We’ve recently made a few changes to the economy, and it felt like a good time to step back and explain our rationale. Our goal is to give a clear, high-level view of what’s been changing, why we’ve been doing it, and where we’re trying to take things.

Over the past month, we’ve been gradually shaping how the economy behaves in IdleMMO. One of the first steps was increasing the vendor price of membership scrolls, with more adjustments planned further down the line. That approach was very deliberate. We wanted to move carefully, make small changes, and see how things settled before pushing further.

More recently, we also increased the vendor value of items. You’ll probably notice this didn’t follow the same slow, incremental approach as the membership changes. That was intentional, and there’s a specific reason for handling it differently, which we’ll get into later in this post.

Before diving deeper, it’s worth taking a moment to explain what vendor pricing actually is and how it influences the game. This will be a fairly detailed, high-level breakdown of the current issues and how they connect, but we think it’s important to be open about it so everything makes sense from your side.

Item Vendor Value

The vendor value of an item is the single most important levers in the entire economy. It sits underneath a lot of the core systems that control how gold moves and how players assign value to items, even if it’s not always obvious on the surface.

Selling items to the vendor is one of the main ways gold is created. Outside of a few exceptions, most gold entering the game comes from this route. That means vendor values directly influence how much gold is being injected into the economy over time, and how quickly that pool of gold grows.

That same value is also used when calculating trade tax. Every player-to-player trade references the vendor value to determine how much gold is removed from the game. So the exact same number that controls gold coming in is also controlling how much goes out, which makes it one of the key tools for keeping the economy stable.

On top of that, vendor value sets the minimum price an item can be listed for on the market. This acts as a safety net to stop items being listed below what they’re worth to the game itself, but it also quietly anchors how players think about an item’s value. If that baseline is too low, it pulls market expectations down with it. If it’s higher, it gives items a stronger starting point. It also helps support healthier pricing across the board.

All three of these systems are tied to the same baseline, which means changes to vendor value don’t just affect one area. They ripple through gold generation, gold removal, and market behaviour all at once. That’s what makes it such a powerful lever, but also why it needs to be handled carefully.

The challenge is that many of these values were originally set before the market had really formed so they were really low. At that stage, there wasn’t enough data to understand what items should actually be worth in a live economy. Rare items in particular were difficult to evaluate, because their scarcity meant there wasn’t much trading activity to learn from.

Why This Is a Problem

Because vendor value has such a powerful, direct, and wide-reaching impact on the game and its economy, it introduces a number of challenges, some of which are more subtle than others.

Problem #1 - Trade Taxes

Because the amount of tax on a direct trade is directly tied to the vendor value of the item, it meant the true value of the trade wasn’t being taken into account when items were transferred between players. As a result, direct player trading became far more attractive for both buyers and sellers, especially when it came to rarer items, for two main reasons:

• The rare items often had a very low vendor value attached to it, so transferring it to another player would cost almost nothing.
• Membership scrolls became the de facto currency due to their constant demand, so it became the norm for players to trade items using memberships rather than gold, which meant no gold was being removed from the game.

This ends up being a much larger problem, as it shows up in several different areas that we’ll cover in the following sections. But purely in terms of gold being removed from the game, none was actually being taken out.

When we looked into how many membership scrolls were being traded through the system, over 5,000 were transferred in the 30 days before the vendor price change. That’s 5,000 instances where gold could have been removed from the game. At the time, there were only around 9,000 membership scrolls in circulation.

This is a significant issue. Not only does it mean gold isn’t being removed from the game, which is critical for controlling inflation, but it also suggests the same membership scrolls are likely being passed between multiple players with very little tax applied each time. In theory, a relatively small pool of scrolls could be reused repeatedly for high-value trades, without contributing much back to the game in terms of gold sinks.

By increasing the vendor value of membership scrolls, each transfer now carries a meaningful tax. This ensures that every time the item changes hands, a portion of gold is consistently removed from the game.

Problem #2 - Services

Services have been a long-standing issue in the game. They are a way for players to obtain end-game items without meeting the requirements tied to them, particularly forging level. On the surface, that sounds fine. Players helping players is generally a good thing. The issue is that it breaks the link between progression and access, which is a core part of how the economy is supposed to function.

The issue is more about what that does to progression and how easy it is to bypass it. Right now, the cost of transferring items is so low that the barrier between “I’ve earned this” and “I can access this” is very small. That makes it harder to tell how much of the economy is being driven by actual progression, and how much is being driven by players effectively skipping it.

From an economic perspective, this has a knock-on effect across the entire item ladder. If players can access high-end items early through services, they skip over the items they would normally need along the way. That removes demand from lower and mid-tier items, which then sit on the market with fewer buyers. At the same time, items are still being created and entering the game, but without the usual constraints that would slow that process down. That imbalance between supply and demand is where problems start to show up.

We’re not against services existing. The larger issue is that the system currently places very little weight on the progression that’s meant to gate them. By increasing the cost of moving items, we’re not trying to remove services, but to give that progression more meaning and reduce how easily it can be bypassed. That, in turn, gives us a clearer view of how players engage with forging when that shortcut carries a more noticeable cost.

A fair argument is that this doesn’t address a core issue, which is the skill itself being fairly poor. We agree with that. But even if forge is improved, this will still be a problem if players can continue to bypass it entirely without any cost or restriction. At that point, the skill loses its purpose altogether. Improvements to the forging system itself need to be addressed on a seperate occasion.

Problem #3 - Item Loaning

Item loaning builds on top of problem #2 by allowing a relatively small pool of items to be reused across a much larger number of players, often with very little cost involved.

The challenge here isn’t just that items are being shared, but that it also makes it harder to tell how much demand actually exists for those items. If the same set of gear is being passed around repeatedly, players who would normally need to buy or work toward their own equipment no longer have to. From the outside, that can look like low demand, but in reality, that demand may just be getting absorbed by reuse instead.

Over time, this can blur the signal the market gives us. Items may sit on the market with fewer buyers, while a smaller pool of high-end items continues circulating between players. It becomes difficult to separate whether items aren’t moving because they’re not valuable, or because they’re already being shared efficiently elsewhere.

By increasing the cost of transferring items, repeated movement becomes more difficult. Our goal isn’t to stop players from helping each other, but to reduce how easily items can be reused at scale. That helps ensure more decisions are being made around ownership rather than access. We want a better understanding of how items actually move through the economy before making any firm decisions, and it's hard to do that when item loaning is overly accessible.

Problem #4 - Stale Items

The issue with stale items is that they’re usually a sign something isn’t lining up properly between supply, demand, and what an item is actually worth. When items sit on the market for long periods without selling, it tends to mean one of two things. Either the price doesn’t match the effort it takes to get them, or players just don’t have much reason to buy them in the first place. Vendor value plays a big role here, because it acts as the baseline for an item’s worth. If that baseline is too low, it pulls everything else down with it, and even high-tier items can end up sitting at prices that don’t really reflect how rare or powerful they’re meant to be.

What that leads to is a growing number of items that technically exist in the economy, but aren’t really doing anything. You’ll see legendary items sitting at very low prices, not because they’re functionally useless, but because there’s just not enough demand to move them. Meanwhile, new items keep coming into the game through normal gameplay. When demand is already being weakened by things like item loaning, services, and low transfer costs, those items just pile up over time and gradually lose relevance.

From an economic point of view, this is basically item inflation. Just like gold needs sinks to keep its value, items need ways to be removed from the game or reasons for players to actually use them up. If that doesn’t happen, the total number of items keeps growing while their usefulness keeps dropping, which leads to a market that looks active on the surface but doesn’t actually move.

By increasing vendor values, we give items a stronger floor. There’s now a clear fallback value, which makes the decision to hold or sell more meaningful. It also means there’s a real trade-off to leaving items sitting there, because converting them into gold becomes a viable option. That helps get items moving again, reduces long-term buildup, and brings supply and demand back into a better balance.

Problem #5 - Cheaters

This is one that most players don’t really see, but it has a bigger impact than it might seem. A lot of cheating doesn’t come from automation. It comes from players running multiple accounts quietly in the background, moving items between them through chains of trades, and eventually funnelling everything back into a single main account. Because it looks like normal player behaviour on the surface, it’s much harder to spot and much easier to get away with.

This ties directly into how trade tax has been working. When the cost of transferring items is extremely low, it becomes trivial to move them across dozens or even hundreds of accounts without losing anything meaningful along the way. That allows players to scale this kind of behaviour far beyond what would normally be practical, because there’s no real downside to doing it.

By increasing the vendor value of key items, we increase the cost of moving them. Membership scrolls are the clearest example here, as they effectively became a stand-in currency and were heavily used in these setups. Now, every transfer carries a noticeable cost, which makes these chains much less efficient and much harder to justify at scale.

In most cases, these accounts still end up being banned and the items removed entirely, but any step that discourages this behaviour upfront is valuable. It reduces the need for ongoing investigation and lowers the overall impact these accounts have on the game.

Keeping Gold Meaningful

This naturally raises the question, why does tax matter at all? Or more broadly, why do gold sinks exist? From a player perspective, it’s not exactly exciting. No one likes the idea of gold being taken away, and that’s understandable.

The reality is that tax is the largest gold sink in the game because it sits across almost everything players do. Trades are taxed, market listings are taxed, and most forms of moving value from one player to another remove gold from circulation in some way. That steady removal is important because it keeps the overall value of gold from drifting over time.

If gold is entering the game faster than it’s being removed, it starts to lose its value. We’ve seen this happen before in SimpleMMO, where gold became so common that it stopped really influencing decisions. Prices creep up, progression becomes harder for newer players, and older players end up sitting on large amounts of gold that don’t feel particularly meaningful.

At the same time, inflation itself isn’t something that should be avoided completely. A healthy economy naturally grows and shifts. The challenge is managing that growth in a way that stays stable over time. In a live game, that’s especially difficult because player activity isn’t consistent. There are waves of new players joining, followed by quieter periods. That means gold can enter the game quickly during high activity, but demand doesn’t always keep up once things slow down.

This is where gold sinks come in. They give us a way to steadily remove gold regardless of how player activity changes. Instead of relying on player numbers to balance things out, the system can regulate itself over time. That consistency is what keeps gold feeling like a resource that matters, rather than just a number that keeps going up without consequence.

A Solution

The approach we’ve taken here is to increase the vendor value of items.

Vendor value sits at the centre of multiple systems at once. It controls how gold enters the game, how much is removed through tax, and where items sit on the market. Because of that, adjusting it allows us to influence several problem areas at the same time, rather than trying to solve each one in isolation.

By increasing item values, every trade now carries a meaningful cost. Gold is consistently removed from the game instead of being bypassed through low-value transfers or alternative currencies. At the same time, moving items between players becomes less frictionless, which reduces how effectively they can be loaned or reused across multiple accounts.

For example, before the changes, if someone picked up a recipe from a dungeon and both the recipe and the item were valued at 2,000 gold each, the total round-trip fee to trade it, get it forged, and have it sent back was only about ~400 gold (for members). That's barely anything for something that could be an extremely strong item.

Now compare that to the updated values. If the recipe sits at 900,000 gold and the item at 3,500,000, that same round-trip process ends up costing roughly ~440,000 gold. That’s a massive jump, and more importantly, it’s gold that really should be leaving the game at the point those items are being passed around in the first place.

Beyond this, the change to vendor values also gives items a stronger baseline. Instead of sitting on the market with little to no perceived value, they now have a clear fallback that reflects their role in the game. That creates pressure for items to either move or be converted into gold, which helps clear out long-standing listings and keeps the market active.

There are also some secondary benefits. Increasing transfer cost makes large-scale item movement, including behaviour tied to alt accounts, much less efficient. It doesn’t replace enforcement, but it adds friction in the right places and reduces how much impact that behaviour can have.

This isn’t a perfect solution, and it’s not intended to be. There’s no single change that fixes everything in a system this interconnected. What this does do is give us a strong, central adjustment point that influences multiple systems at once, while also giving us clearer data on how the economy responds.

Some of these changes may feel heavy, and that’s intentional. Smaller adjustments can not only get lost in the noise, but may actually make things worse. By making a more noticeable change, we can observe real behaviour, understand where things settle, and then refine from there.

Perception of Change

In our Balancing Approach post, we talked a lot about starting cautiously, which is how we handle most changes. That usually means things might feel a bit underwhelming at first, and then we gradually bring them into a better state through small, iterative adjustments over time. We believe that trade-off is worth it if it leads to a more stable game long term, even if it means missing out on that immediate “wow” factor.

However, that same post also touches on how the perception of change can have a much wider impact than expected. In an ideal world, we would take the same slow, incremental approach here by adjusting vendor prices over time. But there’s a strong argument that doing so could actually make things worse for two main reasons. First, it prolongs uncertainty. While fine in isolation, a slow rollout can stretch over months, which isn’t ideal for a system so closely tied to a player-driven market. Second, and more importantly, the perception of repeated increases can leave players feeling like they’re being short-changed, which can negatively affect their willingness to keep playing.

Take this situation: instead of making larger adjustments to vendor values, we roll them out in small increments. One day, item A might be worth 10,000 gold. The next, 15,000. And so on. If a player sells that item to the vendor for 15,000, and then the following day it jumps to 30,000, it can start to feel like the game is constantly short-changing them. That perception can end up outweighing any actual benefit from the change itself.

In other words, this is one of those cases where the context of the change matters more than the change itself. What we do is important, but how it’s perceived can have an even bigger impact.

We’ve increased item values quite generously because, arguably, it was the safest approach. Even with over two years’ worth of items sitting across player inventories, if every single legendary and mythic item were sold at the new vendor values, the total gold generated would still be overtaken by regular skill items, like ores, in around 10 to 20 days. And realistically, a scenario where every mythic and legendary item gets sold like that just isn’t going to happen.

Being Patient

We’ve emphasised many times that we take an aggressively pragmatic approach. Most of our decisions are driven by data, and because of that, it’s difficult to label something like this as an immediate success or failure given how it’s been rolled out. We’ve intentionally set vendor values higher as a calculated risk, knowing that even if those items were sold, the gold generated would still be a relatively small drop in the overall economy.

We’re actually in a pretty solid spot here, mainly because the game already has a lot of strong gold sinks in place. That takes a lot of pressure off, as it means there are already systems actively pulling gold out of the economy in a consistent way.

Because of that, the overall risk of these changes is fairly low. It gives us some breathing room to let things settle properly, watch how players interact with the new values, and make more informed decisions rather than rushing into further adjustments.

As things do begin to settle, we’ll have a much clearer picture of how things are actually behaving and where to go next. So it’s worth keeping in mind that while these changes are intentional, we don’t have all the answers upfront. The goal here is to create the conditions that allow those answers to emerge.

The Downsides

With the changes to vendor item values, there are some downsides that come with it. We identified two main issues that are important to address, as they have already resulted, or will result, in further changes. One of these is bartering experience. Because item values increased significantly, some items were able to grant up to 300k experience from a single turn-in, which started to incentivise players to discard mythic items purely for experience.

Admittedly, bartering itself was a mistake. If we could go back, it’s not something we would have added to the game. But at this point, it exists, and our approach is to keep it contained rather than letting it grow further in power.

The second issue, and the main one, is dungeons. With the increase in vendor value, dungeons have become much more rewarding, as it’s now possible to recover the full gold cost from a single drop. That creates a problem, because dungeons are also one of the largest gold sinks in the game. If they start becoming net positive, we’re not only weakening a major gold sink, but also introducing a new way to generate gold, which creates a compounding effect.

We’re aware of this, but again, it’s a calculated risk. We’re not making any immediate changes, as we want to give the market time to settle and properly review how things play out. Going back to the idea that context matters, increasing both dungeon costs and vendor values at the same time would likely feel worse from a player perspective than any benefit it might bring, especially if it’s based on a purely theoretical outcome, which isn’t how we tend to operate.

There’s also a lot of uncertainty here. It’s entirely possible that items obtained from dungeons end up holding more value on the market due to knock-on effects elsewhere. Vendor values tie into so many systems that it’s not realistic to predict every outcome ahead of time. This approach allows us to take the initial step, observe how the market responds, and then make more informed adjustments once things have stabilised.

Future Changes

Because our approach relies on letting the data come in, we can’t rule out further changes. This could include things like increasing dungeon entry costs, lowering the chance of item drops, or reducing the item values if that ends up being the simplest option.

At this stage, we just don’t know. Things need time to settle before we have a clearer picture of what’s actually happening. It’s also entirely possible that no further changes will be needed, but we need to wait before making that call.

Further reviews will also be made on other areas of the game, such as egg drops, alchemy items, and Dragon Soulstones, so consider this our heads-up.

We also recognise there’s an argument to be made that lowering item values or increasing dungeon entry costs could change how people perceive the game which loops back to the Perception of Change section, which is understandable.

The goal is to find the right balance with as little disruption as possible. If making a larger adjustment upfront and then fine-tuning from there leads to a better outcome, that’s the approach we’ll take. If it doesn’t, we’ll take that on board and use it to shape how we handle these changes going forward.

Preliminary Results

It’s far too early to draw any real conclusions, but the initial results have been fairly surprising. Even with the large increases, gold generated from vendors has barely moved the needle in the grand scheme of things. There was a spike when the change went live, but it still didn’t surpass figures we saw just a few days prior. This really highlights how much gold is being generated from other areas of the game. From a pure gold generation standpoint, increasing equipment values is still just a drop in the ocean, which is why it felt safer to push values up now and then review later if they need to be dialled back.

On top of that, tax from direct trades has doubled on some days and even tripled on others. It’s still too early to read too much into this, especially with the market going through a fairly turbulent period, but it has definitely been higher than we originally expected. That said, we’ll need more time before we can say anything with confidence.

Going Forward

Admittedly, where we fell short was in how we handled the change. The changes came as a surprise to many, and it led to situations where players had items on the market bought at vendor value when they could have received more elsewhere. We initially thought updating market listings to match the new vendor prices would be enough, but it wasn’t.

Going forward, we’ll be more mindful about communicating these kinds of changes in advance. On top of that, for any future price increases, we’ll remove affected listings from the market entirely rather than adjusting them in place, which avoids this issue altogether.

(On that note, consider this an early heads-up that further changes may be coming over the next few weeks.)

Conclusion

These changes have been on our radar for a while, but we only really acted on them after recently taking a deeper look into how these items behave and the overall impact they’re having on the market and the game as a whole.

The market over the next few weeks may feel a bit turbulent as things adjust, especially with the possibility of further changes. These updates are designed to let data emerge so we can make more informed decisions about where values should sit, and then continue refining things from there. We’re not just winging it. The approach is cautious in the sense that it’s driven by data. By increasing vendor values with relatively low risk, given that gold from this source is still a small part of the overall economy and the only clear concern so far is dungeons, we can observe how the game and market respond once everything settles.

Hopefully, once things stabilise, we can put this behind us and start looking ahead to features like Village Management and Farming!

We’re excited to give you a small preview of what’s coming in the next IdleMMO update. It includes the long-awaited housing feature, along with something a bit different for us: Village Management, which has been built in a slightly new way. Let’s dive in.

Disclaimer: Everything you see here is still a work in progress. All numbers, values, and assets are subject to change, and some visuals are placeholders while we finish the final versions. In short, nothing shown in this post should be considered final.

Housing

Housing is a system that acts as a central hub for valuable quality of life upgrades, including ways to extend your idle time for certain parts of the game. It’s designed to give you more control over how long your character can run without needing to check back in.

For example, you can construct a Lumber Store, which increases your idle duration by up to 4 additional hours when woodcutting. This means a main character with membership could extend their maximum idle time from 8 hours to 12 hours.

How Buildings Work

The way this works is fairly straightforward and will feel very familiar if you’ve used Guild Hall buildings before. Under the hood, it’s actually powered by the same system, so guild players should feel right at home navigating it.

To get started, you’ll first need to build your housing foundation. Unlike Guild Halls, this doesn’t require any materials, just gold to set things up and get the system running.

Once you’ve purchased the house, you’ll unlock the housing page. This shows a breakdown of your house’s components, meaning the individual buildings and upgrades you’ve installed.

To add a new building or upgrade, you’ll need an available slot. You start with one free slot when you first create your foundation, so you can jump straight in. Selecting that slot will bring up a list of buildings you can construct, each offering different benefits depending on what you choose.

Many of these buildings, especially the ones that extend idle time, start at level 1 and can be upgraded up to level 5. Each upgrade increases the maximum idle duration they provide.

For example, Ore Cellar I increases your idle time by 30 minutes, while Ore Cellar V boosts it all the way up to 4 hours. We’ll go into more detail on the upgrade process later in this post.

Selecting a component shows a full breakdown of its costs, along with the entire upgrade path, so you can clearly see what you’re working toward before committing to it.

Once you start constructing a component, it will develop in the background. It isn’t tied to your character’s actions, so you’re free to continue doing other activities while it builds.

You can view a full breakdown of your components and their progress at any time on the construction page.

Once a building is finished, you’ll immediately gain access to the benefits it provides.

Upgrading Buildings

Some buildings can be upgraded from Level 1 up to Level 5, with a full breakdown available when you inspect the component. Each upgrade replaces the existing version and puts the new one into construction.

While a building is being upgraded, its benefits are temporarily unavailable until construction is complete. For example, if you’re upgrading a Culinary Station that increases cooking idle time, the bonus won’t apply again until the new level has finished building.

At the time of writing, these buildings scale from a 30-minute increase at Level 1 up to 4 hours at Level 5.

Repairing Buildings

Buildings will decay over time and need regular upkeep, along with a supply of materials, to stay in good condition. If a building reaches 0% condition, it becomes unusable. You also won’t receive any of its benefits while it’s being repaired.

Repair costs scale based on the building’s current condition relative to its original construction requirements. For example, repairing a building at 70% condition means you only need to cover the remaining 30% of the original materials, and it will take 30% of the original construction time to fix.

