If you want a collar so bad, go to Amber and lick her feet until she likes you enough to make you her pet.
Yeah but that's not the point though.
It doesn't scratch anyones itch to go and engage with something they already know is going to occur. I mean, it does the FIRST time and then every time after that it rings hollow because there's no surprise in it, there's no uncertainty in it, you already know how to beat it, and any loss involved is a voluntary action. The player isn't being dominated. The player is submitting.
This is an important distinction. Force is a requirement of domination. You aren't being dommed unless you're being forced in some way. You're allowing it to happen to some extent within safety-word boundaries that you're comfortable with, but ultimately are in fact being forced. That's domination. This act, performed in this way, is pure submission.
But the main factor here is the linear, unsurprising lack of replayability this involves. Without surprise, without its potential to be a radiantly discovered event through a series of overlapping world possibilities coming about through various systems impacting upon the players decisions and behaviour that the player is attempting to simultaneously balance, it becomes hollow after that first time experience. With the addition of overlapping systems that generate different choices from the player and different outcomes because of the wide variety of possibilities it then becomes something that can go quite differently on any and every run. This then becomes exciting, every single time. Never a stale event.
You're proposing an entirely different design philosophy than is intended. LT is all about empowerment, but you want it to be a hardcore survival-type thing. If you want to play DoL, go play DoL. LT is for the those who want to dominate the game world, not be subject to it.
In order to dominate something it has to pose a challenge that goes beyond just grind. That's the point. A game is a challenge that is overcome, I simply propose that the game needs more VARIETY of challenges for the player to overcome, as it currently stands there is one challenge and one challenge only, "Am I strong enough to beat this thing?" and that challenge is simply overcome by grinding to be stronger.
This wears out as soon as the player is done with the harpy nest (which is fantastic as an idea) because the player has seen this gameplay loop now and already overcome it.
While I disagree with a lot of what you wrote, Inno is definitely not appreciating what her claimed vision of this game is going to require in order to be ... well, a game.
LT is supposed to be an RPG. What it needs - far more than a chase for cash or ramping up the challenge level - is meaningful player choice. The meaningful choice that's been set up so far is between choosing to liberate or conquer. Then Inno decided to work on other stuff for a couple years, so that's gone nowhere so far.
The way you play the game needs to be reflected in the story that emerges from the game. The "descent into depravity" arc is one I've used myself, but it should be just one possible way to approach the game.
I agree to an extent, and tell Inno I don't mean her harm. I'm just very blunt, if I thought I was going to hurt feelings I probably would have been less blunt, I didn't expect her to read here.
What I think, however, is that player choices are more meaningful when player choices have real consequences. Forced transformation and forced fetish are already there, these are foundational building blocks I believe of what I am already talking about. My post simply suggests greatly expanding these elements.
Tell Inno that Forced Transformation and Forced Fetish doesn't trigger during enemy encounters created by storm as well, even when set 100%. I suspect this is an oversight.
The reality of the things I am suggesting are simple, add forced clothing items, as another option if you really need to make everything optional, add forced tattoos, add forced mental states and tie mental states to forced decisions in game (like the forced transformation drink toggle). If a character has been made fully submissive, that character should submit, until the player can find a way to cure themselves of course. Forced eating. Forced bondage. Forced sex toys. In the losing state against dangerous opponents these should all be possibilities and the number of combinations and depth this can have with the systems for enchantments that already exist are endless. There is a huge amount that could be done.
Redesign of areas is really part of two things, making the player travel through some sort of danger zone to deter consistent back and forth travel for showers to heal, making use of healing items, and generally making the world a touch more dangerous and interesting as a result. Some thugs(or enforcers) with a toll passageway could function as an alternative to rent, forcing the player to pay a toll on passing them, deterring too much usage of the passage. Increasing this over time as an increasing threat.
My wording of "inevitable" was perhaps incorrect. It doesn't necessarily have to be inevitable. The point isn't to make an unwinnable game, that too is boring. But to create an outcome that is fulfilling beyond "I grinded to get stronger and beat them".
You can tie this into much more interesting enemy encounters as well. Right now enemy encounters are "did i lose or win?". Whereas with more focus on the elements that make up this world - transformation, bondage, domination, submission, fetishes and tattoos - you can incorporate these into enemy attacks themselves. So, you may win an encounter with an enemy, but instead of trying to either attack you or lust you, these enemies threw lassos at your character and then managed to put a cursed submission collar on you right as you dealt them the final blow. Your encounter is more meaningful here because while you may have crushed the enemies, their attacks actually still pose a further challenge that you must now deal with -- the submission collar. You have decisions to make about the cost of its removal, whether you even have the currency to remove it, or whether you could play on with it for a while. You might avoid combat so avoid possible instances where you might be made to submit by an attempted domination attack. Etc etc etc.
I feel like I'm only really scratching the surface here with what could be done because the system is very powerful.
Oh and some more jobs could offset costs. Balancing around a steadily rising rent or toll is not necessarily difficult, the player is just given choices of several jobs that, when performed at adequate levels have the *potential* to meet costs. Each job itself can pose many predicaments and challenges too of course. Prostitution already features this to a minor extent in it being a decision between raising corruption and gaining fetishes vs earning cash, also the possibility of losing virginity with a wrong move although the sex game is a little flawed in some respects to this which I let slide and expect is already intended to one day be addressed. Jobs are the most obvious potential gameplay loop for both RP and a cash motivator loop, and a potential place to stick all kinds of fun situational stuff you might see in those particular kinds of workplaces. I can think of a few that are quite lore specific too that wouldn't exist in real life.
Am I being unfair in characterising the current gameplay loop as "grind to get strong and collect cash then beat the next thing" ? I don't think so. What I'm really getting at is that because this is the only loop that exists players end up feeling... Wanting. My point is to look for how to introduce more loops, and obviously I'm leaning in quite heavily on the two most obvious popular sandbox world games that feature sub/dom as examples to take such loop ideas from.
Another potential here is that it would really work VERY well with loot drops (from enemies or whatever) that require the player to "identify" items, detrimental gear being in the game is itself begging to be used in a meaningful way. Gear can have detrimental and positive effects while also being cursed, and having the full suite of possible outcomes.
I'll just add last of all here, losing in games is an involuntary outcome, and an absolutely essential event to making games... Games. As are statuses, debuffs, and all kinds of things intended to impact the player and make the player have to perform meaningful choices that actually change from playthrough to playthrough. All of the above essentially just ends up being statuses, debuffs and various possible negatives that players balance to avoid losing, leading to a more enjoyable and deeper game beyond "am I strong?" It adds layers of challenge and choice beyond just levelling your strength.
