11 replies to this topic

[Brenner]

Kind of surprised that there isn't an existing thread for this game... Disclaimer - I have only been playing for 3 days. However, I can already see that this is one of the most ambitious games I've ever played, and though it has its shortcomings, it's something that I'll be keeping an eye on in the future.

LOVE is a game that's kind of hard to describe. It's often placed in the MMO genre but I wouldn't really say that's the case. It's the product of one guy (who's been working on it for God knows how long) and it recently came out of Beta. It costs $12/€10 for a 30 day subscription. The client is just an .exe so it doesn't install on your system and in total it takes up less than 50mb of space on your HDD.

So what's it like? As I've said, it's hard to explain. The best way to understand what this game is about is by seeing for yourself: this video does a good job of demonstrating the core gameplay elements. It's a bit long, but I think you'll be impressed. Keep exploring the site for some more screenshots and videos... one thing I'll advise is that you don't disregard the game because you're unimpressed with the art style. Some love it, some hate it, but it's easy to look beyond it once you start playing the game.

I would describe LOVE as a not-so-massively-first-person-collaborative-adventure-game (NSMFPCAG). Basically, the point of the game is to collaborate with others and develop your settlement. 300 people can play together on a given server but I have never been logged in at a time when more than 15 people are playing. I'm guessing there have never been more than 50 concurrent players, but the game is still new and this does not detract from the core gameplay at all. In developing your city, you are tasking with going out into the world and searching for "token seeds." The seeds can be easy or difficult to find, but what makes looking for them fun is that the world of LOVE is more impressive than any I've seen in any other game.

It's huge, it's persistent, and it's procedurally generated. Exploring the world is honestly one of the most fun parts of the game simply because it has such personality. Every change you make to the world (and you can change it DRASTICALLY) is permanent, as is every change the AI makes. The ruins of your settlement will persist, so it's possible that another player or an AI may chance upon them and decide to rebuild. I could ramble on for a very long time about the world, because it's truly an amazing creation.

What LOVE does better than anything else is empower the player. You can do whatever you want in the world, save for attacking other players. There is (as of yet) no PvP element to the game, though you can indirectly compete with other settlements over resources, etc. You cannot harm other players because that is contrary to the collaborative mentality of LOVE. The only enemies are the AI settlements, but this is hardly a shortcoming. The AI behave exactly like other players would (i.e. they don't cheat or hack) and yet they are so skilled that I am routinely amazed when I see the structures and cities they create.

There's so much that I've skipped over (infrastructure, raids, city building, mining...) but this thread's getting a bit long, so time to wrap things up. TL;DR = LOVE is awesome and you should check it out. I may not choose to renew my 30 day subscription when it runs out because the game is still very beta, and it does have several bugs, but I know I'll be coming back in the future. Anyone else play it? Have any questions?

As a reward for having read this far, you get a special treat: LOVE gives every player a "friend account" that can log-in to the same server whenever the main account is playing. If you'd like to give the game a shot, send me a PM and I'll give you the account information and a time during which I'll be playing.

[cadetduke]

What's the point of the game though? I'm half way through the video but I see no point in playing it. Why should I play this over something like Second Life? This doesn't look like it should be an online game, and it's really overpriced.

[Brenner]

What's the point of the game though? I'm half way through the video but I see no point in playing it. Why should I play this over something like Second Life? This doesn't look like it should be an online game, and it's really overpriced.

In the current state of the game there is no long term goal, which is why I don't equate it to other MMOs. There are no new abilities to unlock and your character does not get any stronger. The record for the longest surviving settlement is around 7 days or so, so you'll be starting from scratch quite often. The gameplay itself is what's fun, and because of the way the game is designed your experience will be sufficiently different each time you start a new settlement. The fun in the game is in playing it. I suppose over time this may grow stale, but I can see how at least some people could continue to play this game well into the future.

EDIT: I initially ignored your comparison to Second Life because I thought it was stupid, but I guess the "game" actually is similar in the sense that a lot of the enjoyment you get from LOVE is due to the fact that it allows you to be creative.

[cadetduke]

EDIT: I initially ignored your comparison to Second Life because I thought it was stupid, but I guess the "game" actually is similar in the sense that a lot of the enjoyment you get from LOVE is due to the fact that it allows you to be creative.

That's the only reason I brought it up, and I couldn't play Second Life for more than a few hours before quitting.

I still can't justify that price though. I'd rather spend an extra $3 and play an established game. Thanks for bringing it to my attention though.

Just watched the rest of the video and I must say I love the concept. Some of it is cool as shit. I'll probably give it a try one day, but too much on my plate at the moment.

[Andrack]

I agree, its a really cool looking game, but it is not at all worth a subscription fee. I think the game would be better off just costing $20 and being a typical 64-man dedicated server kind of game. I might actually buy it then.

Edit: re-read the original post and saw the bit about the persistent worlds. That's pretty neat, I could see people forming clans and making huge fortresses that last for days. Shit would be cash. I suppose that sort of justifies a subscription but I still think it's overpriced.

Edited by Andrack, 07 June 2010 - 06:06 PM.

[DethFanatic]

Too few people will pay a subscription for this game to be worthwhile.

[Dirge]

There isno PvP element to the game,

Not sold.

[Spowis]

Costs the same or just as much as any other far-more established MMO, that alone put me off. I saw the video, it looks like an 8 year old drew the textures. An extremely cool idea and I like the whole FPS element, but visually looks too trashy and too expensive.

[MaxDamage]

Looks like a work of genius/art.

More interesting as a concept than something I'd use tho.

[Jamie]

Looks pretty cool, but like others said the subscription is insanely high.


Also he could of easily added a pvp element to this. You build a town, then your opposition builds a town, and you can destory each others/see who survives the longest. Or you make a guild or can join a guild when you first play, then build a town, and obviously the best/most organised guild's town would survive the longest.

[bro_c]

I just bought a 30 day voucher for this. wanna collaborate? playing this alone is pretty boring. the game also seems to have issues when i try to bind keys in the menu?

[Coldery]

Ok one thing who would care about a game about love!?