It’s worth staying on top of repairs, especially for higher-level buildings, because the longer you leave them to deteriorate, the longer they’ll be out of action when you finally do repair them.

Types of Buildings

As of writing, we have the following buildings:

Construction Skill

To obtain housing materials (such as sand and planks) and reach the required construction levels for certain upgrades, especially at higher tiers, you’ll need to train the Construction skill.

Construction works much like other skills such as Woodcutting or Mining, with one key difference. The items you produce take significantly longer to create. For example, crafting a single basic plank can take up to a minute. As your Construction level increases, your efficiency improves, which reduces the time required to produce materials. In simple terms, the higher your Construction level, the faster you can create the resources needed for housing.

Village Management

Village Management is a new skill (name pending) that lets you run and oversee your own village. You’ll be able to construct buildings, assign workers, manually gather resources, and trade those resources for gold.

It also introduces a competitive side, allowing you to attack other villages and steal their resources.

(Disclaimer: We're heavy in development with this, so a lot of what you see is placeholder content)

Background

(You can skip this part if you're not too bothered)

Villages will be a bit of a wildcard. Usually when we build a feature, we’re very methodical and cautious. We plan things out long term, iterate slowly, and make sure the foundations are solid before expanding. It’s a big part of why some features take a long time to arrive. We’d rather do it properly than rush something out and regret it later. Village Management, though, is taking a slightly different path. It’s still thoughtful, just with a bit more experimentation.

The idea itself has been floating around for years as this vague concept of a mini simulation layer inside IdleMMO. We always liked the thought of running your own town or village, but it never had clear shape or mechanics behind it. It was more of a "this would be cool someday" idea.

Then, a few months ago, we stumbled across a tiny idle clicker game. I can’t even remember its name now. It was just a simple one-page thing someone probably threw together with Gemini. But it had that classic Cookie Clicker loop. Press a button, numbers go up. Buy an upgrade, numbers go up faster. Basic stuff.

Then we thought, what if we merged that kind of incremental loop with IdleMMO? Instead of it being a separate experience, it could live inside the game as a small self-contained mini-game. Something you can actively interact with by pressing a button for rewards, while also building it out so it keeps generating value on its own through upgrades.

So the idea started forming around a village system that behaves like an incremental. You can jump in and actively push it forward, or step away and let your investments do the work over time. It fits nicely with the idle nature of the game while still giving players something to mess with when they feel like it.

And that’s pretty much exactly what happened. A few weeks ago, we put together a quick proof of concept and just kept building on top of it, adding things we thought were cool and seeing how they felt in practice. Instead of spending weeks mapping everything out in spreadsheets, we took a more hands-on approach and let the feature evolve as we worked on it.

That said, it’s still being built with the same care and standards as everything else. Not having a rigid plan doesn’t mean rushing or cutting corners. It just means we’re not following a heavily detailed blueprint from day one, and are instead shaping the design as it becomes more developed, while still sticking to solid best practices behind the scenes. We don't want this feature to become a bowl of spaghetti.

Village building actually works very similarly to housing. In fact, the timing of these two features has worked out perfectly because they both plug into the exact same underlying systems. So even though we're approaching this feature with a slightly different mindset, there aren't any compromises when it comes to robustness or quality. If anything, it's a great example of why we’ve spent so long keeping the games internal foundations clean and solid.

So Village Management ended up becoming this almost self-contained mini-game inside IdleMMO, largely separate from the main experience. That gave us a safe space to experiment without worrying about unintended ripple effects across everything else. We could try ideas, tweak numbers, and see what felt fun without risking the balance of the core game.

After a while though, it started to feel a bit strange having this disconnected system living inside the game world. It worked mechanically, but it didn’t quite feel like it belonged. So we began looking at ways to tie it back into the main loop in a controlled way.

The direction we landed on was to have Village Management function as a kind of background gold generator, whether you engage with it actively or just let it run passively. It basically acts as a steady, low-pressure system that converts items into long-term value over time. In a way, it also helps move items out of circulation, giving them a purpose beyond just sitting in inventories, while feeding a modest amount of gold to the character.

A better way to think about it is as a kind of investment system for gold and items. Instead of instantly selling something like an oak log to the vendor for 50 gold, you could send it to your village and have it come back later with a higher return, maybe 70 gold after a couple of weeks. That's essentially the foundation of how we’ve connected Village Management to the rest of the game.

Whether we've achieved this is still up in the air. It could end up missing the mark and getting scrapped entirely. That said, even though the development process has had a more experimental, playful energy behind it, we’re being extremely careful with anything that touches the economy.

Village Resources

Village Resources act as the currency for the village. You get Village Resources via three ways:

Manual Gathering

You can press the "Gather" button to collect resources, with each press granting a small amount. There's a short cooldown between presses, so it can only be used once every few seconds. This can be upgraded to reduce the time between presses and increase the amount of resources gained each time.

Passively

You can gather resources passively via gathering house upgrades. You can build Gathering Houses, and these generate resources passively every X minutes. However, you also need to assign workers to your buildings for them to work.

Trading

You can trade items for Village Resources. The exchange rate adjusts automatically depending on how “popular” that item is, intelligently (or perhaps not so intelligently… only time will tell). If there’s an oversupply of something like coal, the village will offer fewer resources for it. On the other hand, items that aren’t traded as often across the game may earn you a better return.

Village Resources can also be traded back into gold.

This is where the passive investment side comes into play. You can load in your spare materials to gain Village Resources, use those resources to generate even more over time, and then sell them back to the game for gold.

However, the current rate can vary. The game intelligently (or, again, perhaps not so intelligently), adjusts the value of Village Resources when converting them into gold based on the overall state of the market. If a lot of players are funneling gold out of their villages, the rate may drop. If fewer players are doing it, it could become extremely fruitful. Timing it well is key.

Workers

Your village relies on Workers. They’re the lifeblood that keeps everything running. Without them, the only way to gather resources is by doing it manually through the button, which gets tiring pretty quickly unless you’re a pesky autoclicker. Don’t think you’re safe here.

To gain workers, you’ll need to construct Dwellings. Each dwelling provides a certain number depending on its size. A Basic Dwelling might house 2 workers, while a Grand Dwelling could provide as many as 10.

Once you have workers, they need to be assigned to other buildings to be useful. Gathering Houses, for example, passively produce resources over time but only function if workers are assigned to them. Their output depends on both the number of workers and their happiness, which we’ll touch on next. If a building requires 2 workers but only has 1 assigned, it will operate at 50% efficiency, and that efficiency can drop even further depending on worker happiness.

Happiness

You’ll need to keep your workers happy to maintain full building efficiency, as the two are directly linked. If worker happiness drops to 50%, their effectiveness in assigned buildings also drops to 50%.

So even if you have the correct number of workers assigned, their mood still matters. For example, if a building requires 2 workers and both are assigned, but their happiness is only 50%, the building will only produce half of its normal output.

Right now, it’s fairly easy to keep your workers happy. As long as you don’t go full evil landlord on them. Yes, you can tax them into the ground if you want, squeezing out a bit of extra VR at the cost of their happiness.

If you’re the min-max type, you’ll probably end up doing the maths to figure out whether the extra tax income outweighs the drop in efficiency. Just don’t be surprised if your workforce starts looking a little miserable while you do it.

For now, happiness mainly exists as groundwork for future mechanics. It doesn’t have a huge impact yet, but it will become more important as the system expands. For example, things like village warfare may end up affecting worker happiness as well.

Which brings us nicely to village warfare.

Warfare

Who doesn’t love PvP?!? Apparently us, because we still haven’t added it. Warfare is about as close as it gets for now. It’s essentially village-versus-village combat, and it’s completely opt-in, but it can be very rewarding if you choose to take part.

Once you opt in, your village becomes open to attack and you’re free to attack others. It’s a commitment though, as you can’t leave warfare again for 30 days. Attacking lets you raid resources and damage enemy buildings, but it’s not risk-free. Your own village will take damage as well, and your workers probably won’t be thrilled about being dragged into constant conflict.

To prepare, you can strengthen your village by constructing attack and defence buildings. Each one contributes simple attack or defence stats, which are used alongside a bit of light RNG to determine battle outcomes. At the end, you either walk away with extra resources or lose some of your own.

There's definitely room to expand this system later. We could lean into more strategic depth with buildings that counter others, Age of Empires style, so it's not just a numbers comparison. Things like pike defences countering cavalry raids, for example. That's more of a future idea for now, though we might experiment with it sooner if it feels right.

Future

As mentioned earlier, villages give us room to get a little wild with ideas if the system proves to be genuinely fun. We can layer in a lot of depth over time while still keeping it largely self-contained, which helps protect the wider game economy. The intention is for it to feel like its own space, with a very controlled way to move items and gold in and out so things don’t spiral.

There’s a lot of potential directions it could go. We could introduce weather effects, individual citizen happiness, or lean heavily into the micromanagement systems. It really depends on how people play it. All we know right now is that it could end up being one of the best features we’ve made, or a complete disaster. No middle ground.

Release

We’re not entirely sure just yet. Every time we give a release date, we manage to miss it, so our track record isn’t exactly great. To be safe, we’ll give you a nice vague one: sometime this... century.

Jokes aside, it should be soon-ish. Maybe a month or two. Housing is actually finished and ready to go, just waiting patiently. Villages is mostly done as well. We’re currently in the polishing phase, tidying things up and finalising assets. This takes the most time. After that, we’ll likely run an alpha test before getting everything ready for release.

In the meantime, feel free to sign up to our Newsletter. We're planning on running an exclusive newsletter giveaway sometime later this year.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Happy holidays from all of us at Galahad Creative! As the year starts to wind down, we thought it’d be a nice time to share a very quick look at what’s coming next.

2025 has been a fantastic year for us. We’ve made a huge amount of progress across our games, pushed out loads of updates, and we’re really happy with how things have been shaping up. That said, we’ve still got plenty more planned as we head into the new year.

We’ve also given the Galahad Creative website a full refresh recently, which felt long overdue. And as a small bonus, if you’re subscribed to our newsletter, we’ll be running some exclusive giveaways just for newsletter subscribers, so keep an eye out for those.

IdleMMO

IdleMMO is still in beta, but we’re very much approaching a full release. As mentioned in IdleMMO: A Year in Review (2025), we’ll consider our original vision fully realised once the farming and housing mechanics are live in the game.

From the very start, we’ve had a clear idea of what IdleMMO should be, and we’ve worked hard to stay true to that. With that in mind, we’re currently aiming for IdleMMO v1.0 in 2026. This won’t be a big, flashy update and that’s very much by design. In an ideal world, nothing dramatic changes at all. Reaching v1.0 is more of a milestone for us, marking the point where the foundation we originally set out to build is complete.

Once we hit that point, it opens the door for us to start exploring new and more experimental ideas for the future of the game. That could include entirely new features, as well as the possibility of bringing IdleMMO to platforms like Steam.

If you’d like to follow along, you can keep track of our progress through the public IdleMMO roadmap, which we’ll continue to update as things move forward.

SimpleMMO

After a fairly quiet period in 2023 and 2024, where there weren’t many big, visible changes due to a major behind-the-scenes infrastructure overhaul, it’s been great to see the game finding its feet again. This year has already brought a wave of new updates, and there’s plenty more on the way.

We’re intentionally keeping some details under wraps for now, as a lot of what we’re working on is still in the proof-of-concept stage.

As the game continues to grow and mature, with its foundations firmly in place, we want to be especially careful that any new ideas genuinely belong. We don’t want to change the essence of the game or its core mechanics unless there’s a clear and meaningful reason to do so.

With that said, we’ve got plenty of exciting plans ahead, and we’re being very deliberate about how we introduce them to make sure they improve the experience without disrupting what makes the game what it is.

If you’d like to follow along, you can keep track of our progress through the public SimpleMMO roadmap, which we’ll continue to update as things move forward.

More

Here at Galahad Creative, we’ve got plenty more in the works as well. One of our bigger goals is to introduce a centralised support system that brings all of our contact channels into one place. Right now, we know support can feel a bit fragmented between in-game tickets, Discord, social media, and email, which makes things harder to track and, occasionally, easier for things to slip through the cracks. The solution we’re building is being developed in-house and will become part of our wider software portfolio, alongside the potential return of Smashr, our issue-tracking tool.

Centralising all of this will make it much easier for everyone to track and manage support tickets. Because of that, we’ll be winding down a lot of our social media channels, which are already fairly quiet, and gradually sunsetting Discord tickets for anything that isn’t directly related to Discord itself.

Beyond that, we’re also quietly working on something we’re really excited about. It’s still very much in the conceptual stage, with a proof of concept currently in development, so we don’t want to share too much just yet. It’s been on our planning board for a long time though, and seeing it finally move into development has been incredibly exciting for us.

With that, we want to wish everyone a happy holiday season and a wonderful start to 2026.

P.S don't forget to subscribe if you want to keep up-to-date!

Completely ad free. No pay-to-win. No nonsense. Just a straight up Idle MMO.

The ultimate pocket idle MMORPG experience that keeps the adventure going, even while you're away!

Why Play IdleMMO?

• Epic Adventures Await - Explore vast lands, hunt diverse enemies, and uncover hidden treasures, all at your own pace.
• Guilds - Join a group. Raid together. Fight together. Conquer lands.
• Dungeons - Team up with friends or go solo to conquer challenging dungeons and earn legendary loot.
• World Bosses - Participate in epic battles against massive world bosses. The glory of victory awaits, even if you're taking a nap!
• Bustling Community - Join an active community of players. Share tips, form guilds, and compete in community events.
• Continuous Progress - Your character never stops fighting. Earn rewards, upgrade your gear, and become stronger, even while you're offline.
• Accessible Anywhere - Play on the go or from the comfort of your home. Your adventure never pauses.
• No Ads - Tired of playing mobile games with constant ads? We have none! Ziltch. Zero.
• No P2W - Most of our players are completely free-to-play! Membership can be acquired via gameplay without spending a penny.

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Whether you're a seasoned MMORPG veteran or new to the genre, IdleMMO offers a unique blend of idle gameplay and MMO elements. Don't miss out on the adventure of a lifetime.

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It’s that time again! 2025 has been an incredibly strong year for the game, with plenty of new features, mechanics, and refinements that have slowly molded IdleMMO into our original vision. Now that the game turns two years old, it feels like the right moment to take a quick trip down a very short memory lane and look back at what has changed.

This recap covers everything added or updated after 6 December 2024, which is when we released our last year-in-review.

Stats

In the past year:

• Characters have taken part in guild raids 535,816 times.
• Items have been upgraded 289,863 times.
• Characters have teleported a combined total of 2,567,840 times. That is a lot of gold!
• 369,390,019 enemies have been defeated by all characters combined.
• 60,674,524 of those enemies were scaled above their original level.
• 69,097 quests have been completed so far, which is solid for a feature just over three weeks old.
• 277,320 mastery perks have been activated.
• 12,739,514 battles have been partaken by pets.
• The most collected item is the Mysterious Rune with 1,351,417 total collects.
• The most defeated World Boss since November 2025 is Nethrax with 13,448 defeats.¹
• The most completed dungeon is Millstone Mines with 23,177 runs since November.¹

In total:

• There are 53,353,308 items stored in guild stockpiles.
• There are now 1,009 guilds and 234 guild halls.
• The game has distributed 305,405,372,300 experience through primary skills such as woodcutting and mining.
• The game has distributed 12,207,622,462 items through primary skills.
• A total of 640,284,521 enemies have been found through hunting.
• Of those, 462,984,455 have been defeated.

¹ These metrics have only been tracked since November 2025, when we introduced our new internal analytics system.

Disclaimer: While these metrics are pulled directly from in-game data, they may not be 100% accurate. There may be small variances due to tracking anomalies, the dates on which certain metrics were introduced, or data removal when players delete their accounts.

Pet Loot (December 2024)

This simple change gave the whole pet system a new sense of purpose, because suddenly every pet battle had a chance at rewarding the player with items they could actually use or sell. It played a big part in shaping the pet system into what it is now, and it is one of the main reasons so many characters continue to raise and battle with their pets today.

Seasonal Community Goal (December 2024)

In December 2024, we added the seasonal community goal. It gave players a shared target where everyone could donate their event items and work toward a server-wide boost that lasts until the end of the seasonal campaign.

Vendor Skin Changes (January 2025)

Earlier in the year, we reviewed how the vendor store worked previously. The old setup relied on rotating skins, which created a bit of a FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) feeling. It made sense for seasonal outfits like the Santa skin, but it felt unfair for players who happened to miss a rotation and never had another chance to get something they liked.

To fix that, we changed the system completely. All skins were made permanently available, and instead of cycling things in and out, we shifted to a straightforward sale rotation.

Ascension Levels (January 2025)

On 16 January, ascension levels arrived as a way to keep progression moving after a skill reached level 100. Instead of stopping at the cap, players could continue investing experience into a skill and gain small temporary boosts tied directly to that skill.

Echoes of the Ascended Campaign (February 2025)

We introduced the permanent Echoes of the Ascended campaign as something players can drop into whenever they feel like it. Unlike the seasonal campaigns, this one isn’t temporary, so you never have to worry about rushing through it before it disappears.

Idle Time Improvements (April 2025)

We changed our strategy on the idle times and significantly increased the idle times for all characters across the board. This change allowed characters to idle up to 8 hours without any interaction. This was a significant shift from our original intention as we reviewed our idle time strategy.

More about this can be read here.

Meditation (April 2025)

Meditation is a bit different from the other skills in IdleMMO. It’s built around helping other players rather than powering up your own character, so the whole skill is about selflessness. You invest time and resources into creating scrolls that support someone else, not yourself.

Because of that design, the experience rate is intentionally slow and blank scrolls cost a fair amount. The idea is that progress in this skill comes from choosing to support the community, not from chasing the fastest way to level your own stats.

Guild Changes (April 2025)

Guild Halls became the main home base for guilds, giving them a place to build useful tools and unlock features that affect the entire group. They also introduced a lot of new mechanics at once, so it helped to think of the hall as the core structure and everything else as components that guilds build over time. If you are not in a guild, you can skip this section, but for guild players this update changed how group play works in a big way.

• Guild Hall - A system that lets guilds unlock unique and powerful features.
• Teleportation Beacon - A component that lets members teleport to the Guild Hall location at a much lower cost.
• Mission Table - A component that automatically creates guild challenges.
• Raid Planner - A component that lets guilds schedule up to ten raids ahead of time.
• Unity Seal - A component that lets leaders set a guild tag that appears on every member.
• Energizing Pool - A component that lets guilds distribute guild-wide effects to their members.
• Stockpile - A shared resource pool where players donate items that are used to build and maintain components.
• Banished Guilds - A way for trade-locked characters to join and participate in guilds.
• Conquests - A competitive feature where guilds fight for control of different map regions to earn regional boosts.

Exhaustion Removal (April 2025)

This was a small change on paper but it ended up having a big impact. The exhaustion mechanic was originally added to stop players from pushing themselves too hard by trying to keep their character active around the clock. At the time, we were worried that some players were sacrificing basic routines, even sleep, just to avoid wasting action time.

As this update also increased idle time, that concern basically disappeared. Players no longer needed to micromanage their actions into 2-3 hour segments, so the exhaustion system didn’t serve a purpose anymore.

Dungeon Recipe Drop Changes (May 2025)

We updated how alchemy recipes drop in dungeons, and the change ended up being a big upgrade for anyone chasing late-game crafting. Instead of getting a single recipe directly from a dungeon run, you now earn an Alchemy Chest tied to that dungeon. Each chest contains a mix of tradable and untradable recipes. The untradable ones appear more often, but tradable recipes also drop at a noticeably higher rate than before.

Overall, this pushed recipe availability way up across most high-level dungeons. Zenith’s Sanctum went from 0.4% to 3.5%, and Mirage Citadel climbed from 0.1% to 1.5%.

Alchemy Changes (May 2025)

Alchemy went through a wide round of changes as we rebalanced how recipes, crafting times, and rewards all fit together. Some of the old requirements were wildly out of step with items of similar value, so we started adjusting them piece by piece instead of pushing out one huge update. Most potions and essence crystals became stronger, many recipes became cheaper to craft, and a few outliers became slightly more expensive so everything in the same tier lined up more fairly.

Conquest Rewards (June 2025)

We introduced a change to Conquests where any guild that held a location in the previous season would receive rewards in that same area for the entire season that followed. The aim was to make territorial control feel more meaningful, since the benefits carry on even after the season rolls over.

Dungeon Rework (June 2025)

This change introduced a lot of changes to dungeons. Here is a quick recap:

• We added the dungeoneering skill, designed specifically for dungeon progression.
• We reworked the base loot rate for a lot of higher level dungeons. A lot of items received a boost between 100% to 400% depending on the dungeon and quality.
• Just like in battles, we added stances to the game, which allow you to obtain primary stat experience from dungeons.
• We added a difficulty rating to dungeons. The difficulty rating affects whether your character can enter a dungeon, how much health they lose during each run, and how much magic find bonus they get.
• We added dungeon running so characters could run multiple dungeons in one go.
• We added dungeon completion which allows characters to get a permanent magic find bonus according to how many dungeons were completed.
• We added a "recent drops" box to the bottom of the dungeon page so users could see the recent drops earned by other characters.
• We added dungeon shards to all dungeons at level 70 and higher. These shards can be exchanged for useful items like dragon soul stones, and potions.

Shooting Star (June 2025)

We added shooting stars as a small surprise event that can appear at random while you play. When one shows up, everyone online gets an in-game notification so players have a chance to go look for it. Finding the star gives you a time-limited boost that lasts until the star fades.

A shooting star usually sticks around for about half an hour, which is just enough time to grab the boost and use it on a single action. The type of boost changes depending on the day, so you might see magic find on a Friday or primary skill experience on a Monday.

Mailing System (June 2025)

We introduced an in-game mail system that lets players send and receive messages between characters. All incoming and outgoing mail appears in the communication hub, so everything stays in one place and is easy to track.

