LO-LIFE is a quest about relationships, self-improvement and identity, set in the backdrop of a...
LO-LIFE: A DateQuest
- Thread starter Exhack
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User Total Exhack 8
Prologue I: LO-LIFE
Exhack
We Won't Build The Plane!
- Location
- Montreal, Canada
LO-LIFE is a quest about relationships, self-improvement and identity, set in the backdrop of a futuristic fictional city floating on the North Sea.
Do you know yourself well enough to fall in love?
Will you be someone worth loving?
-LL-
Do you know yourself well enough to fall in love?
Will you be someone worth loving?
-LL-
Life in a new city presents new opportunities. You can reinvent yourself, make new friends and explore the urban landscape.
NEUE PALAS is the place to be these days. An artificial island constructed in the warming North Sea, floating on a million tonnes of foamed pseudocrete and plastibar, safe from the storms that batter the equatorial waters. The big EU melting pot: where the the moneyed, the working-class and the desperate mingle. It's close to the UK, but doesn't see much traffic from that part of the world- not since the increased tensions along the Channel.
Like many of the city's young people, you came to work where there were opportunities. The weeks since you've arrived have been pleasant enough, but your routine has gotten a bit boring. You haven't really explored beyond your home borough and the financial district where you work.
You'd like to date a little and explore, but it's been a while hasn't it?
Don't lie, how much DATING have you really gotten up to?
[ ] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[ ] Limited, you've dated a little and had some hookups but nothing serious. No effect.
[ ] Extensive, you've been around and don't get emotional as easily. You're a lot more chill about relationships but get less excited about milestones.
It's not like it's impossible for someone like you to date, with that in mind. You just need to find someone with the right REFERENCE POOLS. Someone who can get your jokes and references, and shares at least part of your worldview.
The other question is how much time for dating you have, isn't it?
What kind of JOB do you have, and when are you free to SOCIALIZE?
[ ] Office, as a junior member of management you work steady hours but sometimes get overtime. You can occasionally ask for days off, as long as there's no upcoming projects.
[ ] Service, your service industry job grants relatively flexible but backbreaking hours. You can negotiate hours for days off in advance.
[ ] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
[ ] Unemployed, but looking and on benefits. On the bright side you don't have to worry about work or scheduling. You're kind of broke, though.
--LL--
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Appendix I: Mechanics
Appendix II: Character Profiles
LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Only half the cliche, because going full NEET is boring.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Only half the cliche, because going full NEET is boring.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[x] Unemployed, but looking and on benefits. On the bright side you don't have to worry about work or scheduling. You're kind of broke, though.
[x] Unemployed, but looking and on benefits. On the bright side you don't have to worry about work or scheduling. You're kind of broke, though.
- Location
- The Hague
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Kissless virgin
[X] NEET
let's dark souls this dating game
[X] NEET
let's dark souls this dating game
wertsir
Knower of the Unknown
- Location
- Lost in A Deep Fog
[X] Extensive, you've been around and don't get emotional as easily. You're a lot more chill about relationships but get less excited about milestones.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Stereotypes are boring. and I am hoping that experience will let us avoid many of the clichéd situations that tend to arise in the romance genre.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Stereotypes are boring. and I am hoping that experience will let us avoid many of the clichéd situations that tend to arise in the romance genre.
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- Location
- AB, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
@Hikari You're missing the 'X's for your vote there.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
@Hikari You're missing the 'X's for your vote there.
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] Service, your service industry job grants relatively flexible but backbreaking hours. You can negotiate hours for days off in advance.
[X] Service, your service industry job grants relatively flexible but backbreaking hours. You can negotiate hours for days off in advance.
DeepWaters
No one will be the wiser.
- Location
- Land of Spiders and Shipping Charts
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
- Location
- The Shrine of the Muse
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Let us be a sudo-NEET
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Let us be a sudo-NEET
Pathetic King
"I Speak To The Audient Void."
- Location
- Colorado
[X] Limited, you've dated a little and had some hookups but nothing serious. No effect.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
DkArthas
CAPITAL IS TO BLAME
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- They
[X] Extensive, you've been around and don't get emotional as easily. You're a lot more chill about relationships but get less excited about milestones.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in yourunderwear.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in yourunderwear.
- Location
- Mists of Albion
[X] Extensive, you've been around and don't get emotional as easily. You're a lot more chill about relationships but get less excited about milestones.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
asphaltus
Never bought a physical comic book
- Location
- New Delhi
[X] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Sentient dakimura-chan is the only waifu we need!
