Archaelund is about to grow! This is a brief summary of what has been going on, and what is to come.
Development summary
In the first six months since release, I focused on polishing the existing content and mechanics. Along the way, we added a couple of new dungeons, bumped the number of completable quests from 17 to 21, and introduced many new features. You can check out the full details in the changelog.
And so, the 0.7.x development era came to an end. Long live 0.8.x!!!
What comes next?
Since summer started, I've been working on something quite more exciting: a new playable region comparable in size to the Peninsula, nearly doubling the game's current playable area. I initially planned to release it with minimal content and no level cap increase, by August or September, and then complete the content in several updates. However it quickly became clear that this approach wasn't ideal, as quests play a significant role in shaping area design. It's much better to plan and balance everything as a cohesive whole.
This shift in scope has caused some delays, but the new content should be available in Beta on October 9th (instructions to join Beta here). A week later, it should roll out for all players, and by the end of October, I'll likely make a minor release adding all the stuff that didn't make it into 0.8.1.
Certain areas of the new region will still be gated for higher-level content. In total there should be 12 new quests in the new update, and the level cap will raise to 5. Expect new items, spells, enemies, music, and art! Unfortunately, bad puns and silly humor was well.
The new content
I don't want to spoil too much, but if you've checked out the in-game world map, you'll see the next region includes the town of Urendale and the infamous Medrin Forest—a name that strikes fear into every inhabitant of the Marches! Well, except for adventurers, whose brains probably deserve some scientific study.
Please note that this update does not include a new chapter of the main quest. That will come with the next area release; although the dialogues include lore that is related to the main plot, the content itself is optional exploration.
That's all for now; I need to get back to development! Thank you so much for the fantastic support on the forums. It makes all the long hours worthwhile, knowing there are players out there enjoying the game, waiting for what comes next. Knowing you're there really makes a difference.
EDIT: originally stated "around October 7th", has been updated to "October 9th".