Profile Comments (June 2025)

We added profile comments so players can leave messages on each other’s character pages. You just visit someone’s profile, scroll to the bottom, and write your comment. It’s a simple way to share feedback, leave a note, or just say hello.

Market Order Changes (June 2025)

We made a major change to how the market order system works after seeing long-standing issues that were easy to exploit. The old setup allowed things like PO bumping, where players used multiple accounts to push their orders to the top within seconds, and PO spamming, where someone could flood the market with tiny orders to drown everyone else out. There was also a built-in advantage for players who held huge quantities of an item, making it hard for newer players to compete fairly.

To fix this, we removed the ability to manually fulfil individual purchase orders. The game now handles all of that automatically. You list an item, and the system fulfils the matching orders for you in the background. With no way to interact with individual POs, every old abuse method disappears, and the market runs on a much cleaner and more even playing field.

Tavern (June 2025)

We introduced the Tavern as a built-in way for players to talk to each other without needing to leave the app. It gives everyone a simple place to chat, ask questions, or share updates while they play.

This helped reduce the reliance on Discord for basic conversation, especially for players who prefer to keep everything inside the game itself.

Merchants and Shards (July 2025)

We updated the old vendor page and renamed it to Merchants. It became a clearer, more central place for players to spend their gold and shards without having to jump between different menus. As part of this change, dungeon shards were reworked into simple shards, which gave us the flexibility to award them through more than just dungeons.

Legacy Vault (July 2025)

We introduced the Legacy Vault as a way for players to pick up older seasonal campaign items (older than 1 year) they may have missed.

Museum (July 2025)

We introduced the Museum as a permanent place to track your collections, including skins, backgrounds, and collectibles.

App Menu UI Overhaul (August 2025)

We reworked the app’s menu to make navigation feel more natural. With the updated layout, the menu became cleaner, faster to use, and better suited for future additions.

Enemy Scaling (August 2025)

We introduced enemy scaling as an optional way for players at level 100 to keep pushing their combat challenges. You can scale enemies all the way up to level 150, and doing so gives you extra magic find and extra experience. The higher you scale them, the stronger the bonus becomes.

Battle Queueing (August 2025)

We added battle queuing after it sat on the request list for a long time. The main reason it took so long was simple technical limits, but once those were fixed, we were finally able to make it work. You can now queue battles up to your maximum idle time, which means your character can clear a large batch of enemies in a single action instead of fighting them one by one.

Public Developer API (August 2025)

We introduced a public API that lets players access a range of game data from outside the app. It opens the door for people to build their own tools, whether that’s a Discord bot, a Telegram bot, or any other application that connects to IdleMMO in a useful way.

Individual Assault Rewards (August 2025)

We added individual assault rewards so that players earn something for the effort they put into Conquests, even if their guild doesn’t end up winning a zone. Each area now has its own leaderboard, and your position is based on how much EXP you personally contributed to your guild’s push in that zone.

Daily Reward Rework (September 2025)

We reworked the daily reward system so you can build a proper streak by claiming your reward each day. The streak itself now gives magic find bonuses at certain milestones, starting with 1 percent at ten days and climbing to 10 percent at one hundred days.

Performance Improvements (October 2025)

We introduced an update that noticeably improved loading speeds for everyone, though the difference was especially clear for players in regions farther from our London server, such as India, SEA, and parts of Africa. Before this change, those areas often saw slower response times simply due to distance.

Pet Changes (November 2025)

Much like the dungeon overhaul, this update brought a large wave of changes to pets, so here’s a quick recap.

• We introduced pet hunts, letting characters send their pets out to gather items on their own.
• We reworked pet status by removing happiness and hunger and replacing them with a stamina system.
• Pets can now be put to sleep to recover that stamina.
• Pets can evolve once they reach level 100, gaining a boost each time. They can evolve up to five times.
• We added the pet exchange, where players can list and sell their pets on the companion exchange.
• We introduced mythic pets in the Celestial Exchange, giving players a guaranteed way to earn mythic pets through gameplay instead of relying entirely on luck.

Quests (November 2025)

Quests were introduced as a new way to explore the world, meet NPCs, and learn more about the game's lore while taking on different challenges. One of the biggest reasons for adding quests was to give items more purpose. A lot of items felt scattered or underused, and quests give us a flexible tool to fix that. If something feels pointless, we can build a quest around it and instantly give it value. Before starting any quest, you speak with the quest giver and go through their dialogue, and rewards can include gold, items, or shards, with the later quests leaning more toward shard payouts.

Parties (November 2025)

Parties were added as a simple way to team up with other players. You can invite people to your party or join a friend’s group, and it gives everyone a shared way to take on content together.

Right now, parties are used mainly within Leagues, but the system gives us plenty of room to expand. As the game grows, parties will become a foundation for more group-focused mechanics.

Leagues (November 2025)

Leagues were introduced as a way for parties to compete against each other in focused challenges. Each league centers on a single skill and runs for a set amount of time, so you might see something like a Woodcutting League that lasts fourteen days where every party tries to earn the most woodcutting experience during that period. Some leagues last only a few days, while others can run for two weeks or even a full month, depending on the theme.

Rewards scale with the length of the league, so a month-long league offers better prizes than a shorter one. Everyone in the party earns the reward equally, which keeps things fair for the whole group. Leagues can also target specific classes, meaning you might encounter a league that’s limited to classes like Cursed or Forsaken.

UI Rework (November 2025)

We gave the entire interface a full rework after reviewing the app from top to bottom. Most of the visual changes landed on the Web App, but the mobile app also picked up a set of improvements to make everything feel more consistent. This update was the first step toward unifying the overall look, and more UI refinements will continue rolling out as we bring every part of the platform in line.

We also added new customization options. You can move the hamburger menu on the Web App when using a mobile device, and you can adjust brightness and contrast if darker UI elements don’t display well on your screen.

Wiki Overhaul (November 2025)

We completely overhauled the wiki and moved everything to a new, dedicated site at https://wiki.idle-mmo.com.

The new wiki has far more detail than before. We expanded sections, added clearer breakdowns, and included more examples so players can understand systems without needing to rely on scattered community notes. It’s designed to grow alongside the game, and updates will continue as new features are introduced.

Lore (November 2025)

We spent a good amount of time expanding the game’s lore and making sure the quests, dialogue, and in-game events all fit neatly into the wider world of Valaron. The goal was to create a universe that feels consistent, so what you read in the story matches what you experience in the game.

All of the lore is available on the wiki, and we’ll keep adding to it as the game grows and more quests arrive.

Closing Thoughts

This year has been our most productive so far. We added a huge number of features, and a lot of that momentum came from the groundwork we set when the game was first built. We put a lot of effort into building solid foundations, which makes it much easier to create new systems without risking major breakages or having to rebuild things from scratch.

For the rest of 2025, our attention will be on stability, polish, and bug fixing.

Looking ahead, we have Farming and Houses planned for 2026. Once those are in a good place and the overall game feels stable, we’ll finally be able to call it “version 1” and say that the original vision has been reached. After that point, we can start getting more creative and explore new ideas.

We’re excited to share a sneak peek at the next big update for IdleMMO and everything that’s coming with it.

So let’s jump right in.

Pets

Let’s kick things off with pets. A lot has changed here. We’ve always wanted pets to feel like an important part of IdleMMO, but the current system has some clear problems that needed attention. Before we get into what’s new, let’s take a quick look at what hasn’t been working.

Pet Loot

The biggest issue has been loot from pet battles. At first glance, pets don’t look too strong here. You send a pet off to battle, it comes back with a small amount of loot, and most players probably don’t notice any real problem.

The problem is that pets aren't tied to the same concurrency limits as characters. Since they're treated as separate entities, players could send pets from every character into battle at the same time. That meant some players were running 50 pets in battles at once, which of course led to a ridiculous amount of loot piling up.

To be fair, it takes a considerable effort to reach that point. You’d need to hit level 100 in Pet Mastery, train your pets to battle in the same area, and collect enough strong pets to send out together. But even with that effort, the payoff was far beyond what we ever intended.

As game developers, one of the hardest challenges we face is making sure everything feels natural. Limits certainly need to exist, but they should flow into the game in a way that makes sense, without players feeling like they’ve hit a hard stop unless there are no reasonable alternatives. Mechanics should work together, not clash. Getting this balance right is tricky, and it often comes down to carefully considering how the different systems overlap and where their boundaries really are.

With pets, this has been especially difficult. Pets function as completely separate entities from characters, so it never made sense to simply apply the same rules to them. We could have done something like “you can’t use pets on more than three characters at once,” but that creates its own mess. It doesn’t feel natural, and it leads to questions like: what if the pets belong to characters that aren’t actively doing anything? Is that a violation? Do we only allow pets from characters who are currently active? That ends up confusing and clunky.

We’ve held back from enforcing a quick fix because we’ve always wanted pets to be more than just a side feature. Pets should feel powerful and worthwhile if you put the effort into raising them. And while it’s true the current system rewards that effort, we think the barrier to entry could be set higher, and the limits could be introduced in a way that feels natural rather than forced. That’s the balance we’re aiming for, and we’ll go into the solution later in this section.

No Pet Rotation

Right now, there’s almost no reason to keep more pets in your inventory beyond the ones you send into battle and the one you have equipped. Anything beyond that is basically just for collection. That’s not great. In most games, even if you have a “main” set of literally anything (pets, skills, card decks, etc), there’s usually some kind of rotation or variety in play. In IdleMMO, since actions all run concurrently, there’s no need to rotate between pets at all.

Happiness And Hunger

Let’s be real, it’s a pointless mechanic. The idea was that it would create some sense of connection or interaction between pets and players, but it never really landed. There’s not much more to say here. It doesn’t add anything meaningful, and in practice it’s just a waste of time and resources.

What we're changing with pets

Pet Hunting

We're (re)introducting pet hunting! It’s pretty straightforward and works just like battles. Your pet goes out on a hunt, and when it returns, you’ll have stacks of enemies waiting for you. This should help reduce the repetitive nature of hunting on your own, which many agree is one of the more tedious mechanics right now. It also adds a more dynamic layer to gameplay, since you’ll be free to take other actions while your pets are out hunting.

Just like battles, you’ll be able to send up to 10 pets at once. The more pets you send, the more enemies you’ll have waiting at the end. This limit isn't enforced alongside battling either, it's a seperate limit. Meaning you'll be able to have 10 pets battling, and another 10 hunting.

That said, don’t expect pet hunting to match manual hunting. Hunting yourself will always yield better rewards.

The effectiveness of pet hunting will depend on two stats: movement speed and agility. Agile pets will bring back better results than slower ones.

Pet Status Rework

We’ve completely removed hunger and happiness from the pet system and replaced them with a new fatigue system.

“oh no! an energy system! The devil!!”

Wait... wait... hear us out first.

Fatigue isn’t here to create hard caps or drain resources. It’s been added as a natural alternative to limiting how many pets you can send on battles or hunts at once. On that front, nothing has really changed. Pets will still work the same, but fatigue gives us a way to naturally control how much loot pets can bring in.

After completing a certain number of cycles (a cycle is one full battle or hunt), a pet will need to rest. During that time, you can either wait for it to recover or rotate in another pet.

This solves a few problems we talked about earlier. It creates a natural restriction on loot without relying on hard rules. It breaks up the rate at which loot can be gathered, but it doesn’t remove the possibility of pushing further if you’ve invested in enough pets to rotate through while others recover. In other words, the system actually gives a real reason to have a wider pool of pets rather than just a handful.

Stamina can only be recovered through rest. There are no items, no gold sinks, no premium shortcuts. The only way to recover stamina is by letting your pets sleep which takes time.

But, do not worry. It won’t be too obtrusive. We don't want the stamina system to turn into another annoyance. Pets will be able to complete plenty of battles or hunts before reaching zero stamina. But once they do, they’ll be out of action for a while.

Fatigue is based on a pet’s level and quality. The higher the level and the better the quality, the longer they’ll last before needing rest. That means Mythic pets in particular will stand out even more, giving players a stronger incentive to chase the very best.

Pet Sleeping

Sleeping is an idle action that lets your pets recover both health and stamina over time. The recovery rate depends on the quality of the pet, so higher-quality pets bounce back faster. For example, an epic pet will recover much more quickly than a standard one.

Pet Evolution

When a pet reaches level 100, you’ll be able to evolve it. Evolving gives the pet a 5% boost to every stat but resets it back to level 1. A pet can be evolved up to five times, allowing for a maximum bonus of 25% across all stats, including important ones like movement and fatigue.

Don’t worry about losing your EXP. The total amount of experience your pet has earned is saved when it evolves, so no progress is wasted.

Pet Effects

We’ve reworked the system so that pets can now gain effects, just like characters. It works in a very similar way. At launch there won’t be many ways to give your pet effects, but this opens the door for future additions. Maybe even pet potions down the line.

We’ve also reworked patting your pet. Instead of boosting happiness to stop stats from dropping, patting now gives a modest 5% boost.

Pet Exchange

You’ll be able to sell pets by listing them on the Companion Exchange. We’ve gone back and forth on this feature for a long time. There are a few concerns we want to avoid, like making alt trading even more powerful, creating “pet loaning” systems, or making it too easy to grab top-tier pets at high levels. Pets should always come with a real cost.

To make sure of that, every pet will have a minimum listing value. You won’t be able to put a pet up for less than that amount, and the numbers will be especially high for higher-tier pets. This system is mainly intended for trading high-value pets, such as those that have already been trained or even evolved. For example, it could allow players to buy an evolved Mythic pet.

There are a few caveats. First, as mentioned, the minimum values will be high. Second, campaign pets will have extremely high values attached to them, to the point where listing them may not even be worth it unless they’ve reached a very high level. With the shard merchant now in place to buy campaign pets, we don’t want this system to undercut that. And finally, certain unique pets will remain untradeable. These are the pets given directly by the developers under very special circumstances. That doesn’t mean all unique pets will always be locked, though. In the future, we’re considering special events, challenges, or giveaways that could allow unique pets to be obtained and traded normally. The restriction only applies to pets handed out personally so we don’t accidentally give away something worth millions of gold.

Shard Mythic Pets

Since we first introduced shards through the dungeon system, we’ve been eager to expand on them. Shards are in a unique spot right now. They’re a rare, gameplay-only currency that can’t be traded or purchased. The only way to get them is by playing - whether through leaderboards, dungeons, or soon, quests (hint, hint). On top of that, they’re really only accessible in meaningful amounts at higher levels, which makes them a late-game goal. That gives us room to experiment with new ways to use them.

With this update, we’re introducing the very first Mythic shard pet. This is a brand new Mythic pet that can only be obtained with shards. The catch is that it won’t come cheap. We’re talking expensive. Really expensive. So be prepared to work for it.

Mythic pets are meant to feel like god-tier assets, and that’s why they’ve always been so rare. We know there are concerns about them being too RNG-dependent, so this gives you a different path to get one. It won’t be easy, but it’s absolutely achievable if you save up and stop burning all your shards on dragon soul stones.

Want a teaser? Here it is. Our artist really went all out on this one.

Quality of Life

We’ve reworked the pet inventory system from the ground up. It’s easier to use, smoother to navigate, and you can now select multiple pets at once to send them on actions. I won’t go into every detail here. I'll let you pick the details shown in the screenshot.

Overview

This update brings new ways for pets to interact with the game. They can now hunt enemies on your behalf, making hunting less repetitive, while also addressing concerns around loot balance and the lack of reasons to rotate through pets.

We’ve got more ideas for where we want to take pets next. They’re one of our favorite features, so you can expect more exciting additions in the future. This update is about strengthening the foundation and building on that groundwork.

Quests

Quests are a brand new feature in IdleMMO that let you dive deeper into the lore, interact with NPCs, and take on different challenges.

One of our main goals with quests is to give items more purpose. Right now, many items feel a little scattered in terms of their uses. Quests give us a flexible way to fix that. If an item feels pointless, we can design a quest around it and instantly give it meaning.

The quest system itself is simple. You open the quest list, which will show quests based on your current location, and then choose the one you want to take on.

After choosing a quest, you’ll go through a short dialogue before it begins. You’ll need to complete the dialogue to start the quest. These dialogues vary in tone, ranging from funny to over the top to more serious. The idea is to give each quest a bit of personality and add some extra flavor to the game.

Once you’ve finished talking to the NPC, you’ll see an overview page that shows exactly what you need to collect for the quest.

When you finish a quest, you just turn it in to receive your rewards, and the required items will be removed from your inventory. Quests will range from easy to difficult, depending on where you are in the world. For example, quests in Bluebell Hollow will be on the easier side, while quests in The Citadel will demand much more effort.

We’ve also used quests as a way to expand on the lore. The dialogue often ties into existing stories and characters. For instance, there’s a quest where an archivist is investigating the witch Isadora, one of the world bosses.

Some quests can also form chains, meaning you can unlock a new quest after completing the previous one if it’s part of that chain.

At launch, there will be 100 quests. They vary in dialogue tone, difficulty, and rewards. Some will give gold, while the more challenging ones will reward shards.

For now, quests are simple in concept. You’re given a task to obtain an item, and once you turn it in, you get the reward. It’s a straightforward system by design, but we’ve built it to be expandable. This means we’ll be able to add more creative and complex elements to quests in the future.

Parties

Parties work just as you’d expect. You can team up with other players, with each party holding up to four characters. You’ll be able to invite others to your party or join ones that are open.

For this update, parties will have a single purpose, which is tied to leagues. In the future, though, we plan to expand parties with more features and uses.

Leagues

Leagues let you compete against other players in parties. Each league focuses on a specific skill, and they run for different lengths of time. For example, there might be a Woodcutting League that lasts 14 days, where every party in that league competes to earn the most experience in woodcutting. Rewards are still being finalized, but they’ll range from unique items to shards.

Leagues can last for a few days, two weeks, or even a full month. Each one is different.

There are a few rules to keep in mind:

• The party leader has the option to withdraw the party from a league.
• Once your party joins a league, no new members can be added.
• You can join multiple leagues at once, but you can’t change your party until a league has ended.
• You’re free to leave a party at any time, but you won’t be able to rejoin until that league has finished.

When will this be released?

We’re still deep in development, and features like Parties and Leagues are very much a work in progress, which is why we don’t have screenshots to show just yet. Our goal is to have everything finished, tested, and ready for release by the end of October. Ideally, in time for the Eve of Shadows campaign, but we cannot guarentee this. Maybe if the stars align.

This is one of the biggest updates we’ve ever worked on, and we want to make sure it’s done right. The scope just keeps growing. There’s still a lot we haven’t even touched on, and with more than 100 quests to prepare, the workload is massive.

We know we’ve said before that we were moving away from huge updates, but the truth is we just can’t help ourselves. Working on bigger updates like this makes us more productive than constantly pushing out small tweaks. Instead of drip-feeding content, we can focus on adding exciting new features - and this time, that means things like leagues and quests.

Disclaimer

As with all our blog posts, everything here is subject to change. This is just a preview to show what we’ve been working on and to reassure you that things haven’t gone quiet. Development is still in full swing, and some of these plans could shift as we go. Only time will tell.

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

In this post, we want to share some exciting new features coming to IdleMMO very soon!

This update is taking a little longer than we originally planned - but for a good reason. As we were working on it, the scope kept growing. We kept adding more and more things we’re really excited about, and we think you will be too.

Right now, we're deep in development, so I’ll skip the small talk and get straight to it. There’s a lot to cover!

Disclaimer: Any images in this blog post use placeholder data only. The numbers shown are not final and won't reflect the actual live values. If any displayed numbers happen to match the real game, it's purely coincidental. And, as usual, everything here is subject to change before release.

Dungeon Rework

Our current dungeon system has some significant issues that we're addressing. Drop rates are extremely low, and while dungeons include a "difficulty" factor that considers player stats, it only affects loot chances rather than actual dungeon completion. This creates misleading "% chance of success" labels. The difficulty threshold is so low that players can easily reach 100% loot chance with basic gear. Beyond loot chances, equipment doesn't really impact the outcome.

The EXP scaling is also inconsistent and doesn't match the game's exponential progression curve. It also leads to unbalanced situations where players can rush through combat levels by spending gold without much effort, creating high combat levels but very low core stat levels.

We're happy to share more details about our upcoming dungeon system rework. Our goal was to buff dungeons and make them more rewarding rather than doing a complete overhaul. Here's what's changing.

General Improvements

The most noticeable change is that dungeons can be chained together, up to your maximum idle time. We will standardize the baseline duration for all dungeons to 2 hours, including starter dungeons, and adjust the EXP to match this new timing.

You'll also see pretty large buffs to rare item drops across the board. The exact numbers are still being finalised, but we're talking about increases beyond 100%.

EXP and Level Requirements

Dungeons will require a dungeoneering level instead of a combat level to access them. When you complete a dungeon, you'll earn both dungeoneering EXP and combat EXP (plus pet EXP based on your combat gains). However, combat EXP will be reduced since it will be considered a secondary reward. Dungeoneering EXP will be your primary gain and will be roughly equal to what players earn in combat EXP pre-update.

There will be a 90-day grace period (increased from the originally planned 60 days) where players can use either their combat level or dungeoneering level to access dungeons. This gives everyone plenty of time to catch up and adjust.

After the grace period ends, only your dungeoneering level will be used to determine dungeon access.

Dungeon Shards and Shop

Every dungeon beyond level 70 will give you Dungeon Shards. These shards can be exchanged for useful items like Dragon Soul Stones, Essence Crystals, and Potions (though, expect Dragon Soul Stones to be expensive!).

This simply lays out the foundation for future additions. We're open to expanding the dungeon shop beyond that by possibly introducing unique skins, backgrounds, dungeon keys, and even pets.

Dungeon Completion System

Dungeons will be able to be completed by running them a set number of times. Once you fully complete a dungeon, you'll earn a permanent magic find bonus that stacks across all completed dungeons.

