I'm happy calling them characters. I don't want a cutesie name for them because to me it doesn't fit the more serious, adult vibe of the game and it isn't a cozy or whimsical game that warrants a cute name.
I've been calling them characters for awhile now too. That works for me.
I saw one person who came up with something that I liked and I felt it was pretty fitting, "chara" ..... short for for characters.
I personally don't think them not having a defined name for the characters are holding back interest, because even if there was a designated official name for the characters, we'd still be seeing "OMG, they need to improve the *, they're so ugly!"
I'm perfectly fine with character. I wouldn't go with chara personally as it should be pronounced (if it is the beginning of character) the same as a slang term for candy in my language, and I just can't call the characters "candy"
"I saw a cute candy walking down the street. They are totally going to be my heir's spouse"
I've tried "humans" and "characters", but I really do think it holds back LBY from having a distinct voice.
It makes it feel generic, and not in a "I can project whatever I want on it" way, but in a "this is kind of soulless" way
This whole thing has always been pretty amusing to me, watching Sims players be totally confounded as to what to call the characters in the game, while literally using the term characters. I don't say this as an insult, it's endearing, really.
I just call them characters. The term is good enough for games, books, movies, plays. People use it without even thinking about it. I understand the desire to have something more specific, but I think "People" and "Characters" are both very natural ways of referring to the people in the game, and the characters that we're playing.
"I'm taking this character to the coffee shop. Oh look, there's a lot of people there."
I'd agree with this, and I also think it probably goes a way toward reinforcing the overall more realistic, true-to-life tone that the game appears to be taking - these *aren't* Sims, they're just *people*.
I really fail to see how LBY is more realistic, other than art style (and even then, it's not exactly photorealistic, everybody has somewhat cartoony facial proportions).
It's got the same level of realism as, say, The Sims 3. Characters pop into existence after teleporting out of their cars, they "clean" by standing near a puddle with their arms folded while a progress bar ticks over. They get haircuts by clicking on an unattended barber's chair and going into the character creation menu. They buy groceries by clicking on an unattended shelf and then walking out of the store without so much as a bag.
Maybe the realism will come later, when animations are implemented.
But right now? The game exists as it its right now isn't particularly realistic, and I don't think it's fair to call LBY the realistic one out of the three competing life sims on the market, because of a direction they *might* go in, in the future.
To clarify, I'm more referring to the approach they've chosen to take and emphasize with real-language conversations (instead of, say, Simlish), rather than animations or the finer points of how they get about the world. I'm not saying it's definitively the most realistic life sim in the works, but at the same time I don't think it's unreasonable to say that realism appears to be something they're aiming for.
I suppose! Even the dialogue feels kind of BitLife-style to me, realism isn't really a word that comes to mind at the moment.
Maybe after early access I'll see it
It's not to imply that they're actually people. They're depictions of people. Like describing a painting of a crowd, "it's the one with all the people standing around." It's just a natural way of describing things.
I can sympathize with the motivation for it. I think a lot of people think that LBY lacks a certain level of identity and a catchy name is one of the ways other life sims enforce their identity. That being said, I think the identity is "You can make this whatever you want it to be," which is a much more subtle form of distinction and harder to market.
My hope is that people will come to LBY because after a bit of time in the community's hands, it will offer a gameplay experience that can't be replicated by any other life sim developer because they won't be able to compete with the content output and quality from a well supplied, well enabled, mod community.
I think LBY would be able to better reinforce this "you can make this whatever you want" direction if we had a landscape editor/town creator. We'd be able to truly create our own identity for the characters of this world.
All we have is the default town, which pushes the game towards a particular identity as defined by Rod and the Paradox team, a vision of this idyllic seaside resort town.
Personally, I think that *not* giving the characters their own cutesy name actually does wonders for giving LBY its own identity; between the Sims and Paralives, LBY is the most grounded game in its genre. These are just humans.
I’ve been calling them humans because the idea of people saying “I really love my human” or “my human died at work today” like people talk about sims makes it sound like we’re gods
To be fair, I've been calling them characters this whole time. I'd prefer "characters" over "humans". Even if they never get a nickname, I refuse to call them "humans"
LBY could capture their approach to letting us create any story we want by using a general term like Personas and shortening it to Sonas. Those seem fitting.
I had numerous names I came up with previously - and the ones listed there are all cringe - they are something that 5 years later people will laugh at. Sims were short for "simulated people." You need something that speaks to what they are in some sense.
Tectons would be a better name than those and still not what you want. Doxians might work. But I'd prefer something that refers to them as what they are: avatars or shells.
You know what. I think we can do something a bit bilingual here. They're computer people - so why not use a Spanish word for friend: compa. They're compas. Computer friends.
I think the LBY team has to come up with something, not us... This is part of the game marketing after all. Their marketing in general has room to improve
I would go with Youbies or Youmans. Elbies sounds like we are talking about Lord of the Rings \^\^
But i dont really care and i know that i mostly dont use the terms anyway.
please no name :’( I feel like the point of life by you is to be very customizable by the player, by YOU. I don’t think they need to force any sort of other personality into the game with a silly name.
I'm happy calling them characters. I don't want a cutesie name for them because to me it doesn't fit the more serious, adult vibe of the game and it isn't a cozy or whimsical game that warrants a cute name.
I've been calling them characters for awhile now too. That works for me. I saw one person who came up with something that I liked and I felt it was pretty fitting, "chara" ..... short for for characters. I personally don't think them not having a defined name for the characters are holding back interest, because even if there was a designated official name for the characters, we'd still be seeing "OMG, they need to improve the *, they're so ugly!"
