> PATCH: PROGRESSION REBALANCE DEPLOYED

> Loading patch...
> Adjusting cost matrices...
> Recalibrating neural weight coefficients...
> Patch applied.

This update reworks the game's entire progression curve. If you've been blowing through tiers and hitting endgame too fast, that changes now.

WHAT CHANGED

• Cost scaling tightened across all upgrades (exponent 1.15 -> 1.18)
• Late-game hardware (tiers 8-15) produces 30-60% less FLOPS per unit
• Tier unlock thresholds raised significantly for tiers 8-15
• Neural Weights now grant +3% FLOPS/s each (was +5%)
• Prestige threshold raised from 1M to 5M run FLOPS
• Recursive Optimization now raises prestige gain to ^1.5 (was squared)
• Cache Priming reduced from +500% to +300% FLOPS/s
• Focus accumulation rate halved

WHY

The game was too generous across every system simultaneously. Cost scaling was flat, Neural Weights snowballed, and Recursive Optimization made prestige gains absurd at scale. Each of these was fine individually but they stacked multiplicatively into a curve that collapsed too fast.

This patch stretches the game roughly 3-5x longer depending on where you are in progression, without adding any new clicks or wait screens. The loop is the same. The runway is longer.

EXISTING SAVES

Your save will load fine. You'll notice costs are higher and Neural Weights are slightly less powerful. No data is lost. Think of it as the system recalibrating after a reboot.

> [WARN] Estimated runtime revised: infinity + infinity seconds
> [WARN] This is not a bug. This is the point.