For instance, if each completed dungeon gives you 1% magic find, and you complete 15 different dungeons, you could gain a total of +15% permanent magic find (the exact percentage per dungeon is still being worked out).

Difficulty and Requirements

Every dungeon will have a clear difficulty rating that represents the total combat stats your character needs to enter. You'll need to be within 30% of the dungeon's difficulty rating to run it. For instance, if a dungeon has a difficulty of 1,500, you'd need at least 1,050 total combat stats to enter (which is 70% of 1,500). Your combat stats include your attack power, protection, agility, and accuracy combined. These are all stats obtained via your primary skills.

When you finish a dungeon, you'll lose health based on how your combat stats compare to the dungeon's difficulty. The stronger you are relative to the dungeon, the less health you'll lose. If your stats are significantly higher than required, you'll even gain bonus magic find.

Don't worry about the complexity - we've built a simple visual scale in-game that clearly shows where your stats stand for each dungeon.

Because of this change, if you’re someone who mainly runs dungeons but has low stats or weak equipment, now’s the time to start leveling up and improving your gear.

Balancing Potions

The new system naturally addresses potential potion balance issues. Since dungeons will be limited by your maximum idle time and have longer baseline durations, players won't be able to spam short dungeon runs back-to-back. The health loss system also prevents weaker characters from endlessly chaining dungeons. This encourages players to get stronger while keeping potions powerful and effective without being overpowered.

Stances

Similar to the battle system, you will be able to choose a stance when running dungeons. This lets you earn primary stat EXP (like strength) from your dungeon runs. This system will fix the disconnect that players experienced when focusing solely on dungeons for character progression.

It has always felt strange that a character could reach combat level 100 while staying at level 1 for their primary stats, and this change addresses that imbalance.

Recent Drops

For both world bosses and dungeons, you'll be able to see the recent drops that players have received. This feature will give you visibility into what other players are finding and adds excitement when you see rare items being discovered.

What This Means for You

Overall, these changes will bring sizable base drop rate increases, ways to permanently boost your dungeon magic find, longer uninterrupted dungeon sessions, guaranteed shard rewards, and additional utility for your stats and equipment. Dungeon potions and other time-limited effects will get indirect buffs since they can now affect multiple runs.

While combat EXP rates will be reduced, and by extension, equipped pets, the new dungeoneering system provides a smoother progression path, and the reliance on alt characters for dungeon running is reduced due to the higher requirements needed to perform dungeons.

Shooting Star

A shooting star will be a special event that will occur randomly in the game. When one appears, all active players will be notified and can begin searching for it. The goal is to find the shooting star so you can claim the time-limited boosts it offers, which typically last around 30 to 60 minutes while the star remains active.

To activate a shooting star, you will need to be at the exact location where it appears. Once you're there, you'll need to press the "Nearby" button and select the Shooting Star. You will only be able to activate it from this specific location, but once applied, the boosts work at all locations throughout the game.

The boosts provided will depend on the day the shooting star appears - each day offers different benefits. For example, Friday distributes magic find buffs while Monday offers Primary Skill EXP buffs. Keep this in mind when deciding whether it's worth searching for the star.

Mailing System

You will be able to send and receive mail from other players in IdleMMO. This will be a great way to communicate with friends, guild-mates, or other players throughout the game. Sending mail won't be free - the cost will depend on how far away the recipient is from you. The further the distance, the more expensive it becomes. However, if you will be in the same location as the recipient, sending mail is completely free.

Profile Commenting System

(Design still in-progress)

We will be introducing a profile commenting system to improve community interaction within the game. You'll be able to comment on other players' profiles - whether you like their gear, want to compliment their achievements, or just say hello. If you won't want comments on your profile, you will be able to disable them in the settings.

Player Blocking

With the introduction of profile commenting, we're also adding the ability to block other characters. If someone is bothering you, simply block them. When blocked, they will not be able to interact with you in any way - they won't be able to message you, wave at you, or even view your profile.

Larger Bio

To allow players more creative expression, we're expanding the profile bio area. The bio will take up a larger portion of the profile, and you will be able to put anything you want there (as long as it follows our Code of Conduct). It will even support markdown formatting.

Vendor Improvements

We will be making adjustments to the vendor page to make it easier to navigate. This will include more prominent skins and displaying the vendor item name underneath every listing for better clarity.

Market Orders

The market order system has had long-standing issues that were open to abuse. These included PO bumping (players using multiple accounts to push their orders to the top within seconds), PO spamming (flooding the market with multiple orders to drown out others), and market listing advantages for those with the highest quantities, making it difficult for newer players to compete.

To address these problems, we will be completely removing the ability to fulfill individual market orders. Instead, the game will handle everything automatically. All you will need to do is list your item on the market, and it will automatically fulfill orders on your behalf. This change eliminates all the previous abuse methods since players can no longer interact with individual purchase orders.

Additional Improvements

You'll be able to sort your bank just like your inventory, making organization much easier.

Additionally, you will be able to see recent and top shrine contributors, giving recognition to players who support community shrines.

Closing Thoughts

This is a pretty big update. Actually, it's even bigger than v0.38.0-PB, which we previously said was our biggest update ever across all our games. In terms of code, this one has even more going on (but a lot of that is behind-the-scenes).

The good news is that this update includes improvements that almost everyone will benefit from. Because of how large it is, we're taking our time to make sure everything is polished and working properly. Most of the systems are already built - we’re now in the final phase, just fixing small things and making it smoother.

Originally, we planned to release it today, because we wanted it to go out alongside the conquest rewards update, before the middle of the season. But since we already released the conquest rewards earlier, we're no longer tied to that deadline. That gives us a bit more breathing room to get everything just right.

We don’t want to give a specific date just yet - but we’re very close. Only a few final tweaks and a bit more polish remain before we’re ready to release it.

With our upcoming update on the horizon, hopefully dropping later this month, I wanted to take a moment to explain the reasoning behind our decision to extend idle times and what you can expect.

We’re making a small shift from our original vision of an idle game that required more frequent check-ins. Over time, we’ve realized that, in trying to stay true to the name Idle, we were actually going against what players typically expect from the genre.

Not just that, but initially we thought having players log in every few hours would boost engagement. And while some do enjoy that style of play, we've come to see that it’s more demanding than we intended - especially in the long run. Constant check-ins over a long period of time can start to feel exhausting. And instead of making the game more enjoyable, it can create pressure to minimize downtime, which isn’t really what an idle game should be about.

The Problem

Over time, we've come to realize that our game's name and genre naturally set certain expectations about how long players should be able to stay idle. While we've always believed that "idle" isn’t about how long the game idles but rather the fact that it can play on its own, we can’t ignore that many players see it differently. And let’s be honest - it can leave a sour taste when someone downloads an "Idle" game, only to find out it can only idle for two hours. Why would they stick around when we’re essentially contradicting the core expectation of the very genre our game is built upon?

I mean, sure, in hindsight, you could say this was obvious from the start… but it wasn’t. By definition, the world idle literally means spending time doing nothing - or in the context of the idle genre, the player does nothing while the game plays itself. I remember feeling frustrated when people claimed, "IdleMMO isn’t even an idle game," despite it quite literally fitting the definition of the word.

But really, there’s no hard line between what’s “idle” and what isn’t. It’s not like six hours of idling is idle, but three hours somehow isn’t. Where do you even draw that line? Six hours? Twelve? It’s a bit of a silly debate on an arbitrary line drawn by peoples own experiences.

As time went on - and with more feedback and experience - I realized I was getting too caught up in the semantics of the word idle instead of focusing on what actually matters: player expectations. And in the end, that’s what’s truly important.

Sure, we could shake our fists at the sky and insist that idle means a game that plays itself while the player does almost nothing - but honestly, who cares who’s right or wrong? At the end of the day, debating semantics won’t change a player’s expectations when they first load up the game. If it’s not what they expected, they won’t stick around long enough to argue about it - they’ll just leave.

Our game isn’t big enough to redefine what idle means in the minds of players. If most people come in with expectations shaped by other established idle games, then maybe it’s us who need to rethink our approach.

The reality is, our current system has led to confusion and frustration because it pushes against the norms of a genre that our game is literally named after - and that’s something we need to address.

The Solution

So, moving forward, we're adjusting our approach to better align with what players come to expect with an idle game: a more relaxed, less demanding experience that respects their time.

That said, we're still fully committed to creating a game experience that encourages slightly more frequent check-ins than typical idle games - also offering more optional ways to engage in active gameplay. (A great example of this is our "Power Hunt" system, which turned out to be a welcome addition for players who enjoy making a bit more progress through active play)

With this in mind, we're making a slight shift in our approach. Let me break it down:

• The idle duration for the main character will be significantly increased, making the game more “idle-friendly” overall.
• However, to maintain engagement, alt characters will require more frequent check-ins compared to the main character counterpart.
• We're also exploring new ways to encourage optional active gameplay - similar to how Power Hunting works. It’s too early to say exactly what this will look like, but just to throw out a rough idea, we could experiment with a small "Second Wind" boost for players who refresh their actions after X hours. (Again, this is just me thinking out loud - don’t take "Second Wind" as a confirmed feature!)

Idle Times

So naturally this begs the question: what are the new idle times going to be? Well, let's break it down.

Disclaimer: These are our currently planned values, but they’re not final. Nothing is set in stone until the numbers are live in the game. In the past, we’ve made slight adjustments between announcement and release, and that could happen again. That said, this should give you a good idea of what we’re aiming for.

The Positives

Doesn't Subvert Expectation

As I mentioned at the start of this post, one of the main issues was that we were unintentionally subverting the expectations of players downloading the game. This update aims to address that.

While the maximum of eight hours is still lower than what some other games offer, it provides a more reasonable balance - allowing players to make meaningful progress without feeling the need to check in as often as every three hours.

Reduces Alt Character Reliance

This change slightly nerfs the effectiveness of alt characters, primarily due to their shorter idle times compared to main characters. We say "slightly" because, while alt characters will increase in idle times compared to before the update, they will require much more frequent check-ins relative to main characters. This adjustment addresses concerns from players who worry about an over-reliance on alt characters to progress in the game.

Our goal has always been to ensure the game remains fully playable and enjoyable with just a single character. However, for players interested in managing multiple characters, the option remains available - it simply demands a bit more attention and effort compared to managing your main character.

It's important to note that, overall, gameplay will become easier for both main and alt characters compared to the pre-update experience. However, as the context and balance will shift, it's crucial to compare like-for-like main character versus alt character scenario rather than pre-update versus post-update scenario, since the old idle times will no longer apply.

No More Exhaustion

Something we touched on in our previous blog post about the upcoming update - is that requiring more "check-ins" ended up encouraging unhealthy habits, even though that was never the goal. That’s why, early in the game’s beta, we introduced the somewhat controversial Exhaustion System. The idea was simple: we wanted to discourage unhealthy behaviour and give players a reason to step away. In a way, it was our way of saying, "Hey, you've been playing for a while… maybe take a breather?"

And, to some extent, it worked. In the first few weeks, about 60% of players who played for more than 20 hours stopped just short of that mark. But in the end, it wasn’t an ideal solution. The biggest problem was that felt like we were punishing players for enjoying the game - and that’s the last thing we want.

With the increased idle times, players will need to check in less frequently. And because of this, it gives us the opportunity of removing the exhaustion feature from the game.

More Ways To Increase Idle Times

When we first committed to keeping idle times low, it really limited how much we could expand that through gameplay. As we’ve mentioned before, we had a housing feature in the works to help with that, but it was always meant as a small boost - maybe an extra hour or two at most. But now… we can aim a little higher and make housing even more rewarding when it is ready.

Not only that, but with the restrictions eased, we now have way more flexibility to experiment with ways to extend idle time. We could add rare potions that boost idle time, or even give temporary extensions to players who hit certain milestones. The possibilities are endless! (Again, I'm just thinking out loud here. These aren't fully realised ideas)

We’ve always believed in rewarding effort, and the idea of giving dedicated players a meaningful way to extend their idle time is genuinely exciting. I guess it comes down to the idea that “the more you invest, the more you reap” - a concept that fits perfectly with this approach. That said, it’s still a bit early to lock anything in just yet.

The Negatives

Unfortunately, with the increase in idle times, we need to make a few tweaks to keep things balanced - especially when it comes to skills, as we're mindful of the potential influx of extra items into the game. Since these changes directly affect the power of boosts, like those from the Shrine and Essence Crystals, you can expect some minor adjustments across the board.

Closing Thoughts

We get that some players enjoy a game that requires a few more check-ins than others. However, our goal is to get the right balance - staying true to the idle genre while giving players the freedom to play at their own pace without feeling tied down to constant logins. That said, for those who enjoy checking in more frequently, using alt characters will still require the occasional frequent check-in. And when you compare it to other idle games out there, the new alt character idle time (2-3 hours) is still much lower than most.

We know exactly what we want this game to be, and staying true to that vision is important. One of the key things that makes IdleMMO stand out is that it’s not just a “set it and forget it” idle experience you may come to expect with some games - we want to encourage meaningful check-ins and engagement.

That said, we’re not so stubborn that we refuse to pivot when something doesn’t work as well as we’d hoped. Ideas evolve, and this is one of them. We’re not afraid to make big changes when we believe they’ll improve both the game and the experience for players - even if that means rethinking or reversing past decisions.

This decision has been simmering for a long time... slowly evolving as we’ve gained a clearer understanding of what IdleMMO should be and how to make it more enjoyable for players. As time has passed, our vision has matured, and so has our approach. This isn’t just a sudden change... it’s the result of months of reflection, feedback, and a commitment to making the game the best it can be.

Honestly, there’s a part of me that’s proud we tried something different in an idle game, even if it didn’t pan out quite as expected. Because at the end of the day, that’s what being a developer is all about - experimenting, learning, and creating new and exciting things. We're truly lucky to be in a position that allows us to do that.

Now, let’s just hope that a year from now, we’re not writing another blog post saying, “Oh god, we were wrong. Turns out increasing idle time in an idle game actually killed the game. Who would’ve thought?”

You might have been wondering why we’ve been pretty quiet since mid-January. Rest assured, we’ve been hard at work on IdleMMO, making sure everything we release is as seamless as possible.

To be honest, this update wasn’t meant to be this big. As I mentioned on our public roadmap, we planned to release updates in smaller, more manageable chunks. But as we worked on this one, it kept growing - bit by bit - until it reached a point where releasing it in a more complete state just made more sense than putting out something half-baked.

Honestly, I wasn’t even planning to write a blog post for this update - these things take up a lot of time. But given the size of the update, I felt it was necessary. That said, to keep things manageable, I’ll just be briefly touching on some of the new features.

Before we dive in, I want to make one thing very clear: nothing here is final. Everything is subject to change right up until release. We’re always tweaking things, always listening to feedback. Sometimes, we’ll sleep on a feature, wake up the next day, and think, "Hmm… this isn’t quite what we envisioned." And when that happens, we’re not afraid to go back to the drawing board.

Many of the screenshots include placeholder data, so keep in mind that values, names, and other details may not be final.

Guild Halls

Guild Halls will serve as a central hub for guilds, providing access to key features - including Assaults, which we’ll cover later in this post.

Building a Guild Hall won’t be easy. Guilds will need to gather a significant amount of materials to construct one. While we can’t dive into the exact material requirements just yet, the goal is for Guild Halls to act as a large item sink, so expect the costs to be substantial. Logs and bars will play a big role in this, giving them much-needed utility in the game.

Stockpile

The guild stockpile is a dedicated pool of resources that can only be used for the guild hall and its components. Unlike a bank, once resources are contributed, they cannot be withdrawn. These resources are essential for maintaining and upgrading guild structures, such as repairing components of the guild hall.

Guild Components

We’ve designed Guild Halls to be as modular as possible. This not only makes it much easier for us to add new features in the future - since we can simply drop them in without overhauling existing mechanics - but it also gives guild leaders more flexibility in managing their halls.

Guilds will be able to add components to their hall. These components essentially unlock different areas within the guild, ranging from minor quality-of-life upgrades to major new mechanics. Some will be small quality-of-life changes, while others will introduce entirely new ways to interact with your guild.

To add a component to the guild, the guild hall must have a free slot. If the guild hall does not have a free slot, you can either remove an existing component, or build a new slot which will cost resources.

Guild components decay over time, meaning they’ll require upkeep. If a component’s condition reaches 0, it will become unavailable until it is repaired. However, don’t worry - decay happens at a relatively slow rate, so you won’t need to constantly spend resources just to keep things running.

Repairs can be done at any time, and the amount of resources required depends on the component’s current condition. However, keep in mind that while a component is being repaired, it won’t be accessible, and any benefits it provides will be temporarily disabled.

For example, if a guild has a Conquest Banner component - which allows them to perform Assaults - they won’t be able to launch assaults while the component is under repair. Repairs might take a few hours, so proper planning will be key.

Teleportation Beacon (Component)

The Teleportation Beacon is a Guild Hall Component that allows guild members to teleport to the Guild Hall’s location at a significantly reduced cost. The exact reduction depends on their Guild Mastery level - and if they’ve reached level 100, teleportation is completely free.

Mission Table (Component)

The Mission Table is a small quality-of-life component that streamlines the process of generating guild challenges. Instead of requiring a guild member with the necessary permissions to set them up manually, the Mission Table automatically generates challenges for the guild.

Campaign Board (Component)

The Campaign Board allows guilds to schedule up to 10 raids in advance, so there’s no need to wait for an ongoing raid to finish before setting up the next one.

We’ve also made an improvement to the raid scheduling system - instead of being limited to just 12 hours, raids can now be scheduled up to a month in advance.

Unity Seal (Component)

The Unity Seal is a guild component that lets guilds create a custom 3-letter guild tag, which will be displayed next to every member’s username. For those who prefer a cleaner look, this can be toggled off in the settings page.

We’re also exploring a way to make guild tags more dynamic based on seasonal rankings. For example, the top guild of the previous season might receive a golden tag as a mark of prestige. However, we’re still finalizing the details, so this feature may not make it into this update - it could be introduced in a future one instead.

Energizing Pool (Component)

The Energizing Pool is a guild component that provides a temporary, time-limited boost to all guild members. To activate it, the guild must spend Guild Marks - once activated, the pool remains active for X hours.

During this time, any guild member can enter the Energizing Pool and receive free boosts at no personal cost. These boosts remain active until the pool expires.

The strength of the boosts is directly tied to the guild’s Mastery Experience - so if you have a low Mastery level, don’t expect anything too powerful. On the other hand, higher mastery levels will make the Energizing Pool a valuable tool.

Guild Assaults (Conquest Banner Component)

Guilds have the option to apply a Conquest Banner component to their guild hall, unlocking the ability to launch assaults on various locations in the game. Once an assault is underway, any enemy a member defeats within that location contributes experience points to the guild. In addition to standard guild experience, members will also earn Guild Mastery experience for their efforts.

For example, if my guild is assaulting "Bluebell Hollow" and I take down 120 scaled goblins, earning 15,000 EXP for myself, my guild will receive 1,500 EXP - 10% of what I earned. On top of that, I'll also gain 1,500 Guild Mastery EXP.

Guild experience is directly tied to the amount of EXP a character earns, meaning the stronger the enemy, the greater the reward for the guild. This system encourages players to take on higher-level NPCs or scale lower-level enemies upward for a bigger payoff. The more EXP you personally gain from a fight, the more your guild benefits.

When a guild assaults a location, they’re not just racking up experience - they’re also fighting for control. The guild with the most kills in that location by the end of the season will be declared its ruler in the following season, gaining exclusive boosts for the entire duration.

For example, if Guild A and Guild B are both battling for dominance over Bluebell Hollow, and Guild A secures more kills during their assaults, they’ll be crowned the occupiers of Bluebell Hollow for the next season. This means they’ll enjoy special boosts, but only within that region.

Guilds can claim multiple regions at once if they’re feeling ambitious, but strategy is key. Since only one assault can be launched at a time and each assault costs marks to initiate, it’s important to plan carefully. Spreading forces too thin or burning through marks too quickly could leave a guild unable to launch future assaults.

We’re also looking at adding equipment to assaults in the future. For example, guilds might be able to construct a Trebuchet using materials from their stockpile, giving them an edge in battle. This could mean small perks, like a slight boost to the percentage of EXP a guild earns per kill. However, we’re holding off on sharing too many details just yet, as this feature likely won’t make it into the upcoming update due to time constraints.

Idle Times Improvement

From the very beginning of IdleMMO, we set out to make it a little different from typical idle games. One key choice was keeping idle times shorter than usual to encourage some interactivity and make the game more engaging. And while we’re still committed to that vision, we’re making a small adjustment.

We’ve come to realize that shorter idle times, while meant to enhance engagement, haven’t always worked in the way we expected. Instead of creating a fun, interactive experience, they’ve led to some unintended consequences. Some players have developed unhealthy habits - like waking up in the middle of the night just to avoid missing out - while others feel frustrated because they simply don’t have the time to check in every few hours. And honestly, that’s completely understandable.

During the early stages of the game’s beta release, we introduced a somewhat controversial mechanic called the Exhaustion System. The idea behind it was simple: we wanted to discourage players from constantly checking in and instead give them a reason to take a break. In a way, it was our way of saying, "Hey, you've been playing for a while - maybe step away for a bit?"

It seemed to work. In the first few weeks, around 60% of players who played for more than 20 hours stopped just shy of that mark. But ultimately, it wasn’t an ideal solution. The biggest issue was that it felt like we were punishing players for enjoying the game, which is the last thing we want to do.

The Exhaustion System was always meant to be temporary - a stopgap until we introduced better ways to extend idle times. We're actively working on that now, and one of the key ways we plan to improve this is through the upcoming Housing system.

However, since the Housing update is taking longer than we initially expected (it’s been over a year since release), we felt it was important to address this issue sooner rather than later. We don’t want players feeling frustrated while waiting for a long-term fix.

So, in the next update, we’ll be making some key changes to improve the experience. Here’s what’s coming:

• We'll be increasing the base idle times.
• We'll be completely removing the exhaustion mechanic.