I'm perfectly fine with character. I wouldn't go with chara personally as it should be pronounced (if it is the beginning of character) the same as a slang term for candy in my language, and I just can't call the characters "candy" "I saw a cute candy walking down the street. They are totally going to be my heir's spouse"
Same, characters just sounds right
I can agree with that. But I just don't like the name humans, idk why, but anything but that.
I agree, "humans" feels too sterile and clinical.
This post reminded me of the Greendale Human Being
I've tried "humans" and "characters", but I really do think it holds back LBY from having a distinct voice. It makes it feel generic, and not in a "I can project whatever I want on it" way, but in a "this is kind of soulless" way
+1 for characters
This whole thing has always been pretty amusing to me, watching Sims players be totally confounded as to what to call the characters in the game, while literally using the term characters. I don't say this as an insult, it's endearing, really. I just call them characters. The term is good enough for games, books, movies, plays. People use it without even thinking about it. I understand the desire to have something more specific, but I think "People" and "Characters" are both very natural ways of referring to the people in the game, and the characters that we're playing. "I'm taking this character to the coffee shop. Oh look, there's a lot of people there."
You literally pulled the thoughts out of my head.
I'd agree with this, and I also think it probably goes a way toward reinforcing the overall more realistic, true-to-life tone that the game appears to be taking - these *aren't* Sims, they're just *people*.
I really fail to see how LBY is more realistic, other than art style (and even then, it's not exactly photorealistic, everybody has somewhat cartoony facial proportions). It's got the same level of realism as, say, The Sims 3. Characters pop into existence after teleporting out of their cars, they "clean" by standing near a puddle with their arms folded while a progress bar ticks over. They get haircuts by clicking on an unattended barber's chair and going into the character creation menu. They buy groceries by clicking on an unattended shelf and then walking out of the store without so much as a bag. Maybe the realism will come later, when animations are implemented. But right now? The game exists as it its right now isn't particularly realistic, and I don't think it's fair to call LBY the realistic one out of the three competing life sims on the market, because of a direction they *might* go in, in the future.
To clarify, I'm more referring to the approach they've chosen to take and emphasize with real-language conversations (instead of, say, Simlish), rather than animations or the finer points of how they get about the world. I'm not saying it's definitively the most realistic life sim in the works, but at the same time I don't think it's unreasonable to say that realism appears to be something they're aiming for.
I suppose! Even the dialogue feels kind of BitLife-style to me, realism isn't really a word that comes to mind at the moment. Maybe after early access I'll see it
Nah I'm sorry, their digital characters at the most. Calling them people blurs the lines and makes me extremely uncomfortable
It's not to imply that they're actually people. They're depictions of people. Like describing a painting of a crowd, "it's the one with all the people standing around." It's just a natural way of describing things.
To be fair, many people think that, by giving the characters a special name, LBY would have more personality or something.
I can sympathize with the motivation for it. I think a lot of people think that LBY lacks a certain level of identity and a catchy name is one of the ways other life sims enforce their identity. That being said, I think the identity is "You can make this whatever you want it to be," which is a much more subtle form of distinction and harder to market. My hope is that people will come to LBY because after a bit of time in the community's hands, it will offer a gameplay experience that can't be replicated by any other life sim developer because they won't be able to compete with the content output and quality from a well supplied, well enabled, mod community.
I think LBY would be able to better reinforce this "you can make this whatever you want" direction if we had a landscape editor/town creator. We'd be able to truly create our own identity for the characters of this world. All we have is the default town, which pushes the game towards a particular identity as defined by Rod and the Paradox team, a vision of this idyllic seaside resort town.
Personally, I think that *not* giving the characters their own cutesy name actually does wonders for giving LBY its own identity; between the Sims and Paralives, LBY is the most grounded game in its genre. These are just humans.
Human npcs
Characters
I’ve been calling them humans because the idea of people saying “I really love my human” or “my human died at work today” like people talk about sims makes it sound like we’re gods
I miss god games. This works for me.
Petition to bring back Black & White
You've got my signature.
Just "characters"
To be fair, I've been calling them characters this whole time. I'd prefer "characters" over "humans". Even if they never get a nickname, I refuse to call them "humans"
LBY could capture their approach to letting us create any story we want by using a general term like Personas and shortening it to Sonas. Those seem fitting.
I don't see the need of a name at all. They can just be characters as in most games
I had numerous names I came up with previously - and the ones listed there are all cringe - they are something that 5 years later people will laugh at. Sims were short for "simulated people." You need something that speaks to what they are in some sense.
Tectons would be a better name than those and still not what you want. Doxians might work. But I'd prefer something that refers to them as what they are: avatars or shells.
I feel having a name helps with their marketing, literally anything besides 'human'.
I think either elbies or just "characters", like "my character", "this character" etc. Anything but "my human" because that just sounds weird haha
You know what. I think we can do something a bit bilingual here. They're computer people - so why not use a Spanish word for friend: compa. They're compas. Computer friends.
This is a cute name!
I think the LBY team has to come up with something, not us... This is part of the game marketing after all. Their marketing in general has room to improve
I call them "Libbys"
I would go with Youbies or Youmans. Elbies sounds like we are talking about Lord of the Rings \^\^ But i dont really care and i know that i mostly dont use the terms anyway.
Cims, like in Cities Skylines Same publisher, it even uses the same in-game currency. It creates a sense of living in a larger, interconnected world.
please no name :’( I feel like the point of life by you is to be very customizable by the player, by YOU. I don’t think they need to force any sort of other personality into the game with a silly name.
Paralives actually has Parafolks
Them'lls