the map. I’d say make your way up, stopping to gather food along the way as you need.
On it!
i am on my way as well. No idea who to chat. I am Vett Blade in game.
Assuming the numbering system starts in the SW corner, I am about to enter the SE area of square 34, meaning I am a square away from the edge of the square you are in. How long will you be on (if you are even on still)?
Map link http://lifeisfeudal.com/forum/map-size-lif-vs-uo-t21458/
Awesome, thanks for the link!
I am close by resupplying. I am in square 34 on the far eastern border in the middle
I am about a third of the way up, heading to the narrow water crossing at the tip of the peninsula. I am in excellent shape, no lack of food or health.
i am on the eastern show of that penisula. trying to cook some food since i had a mishaop and died.
and i sent you a tell in game (i think)
actually i am on the western shore of that finger.
I just reached the crossing. Haven’t received any messages (name of this toon is Uninvited Guest). I don’t even know how to send a message yet.
Well I am behind you. Guess my /tell doesnt work. Will move soon. Just cooking up some food.
I saw a guy crossing, thought it might be you so I followed him across but obviously it was not you.
Syn, where are you guys in square 42?
Sorta the middle, where if you are looking on the map, there are some light brown lines in the forest. You’ll want to apply to Valhalla if you want to get inside the settlement right now, but if you can wait a day, I think I’ll be trying to start up the new guild sometimes tomorrow (Monday EST).
Will wait until tomorrow then. Camping on the beach outside the settlement.
Borash I am crossing right now.
Looks like Syn is not on, and I have to log off. I am currently in square 42 in the SW corner. If you zoom in on the map you can see a substantial settlement on that peninsula that sticks out to the south. Interesting that these things show up on the map!
Safe travels! Swimming to that settlement atm.
I have been reading up on communication in game. It looks like you can create global chat channels. Maybe make one for the guild you will be setting up Syn or do you plan on using voice comms or just do both!
I don’t know about in-game, but we will be using Discord for guild comms.
I am resuming my travels, heading to the general area of the “light brown lines in the forest.” Wanted to get on hours ago but the client/patcher thing wouldn’t download the ~250mb patch. I hope they get that problem fixed SOON!
I sent you a message in game before, guessing you didn’t get it. my characters name is Pheryl Grim. I wouldn’t mind meeting up while we wait for the guild to be created. I just got a warning from a chinese guy to move along from my camp I had set up in square 41 as I had planted myself in the middle of a potential battlefield so wouldn’t mind having someone else around to watch my back lol. I’ve got a metric crap-ton of fish as well if you need any food.
I am currently moving an alt up, who started in square 2. If I switch to the other toon I will try to contact you. While Syn is not on and nothing is going on with the guild I want to get this guy as far along as possible.
I never played Darkfall so I am checking out the free week before release and wipe of Darkfall New Dawn right now. Don’t think I have time to get into a subscription based game so don’t think I will get it. Does LiF have a subscription?
As Borash said, it does have a sub, but from what I know right now, its not a ‘must have’, and doesn’t make you weaker, you just progress a little slower since you don’t have the power hour boost or skill insurance on death.
I think you could 100% get a good feel for the game, and enjoy it, without a sub.
It does but you dont HAVE TO subscribe. Check out their website presumably, to see what the bennies are. If you buy the minimal cost package ($30) you get a one month sub.
Yeah but if you do not buy game or subscribe you would have to use the cash shop to buy the ticket to get off of newbie island yes?
Yes, to get off newbie island you have to have a ticket per character, which is $10 in the shop.