Now, don’t get me wrong - this isn’t going to be a massive change. The increase won’t be huge in the grand scheme of things, but our approach is shifting slightly. Instead of keeping idle times as restrictive as they’ve been, we’re opening up to the idea of making them longer than we originally planned - but in a way that still encourages active gameplay.

Think of it as both an incentive to play and a reward for those who have been engaged for a while. For example, if you had asked us a year ago how much houses would increase idle time, we probably would have said “a couple of hours at most.” Now, we’re considering going a bit beyond that.

I won’t throw out exact details just yet - nothing is finalized - but I wanted to give a heads-up that we’re making a small pivot. IdleMMO likely still won’t have idle times as long as some other games, so don’t expect a “set it and forget it” experience. But at the same time, we don’t want to hinder progress or encourage unhealthy habits. Instead, we want to reward players who actively engage with the game while still making it feel fair.

When to expect the update

We're aiming to have everything wrapped up between mid March and the end of March at the latest. Our goal is sometime during the month - ideally sooner rather than later - but we're taking our time to get it right. And, well… if history has taught us anything, it's that we're not exactly the best at sticking to timelines!

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

_{Last updated: January 16th 2025}

The goal of this blog post is to break down and explain our approach to balancing whenever we make new changes or big overhauls. Honestly, it gets pretty exhausting having to repeat our design philosophy in every single patch note - it’s starting to feel like a broken record.

So, from now on, any relevant patch notes will just link here instead. If you’ve clicked through from a patch note, then hey there! Welcome! Let’s dive in.

The Short of It

This blog post ended up being pretty long, mostly because it dives into our past experiences with balancing updates and how they shaped our design philosophy. If you’re just looking for the short version, here it is:

Here’s how we approach things: when we roll out a new feature, we like to keep it on the conservative side. Then, as we gather more data, we’ll adjust things like rates, gold, or whatever else needs tweaking. This way, we can figure out if changes are even necessary and make informed decisions.

Think of it like this: it’s way easier to add stuff to the game than it is to take it away later.

Want to know more? Then read on...

Balancing Is Hard...

Yep... balancing is supremely hard. Honestly, I’d argue it’s the hardest part of developing an online game, hands down. Developing a game? Easy compared to balancing it. Handling payments with all their complexities and edge cases? Give me a couple of weeks, and I’ve got it covered. Setting up a web infrastructure that handles over 35 million requests a day? Pfft. Child’s play compared to getting balancing right.

And I’d bet good money that most game developers in similar circumstances would agree with me. Even Blizzard - a company with a market cap of $74.28 billion - still struggles with balancing their games. Take Overwatch, for example. If you’ve played it recently, you’ll know their patch notes often feature monumental sweeping changes to multiple characters or mechanics that completely shake up the “meta” - sometimes flipping it on its head entirely (though, there's a cynical side of me that believes they're doing it on purpose to feel things feeling "fresh").

In a community Q&A, a Hearthstone developer came pretty close to implying that they’re winging it - making last-minute design changes and basing decisions on what feels right, rather than sticking to a strictly data-driven approach. Now, don’t get me wrong - this isn’t me saying whether that’s the right or wrong way to do it. Maybe it works for them, maybe it doesn’t (I can’t say since I don’t personally play Hearthstone).

But here’s the truth: balancing is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is either a prodigy or straight-up lying. At some level, we’re all just winging it. Every single one of us. The difference is, some are just a little braver about admitting it than others.

Why is balancing so hard? Honestly, it’s such a massive, multi-layered question that I don’t even know where to start. There are just so many things to think about, and that alone is what makes it so tough.

Who do you focus on - old players or new ones? How do you keep the game’s economy stable without accidentally breaking it? What even defines a “good” economy? How easy should it be to acquire end-game items?

And then there’s the big question that companies like Blizzard undoubtedly face: how do balance updates affect monetization? What happens if the game becomes too easy and people get bored? Or if it’s too hard and players just give up?

And really, who gets to decide what’s “too easy” or “too hard”? There’s no universal rulebook for that - it’s all pretty subjective. At the end of the day, a lot of it does feel arbitrary.

Honestly, the Hearthstone developer might be on to something. Maybe, in the end, it really does boil down to what feels right. Sometimes, instincts and experience can carry you further than numbers alone.

Perception of Change

As I’ve mentioned before, asking what makes balancing hard is such a tough question that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Honestly, I could probably write an entire book about all the challenges involved.

But there’s one aspect of balancing that I really want to drill down on. The real challenge is something deceptively simple: how players perceive change. That’s where the real challenge lies, and it’s where things start to get tricky.

Making changes in a game is always a balancing act - whether it’s tweaking the economy, fine-tuning a battle feature, or even just juggling priorities and opinions. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this: you literally can’t please everyone. It’s just not possible. And yes, I mean literally, not figuratively. I could release an update that magically put $20 straight into everyone’s bank accounts, and I guarantee at least one person would find a reason to complain. Just off the top of my head, I can think of several valid reasons to complain:

$20? I've spent $100 on this game, and all I get is $20 back?

What am I going to use $20 for? I use pounds, not dollars!

Why are they sending us $20 when they could be using this to improve the game? I don't need this money.

Now, that might sound a bit dramatic - or like I’m trying to build some kind of strawman argument to make my point stronger. I mean, I’ve never actually handed out $20 to everyone, so I get the skepticism. But I promise you, it’s not. I wish it were, but this is just the unfortunate reality when dealing with thousands of people.

If you think about literally any change in the world, no matter how positive it is, there will always be someone who’s unhappy with it. That’s just the way things are. The only exception might be if you’re dealing with a really small group of people - but even then, it’s not a guarantee.

To illustrate, there’s an XKCD comic that comes to mind. I think I've posted this XKCD so often that it's burned into my brain. If you've been reading our posts for a while then you likely rolled your eyes and uttered "Oh, god, not this again". It’s about a developer fixing a critical bug, something that objectively improves the experience for nearly everyone. But for one user? That bug happened to work just fine for them - in fact they turned the bug into a feature of their own. And in their eyes, fixing it wasn’t an improvement; it was a problem. They’re so focused on what they’ve lost that they can’t see the good it brings to the bigger picture.

Now, you might be wondering: “But Mike... where are you going with this? Surely the perception of change has nothing to do with the act of balancing itself?”

Oh, sweet summer child, it absolutely does - and far more than you might think.

Perception shapes everything. It’s not just about the math or the mechanics of balancing (though, they're equally as important); it’s about how those changes feel to the players after they have been made.

You see, while the perception of change doesn’t directly mess with the game mechanics, it can have a huge impact on the game’s ecosystem because it’s all about how players react. And that reaction? It’s almost always tied to how the change directly affects their gameplay experience.

People Are Selfish

Yep, people are selfish. Now, before you blow a gasket, hear me out - I’m not blaming anyone. I don’t mean it in a bad way at all. Honestly, it’s totally understandable and makes perfect sense when you think about it.

Players come and go - it’s just the nature of things. Someone might stop playing tomorrow, next week, or a few months from now. Sure, we hope they’ll stick around for the long haul, but realistically? The chances of that happening are pretty slim. And that’s okay - it’s just how things work.

It’s great when a game feels amazing for a few weeks because it just happens to align perfectly with someone’s play style. But let’s be real - most players aren’t thinking about the game’s long-term health, especially if they’re not even sure they’ll still be playing by then. And if that play style gets disrupted in the name of “longevity,” well, they have every right to be upset.

I don’t blame them for that. People naturally focus on how changes affect them right now, not the bigger picture. Heck, I’m probbably the same way most of the time.

The problem is, if something does goes wrong, we’re the ones left dealing with the fallout. And let’s be real, most of that fallout lands squarely on the economy, creating long-lasting issues that we have to work hard to fix.

So, when we say something like, “We’re making a change that will benefit the game, but you won’t actually notice it until the economy stabilizes down the line,” a lot of players are just going to be annoyed. And that’s completely understandable.

Let’s say we make an objectively good change - a surefire way to keep the game healthy in the long run - but it means reducing X or Y. There’s always going to be a good chunk of people who get annoyed because it affects them in the moment. And honestly, why should they care about the long-term health of the game? Why would they? I get it. They’re not obligated to care.

It’s not like we put in our terms of service, “Oh, by the way, you’re required to love and nurture this game like it’s your own child.” No - they’re here to have fun. And if we make a change that disrupts that fun, they’re going to be upset. It’s as simple as that.

Now, I’m not saying everyone’s like this. There are definitely players who can set aside their own situation and see the bigger picture. But let’s be real - that’s not the majority. Most people are focused on right now, and if right now isn’t fun for them, they’re going to let us know. And that’s fair.

Imagine I make a game with an in-game market that has a 30% tax on every purchase. It’s been there since day one. Players accept it because it’s the norm - it’s just how the game works. Then one day, I lower the tax to 25%. Fantastic! Players are thrilled - more money for everyone.

Now, flip the script. Imagine the tax started at 3%. Everyone is used to low taxes and has built their expectations around that. Then, in a future update, I raise the tax to 25% to tackle inflation. People would lose their minds - and rightly so! No one likes higher taxes. That’s their hard-earned money, and taking more of it feels like a betrayal.

From a purely numerical standpoint, both scenarios end up in the same place: a 25% tax rate. But the perception is fundamentally different. Lowering taxes feels like a win. Raising them, even to the same level, feels like a punishment.

This is the critical difference: the context of the change. It’s not just what you do, but how it’s perceived, that defines whether a change is seen as positive or negative.

Our Past Experience

We’ve talked about our past experiences and the lessons we’ve learned along the way - notably in a recent

hosted by Couch Cat, a YouTube channel that focuses on persistent browser-based games. The experiences we had have shaped and molded the way we approach balancing now.

Let me break it down and explain further.

For IdleMMO, we’ve always had a pretty high market tax - up to a staggering 15%, depending on membership status - right from the start. Sure, people occasionally complain about it, but it’s nothing new. It’s always been there.

On the other hand, in SimpleMMO, we had to tackle inflation caused by some deeply flawed mechanics. To counter it, we increased the market tax rate from 3.5% to 6% and added additional taxes of up to 6% on things like trading to prevent people from getting around the tax.

And the result? Well, sometimes it’s better to show than tell. So here are some of the top comments from the community:

Time for SMMO to die faster and truly just become a chat room

[The dev] just destroyed the f**king economy. Amazing.

This update is criminal activity.

I'm going to quit (They did not)

Overreaction? Justified? As amusing as they are - it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, there’s a clear lesson here: perception matters a lot because negativity spreads like wildfire.

When we rolled out the update, I explained the reasoning behind the changes - it wasn’t like we left players in the dark. But that didn’t seem to matter. The change was for the good of the game, and it did achieve the purpose it was meant to serve. Yet, people were so furious at the thought of additional taxes that some outright quit the game, while others stuck around but kept playing with a chip on their shoulder.

And this wasn’t even the first time. A few months earlier, we had to make adjustments to stop players from occasionally earning over 1 million gold with what was essentially a single button press - something that was never supposed to happen. It was a side effect of the game’s "infinite" nature and how gold scaled with levels. Honestly, I never expected anyone to hit level 10,000, let alone 500,000.

That update only impacted 164 players out of over 900,000 at the time. The result? Well… let me just show you just some of the reactions that were deemed appropriate for this post:

Game just died

[The dev] just wants the game to die

He's f**ked us

I'm cancelling [the subscription]

You've obliterated all my personal hope for the game

[The dev] can go f**k himself

Did the game die? No, of course not. If I had a penny for every time I read that phrase, I would be a millionare. But it’s the same situation again. A change that ultimately benefited the game and only impacted a small group - 164 players at the time. Yet, we were absolutely bombarded with negativity, from both personal attacks and general complaints, even from players who weren’t remotely affected. I even saw a level 50 player complaining about it - for context, the update only applied to players above level 40,000.

The real issue here was the ripple effect. These players, despite being nowhere near the level cap where the update mattered, were surrounded by so much negativity that it put them off the game entirely. The negative atmosphere became contagious, even for those who had no reason to care, and it left a sour impression that still lingers even today.

There’s an important, multi-faceted lesson here: perception and community sentiment matter, even when the changes themselves make logical sense.

First, there’s the personal human element. I’ve touched on this before in previous posts, but I’ve been at this a while now, and I’ve been called everything under the sun - name-calling, personal threats, you name it. I’ve gotten used to it over time, but when it’s coming at you from every direction all at once, it’s tough to keep your guard up 24/7. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get to me, even just a little. Still, I did my best not to let it sink too deep.

While they could control their reaction, I try not to blame them - even after some of the horrifying comments I saw during those two updates. Honestly, I’d probably feel annoyed in their shoes too. They’re responsible for how they act, of course, but I get where the frustration comes from. I mean, I can’t even count how many times I’ve cursed EA Sports up and down for what I thought was absolute tripe (FIFA, I’m looking at you).

The difference is, back then, I was just some random dude yelling at a big, faceless corporation. But in that moment? I was just one guy trying to make the game better - while getting absolutely bombarded with hate.

You might be thinking, “Ok - so what? People say bad things. Boo-f**king-hoo, cry me a river, ya big baby.” And fair enough. But beyond the human element, the second - and arguably more important - effect of those changes was the direct impact they had on the player base: people were unhappy and angry.

The truth is, only a small handful of people were actually upset. Most players didn’t care; it barely affected them. But as the old saying goes, “A single rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel.” A few vocal players left because of the changes, while others stayed but kept that negativity alive - and that negativity started to spread. It created this atmosphere where more people left, not because of the changes themselves, but because of the negativity surrounding them. And in some cases, it even fostered communities that thrived on hatred.

Here’s the thing: there’s nothing stronger than a shared sense of mutual hatred for something. It’s human nature. I don’t blame them - I accept it. Hell, I even get it. I’ve been there myself.

Take Blizzard and Overwatch as an example. Back when they made sweeping changes that ruined the game for me personally, I wasn’t just frustrated - I actively went on Reddit searching for negative posts to validate my feelings. I wanted to see other people ranting about the same things, and I latched onto that shared sense of outrage. It’s a cycle, and honestly, it’s pretty hard to break out of.

It’s entirely possible that you’re stuck in this cycle right now as you’re reading this. Maybe you’re frustrated with a change we made recently, or maybe you’re still holding onto hard feelings from something we changed years ago. And you know what? I completely get it.

As I’ve said before, it’s impossible to please everyone. Even the simplest, most harmless change in the world is bound to annoy someone, especially when you’re dealing with thousands of players logging in every day. I’ve come to terms with that, and the best I can do is be transparent about the reasoning behind our decisions.

Anyway, I digress. The two situations I described earlier left me with one big question: “Were the changes worth it?” And honestly.... that’s not an easy question to answer. It’s complicated.

If all I had to deal with was the hate and negativity, and it stayed self-contained, then yeah - absolutely, it was worth it. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m not afraid to step on a few toes if it means a game of ours gets better in the long run.

But the fact that these changes negatively impacted the game in other ways? That’s where things get murky. When the backlash creates ripple effects - players leaving, negativity spreading, and fostering communities that thrive on hostility - it starts to feel like the benefits might get canceled out by the damage.

And that’s the real problem here. The line between “doing what’s best for the game” and “doing more harm than good” isn’t always clear. Sometimes, the right decision on paper doesn’t translate so cleanly into reality.

Our Approach

After reading all this, you’re probably thinking, “Damn, this guy’s done nothing but whine about people being mad.” But the point isn’t to say, “Oh, poor us, look how bad we developers have it.” It’s to give you some context - why we felt the need to come up with a new approach to handle these situations. And honestly? It’s made a real difference - it’s actually turned out to be surprisingly effective.

This ties back to my earlier example with market taxes. If the taxes were set high from the very beginning, it effectively eliminates that negative backlash when changes have to be made later. Plus, the benefits for the game’s economy are more long-lasting.

Take this scenario: say a game has a 30% tax for three years, and after those three years, we lower it to 25%. That means we not only maintained a healthy economy for three years - enough to justify reducing the tax - but we also benefited from three years of having that extra 5% tax in place. Now flip that scenario. Imagine the tax started at 3%, and we later had to raise it to 6%. In that case, there would’ve been a three-year period where the tax was unnecessarily low, and during that time, extra gold would’ve stayed in the economy that otherwise would've been removed from the higher tax had we set it high initially.

If we eventually conclude that not enough gold was removed from the game, that 3% difference is gold that’s now permanently circulating in the economy. It doesn’t just magically disappear. And unless we forcibly remove it from players’ accounts (which, let’s be real, isn’t even an option), it stays in the game forever. That’s the real challenge.

It kind of boils down to this: it’s way easier to add stuff - gold, items, whatever - into a game than it is to remove it once it’s already there. And that’s not just because of the human side of things (people don’t like having things taken away), but also the technical challenges.

Let’s say we introduce an enemy that drops an item 80% of the time. After a couple of months, we realize that’s way too high and drop it to 20%. Now we’ve got two problems. First, it’s a negative change, and nobody likes hearing that rates are being slashed. Second, all the items that were already introduced into the game during those months? They’re here to stay. There’s no way to un-drop them unless we go full dictator mode, rip them out of players’ inventories, and say, “Whoops, our bad.” And let’s be honest - that’s not exactly a move that’ll win us any popularity contests.

Our approach is simple: when we introduce a feature, we aim to be as conservative as possible - without going overboard - and then gradually increase rates, gold, or whatever over time as more data comes in. This way, we can make informed decisions about whether adjustments are even necessary and what those adjustments should be.

This method solves two major problems:

• As mentioned earlier, it’s infinitely easier to add assets to the game than to take them out. Adding millions of gold is like eating cake - it’s easy. But removing millions of gold from a broken economy? That’s like trying to read a book on astrophysics while riding a unicycle. Not impossible, but… let’s just say, not ideal.
• Starting with low values means there’s only one direction to go: up. Players are much more likely to embrace improvements than cuts.

However, this approach does come with one big downside: it can make new features feel less exciting at launch. A perfect example of this is IdleMMO’s battle update.

When we first rolled out the battle system, we made it very clear in the patch notes that the loot rates were intentionally set low. The reason? We simply didn’t know the scale we were dealing with yet. If we started too high, we risked flooding the game with far more items than it could handle, which would have been catastrophic in the long run.

Despite our transparency, the battle system was met with a flood of negative feedback - mostly complaints about how little loot players were getting and how battling was no longer profitable. Over time, though, we implemented several updates to improve it: scaling enemies, magic find mechanics, a pet system, and more.

The result? The battle system is in a much healthier place now than it was at launch. Is it perfect? No. But it's in a much better state than it was 3 month ago. And all of that was by design. It was a deliberate decision to start cautiously, gather data, and make improvements step by step. Sure, it wasn’t flashy or exciting at first, but it allowed us to avoid larger, irreversible issues down the line.

We're not going to always get it right

Let’s face it - the cold, hard truth: we’re not perfect. We’re not superhuman. We’re not economists or mathematicians. Me? I’m just a code monkey hunched over a computer, doing my best with what I’ve got. That’s all there is to it.

A Valuable Lesson

Other than, you know, tweaking our balancing approach to be more sustainable in the long run, one of the biggest lessons I’ve personally learned is that it’s totally okay to accept that different viewpoints exist. We can’t make everyone happy, and that’s just the reality of it.

A lot of the time, critiques aren’t about one side being right or wrong - they’re just different perspectives. Sometimes it’s as simple as having different goals, and that’s perfectly fine.

Conclusion

So, to wrap up this unexpectedly long blog post - which has grown way bigger than I intended - it’s worth keeping in mind the approach we’re committed to with almost every change we make moving forward: we’re starting cautiously, taking the conservative route with new features and adjustments, and scaling them up over time.

Of course, sometimes we might not get it quite right. Maybe we’re not conservative enough - like with the recent IdleMMO update that introduced community goal tiers. We set them pretty high initially, but it turned out they weren’t high enough, so we had to adjust them further. But that’s part of the process. It’s important to step back occasionally and say, “Ok, let’s reevaluate this once it’s had time to settle.”

And if things don’t always go perfectly? All I can personally ask is to keep it civil. Name-calling, rage baiting, or venting won’t achieve anything except maybe getting a slightly amused smirk out of me. We’re not perfect - we’re going to make mistakes. At the end of the day, we’re just doing the best we can with the tools and information we have. All we ask from you is to be respectful.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a full year since IdleMMO launched. Time really has moved quickly! Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect on how far we’ve come. We’ll take a look at the features we’ve added over the past year and some of the key stats along the way.

Let's start with the numbers.

Stats

• The game has seen over 340,000 new accounts (not characters) in the first year.
• More 436,000 characters have been created in total.
• 3,582 accounts have been banned - more than 90% of them are due to auto clicking or scripting. We are pending a ban-wave soon so this could easily reach beyond 4,000 by the end of the year.
• At it’s peak, our server handled over 38,000,000 web server requests in a single day - the single highest day we’ve ever received across all of our games. A server request is simply whenever you load up a page, or press a button in the game that required something on your game to be updated. So that happened over 38 million times within a mere 24 hours.
• Only 65% of active users only have one character - proving that the game is entirely playable without the use of alts. In fact, this was much lower (around 80%, but our recent change to introduce trade-limited character classes changed that somewhat)
• A total of 4,953,111,216 items have been gathered. With mining taking the top spot at 2,327,876,420 items gathered (thanks to sweet sweet coal!)
• Players have spent a combined total of 26,956,104 hours doing actions. Or… in other words… 1,123,171 days. That’s enough time for us to go back to 1051 BC.
• We’ve updated the game 122 times. That’s an average update every 3 days. Say what you want about the game - but you can’t deny that we are constantly try to keep things fresh!

Now, let’s talk about the features. Over the past year, we’ve added quite a bit to IdleMMO. While the overall UI design hasn’t changed much, there’s been a steady stream of new features introduced to the game.

If it’s been a while since you last played, here’s a quick rundown of the bigger updates. Covering every little change would take a while, but if you’re curious, you can always check out our full patch notes here.