[X] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
Sentient dakimura-chan is the only waifu we need!
Prologue II: FREE-LANCER
Exhack
We Won't Build The Plane!
- Location
- Montreal, Canada
[x] None, you are a kissless virgin. It's easier to like people when you don't have preconceptions.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
THE REAL DATEQUEST STARTS HERE.
--LL--
You'd call yourself a late bloomer, but that might be excessively polite and a little self-pitiying. You've never gone on a serious date and the last time you held hands with a girl was an exercise in primary school. The later parts of your life seemed to get in the way of opportunities to date: illness, an all-boys school, a difficult college experience coupled with a part-time job, yet more illness. So here you are unpleasantly creaking into your twenties, hoping to break the funk before it becomes permanent.
The other reason you'd like to date is because work doesn't really offer you a pool of same-age peers to socialize with. Your bosses are all frugal aristos into their fourties and way out of touch; your other main human contact are the landlord or the odd overworked intern who needs to ferry some physical copy of your work to and from the offices.
For normal people who go on dates, work is one of the first things they talk about.
What IS your work, exactly? This will define one of your REFERENCE POOLS.
[ ] You work as an ANIMATOR. Your apartment is strewn with sketches and reference materials.
[ ] You work as a PROGRAMMER. Your rig is fairly impressive and runs off a homemade OS.
[ ] You work in from-home CUSTOMER SERVICE. Your desk has an array of stress-relief devices, puzzle toys and an ever-changing stash of snacks.
[ ] You don't so much work as live as an INTERNET PERSONALITY. A large portion of your apartment is rigged with lighting and sound. Your fortunes are built on a combination of e-patronage, ad revenue and merch.
[ ] You just do WHATEVER. Data entry, customer service, beta testing games, human input tasks for software development… you don't really care as long as you can keep living on your own in Neue Palas. [Don't take a work-based Reference Pool.]
--LL--
REFERENCE POOLS are one of the most important mechanics in LO-LIFE. These represent a combination of life experiences, knowledges, interests and personal beliefs which will inform some of the protagonist's behavior. As you increase your stats and become more socially adroit, you will be able to discern the REFERENCE POOLS you share with the people you date. This allows for deeper and more meaningful discussions, in-jokes and options for dates that might not be available (or good ideas) otherwise.
The protagonist has a maximum of 8 REFERENCE POOLS, which will be selected gradually over the course of play. Some will appear at pre-planned events, such as the one above. Some REFERENCE POOLS will only appear once or twice, but will provide strong general improvements to the protagonist's eligibility in dating. Others may harm overall romantic opportunities except with specifically compatible partners.
Be careful!
--LL--
Regardless of your reasons, you've settled on your next course of action: which is to actually meet somebody new and dip your toes back in that sea full of metaphorical fish. The rain's stopped and it's actually quite pleasant outside for now- it'll apparently last all night according to the forecasts. It's about 7 PM on a Friday, meaning you have quite a few hours to mess around before you need to head home. Regular bars and some restaurants close at 3 AM in Neue Palas.
Where do you go for your first attempt?
[ ] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
[ ] Head to the LOCAL BAR.
[ ] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT.
[ ] Join a DATING SITE.
[x] At-Home, you mostly work from home as a freelancer. You still have to put in fairly hefty hours to make ends meet but there's no commute most days and you can work in your underwear.
THE REAL DATEQUEST STARTS HERE.
--LL--
You'd call yourself a late bloomer, but that might be excessively polite and a little self-pitiying. You've never gone on a serious date and the last time you held hands with a girl was an exercise in primary school. The later parts of your life seemed to get in the way of opportunities to date: illness, an all-boys school, a difficult college experience coupled with a part-time job, yet more illness. So here you are unpleasantly creaking into your twenties, hoping to break the funk before it becomes permanent.
The other reason you'd like to date is because work doesn't really offer you a pool of same-age peers to socialize with. Your bosses are all frugal aristos into their fourties and way out of touch; your other main human contact are the landlord or the odd overworked intern who needs to ferry some physical copy of your work to and from the offices.
For normal people who go on dates, work is one of the first things they talk about.
What IS your work, exactly? This will define one of your REFERENCE POOLS.
[ ] You work as an ANIMATOR. Your apartment is strewn with sketches and reference materials.
[ ] You work as a PROGRAMMER. Your rig is fairly impressive and runs off a homemade OS.
[ ] You work in from-home CUSTOMER SERVICE. Your desk has an array of stress-relief devices, puzzle toys and an ever-changing stash of snacks.
