Why Early Access?

“The core loop is already playable: gathering, crafting, enhancement, autobattle, the market, parties, and guilds all run on a live server. What is not finished is the long-term economy, class balance, and what players do after Tier 7. We would rather tune those with a real population than ship a “1.0” that still has no endgame.

Early Access lets us:

Balance life-skill curves, gold sinks, and class power with live data, not only internal tests
Design post–Tier 7 endgame with players, instead of locking a roadmap nobody asked for
Find problems early in always-online systems: queues, offline progress, and the server
You can play a full idle day today. What is missing is endgame and long-term balance, not a client that boots.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect at least 12 to 24 months, and it may run longer.

There is no fixed “must leave Early Access by this date.” We will leave when both of these are true:

1.Post–Tier 7 endgame is live and supports a long-term goal (not another lap of the same gathering and combat);
2.The economy and classes are in a healthy place, and the community treats the main loop as complete.
If endgame is not ready, or players still feel the game is unfinished, we will stay in Early Access rather than force a 1.0. We will update this estimate in announcements as the work becomes clearer.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Early Access already includes mining, logging, foraging, and fishing; artisan, smithing, tailoring, cooking, alchemy, and enhancement; five-class autobattle; Standard and Hardcore; the player market, parties, guild commissions, leaderboards, and chat. Content currently runs through Tiers 1–7.

The full version is meant to add endgame after Tier 7 and to stabilize what is already here, not to replace the game. Planned differences:

A long-term goal and content loop beyond Tier 7 — a new layer of progress, not the same nodes again
Economy and class balance rebuilt from live-server data
More gear, skills, locations, and monsters, plus combat and life-system polish
Stability, performance, and the Steam client experience
The game will remain free to download. Fishbones stay convenience-only (queue size, offline time, character slots). The exact shape of endgame will follow community feedback and will be announced before it ships.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game is already a full multiplayer idle RPG, not a demo or an empty client.

What is in:

Life skills: mining, logging, foraging, fishing; artisan, smithing, tailoring, cooking, alchemy, and enhancement (up to +20)
Combat: five classes (Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest) on autobattle, with conditional skills, gear, and potion slots
Progress: content through Tiers 1–7; life and combat skills level separately
Social and economy: Standard and Hardcore characters, a player market (Hardcore cannot use it), parties of up to 3, guilds with crafting commissions, leaderboards, world and guild chat
Idle: no time cap while online; after disconnect, progress continues for 8 hours by default; fishbones can extend queue size and offline time
What is not done, and should not be treated as finished:

Endgame after Tier 7
Long-term economy and class balance from live data
More locations, monsters, skills, and gear, plus Steam client polish
Download and play. The server is authoritative. An internet connection is required.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“No.

The game is free to download during Early Access and will stay free after it. Fishbones buy convenience only — queue size, offline time, Hardcore character slots — not combat power, XP boosts, or loot boxes. We will not switch to a paid buy-in or raise a paywall around the core loop for the full release.

If we add new convenience or cosmetic offerings later, we will announce them first. Existing progression will not be locked behind a new fee.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Early Access is for building the game with players, not only shipping patches at them.

Steam Discussions are the official feedback channel for bugs, balance, and endgame ideas. We read them and fold the useful ones into development.
In-game announcements and Steam news / events will carry patch notes, balance changes, and endgame direction, so updates are not limited to a private circle.
Live-server data (class power, gold and fishbone flow, idle and party play) will drive number changes. Large changes will be explained before they go live.
Post–Tier 7 endgame will not appear as a surprise. We will share the direction first, take feedback, then ship.
We cannot take every suggestion. We will say what we shipped and what we will not do. Issues that keep coming up on the Discussions board go to the front of the update list.”