Yule Fest Campaign (December 2023)

Not long after launch, we introduced our first seasonal campaign - Yule Fest - to celebrate the winter holidays. During this event, players could take part in unique activities like building snowmen and complete a time-limited campaign to earn the highly sought after Snowrunner pet.

Removed Alt Character Trade Restrictions (January 2024)

We removed the trading restrictions between alternate characters, making it easier for players to get more out of their alts. This change encouraged many to create additional characters. That said, the game has always been designed to be fully playable with just one character, and that remains at the core of our approach.

Exhaustion Effect (January 2024)

Early on, we noticed a worrying trend: a small group of players were disrupting their sleep schedules to maximize efficiency and avoid losing any experience points in a day. To address this, we introduced the "exhausted" effect, which applies negative effects to characters who play for too long. Initially, this kicked in after 18 hours of gameplay, but we later extended it to 20 hours to strike a better balance.

This was implemented as a temporary solution until we introduce more ways to increase your idle times - something that we wish to explore soon. Once it’s possible to increase your idle times - the exhaustion mechanic will be removed entirely from the game.

Idle Time Increase (January 2024)

We increased the idle time of Main Characters by 20 or 40 minutes depending on their membership status.

Pet Mastery Skill (February 2024)

To make pets even more rewarding to use, we introduced the Pet Mastery skill. This skill improves as you send your pets into battle and, in turn, boosts their stats. The higher your Pet Mastery level, the stronger your pets become.

New Classes (February 2024)

We added four new classes designed around primary skills rather than combat: Chef, Miner, Angler, and Lumberjack. Each class provides a small advantage when performing its specific activity.

Valenfair Campaign (February 2024)

To celebrate Valentine’s day, we introduced a “mini seasonal campaign” meaning it didn’t function like a usual seasonal campaign (with new enemies, dungeons, etc), instead it was simply a regular campaign that only ran for a few weeks.

Guilds (March 2024)

One of the most anticipated updates was the introduction of guilds, allowing players to team up and collaborate to improve their guild’s overall standing.

The guilds update was extensive - too much to cover in detail here - but here’s a quick overview of what it included:
Guild Levels - Grants added benefits, like expanding member capacity and the ability to generate more challenges.
Raids - Collaborative events that are organized by the guild leader.
Challenges - Serve as the primary way to obtain marks by exchanging specific in-game items for marks and experience.
Guild Mastery Level - A persistent game level that remains with the character even if they leave a guild. It serves as a testament to a player’s dedication to supporting the guilds they join.

Shrine of the Old Gods (March 2024)

The shrine was introduced as a way for the community to come together, contributing in-game gold to unlock rewards for everyone. Once a tier was reached, the entire player base would enjoy an EXP boost for a few hours afterward.

iOS App (March 2024)

The long-awaited iOS app was finally released, giving players the convenience of playing directly on their device without needing a browser.

Pet Battle Rework (April 2024)

We noticed that pet battles weren’t being used much, largely because the process felt tedious and unrewarding. To change that, we decided to streamline the system with a rework. After the update, pet battles became much simpler - just press a button, and your pets would start battling, returning only when fully defeated. This simplicity made the system far more appealing, leading to more people using it.

Pet Hunting (April 2024)

We added a feature that allowed players to send their pets on hunts, letting them gather resources or fight enemies without interrupting the player’s current actions.

However, the feature didn’t catch on widely, as it was mostly used by players focused on maximizing every possible gain. As a result, it was removed in a later update.

Guild Announcements (May 2024)

The Announcements feature was introduced to help guild leaders communicate directly with their members in-game. It became especially useful for celebrating achievements or coordinating events within the guild.

Ombric Uprising Campaign (May 2024)

In May, we launched our second global campaign. Unlike seasonal campaigns, global campaigns are permanent additions to the game. Players can switch between available campaigns whenever they like, so there’s no pressure to complete it quickly - it’ll always be there waiting.

Android App (May 2024)

In May, we released the Android app, arguably the most highly anticipated addition to IdleMMO. Many players, especially casual ones, prefer not to play in a browser, making the app a welcome change

Since its launch, the player base has grown significantly. The organic discovery potential of apps on the Play Store has played a major role in bringing new players to the game.

Push Notifications (June 2024)

After a challenging development period, we successfully implemented push notifications for the web app. This feature was later rolled out to both the iOS and  Android apps in subsequent updates.

Badges (June 2024)

To make it easier to see a player’s accomplishments at a glance, we introduced badges. These are awarded when specific criteria are met, such as reaching level 100 in a particular skill, and serve as a quick showcase of achievements

Guild Activity (June 2024)

To support guild leaders in managing their members and tracking contributions, we introduced the Guild Activity feature. This tool provides a detailed list of each member’s recent activity, making it easier to stay informed and coordinate efforts.

Tutorial (June 2024)

Despite making the game as intuitive as possible, we recognized that we needed to work on on improving the onboarding experience, especially for players new to the idle genre. We introduced a simple yet effective tutorial designed to guide new players through the basics, making it easier for them to get started and feel at home in the game.

Performance Improvements (June 2024)

Performance updates don’t usually get much attention, but this one was significant enough to affect everyone. After extensive work on the game’s back-end architecture, we managed to bring server latency down from 147ms to just 18ms - a dramatic improvement that everyone caused almost everyone to feel a difference.

Shrine Blessing (June 2024)

To add a little surprise bonus for players donating to the shrine, we introduced the "Blessing of Xethia." Players who donate more than 100 gold receive this blessing, which provided a temporary 5% EXP boost to all primary skills.

Trading (July 2024)

Before this update, trading was limited to the market, which made it cumbersome to complete transactions directly with a specific player. To address this, we introduced a direct player-to-player trading system, making it much easier to trade without relying on the market.

Forge UI Rework (July 2024)

The forge UI page was very difficult to navigate pre-update due to it being poor in performance, and simply poor in trying to find the item a user wishes to craft. We improved this page by compacting the elements into a grid-based layout, and introducing a filter that allows people to quickly search what they are looking for.

Moonlit Festival Campaign (July 2024)

As part of the summer festivities, we introduced the “Moonlit Festival” seasonal campaign - a unique, lore-driven event. The campaign ran for two weeks.

Market History (August 2024)

To make it easier for players to track an item’s market history, we added a historical chart to the item inspection page. This chart displays the item’s price trends over the past 30 days.

Battle Rework (October 2024)

We realized the battle system needed a rework because the old system was too hands-on for most of our casual player base. While we understand the importance of having “active” elements in the game, making them a fundamental part of gameplay created issues, especially for players who preferred to log in briefly every few minutes and then log off. The old battle system made this difficult, causing them to miss out on a core aspect of the game.

Additionally, the system had deeper flaws that were almost impossible to address. It left significant parts of the game, like equipment and food, ineffective.

To tackle these problems, we completely overhauled the battle system and transitioned it to an idle format. While we know some in the community weren’t thrilled about the change, it was a necessary step to resolve the issues and better support the way most players engage with the game. For a deeper dive into the problems with the old system, you can check out our blog post here.

Stances (October 2024)

As part of the battle rework, we identified a key issue: a character's combat level often didn’t align with their actual "power level." It was entirely possible for a character to achieve a high combat level while remaining relatively weak. This disconnect stemmed from the way stat experience was handled - it wasn’t earned through battles but exclusively through primary skills.

We addressed this by introducing stances, giving players the ability to choose which stat they want to focus on and gain experience for during battles.

New Classes (October 2024)

We introduced two new trade-locked classes: Cursed and Banished. These characters are entirely restricted from interacting with the market. In a later update, we added a new option for players with trade-locked characters, allowing them to bypass the usual limit of having only three active alternate characters at a time.

Namestone and Metamorphite (October 2024)

We introduced the Namestone and Metamorphite item as a way for players to change their character name or class.

Two-factor Authentication (October 2024)

To enhance account security, we introduced two-factor authentication, requiring a verification code for all logins from unknown IP addresses.

Eve of Shadows Campaign (October 2024)

To celebrate Halloween, we introduced the seasonal Eve of Shadows campaign that ran for two weeks.

Character Metrics (October 2024)

We added a feature that lets players view their character's metrics, such as total playtime and the number of items gathered. Players can also view and compare these metrics with other characters, adding a competitive and fun way to track progress.

Weekly Experience Chart (October 2024)

We've replaced the level chart with a weekly experience chart, showing the total EXP gained over the past week. The previous level chart didn’t offer much value, especially at higher level, hence the change.

Guild Seasons (November 2024)

Guild seasons were introduced to bring a competitive edge to guilds. Each season lasts 60 days, with rankings determined by the total experience gathered by a guild during that time. At the end of the season, the top 25 guilds earn rewards based on their final standings.

Enemy Scaling (November 2024)

To address concerns about the new battle system, we introduced an option to scale enemies to match a player's combat level. In return, players receive increased EXP rewards and a magic find boost, which improves the chances of finding rarer loot.

Shrine Improvements (November 2024)

Previously, shrine boosts could only be obtained at the exact moment the shrine was activated. This created an unfair disadvantage for players in less common time zones, who often missed out on these boosts.

We addressed this by revamping the shrine boost system. Players can now manually apply the boosts to their characters any time after a shrine tier is reached, up until the shrine resets. This change ensures everyone can benefit from the boosts, regardless of their time zone.

Power Hunting (November 2024)

We added a new, entirely optional feature to the hunting mechanic called "Power Hunting." When enabled, this feature allows players to hunt interactively for a short time. During this period, enemies appear on the screen, and players can tap them to add the enemies directly to their character’s enemy list.

Equipment Balancing (December 2024)

With the battle rework making enemies significantly stronger, we realized that equipment had become far less effective. To address this, we applied sweeping buffs to all the equipment For instance, the maximum attack power of swords was increased from 250 to 400 - a 60% boost. This change helped make equipment more impactful in battles.

Closing Thoughts

It’s been a busy and eventful year, filled with both challenges and achievements. Reflecting on everything we’ve accomplished while writing this, it’s clear we’ve achieved far more than I thought was possible - especially considering this list only covers the major updates.

Looking ahead, I’m hopeful the next 12 months will be just as productive. We’ve got plenty in the pipeline, as outlined in our public roadmap, and with the upcoming seasonal campaign, Yule Fest, there’s always something exciting on the horizon.

Through it all, our focus remains the same: to create a bloody good game.

Thanks for sticking around!

I’ve noticed that some concerns have been raised on our Discord server about IdleMMO’s player population. While I’ve responded to these concerns directly in the server a few times, I realise those messages might not have reached everyone who needs to see them.

Let me put it simply: not only is this trend completely normal and expected, but we’re actually doing better than we initially anticipated - losing players at a slower rate than expected. In other words, we’re still exceeding expectations.

To understand why some players are moving on, it’s important to first look at what drove the surge in downloads in the first place.

Increased Player Count

When we launched the game on Google Play, it introduced the game to tens of thousands of players almost instantly. In fact, within just 24 hours of release, we saw over 1,500 downloads.

The trend took off immediately, with the game reaching thousands of players right from day one. Google Play deserves a lot of credit for this - their store does an amazing job of promoting apps, without us having to do a thing. In fact, they’re far better at this than the Apple App Store.

This isn’t our first experience with Google Play’s organic download surges, either. With our other game, SimpleMMO, we’ve seen similar spikes in downloads. I can’t give you an exact explanation of how this works - after all, I don’t work at Google - but from what i’ve observed, the apps shown on Google Play are always changing depending on trends.

But it didn’t stop there - it started feeding into itself. We had a sizable group of players eagerly waiting for the Android release, and that initial wave of downloads probably caught Google’s algorithm’s attention. The surge likely made the algorithm think, “Hey, this game is doing great - let’s give it more visibility.” Of course, I say “likely” because, again, we can’t know for sure as we don’t work at Google. That said, this fits with how most trend-based ranking systems work. Once momentum starts building, it often snowballs - leading to even more visibility and, in turn, even more downloads.

As a result, the rate at which players were downloading and playing the game kept climbing week after week - far beyond what we had anticipated. In just over two months, we surpassed 100,000 downloads solely on Google Play alone.

This trend continued upwards for a few months. In fact, we peaked at 3,400 downloads in a single day - which for an independent game with almost zero financially-backed marketing is nothing short of staggering.

Naturally - this wasn’t going to last forever and it would be downright delusional to think it would.

It’s impossible to maintain a such a huge surge

From the moment we noticed the game was trending, we knew it wouldn’t last forever. Trends like this always lose steam eventually, and the player count starts to decline - it’s just the nature of things. The real question for us was: how high would the peak be before the slowdown? And as it turns out, it was pretty bloody high. At one point, we had over 13,000 active characters online at the same time.

If you had told me this time last year that we’d hit those numbers, I’d have thought you’d lost the plot.

I knew we wouldn’t be able to maintain that peak indefinitely, no matter what we did. No game - no matter how amazing - can sustain its highest point forever after a surge in downloads, especially without serious financial backing. It’s not a failure; it’s just how the world works. The same concept applies to almost anything.

A better way to look at it is like this: Have you ever been to a large shop on an opening day? It’s packed. Over a week, the rush and excitement of something new fades down until it gets to a level where the super market can maintain and start to grow clientele from.

The truth is, the game launched on the Play Store back in May, and it’s only now that we’re starting to see its momentum slow down. Honestly, we’re amazed it lasted this long.

Are we sure its because of the downloads?

Yes, because it’s evident from the stats we can see. It also aligns with the nature of trends that I mentioned earlier. Again, we’ve seen similar peaks and valleys with our other game, SimpleMMO, many times. It’s not unusual, especially when it comes to Google Play. Their search algorithm changes frequently, which has a direct impact on the number of organic downloads any app receives.

And if, in the unlikely event, this is happening because the game isn’t as good as we’d like and Google gave us more downloads than we truly deserved, our response is straightforward: we’ll keep improving the game. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

"But... but... it was the Battle Rework! I swear!"

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times on the Discord server. No, it’s not the reworked battle system - or, for that matter, any specific change we’ve made. In fact, here’s the thing: every change we make seems to make some people leave, as bizarre as that might sound. It’s just a reality of change.

Whether it’s one frustrated player or a small group, it’s impossible to please everyone. No matter how beneficial a change might be overall, there will always be someone who isn’t happy with it. This xkcd comic perfectly sums it up better than I ever could:

I think some people don’t realise just how much downloads influence the game’s population. It’s orders of magnitude greater than most other factors. Honestly, I can confidently say that even if I introduced the absolute worst feature imaginable - some pay-to-win nightmare - it still wouldn’t affect the game as much as the sheer volume of downloads does. It’s practically basic math at this point.

Think about it logically for a moment. At one point, we were getting nearly 3,500 new players in a single day. And remember, that surge continued for months. Do you know how massive an exodus would have to be to cause a population shift on that scale? Even if we made a change that not only upset a ton of people but cause them to leave - let’s say a few hundred - it’s still just a tiny fraction compared to the influx of new players we got in one single day.

Just because some Discord servers are seeing a few people leave due to dissatisfaction with changes doesn’t mean it’s a major issue. This is a classic example of the availability heuristic - a bias where people overestimate the importance of something based on the information most easily available to them, rather than looking at the bigger picture. In this case, it’s their own experiences in Discord giving a skewed perspective.

That said, I'm not saying changes don't impact the downloads - of course they do. Any change will influence the game’s trend and key quality metrics, like how long players stick around before uninstalling. But for a shift this dramatic, it would take a significant, underlying, and fundamental change to the core gameplay. Even then, it’s not always enough. Honestly, I’ve seen games over the past few years that seemed doomed to fail after introducing sleazy dark patterns, yet somehow they’re still going strong.

Obtaining More Downloads

Given the nature of our decline, it’s fair to ask: if downloads are the issue, why not just focus on getting more downloads? Well… it’s not that simple. Almost all of our downloads have been entirely organic, and that’s something we don’t have much direct control over.

Sure, we could take steps to nudge the trend in the right direction - like optimizing our App Store page or running a marketing campaign. But right now, our main priority is what really matters: making the game better. The other things, like marketing and perfecting our store presence, can come later. Those efforts take significant time and resources, and we’d rather focus on them once the game is out of beta.

Putting Numbers In Perspective

Another thing people often overlook is that the situation looks worse than it really is because our player numbers are abnormally high. In fact, I’ve already mentioned that I didn’t expect the numbers to reach this level within a year of release - especially since we’re still technically in beta. But because the numbers are so big, even a small percentage of players leaving can seem like a much bigger issue than it actually is.

Think about it: if we have 13,000 active players on average and lose 10% over two or three months, that’s 1,300 players gone - a big number on the surface. Now compare that to when we had just 1,000 active players early on. Losing the same 10% would mean only 100 players - a much smaller number that doesn’t sound nearly as bad.

Don’t get me wrong here. It’s the same percentage, relatively speaking, but the larger active player count makes any decline seem far more dramatic. Of course, I’m not saying losing players is a good thing - it depends on the circumstances. But I’m pointing out that our unusually high player base creates a glaring perception problem: the losses look bigger simply because we started with more.

So, what now?

As with anything in life, the trend will naturally continue to decline until it reaches a stable point - where new and returning players balance each other out. It’s just the way things work, and there’s not much we can do to change it.

The real question is: at what point will the inflow and outflow of players even out? Honestly, I can’t answer that. But this brings up an even more important question…

Does it even matter?

Now is a good time for introspection. As your self these questions: Are you still having fun? So what if the game is losing players? Does it really matter? Honestly, it doesn’t - not to us, given the reasons behind the decline. We’ve already far exceeded our expectations - beyond anything I ever thought possible within the first year of launch. What truly matters is that we focus on making the best game we can and enjoying the process along the way.

If we were losing players because we were actively making the game worse, that would be a different story. That would be a sign for us to take a step back and reassess. But that’s simply not the case. The decline is part of a normal trend, and, truthfully, there’s very little we can do to stop it. We're a small independent company. We simply don't have the financial backing to keep it artificially propped up.

As far as app-based live-service games go, we’re in a unique and fortunate position here. We're a completely independent, bootstrapped company. We’re not focused on micro-optimizing every single mechanic to keep you hooked indefinitely. We’re not here to nickel-and-dime you or squeeze every cent out of your pockets. I understand that its natural for peoples interest to slowly diminish, and I'm not going to hold that against them. Our goal is pretty simple: make a damn great game and have fun doing it.

As far as I’m concerned, if we stay focused on creating something genuinely good, the community will naturally follow. Obsessing over trying to maintain the massive surge of players we saw at its absolute peak is like trying to stop an avalanche with a shovel - why waste that effort when we could be doing something meaningful instead?

We're excited to share that Version 0.23 is on its way, featuring a complete overhaul of the battle system and the new ability to change your character's class, among other changes.

Just to clarify, I’ll be using the past tense and referring to the current battle system (the one playable at the time of this post) as the "old" system, even though the "new" battle system hasn’t been released yet.

Problems With The Old System

Let's talk about why we're overhauling the battle system in our game. Simply put, the "old" battle and hunting mechanics didn't fit well with the idle game genre. Despite our efforts to refine these systems, they fundamentally clash with the nature of idle gaming. Many players found this aspect of the game polarizing - it was either loved or entirely ignored.

So, what was the issue with the old system? Let's break it down.

Level Discrepancies

The huge problem with the old battle system was that a character's "power level" (how strong they are) didn't align with their "combat level" as you'd expect in most games. Surprisingly, it was possible for a character to reach combat level 100 but remain significantly weak. This happened because experience in primary stats like Strength and Defence was earned through skills unrelated to combat effectiveness.

This situation caused quite a bit of confusion among players. Many were frustrated, thinking they couldn't defeat enemies that matched their combat level, and we had to clarify repeatedly that this wasn't a bug - it was just how the system was designed. The issue arose because the system limits battles to no more than 100 turns. If a character is too weak to defeat an enemy within those 100 turns, the battle simply won't proceed. This rule was primarily set to save time, as fighting through more than 100 rounds could drag on for several minutes.

One popular suggestion we've received is to have the game issue a warning before a battle starts if the character is not strong enough to attack a specific enemy. However, this presents a technical challenge. To determine whether a character can successfully attack an enemy, we would need to simulate the battle before it actually begins. Unfortunately, simulating battles does not scale well.

Difficulty In Obtaining Primary Stats EXP

As touched on above, the discrepancies in levels and the resulting confusion were largely due to the way experience points were distributed across different skills. For instance, activities like woodcutting, which seemingly had nothing to do with combat, contributed to increasing a player's strength, while smelting boosted speed.

Not only this, but the experience awarded per action was excessively low. Ten months into the game, the highest Strength level achieved by any player is only 92. This slow progression caused primary stats to lag significantly behind the pace at which characters could increase their combat level, leading to a disjointed and illogical system where combat effectiveness didn't match combat levels.

Hunting

The hunting mechanic, intended to add depth to the battle system, fell short of expectations mainly because it was tedious. The process involved repeating the same action every few minutes, which turned into a burdensome task of keeping the screen on just to ensure the hunt was completed. The core issue was the awkward timing of the hunts - they were too frequent and too brief to truly fit the idle game format, yet not short enough to be engaging for active play. This left players in a limbo where, for two or three minutes at a time, they couldn't do much else but wait.

Another significant problem with the hunting system was its inefficiency, particularly frustrating for new players. They could spend considerable time hunting for enemies, only to encounter enemies that were "unkillable" for them. This meant they had to restart the hunt without engaging in any actual combat, leading to a cycle of fruitless efforts. This aspect of the system was so tedious and unrewarding that it sapped the excitement out of the gameplay. Even writing about it is dull.

Battling

The battling system, while slightly more engaging than hunting due to the need to monitor health, was still tedious. The system required a minimal but awkward level of attention - not active enough to be captivating, yet not passive enough to be truly idle. Players couldn't just set their characters to battle and check back after a short period; they had to intermittently manage the gameplay, which disrupted the flow of a typical idle game.

