Although I do agree with the point about seeing more background animals, I think the other ideas of yours are already what make up another game, called Lif.
http://www.gamevial.com/playgames.php?game=lif

I've seen people discuss a lot of the same ideas you have here. Don't worry, you're not the only one!

A lot of community members feel the same way about predators being in-game, which is why there are a good amount of characters on the community site here who actually are predators! It can be tricky though to know who may be a predator in-game since the characters all have the same models However, I think there being predator models in-game would be nice, like they would be randomly generated. One day you walk through the birches and just see a few bunnies, the next day maybe there's a bear or a wolf puppy running around!

Lif does have a lot of the components you mentioned in it, but the game itself is still being developed and the community is small (and seems to be full of young kids) so I can understand that can make it feel more underwhelming.


Ohh, also if you have any questions about TEF or you're curious about something, don't be afraid to ask!

o.o What shapeshifting spell?

You can obtain this spell by sitting in a mushroom circle and not moving
For 5 minutes .
You can only cast this spell on another deer .
If you want to be another animal you must find a deer that cast it on your deer .
Edit ....Fish ninja'd me twice lol

I understand what you're saying ^^ It is interesting that the game sort of lacks certain "motions," creature types, any like... hunger/thirst/health/forest magick bar or things like that. What I personally love about this game though, is that, with it's simplistic format, it allows for all of those things that you've mentioned to exist, just not so "explicitly." I know that many of the creatures in the forest are predatory in nature (my character Anguish can be a pretty violent and malicious). I remember for my first several years of playing TEF I never used the forum in tandem with it, but now I can't really play without it (for better or worse). The forum is like the avenue to w/e you want TEF to contain. Lol I also remember for the first few years not understanding the magic AT ALL! So, yeah, maybe a light little "In game" tutorial wouldn't be a bad idea.
When you mentioned the mating/pup rearing, it made me imagine Wolf Quest and when you mention all the other species and stuff, yeah I also imagine Lif. Though I do like the WQ pup raising experience, I've found that it has been at it's best with unlocked chat features (or skype or something). So, despite WQ having built in "animations" and shhhtuff for the pups, the real fun (for me) is happening away from the graphics anyways. There are many mate/fawn raising RP's that take place within the community where, rather than some NPC fawn, the children are also played by others and can grow into their own stories and natures.
I'm willing to throw some Shapeshifting spells at ya if we cross paths in the forest ^^ Anguish is at the tombs and there is a mushroom circle close by.
I think that now knowing about the Shapeshifting spell might add to your experience and taste for diversification. And I don't blame you in the slightest for that, really.
What I think would be nice is like... some different tree types that would drop different things if you rubbed against them, so maybe you had to find just that right tree that dropped that right item to get that right spell to get the pelt/antler/w/e that you had wanted.
For me, more than anything I just enjoy self expression, so pretty much the "action" buttons I'd have to play with and experiment with the better, but I understand keeping it to a low count.
It would be cool to have unique action buttons depending on what form you were in, or perhaps action buttons that were exclusive to certain pelts/masks/antlers (like how the "Call" changes depending on what mask you have).
Like another said though, another nice thing about TEF is that it's kind of like an escape from other games. It's kinda nice knowing you're not going to be eaten/die of starvation/thirst/or get man handled by some predator every time you log in (although all of that is totally possible, it just takes a bit of imagination and RPing ^^)
Well if you feel like getting transformed (ooooor if you feel like learning how to hunt >8D) you'll find me at the temple ^^

Thanks for taking the time to express your views! I'm glad you're in the forest now and it's nice to meet you.

I really like the idea of having more background animals in the Forest too even predators, as long as they're not dangerous, I actually feel llike it would feel even more peaceful this way(?) to have many animal species but none harming each other

It's true, we already have a shapeshifting spell, but I personally don't like playing as a bunny/squirrel/bat/dove since there isn't really anything you can do except walk/fly around and sit :/ it would be nice to have more actions available when you play as one of those animals. And another thing that bugs me a little bit is how small you are like this XD I don't know, I think it would be nice to be able to zoom the camera a bit more when you play as one of these other animals.

You say that the future progression of the game isn't very clear, and that you don't think that things are going to get any different. But Michael & Auriea actually have plans to develop a new phase of the game

On Auriea's words: "...we want to expand the game once again. We want to increase the size of the forest, add new narrative elements, new deer sets, new actions, and so on."

and "We also want to make the game more robust..." "...This will require a complete overhaul of the software, most probably rebuilding the entire game in a new engine..."

(Source)

also here, Michael explained that for fiscal reasons, they have to wait until Summer or Fall of this year before doing anything, and they hope to start a fund-raising campaign then.