This patch includes some economy and quality of life changes as well as some bug fixes.
Gameplay Changes
- Non-harvestable trees have been given a more mossy appearance to help players identify which trees can be cut down.
- Increased maximum plots from 16 to 24.
- Removed collision from crops, except for those which have trellises.
- Added additional fast-travel points to the Homestead and Wilds.
- Compass and in-game time display have been added to the HUD, as well as icons for NPCs. Uses rough placeholder visuals for now.
- The Beyond the Bale quest now requires more favor to appear.
- Reduced gold received for selling stones and logs.
- Increased the amount of gold given in the Reward Calendar.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed Ilo crash error. He is more sociable now.
- Fixed Fluff and Stuff quest. Now correctly requires 1 feather.
- Ship in a bottle item display has been corrected.
- Minor dialogue fixes.
Developer Update - One Week of Early Access!
One of the common points of feedback we've read is with respect to shards and progression. We wanted to provide a quick developer update touching on these concerns and our plans going forward regarding this, as well as how later stages of the game will affect this. Some issues are being addressed now, others are in consideration for future improvements.
- Some players are getting stuck on quests that are either too expensive, or buggy. This impacts progression, and players aren't getting the shards that we had expected. (Fireflies, straw bales, etc.) In the short term, we are fixing affected quests (such as the Ilo fix in this patch). Harder quests will be moved further down the progression line as needed. In the long term, we will be making more daily quests that are easier to do. Where possible these should be instructive, showing you more about what the game has to do in the early game.
- Some players are using their shards at the apothecary a lot more than anticipated, resulting in faster shard usage than expected. Currently, transmuting the reagents you need should be the answer more often than not. If there is a case where purchasing from Zoji is a cheaper solution, let us know. We may need to communicate better that we view Zoji as a vendor to be used for a few purchases once in a while for most people to fill out some missing ingredients.
- As the days go on, players will start to approach larger milestones with their favour such as apprenticeship. Here is how things will eventually play out once you eventually reach those longer-term milestones and how that will help with shard costs. Once you reach enough favour with someone, you can choose to apprentice for them. You will only be able to apprentice for one trade at a time. That person will then ask you to do a larger, more time-consuming and costly quest; such as transmuting 15 Peonies. However, these quests will unlock additional rewards like the ability to purchase Peonies for Gold. This will be the case for most of your growable/fishable/forageable items. Getting more easy early quests should ease the pains of shard costs and early progression. Gold will later be a much more useful resource, once you can use it to purchase the next tier of items. We expect a lot of discussion around this and we appreciate all the feedback so far! We hope you all will feel like you are making more informed decisions with your shards, knowing more of how things will progress.
- Wilds foraging. Stone is currently the go-to method for gold. The merchants have received enough stone by now, so we're nerfing gold for stone. Sorry. But also, more plots! All players will begin with 24 maximum plots to play with going forward. Further down the line we want to give you more things to do to earn your gold (and favour) particularly in the early game - which we are all still in!
Spellfarers is a week into Early Access and it has been an extremely helpful week! Thank you for sharing your feedback and your experience with this game and we can't wait to continue building and improving Spellfarers!