This issue was even more pronounced for lower-level characters, where simple battles, like defeating a rabbit, could take up to 40 seconds.

More Issues

I don't want to spend an unnecessary amount of time outlining the problems with the old battling and hunting system so I'll just quickly list the rest.

Attacking Lower Level Enemies
The game mechanics incentivized players to target lower-level enemies. Given the lengthy process required to hunt and defeat higher-level enemies, the efficiency (EXP per second) actually decreased in tougher locations, making it more practical to stick with weaker enemies.

Stats
Despite reaching high levels, the impact of stats was minimal - this was primarily because players kept attacking lower-leveled enemies.

Food
The inefficiencies in combat rendered food almost pointless. If characters are primarily engaged in low-risk battles (like attacking weak rabbits that only inflict minor damage), there's little need for resources like food that are meant to recover health lost in more challenging fights.

Bots
It seems that about 80% of people using bots are doing so specifically for the battle system, setting up an autoclicker on the battle page and leaving it running for hours. While I get why they do it - given how tedious the system can be - that doesn’t make it acceptable. We're naively hoping that by smoothing out some of the friction with our new battle rework, we might discourage the use of automation a bit. Even a 10% reduction in bot usage would be significant for us. Reviewing flagged accounts and banning offenders is a time-consuming process, so easing the burden even slightly would be a big win.

Thoughts

We've got a lot of improvements lined up, particularly addressing the points we've been talking about. I realize there’s a few players who really enjoys the old, more "active" hunting and battling system, and some of you might be disappointed with the new direction we're taking. But the truth is, the old system wasn’t quite in line with where we want the game to go. We're trying to find a balance that keeps the game engaging while staying true to our vision.

We’ve honestly put a ton of work into the old battle system. If you've been here since the pre-beta stage, you will likely be aware how many times we have made adjustments to the battle and hunting system. I'm extremely cautious about not leading us into a "sunk cost fallacy". Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things just don’t pan out the way you’d hope.

Battle and Hunting Rework

So, let's dive right into what we've been working on with the battle system. Instead of just telling you about the changes, I think it’s better to show you directly.

Just a heads-up: Everything I’m sharing is still subject to change. We’re in the alpha testing phase, so things might still change quite a bit.

When you first open the battle page,  you’ll notice nothing has changed if there are no enemies to battle.

However, when you start hunting, you might notice something different…

We've made the hunts longer, a lot longer... and this all depends on your stats. Instead of just a few minutes, now you can hunt up to the maximum idle time allowed by the game. To extend your hunting duration, you'll need to boost two key stats: Movement Speed, which you can increase with your equipped pet, and your Hunting Mastery level, which goes up the more you hunt. The higher these stats, the longer you can stay on the hunt.

However, with the changes to the hunting mechanic, we've decided to remove the ability for pets to hunt on your behalf. Not many players were using the pet hunting feature, and with the new system, it would make things a bit too powerful.

When you finish the hunt, you will notice that the enemies will be stacked on top of each other.

The main idea behind this change is to let your character continuously hunt enemies until you reach the cap, which is determined by your Hunting Mastery level. It'd be pretty impractical (and a bit silly) to display each enemy individually if you've got hundreds waiting, like how the old system did.

Currently, the maximum number of enemies a character can stack ranges from 500 to 2,000. So, if you're at level 100 in Hunting Mastery, you'll be able to stack up to 2,000 enemies. This change should streamline the experience and keep things looking clean and manageable on your screen.

This leads to another new feature: when you hunt more enemies, they just stack up on top of the ones you’ve already hunted. Since it's not feasible to hunt all 2,000 enemies in one session - given that the idle time maxes out at 160 minutes for your main character with a membership - you'll need to split this task over several hunting sessions. Also, it’s important to note that reaching that 160-minute cap requires a high Hunting Mastery level and sufficient Movement Speed.

When starting a new hunt, it will pick up right where the last one left off. You can keep going like this until you hit your limit.

If you decide to cancel a hunt midway, the game will automatically determine how many enemies you hunted during that time. For example, if your current capacity allows you to hunt 500 enemies over 100 minutes, and you cancel after 50 minutes, the game calculates that you've hunted 250 enemies - because you stopped halfway through. These enemies will then be added to any you had previously, stacking them up for you to battle later. This way, every minute of hunting counts, even if you don't complete the full duration.

To start attacking an enemy, just click on the one you want to defeat. This will open a dialogue window, giving you the option to attack.

You will notice two new things on this screen: Food and Stance.

Food

You can choose which food to bring along for the battle, and adding food effectively extends your battling time. Here’s the basic idea: the more food you carry, the more enemies you can battle. Food boosts your "effective health" - for instance, if your character has 100 HP and you take 20 food items, each providing an extra 10 HP, your total effective health becomes 300 HP (100 + (20 * 10)). With a higher effective health, you can engage more enemies consecutively.

The battle continues until one of three scenarios occurs:

1. Your character gets defeated (in which case, they have exhausted all their health and food).
2. Your character defeats all the enemies
3. You exceed the maximum idle time.

Stance

Stance is our new method for gaining primary stat experience points. Now, instead of earning these points through skills, you’ll get them directly from battling. We believe this approach makes more sense since primary stats are exclusively used for battle. Previously, obtaining them via skills seemed to disconnect them from their main function, making the whole system feel a bit disjointed.

There will be five stances to take:
Balanced: Obtains EXP for every primary stat. for instance, if you get 20 EXP, then each stat will get 5 EXP.
Offensive: Obtains EXP only for strength.
Defensive: Obtain EXP only for defence.
Agile: Obtains EXP only for speed.
Dexterous: Obtains EXP only for dexterity.

Just to clarify, the experience points (EXP) you earn from defeating enemies are allocated to both combat and stats. For instance, if you defeat an enemy and you get 20 EXP from that enemy, that means that 20 EXP will go towards your combat level, and 20 EXP will go towards your primary stats depending on your chosen stance.

Battling

When you start battling, you will be shown a completely new battle screen.

We've significantly revamped how the battle system operates behind the scenes to streamline performance and to allow it to scale. Previously, in the old system, battles were conducted one enemy at a time. For each encounter, the system would "simulate" the fight to determine the winner and calculate the rewards. This method, especially when facing multiple stacked enemies, became highly inefficient and a major performance bottleneck as it had to simulate each battle individually.

Now, we've shifted to a "bulk" simulation approach. Instead of handling each battle one-by-one, the system simulates the entire sequence at once and calculates the outcome collectively. This not only speeds up the process but also helps in handling multiple enemies more effectively, making the whole system more robust and capable of scaling as needed.

Here’s what it specifically calculates:
- How many enemies you can defeat until one of three battle ending events occur (as I have explained above)
- How much damage is given to the enemy per hit.
- How much damage you take from the enemy per hit.
- How many hits you take to defeat the enemy.
- Your hit chance.
- The enemies hit chance.

All this info is displayed right on your screen, so you can keep an eye on your character's progress and tweak things as needed. This new method is definitely more scalable, but it's not without its drawbacks. For instance, unlike the old battle system, you can't check your current health during a battle to heal up in real-time. Also, you miss out on watching each battle unfold hit by hit through those little toast notifications.

Since we've revamped the battle system, we've had to tweak how some of the stats work, especially Agility and Dexterity. We'll detail all the changes in-game once everything is released. It's a bit too soon to dive into the specifics since we're still fine-tuning and experimenting with the battle formula. We want to make sure we get it just right before sharing the full details.

We’ve set up the system so that if you end a battle early, it will automatically calculate how many enemies you’ve defeated and give you the appropriate rewards. For example, if you start a battle with 20 enemies and it’s supposed to take 20 minutes, but you cancel after defeating the 15th enemy (around 15 minutes), you’ll still get the EXP and loot for those 15 defeated enemies. Plus, any unused food will be returned to you. You'll also receive a handy overview of everything in your notifications, so you don’t miss any details.

Closing Remarks

And there you have it - that’s the rundown on our new hunting and battling system. It's designed to be much more "idle friendly" than previous versions. Just how idle it can be really depending on your character's stats and how much food you decide to invest in the battle. So, you have some flexibility on how hands-on or hands-off you want to be!

We're still in the experimental phase with this rework, and we're very cautious about how they might impact the game's economy. Because of this, there's a possibility we might adjust the loot rates and EXP rates for enemies. We don't want to flood the market with crafting materials nor make it too easy to level up just because it's easier and quicker to defeat consecutive enemies. I can't go into specifics yet because we haven't finalized our review - there's even a chance that nothing will change. But I wanted to give you a heads-up that these aspects are under consideration, so you might see some adjustments.

Changing Class

Characters will now have the ability to switch classes using a special class changer item, a feature many of you have been asking for. However, to prevent frequent class hopping and maintain game balance, there are a few rules:

1. You can only change your class once every 14 days.
2. Class changing items are not tradable. You can only get them from a vendor using tokens.
3. Characters cannot switch to or from the Forsaken class.

Changing Name

This is another highly requested feature. This will work in a similar way to the class changer with similar restrictions (but Forsaken can also change their name).

Fishing Reviews

Saving the biggest news for the end, right? Well, I wouldn’t want you to finish this blog post without a bit of a shocker, so here comes a grenade for you. We've noticed a significant imbalance in gold accumulation when it comes to the fishing skill, particularly at the higher levels involving sharks. To help you see just what we're talking about, here are some graphs provided by @visiel in our official Discord server which you can check out here: https://discord.com/channels/1118502854957727754/1277666983952908319/1277666983952908319. These should give you a clear picture of the stark differences in earnings in fishing compared to other skills:

It doesn’t take a genius to pinpoint where the imbalance is. We haven't had the chance to fully review this area yet, as we've been focused on the battle rework, so I can't share exact details about what the changes will involve. But, let me be upfront - you might want to brace yourself. We're planning adjustments to how gold accumulates for high-value items in fishing.

Balancing is always a touchy subject because it can disrupt gameplay and strategies, particularly for those who've invested heavily based on the current system. But, let's be honest, when one skill significantly outperforms others in terms of profit, that's the textbook definition of imbalance. This especially true for skills that stand alone versus those that are interdependent (By this, I mean that some skills, like Fishing and Woodcutting, stand alone and don't rely on other skills, unlike Cooking and Smelting).

From the start, we've committed to making decisions that we believe are in the best interest of the game's health and balance - even if it means making decisions that people ultimately won’t agree with.

That said, just to slightly ease your concerns, I want to clarify that this update may not be an outright nerf. While it’s still too early to dive into specifics, one of our key objectives is to put a greater emphasis on cooked food so make of that that what you will.

Overview

This is just some of the changes we have planned in the upcoming update. There's a lot more we haven't disclosed yet so expect some surprises too. Fishing changes aside, which I am sure most of you will be screaming with glee after finding out about it, I’m sure that this update will improve idleMMO and make it more enjoyable to play. Oh, and we also have a new global campaign lined up too. We'll share more information on that soon.

We don’t have a set timeline for when this update will roll out - it could be as soon as next week or perhaps not until early October. The timing really depends on when we feel everything is polished and ready. Given the scale of these changes, especially since they impact a core system of the game, we’re taking extra care to ensure we get it right.

In this post, we'll provide a sneak peek into the new mechanics that will be introduced in v0.12.0.

It's important to note that everything discussed here is currently under development and may undergo adjustments prior to the official release. Consider this a small taster of what's to come. The comprehensive patch notes available upon release will serve as the definitive guide to all the changes.

Guilds

We initially considered incorporating guilds into IdleMMO from the start, but we chose to postpone their implementation. Our decision was rooted in the desire for guilds to have substance and purpose rather than merely existing for the sake of it. We aimed to introduce guilds thoughtfully, ensuring they align with the overall game design philosophy.

Guilds have been designed to ensure a seamless user experience, consistent with the carefully crafted design philosophy of the game, where most interactions occur on a single page.

Guild Creation

To create a guild, a character must pay a significant gold fee. This fee was deliberately set at a high value because establishing and leading a guild demands substantial investment in both time and resources.

After the guild is created, the guild page is presented, showcasing everything from the array of actions available to guild leaders to editing the guild's appearance, allowing for a unique and personalized touch.

Guild Level

The guild incorporates a leveling system that progresses through participation in diverse guild activities. This leveling mechanism not only mirrors the guild's activity level, which is vital for ascending the leaderboards, but also unlocks specific perks. As the guild's level rises, certain capabilities expand. For instance, higher-level guilds can issue more challenges within a 24-hour period compared to lower-level guilds.

Furthermore, the number of available member slots increases as the guild's level progresses. Initially, guilds are capped at 20 members, but this can expand to a maximum of 25 members based on the guild's level. We intentionally imposed this relatively small limit to uphold a focused, manageable, and balanced community.

Guild Icons and Backgrounds

To enhance guild individuality, we offer customization options for backgrounds and icons. Guilds can personalize their background by selecting from those purchased by the leader from the market. This allows for cohesive branding across both the guild and profile.

Icons, on the other hand, are distinct entities with their own designated category in the vendor. They can be acquired for a nominal token fee, providing a wide array of options for guild representation.

Changing either the background or icon is a straightforward process. By clicking on the respective edit icon, guilds can seamlessly update their appearance to reflect their character.

Guild Description

The guild description is like the heart of the guild, setting it apart from others. It can tell a story about how the guild was formed or list the requirements for joining. It's a way for the guild to express its identity and values to potential members.

We've designed the guild description to work seamlessly with Markdown, offering even more flexibility for creativity to each guild.

Guild Raids

Guild members can participate in raids to earn experience and rewards. Raids are collaborative events organized by the guild leader and prearranged by high-ranking members. Members can join a lobby before the raid starts, and once the scheduled timer runs out, the raid begins automatically.

Guilds have access to a variety of raids, each designed to scale in time. Higher-tier raids require more time to complete but offer greater rewards in terms of experience per participant and experience gained per second. This means that although they demand more time, they provide richer rewards for both the guild and its members.

The guild's experience gain hinges on the number of participants in the raid. More participants yeilds more experience points for the guild.

Users scheduling a guild raid can select a specific start time for the event. This feature is particularly valuable for coordinating with members across different time zones, ensuring everyone can participate at a convenient time.

Individual participants earn experience by successfully completing guild raids, receiving both Combat Experience and Guild Mastery Experience.

Participants forfeit rewards if they leave a raid prematurely, resulting in reduced rewards for the guild as well.

Guild Challenges

Challenges serve as a way for the guild to accumulate experience quickly. Members holding specific ranks within the guild have the authority to generate challenges, each lasting for a duration of 24 hours.

These challenges foster collaboration within the guild, encouraging members to work collectively towards shared objectives, such as acquiring specific tems and subsequently contributing them to the challenge.

Upon successful completion, the guild earns experience points. Notably, participants are rewarded with an additional 2 experience points for every item contributed towards the challenge, irrespective of whether the challenge is completed or not.

As the guild levels up, more challenges can be generated. If a challenge is deemed to be too difficult, higher ranking members of the guild can refresh a specific task.

Guild Mastery

Guild mastery is a persistent game level that remains with the character even if they leave a guild. It serves as a testament to a player's dedication to supporting the guilds they join. Although initially, there may not be significant benefits to increasing the guild mastery level at release, we have confirmed plans to expand its functionality. This includes enhancing the rewards obtained from performing raids, providing further incentives for players to increase their guild mastery level.

Guild Ranks

In the guild hierarchy, there are three ranks—Soldier, Officer, and Leader—each with distinct permissions. The Leader holds the highest authority and there can only be one Leader at a time. Soldiers are regular guild members with no extra permissions. Officers have additional privileges, such as generating tasks and accepting player invitations.

As the guilds feature in IdleMMO expands, the ranks will also grow in complexity. We've intentionally designed the system to be highly dynamic, allowing us to seamlessly add, modify, or remove ranks in the future as needed.

Guild Marks

Marks serve as currency earned through guild challenges, granting access to various guild mechanics such as refreshing challenges and participating in raids.

Currently, the primary method to acquire marks is by completing challenges.

By utilizing in-game marks as a form of currency earned through standard gameplay activities, we ensure seamless integration of future guild mechanics, fostering a cohesive system.

Shrine of the Old Gods

The Shrine of the Old Gods is a game mechanic where the community collaborates to achieve a common goal, earning game-wide boosts for everyone's benefit. If you've played our other game, SimpleMMO, you might recognize a similar mechanic called the "Orphanage."

However, shrines operate slightly differently. To donate to a shrine, characters must first be near one. Fortunately, shrines are located in almost every location (though not all), and they can be easily accessed by pressing the "Nearby" button.

The shrine features multiple tiers, with each tier offering a boost to every character in the game. Once a tier is reached, the boosts becomes active and all progress goes towards the next tier. We've intentionally designed the system to allow tiers to activate gradually throughout the day, based on when the goal was reached, or all at once, providing a larger combined boost.

Updated Wiki

While still a work in progress, the wiki has undergone a slight revamp, featuring more comprehensive information about various game mechanics along with overall design and structural enhancements. While I won't delve into specifics, here's an example of the changes made:

Additional Changes

Version 0.12.0 marks our largest update yet, packed with numerous additional changes to the game including many changes that improve its quality of life. For instance, we're introducing key binds that enable web users to swiftly and seamlessly switch between characters without relying on their mouse.

A comprehensive list of these minor changes will be included in the patch notes upon the release of v0.12.

Release Date

We don't have a set release date for this update yet. We'll release it when we feel it's ready, whether that's tomorrow, Thursday, or even next week. However, we're confident that we're very close to release; we just want to ensure everything works correctly and that the underlying code is extremely robust before making it public. As always, stay tuned to our Discord server for notifications when this update drops.

Since we started the development of IdleMMO, we’ve spent a great deal of time refining and improving our monetisation strategy, addressing countless questions along the way. Recognising that not everyone is aware of our previous discussions, I believe it's important to clearly articulate the rationale, process, and broader context of IdleMMO's monetisation approach. One of the primary concerns is understanding whether this game is considered to be pay-to-win or not. We hope that this strategy will help you in assessing whether the game can be considered pay-to-win.

Before delving into the details, I want to clarify that this post is not an attempt to defend or justify any imbalances in the game, nor is it aimed at swaying opinions in our favour. Instead, the goal is to provide a fair, balanced, and unbiased analysis of what we refer to as 'the pay-to-win conundrum' and to give you a clear understanding of the reasoning behind the monetization strategy we've chosen for our games.

Additionally, we also need to clarify that this monetisation strategy applies only to IdleMMO and any future games we create. It does not include SimpleMMO, which uses an older monetisation approach that was in place long before Galahad Creative existed.

Context

Before we begin, it's important to understand the monetization structure, which consists of two main components: memberships and tokens.

IdleMMO offers an optional membership subscription for a small monthly fee. And when we say optional, we mean it. It’s not one of those "technically optional but really necessary if you want to progress" setups. The benefits are negligible at best when it comes to actual progression. No content is locked behind a paywall, and subscribed players don’t gain any truly meaningful advantage. That’s by design, and it’s how we intend to keep it.

Our goal is to strike the perfect balance with our membership, making it worth the cost without creating disparity between free and paid users. We'll dive into the specifics of what the membership includes later in this blog post.

Tokens are the other form of monetization in IdleMMO. They can only be used for two things: slot expansions (like buying an extra inventory slot) and cosmetic skins. That's it. We've purposely designed tokens to be completely optional, just like the membership. You can totally play the game with the default number of slots. The expansions are there to provide a small improvement in reducing the inconvenience of managing your inventory, but they're absolutely not necessary.

Defining Pay-to-Win

Before we continue on, I think it's important to define 'pay-to-win,' a concept we have given considerable thought. The Cambridge dictionary defines it as:

in computer games, involving or relating to the practice of paying to get weapons, abilities, etc. that give you an advantage over players who do not spend money

Cambridge.org

While accurate, that definition is broad and misses the nuances of gaming contexts. Take Old School RuneScape, for example. It uses a two-tiered subscription model with both free and paid tiers and is one of the most respected MMOs around. Yet, by that broad definition, it could technically be labelled as pay-to-win. This overlooks its relatively balanced monetisation, especially when contrasted with the more aggressive pay-to-win models prevalent in mobile gaming. It's important to note that we're not categorising 'Old School RuneScape' as definitively pay-to-win or not. That's not our call to make. However, this example illustrates that the term 'pay-to-win,' while technically applicable to RuneScape due to its membership advantages, doesn't quite capture the full picture of its monetisation approach, particularly in the broader context of the gaming industry.

The core challenge with the 'pay-to-win' concept is its inherent subjectivity; it defies a one-size-fits-all definition. In a survey we conducted to better understand how players perceive the term, responses varied significantly. Some argued that if a game lacks a definitive “win” state, it can’t truly be considered pay-to-win. Others took a stricter view, believing that any game offering microtransactions for non-cosmetic items fits the label.

This wide range of opinions highlights how difficult it is to define pay-to-win in any universal sense. The term has become so broad that, in theory, almost any game could be placed under its umbrella - diluting its meaning to the point of near irrelevance.

Minecraft is a great example of this. You can pay for private servers or small convenience features, but there’s no real “win condition.” Sure, being able to create a dedicated server for you and your friends might be an advantage that some players can’t afford, but even then, calling Minecraft pay-to-win would be a stretch by any measure. And to be clear, we’re talking about Minecraft itself - not privately owned servers that may include genuine pay-to-win mechanics.

Taking 'Old School RuneScape' as our case study, the debate around its use of bonds illustrates the complexity of the 'pay-to-win' concept. A simple Google search reveals divided opinions: some argue that purchasing gold with real money creates an inherent imbalance. Yet, if we consider the bigger picture, buying gold doesn't guarantee rapid character progression - significant time investment is still a prerequisite for any substantial advancement. This case study highlighted a significant distinction: the concept of 'pay-to-progress-faster.' While it's related to 'pay-to-win,' it represents a separate idea within the same general framework. It's evident that players who invest both time and money will progress faster than those who spend the same amount of time but no money. Whether this is fair or detrimental is subjective and depends on the context - does the progress of others truly impact your own? We understand the validity of both perspectives and it's important for us to keep this in mind.

