It's the weekend, so I feel obligated to play some more Lifeweb.
I know it's been quite a while since this post, but the thread is active and you're still on the forum, so I thought I'd ask (I realize that the SS13 topic may be a more suitable place for this, but I don't feel like necroing a thread for a single question): do you, as an insider, have any information regarding the next wave of applications and when it may occur? I've been fascinated with the concept of the server and whatever gameplay footage there is for months now; it just seems like such a unique and interesting experience! Shame it's this closed, though I do understand why that's necessary.
I haven't played Lifeweb for years, and wasn't involved in the community (inasmuch as there even
is one, given the strict restrictions on talking about the game out-of-game) even when I was semi-active there. Afraid I can't help with any news regarding the thing.
It's... It's absolutely a unique and interesting experience, I'll definitely give it that. There's a huge amount of style and atmosphere that drips with menace and hints of the deeper mysteries behind.
However, it's also ludicrously unintuitive and utterly unforgiving. If you weren't logged in for the very start of the match (and sometimes even if you were), you spawn as a migrant out in the caves. You take one step forward onto what looks to be solid ground, because you're not aware that the subtly darker shading indicates that the tile is a z-level down, and you fall to your death within a minute of the game starting (or your torch runs out before you reach the city/you can't figure out how to make one, and the world is plunged into darkness, resulting in falling and dying somewhere else).
You might be fortunate enough to rise later as a skinless and attempt to kill the living souls wandering around, but this usually just means you'll die again within a few steps thanks to the other wildlife out there. Or someone simply bashing your head in thanks to how slow you are. Now you get to just wait out the rest of the 30-40 minute round, without even observing things because even ghosts are restricted in the game.
Maybe you got lucky and did spawn in at round start! But since you're new to the game, you grab one of the "easy" classes like a serving girl in the baron's manor. Your primary job is to just run around cleaning up dirt with a bucket and a rag. You spawn with a bucket in the room, and easy access to a water source.
You do not spawn with a rag. Nowhere in the servant's chambers is there a free rag. Nothing else works for this chore. If you don't perform your duties, the baron will either execute you so you die immediately, or have you shuffled off into the Lifeweb to be locked inside your own body for a while before finally dying (and then your ghost gets trapped in a labyrinth because it's the Lifeweb).
You fumble your way around the interaction menus and come upon the brilliant idea of trying to tear a strip of cloth off your clothes. This will look promising and your character will attempt it, but the action will never ever succeed because your skinny little orphan arms are too weak to tear clothing. You pick up the pair of scissors in the room in the hopes that it'll help, guess blindly at the interaction menu since it doesn't tell you a damn thing, stab yourself in the leg, get infected, and die.
Next round! You roll up as a farmer instead, and dedicate your life to pooping in a bucket. The merchant who owns you comes by to whip you because you don't make enough tomatoes and the ones you do grow are terrible quality (you do not know what causes this). The wounds get infected, and you die.
Try again! This time the merchant is off getting high and ignores you for the entire round. You're quietly tending to your garden when the church bells ring out; looks like the bishop is trying to arrange a prayer to God-in-Coma. Attendance is mandatory; you either follow the group and activities or you get executed as a heretic. The ritual starts, and you are commanded to shed blood from your hand as part of the prayer. You do so, the prayer takes longer than usual because the congregation isn't pious enough (you do not know what this means or what affects it), and once it's over the nun is too busy to treat your hand. You get infected and die.
One more time! You try a gravedigger instead, and
miraculously manage to innately understand the absolutely arcane combat system, and instinctively select the correct settings for grip, intent, targeting zone and attack style (and weren't fucked by RNG on your character's strength), allowing you to successfully knock out the hobo NPC with a sneak attack, allowing you to feed the Lifeweb and keep it running for a little while longer so you can keep your head attached to the rest of your body. Whoops! Turns out the captain of the guard was a cultist and spotted you while you were walking through one of the alleyways to work, so you have been thoroughly slapped and then eviscerated in sacrifice to Tchernobog.
Aaaand... That's the weekend over folks, see you next week! Also if you try and help anyone learn how to actually do things, your account will be permanently banned from ever accessing the game again and you'll have to create a new account and pay the new-account fee in order to join up and try again.
Eventually that whole culture just ruined the cool stuff for me. And that's ignoring the pedophilia and sexual assault side of things.