[ ] You don't so much work as live as an INTERNET PERSONALITY. A large portion of your apartment is rigged with lighting and sound. Your fortunes are built on a combination of e-patronage, ad revenue and merch.
[ ] You just do WHATEVER. Data entry, customer service, beta testing games, human input tasks for software development… you don't really care as long as you can keep living on your own in Neue Palas. [Don't take a work-based Reference Pool.]
--LL--
REFERENCE POOLS are one of the most important mechanics in LO-LIFE. These represent a combination of life experiences, knowledges, interests and personal beliefs which will inform some of the protagonist's behavior. As you increase your stats and become more socially adroit, you will be able to discern the REFERENCE POOLS you share with the people you date. This allows for deeper and more meaningful discussions, in-jokes and options for dates that might not be available (or good ideas) otherwise.
The protagonist has a maximum of 8 REFERENCE POOLS, which will be selected gradually over the course of play. Some will appear at pre-planned events, such as the one above. Some REFERENCE POOLS will only appear once or twice, but will provide strong general improvements to the protagonist's eligibility in dating. Others may harm overall romantic opportunities except with specifically compatible partners.
Be careful!
--LL--
Regardless of your reasons, you've settled on your next course of action: which is to actually meet somebody new and dip your toes back in that sea full of metaphorical fish. The rain's stopped and it's actually quite pleasant outside for now- it'll apparently last all night according to the forecasts. It's about 7 PM on a Friday, meaning you have quite a few hours to mess around before you need to head home. Regular bars and some restaurants close at 3 AM in Neue Palas.
Where do you go for your first attempt?
[ ] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
[ ] Head to the LOCAL BAR.
[ ] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT.
[ ] Join a DATING SITE.
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LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
[X] You don't so much work as live as an INTERNET PERSONALITY. A large portion of your apartment is rigged with lighting and sound. Your fortunes are built on a combination of e-patronage, ad revenue and merch.
[X] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT
We shall become the voice behind a virtual youtuber!
[X] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT
We shall become the voice behind a virtual youtuber!
[X] You work as a PROGRAMMER. Your rig is fairly impressive and runs off a homemade OS
[X] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
Programmer because I recently became quite interested in the subject and it seems like a pretty well-rounded option
Gym because first impressions are important and ia healthy body is a good thing to have
[X] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
Programmer because I recently became quite interested in the subject and it seems like a pretty well-rounded option
Gym because first impressions are important and ia healthy body is a good thing to have
Exhack
We Won't Build The Plane!
- Location
- Montreal, Canada
ABalloonyChaos
Drifts wherever the wind may take me.
- Location
- USA, up in the air.
Well it to early or late in the day, depending how you view it, to really discuss things for me, but I will put some thoughts in this post.
[X] You work as an ANIMATOR. Your apartment is strewn with sketches and reference materials.
We are creative with an eye for detail. How important that can or will be I don't know.
[X] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT.
Even if we don't find a date we might find places to take dates.
Other close or interesting option that I see.
[ ] You don't so much work as live as an INTERNET PERSONALITY. A large portion of your apartment is rigged with lighting and sound. Your fortunes are built on a combination of e-patronage, ad revenue and merch.
HaHAHAHAH if we could only be so lucky, another name for small time Internet celebrity? May seam be at odds with"The other reason you'd like to date is because..." I expect this comes with an increased chance of some Yandary internet starker deal with it.
[ ] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
Horrible place to look for romance. Might have other uses though?
[ ] Head to the LOCAL BAR.
Somewhat stereotypical but plot wise it a good place start. As long the bar is decent and not seedy, sports, biker, or just a bad bar.
[X] You work as an ANIMATOR. Your apartment is strewn with sketches and reference materials.
We are creative with an eye for detail. How important that can or will be I don't know.
[X] Go explore the DISTRICT WATERFRONT.
Even if we don't find a date we might find places to take dates.
Other close or interesting option that I see.
[ ] You don't so much work as live as an INTERNET PERSONALITY. A large portion of your apartment is rigged with lighting and sound. Your fortunes are built on a combination of e-patronage, ad revenue and merch.
HaHAHAHAH if we could only be so lucky, another name for small time Internet celebrity? May seam be at odds with"The other reason you'd like to date is because..." I expect this comes with an increased chance of some Yandary internet starker deal with it.
[ ] Head to the LOCAL GYM.
Horrible place to look for romance. Might have other uses though?
[ ] Head to the LOCAL BAR.
Somewhat stereotypical but plot wise it a good place start. As long the bar is decent and not seedy, sports, biker, or just a bad bar.