The intent in this blog post is not to covertly sway you towards a particular viewpoint on the 'pay-to-win' debate. Instead, the aim is to highlight the complexities associated with the casual use of the term. A deeper examination might lead to the recognition that labelling a game as 'pay-to-win' is a subjective judgment that can obscure the merits of a game's monetization strategy, which may in fact be quite fair and thoughtfully designed. This is compounded by the vast spectrum of individual opinions on a matter as subjective as this.

Considering the broader context

As previously mentioned, it's of paramount importance to consider the broader context when evaluating monetization strategies. This is a pivotal reason why many do not regard other MMO's as a 'pay-to-win' game, despite the option to purchase gold, items, or upgrades directly. It's within this context that IdleMMO enters the discussion.

Monetisation Models

While developing IdleMMO, we explored a range of monetisation models, from energy systems to a cosmetics-only approach. In the early stages of our closed beta, we tried a membership system similar to Old School RuneScape’s, where certain areas were restricted to members. In our naivety, we assumed that replicating a proven model would bring similar results. After all, Old School RuneScape’s approach has stood the test of time and, aside from the occasional criticism around bonds, strikes a solid balance between sustainability and accessibility.

Yet, we soon recognised that this approach inadvertently marginalised our free players, who are essential to the game's success. In fact, for an independent studio like ours, free players are just as crucial as paying ones.

Recognising that Runescape may not face this challenge due to its established popularity, we quickly revisited our approach. We introduced a subscription model that provides minor in-game boosts and cosmetic perks while keeping the entire game accessible to free players. This adjustment was made with care and reflects our ongoing commitment - outlined in previous IdleMMO development blogs - to building a fair, sustainable monetisation system that respects both free and paying players. Refining our membership benefits was an important step in staying true to that vision.

While we continue to closely monitor the membership benefits—particularly the slight boosts to experience and skill efficiency - we’ve intentionally kept these perks subtle to prevent any significant gap between paying and non-paying players. In the long run, yes, membership saves time - but it never lets you skip effort. Every meaningful achievement in IdleMMO remains bound to play, not payment.

Our goal is to strike a very delicate balance: we don't want to devalue the subscription to the point where it's not worth the investment, nor do we want to enhance it so much that it creates the disparity we sought to avoid by moving away from a 'Runescape'-like model.

Our survey indicated that most players are indifferent to these minor boosts, viewing them as 'the lesser of all evils' in game monetisation.

Pay-to-Win Claims

Despite our careful efforts to maintain balance in IdleMMO, we’ve seen some claims that the game is “pay-to-win.” We’ve spent time trying to understand where this perspective comes from. It likely stems from overlooking the broader context or not fully considering alternative models.

Again, to be clear, as stated at the outset, this blog post is not intended to influence your stance in our favour. The main goal is to give you a full understanding of how our monetization strategy works in the game while considering other monetization models. That way, you can make an informed decision about whether IdleMMO - or any other game - is "pay-to-win".

After countless discussions, we’ve concluded that the “pay-to-win” concerns don’t come from the subscription or token model itself, which has received, overall, very little criticism. Rather, they centre on the feature that allows players to sell membership subscriptions to other players for in-game gold.

At that point, we completely acknowledged the logic behind these concerns: the capability to effectively 'purchase' gold with real money naturally raises balance considerations. Yet, it's equally vital to consider the role and value of gold within the game's economy to fully grasp the implications of this feature.

In designing IdleMMO, we’ve placed a strong focus on rewarding consistent engagement over occasional play. Gold alone doesn’t guarantee faster progression - time and effort do. No matter how much gold a player has, it can’t match the value of actively resetting skills every eight hours. To put it plainly, time is - and always will be - king in IdleMMO. If you’re not putting in the time, that gold is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. This philosophy aligns with how RuneScape’s bonds are generally viewed: they’re not considered pay-to-win because, while they offer gold, real progress still demands genuine time investment.

If the value of gold ever becomes too directly tied to progression, we’ll rebalance the economy or limit what gold can buy. Our stance isn’t static - it’s principled: no one should ever be able to purchase progress faster than they could earn it through play.

However, for the sake of argument, what happens when a player has both time and money? In gaming, when players invest in both, some degree of imbalance is inevitable. The real question is whether that imbalance actually matters. The term “pay-to-win” often comes up here, implying that spending money gives players an unfair edge. Some argue that without a defined “win” state, the concept doesn’t apply. As a company, we remain sceptical of that idea. A game can still foster a pay-to-win environment even if there’s no clear endpoint or victory condition.

In this specific instance, when deciding whether a game is “pay-to-win,” the key factor is whether another player’s accelerated progress - made possible through spending - affects your own experience. This influence can be extremely subtle. Paid advantages might indirectly shape your gameplay in ways you don’t notice right away. To truly assess it, consider this: does a system that lets others advance faster have any real impact on your personal progress in the game?

When evaluating this, it's important to consider the subtle nuances of game development as a whole. Even in a non-competitive game, a pay-to-win environment can still emerge if developers devote a significant amount of their time and resources to content accessible only to paying players. This influence isn’t always obvious; it often appears in small, gradual ways that still shape the overall experience. The reality is that when development priorities shift toward paid content, it inevitably affects everyone, including those who don’t spend money. For that reason, it’s entirely reasonable to view such a game as pay-to-win, even without a defined competitive element.

The subjective nature of gaming means the answer can vary widely. For competitive players focused on leaderboards, the response might be an absolute "yes." For others less concerned with rankings, the impact might be minimal. Some players can engage with the most pay-to-win-heavy game imaginable and still see it as fair because they haven’t spent anything and the experience aligns with what they enjoy. They might not care about obtaining the best items, and the timer limits or energy systems simply don’t affect their enjoyment.

Because of this, as developers, it’s important that we don’t place too much weight on player opinion alone. Player feedback is valuable, but it’s inherently subjective. While the general consensus can guide us, our monetisation strategy should ultimately be grounded in both ethics and practicality, not popularity.

To take it to the extreme - imagine we created the most blatantly pay-to-win game ever made, and players were still happy with it. Would it really be right to profit from that? Would it be moral to take money in a way that exploits players who may not even realise they’re being taken advantage of?

Alternative Monetisation Models

Sometimes it’s important to step back and look at a game’s monetisation model from every angle. You might find a better way - or realise there isn’t a perfect solution at all. Our goal has always been clear to create a game that’s both balanced and sustainable. Unfortunately, sustainability requires generating revenue to keep the game and the company afloat, but our focus is on doing so responsibly. Choosing the right monetisation strategy is a complex and nuanced process for exactly that reason.

Games, especially live-service titles, need a consistent source of income to keep development moving forward. Doing things the right way comes with significant development, operational, and administrative costs. Finding a way to generate that income without compromising the game’s integrity or cutting corners is an immense challenge, often more difficult than people realise. There’s no simple answer; it requires careful thought and a deep understanding of every factor involved.

In shaping our approach, we explored a wide range of monetisation models. Most either didn’t fit IdleMMO’s design or would have made the membership so unappealing that no one would see value in it.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the alternatives we considered.

One-time purchase

Adopting a one-time purchase model for IdleMMO wasn't feasible purely from a financial standpoint. The extensive costs associated with maintaining an online-only game make this approach impractical, as it would shift our business focus from maintaining a loyal player base to constantly seeking new players to sustain the game.

It’s important to recognise that while this model works well for some games - like Melvor Idle - it doesn’t fit our operational reality. IdleMMO runs on a server-based technology stack, meaning nearly all of the game’s processes happen on our servers rather than the player’s device. In simple terms, the interface you see is just a window into what the server is doing behind the scenes. This heavy server reliance significantly increases our operational costs.

Additionally, this doesn't consider other associated ongoing costs, such as administration, salaries, and maintenance, render a one-time purchase model unsustainable for us.

Cosmetic Only Approach

This topic is more nuanced than it might seem at first glance. It’s common to hear people praise games that rely solely on cosmetics, claiming that “lots of players buy them.” But the reality is quite different - especially in free-to-play games.

Many players use cosmetics, but far fewer actually buy them. According to Flurry data, only around 0.5% to 6% of players spend money in free games at all [1] - and that figure covers all types of microtransactions, not just cosmetics. In other words, the share of players purchasing purely cosmetic items is even smaller.

Let’s be generous and assume 3% of players are willing to buy a cosmetic. That leaves another 3% spread across every other form of in-app purchase - timer skips, boosts, pay-to-win mechanics, and so on. Even under these generous assumptions, the slice devoted to cosmetics is tiny.

A blockbuster game with 20 million players could easily generate $3,000,000 from a single $5 skin if just 3% of its players bought it. But for a smaller independent title with only 5,000 players, that same 3% would bring in just $750. That’s nowhere near enough to cover even short-term operating costs, let alone sustain development.

And that’s being generous. In reality, the percentage of players who purchase cosmetics is usually far below 1%. Most microtransaction revenue in the wider industry comes from mechanics that directly impact progression 0 what many would call pay-to-win systems. Like it or not, they’re popular because they’re extremely profitable.

Relying exclusively on cosmetic sales for revenue is a tough business model. Not every player is willing to spend money on purely visual upgrades, and that sentiment is especially common in smaller communities. Big studios can make it work because their player bases are massive - the scale compensates for low conversion rates. For smaller games like IdleMMO, the numbers simply don’t add up.

In fact, to date, only around 17% of IdleMMO’s total revenue comes from tokens, which are used for cosmetics and slot expansions. The vast majority of our income comes from membership subscriptions. In other words, cosmetics make up a very small slice of the pie.

It’s simply not a viable financial reality for us. Cosmetic-driven monetisation only works when you have the scale to support it. A perfect example of this is the World of Warcraft mount microtransaction. Former Blizzard Entertainment developer Jason Hall once claimed that a single $15 mount in World of Warcraft generated more revenue than StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty [2]. That’s the power of scale -World of Warcraft can pull that off because its player base is enormous. Smaller games don’t have that luxury.

And that’s before considering the costs of producing those cosmetics - hiring artists, designing and testing assets, and managing the release pipeline. Those expenses add up fast. The truth is, the success of a cosmetic-based model depends heavily on a game’s active user base and demands precise balancing to remain sustainable.

Hybrid between one-time costs and cosmetics

Many games use a hybrid model where players pay a one-time fee to access the game, then have the option to purchase cosmetics or other bonuses in-game. It’s an increasingly popular approach, especially among AAA titles without a strong online component. It's not than unusual to purchase a single player game with micro-transactions. But for most developers of MMO's, this model still isn’t financially sustainable unless you really want to gamble. Guild Wars is a good example of this working, because they're big enough to make it work.

The core issue remains the same: scale. The games that make this model work typically have massive audiences that allow them to absorb the limitations of a one-time payment system. For live-service games with ongoing operational costs, though, one-time fees are a death sentence unless significant optimisation work has been done to move most of the game’s processing onto the user’s device.

Even then, that approach comes with major challenges - security being one of the biggest, especially in MMOs where no one wants to deal with cheaters. And beyond that, it’s just not how we build our games. We develop using server-side technology, meaning much of what happens in IdleMMO depends on infrastructure we maintain. Scale aside, what’s possible for others simply isn’t possible for us.

Had we released IdleMMO with even a $0.99 one-time fee, our downloads would have dropped dramatically. That would have meant far fewer players seeing the game - and by extension, far fewer people ever encountering our cosmetic options. Only about 2% of all app downloads are paid [3]. For a small company like ours, that kind of barrier would have been fatal. The game would’ve been dead on arrival. It’s as simple as that.

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No advertisements.

We don’t feel the need to go down that road. We’re incredibly proud of the games we create. Each one is carefully built for players to enjoy around the world, and we’re not about to compromise that with intrusive ads. Ads only become profitable when they’re disruptive and ever-present. Think of the free games that shove an ad in your face after every level or keep one plastered across the bottom of the screen. It’s frustrating. It breaks immersion. It ruins the experience.

While optional ads can bring in a bit of extra income, they only work if players choose to engage with them - and even then, the revenue is minimal. Without overwhelming the player with constant interruptions, ads simply don’t generate enough income to justify the hit to quality and enjoyment.

Limit Tradable Microtransactions

For IdleMMO specifically, the issue boils down to one core problem: selling membership items for in-game currency effectively lets players purchase gold with real money. While the fix might seem obvious - ban the trade of membership items for in-game gold - that approach is flawed and could actually make things worse.

Our goal is to maintain a system that’s financially sustainable for us while remaining fair to everyone. Removing the option to buy memberships on the market would disadvantage a large portion of players who rely on in-game gold to access subscriptions, keeping the game open to all regardless of financial means. As November 2025, more than 65.2% of IdleMMO players have obtained their memberships this way - without spending a single cent.

The dilemma presents us with two obvious paths:

• Ban the market sale of memberships, which could widen the gap between free and paying players, as only those with the financial means could afford membership.
• Maintain the market sale of memberships, allowing players to use in-game gold for purchase. This runs the risk of a minority accumulating substantial gold wealth.

To us, the choice is clear. Restricting membership to only those who can pay with real money, just to stop a small number of players from accumulating in-game wealth, feels unjust and inconsiderate. It would prevent countless players from accessing membership altogether simply because it could no longer be obtained with in-game gold. And if we were to sell it for in-game gold ourselves, it would defeat the entire purpose of having it as a monetisation strategy in the first place.

Beyond that, there are a few other, lesser known, alternatives. So, to cover all bases, let's go over them.

Cap Subscription Sales

We don’t claim to be economic experts, but this runs counter to basic supply and demand. Market prices are driven by demand. Reducing the supply of memberships would likely push demand higher, allowing sellers to charge even more and earn greater amounts of in-game gold - ultimately making the problem worse, not better.

Maximum Listing Price

IdleMMO operates as a completely free market. Whether that’s good or bad from a gameplay standpoint is up for debate, but it’s the path we’ve chosen to stick with. Forcing players to sell items - like memberships - at a fixed price just isn’t practical. The market is inherently volatile, and finding a price that both rewards sellers and minimises imbalance is nearly impossible. On top of that, enforcing such a restriction could discourage players from selling memberships altogether, pushing those who normally buy with in-game gold to spend real money instead. In a sense, that would be completely counterproductive.

Conclusion

In the end, as we've explained in this post, we've put a lot of thought into how we've monetized IdleMMO. Our goal is to create a game that's both fair for everyone and gives the game financial stability, and the approach we've outlined seems to be the closest we can get to that idea without compromising the integrity of the game itself.

Rather than compromise the game with ads or exploitative boosts, we chose the least intrusive sustainable path - one that respects both player time and our studio’s longevity.

So, the million-dollar question is: Is IdleMMO "pay-to-win"? At the end of the day, that's for you to decide based on your own perspective and values. The aim of this blog post is to equip you with a deeper understanding to inform your judgement on whether IdleMMO, or any game, fits the "pay-to-win" category, by examining the nuances of the term within the game's specific context.

Whether you believe IdleMMO is "pay-to-win" is entirely your prerogative, and we completely respect that perspective. The this post is to clarify that the "pay-to-win" label is highly subjective and can differ greatly among individuals; simply using the term doesn't capture the complexity of the issue.

References

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20110810132946/http://blog.flurry.com/bid/65656/Free-to-play-Revenue-Overtakes-Premium-Revenue-in-the-App-Store

[2] https://gameworldobserver.com/2023/11/10/starcraft-2-made-less-money-than-wow-mount-blizzard-jason-hall

[3] https://www.tekrevol.com/blogs/mobile-app-download-statistics/

Last Updated

November 3, 2025

We are extremely pleased to announce the opening of the IdleMMO public beta!

We will be slowly phasing out the announcement to help stagger the number of active players and reduce the strain on the servers. This may take between 1 and 3 days (with pre-registration emails being the last due to the substantially higher amount of users who have pre-registered compared).

You can play now at https://web.idle-mmo.com on your desktop or mobile device.

As of right now, the game is only playable on the Web App only. The mobile applications are expected to launch in January or February. This approach ensures that we don't hasten the development of each game version, but instead allow them to evolve steadily, in line with our core belief of releasing well-polished products instead of unfinished ones. Despite this, the game can be fully accessed and played on mobile devices through the Web App.

You can find out more about our future plans by reading our roadmap here: https://trello.com/b/CxIn7i5B/idlemmo-public-roadmap

You can also read more about the game via our official wiki here:
https://web.idle-mmo.com/wiki

We hope you enjoy IdleMMO! You can let us know your thoughts by joining our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nDGbr7AKkk

A few months back, we gave an update on SimpleMMO, outlining the game's current state and our commitment to resolving existing issues before introducing new mechanics. Our plan remains unchanged, but we've slightly revised the timeline. It is taking longer than we expected to get back on track.

When we initially published the post (available here), our timeline was based on the expectation that our new game IdleMMO would launch in summer. This release would enable us to redirect more resources to SimpleMMO at the start of autumn (or fall, for our American audience).

However, the situation evolved unexpectedly. Due to a significant surge in interest for IdleMMO, we decided to postpone its release to the end of the year. This delay allows us additional time to further polish the game. This decision was carefully considered and you can read about our rationale here. As a result, we haven't yet been able to fully move over development resources back to SimpleMMO. However, this doesn't mean we haven't been developing both games concurrently – we definitely have. Our recent updates have mostly been behind-the-scenes, resulting in no notable changes in the update log. However, as IdleMMO's release nears, with a target of mid-December, we are increasingly focusing on ensuring a smooth launch.

So, let's just clarify one thing by being extremely clear: SimpleMMO's development will slowly return back to normal once all IdleMMO's apps have been published. In fact, recently, I've been itching to move back over to SimpleMMO for an extremely welcome change of pace. However, right now, this isn't possible due to IdleMMO's imminent release.

Why is there no update log of everything that happens behind-the-scenes?

I've noticed this question raised multiple times before, and simply put, there's no need for such detailed technical updates. They would likely create more confusion than clarity. For instance, if we mentioned migrating our caching driver from file-based storage to a Redis key-value database, or applying middleware to update the client's connecting IP to the one that connects to Cloudflare's edge, it would prompt questions like "What does this mean? What is Redis?" Providing such intricate technical details serves no practical purpose and would only consume valuable time.

Future Expectations for SimpleMMO

I touched on this in my last post, but to recap, many upcoming updates will significantly enhance existing systems. Additionally, the mobile UI will undergo a substantial overhaul to incorporate a more modern design pattern—we already have a working prototype of this.

Until then, you have the winter holidays event to look forward to which will start on Friday December 15th.

If you haven't already pre-registered for our upcoming game IdleMMO, you can pre-register here. You can also join our Discord for a chance to participate in our closed beta testing.

Feel free to let us know any questions you have in the comment box below.

The third phase of the beta proved highly successful. We addressed numerous bugs and collected valuable feedback on several mechanics. This will allow us to refine and entirely revamp certain aspects.

After each phase, we distribute a feedback form to our players. This enables us to collect their insights on the beta and compare responses across phases, ensuring we're on the right track.

I've touched on the feedback questionnaire before, so I won't dive back into it. What stood out was that players felt the game ran smoother and noticed improvements in several mechanics. But there's still that nagging issue with the battle system. We'll get to that soon.

So, without further ado, let's just dive right in and see what has changed.

Combat Level

The combat levelling system turned out to be a bigger headache than we'd anticipated. The character's combat level was calculated from the average of four attributes: strength, defence, speed, and dexterity. On paper, it sounds uncomplicated, but in actual gameplay? It felt tedious. Players essentially had to boost those four attributes just to nudge your combat level up a bit. It's no surprise that many felt this made progression extremely tedious.

We've revamped the combat level system to align more with traditional MMO/RPG mechanics. Now, it has its own dedicated experience bar which you level up by engaging in battles, taking on world bosses, and embarking on dungeon expeditions.

However, we didn't do away with levelling individual attributes. Now, these stats are enhanced through skills. For instance, Woodcutting rewards the character with a bit of strength EXP for each log, while Smithing boosts speed EXP, and so on.

This also addresses a related problem: being restricted to levelling up specific attributes based on the class. Prior to the upcoming phase 4 update, classes were distinguished by how EXP was allocated across attributes post-battle. For instance, a warrior would gain more strength EXP than a shadowblade. This posed a real challenge in terms of balance, especially since attributes influencing damage output naturally had an edge over those emphasising speed.

Beyond phase 4, we will be rolling out specialised skills solely for attribute levelling. This will offer players greater EXP rewards compared to the general skills. As an example, we're considering an 'Agility Course' skill where characters can idle for up to 2 hours, exclusively earning speed experience.

We've implemented this change to make the levelling system more gratifying and rewarding. Moreover, it empowers players with greater flexibility in their gameplay, rather than confining them to the constraints of their chosen class.

As for the class system, we are still working on it it to ensure that each class offers unique utility and remains distinct yet balanced. We aim to prevent any single class from becoming disproportionately dominant. Therefore, during phase 4, the classes will have minimal differences as we continue to work on this mechanic.

UX

One of our top priorities is delivering a seamless and satisfying user experience. Lately, we've devoted countless development hours to fine-tuning in-game mechanics, ensuring that everything feels intuitive and rewarding, rather than like you're wrestling with a bear.

One of the most significant updates is the game's interaction with the UI. We've introduced a dynamic module that adjusts elements on the user's page based on their actions. For instance, when a player lists an item on the market, their inventory updates automatically, eliminating the need for a page to refresh. This enhancement reduces friction between the game and the player, as it minimises full-page loads for most actions.

Market

The market had the most significant changes in terms of UX. We dedicated countless days solely to refining it.

The market page now displays a filter on the right-hand side of the page. This filter allows the user to search through all the various market listings so they don't need to perform any full page loads. The process of filtering through the market happens synchronously as the player types.

We've got rid of the usual paginated navigation (with next page/previous page buttons) and replaced it with an infinite scroll system. