Patch 0.2.0.5 – Next Fest preparation

Patch 0.2.0.5 – Next Fest preparation and server maintenance

Hello everyone,

Patch 0.2.0.5 is now being prepared as the final polish update before the upcoming Steam Next Fest and is available at June 15th, 12 AM CEST.

This update focuses on cleaning up the current demo, improving some rough edges, and preparing Guilds of Mountgate for the next larger step in development.

Server maintenance

Due to preparations for Steam Next Fest and the release of v0.2.0.5, the Guilds of Mountgate servers will be unavailable for around one hour.

The maintenance is planned for:

June 14th, 11 PM CEST

During this time, the game servers may not be reachable.

What changed in v0.2.0.5?

Patch 0.2.0.5 includes a range of smaller fixes, balance changes and content additions.

In broad terms, this update improves the early demo experience by fixing several UI issues that appeared after the recent visual redesign, reworking the NPC conversation UI, adjusting some early progression, and adding a few more quests and NPCs so that every currently implemented skill is properly represented at least once.

The update also improves travel events. Their XP curve has been adjusted, and their rewards now scale better with the player’s skill levels. For example, players with higher Mining levels can now find more fitting ore rewards during travel events instead of being limited to only the earliest materials.

There have also been several smaller changes to quests and NPCs. Osric’s questline has been adjusted so the player receives the hammer at the beginning of the questline, the placeholder quest in Mountgate has been removed, the Old Sailor has been reworked, and Quartermaster Brann now has his missing NPC portrait.

Crafting unlocks and whetstones also received some tuning. A bug where whetstones affected the wrong items has been fixed, and the basic whetstone bonus has been slightly reduced to leave more room for future whetstone variants.

Another important change is the updated death system. Players now lose their carried inventory and carried money on death, while skills and equipped gear remain safe. Equipped items such as armor, tools and similar gear now take durability damage instead of being lost. Currency can also now be deposited into storages, giving players a safer way to store their money before travelling.

For the detailed patch notes, please check the full patchlog on the official Guilds of Mountgate website.

The road after the demo

With this update, the demo is now mostly where I want it to be for Steam Next Fest.

That does not mean the demo will be abandoned. If bugs or important issues appear, they will still be fixed. But for now, the focused demo development is slowing down.

From here on, development is moving more clearly toward the Early Access release.

The basic foundation is now in place, and future development will focus more on expanding the actual game instead of only extending the demo. That means more skills, more features, more quests, more NPCs, more locations and more progression built on top of the current systems.

The demo was always meant to show the early direction of Guilds of Mountgate: a grounded online idle RPG about useful skills, ordinary people, travel, work, small stories and slow progression through the world of Vellgar.

Now the focus is shifting from proving that foundation to building more of the game around it.

Thank you to everyone who has played the demo, reported issues, followed the development or added the game to their wishlist.

See you in Mountgate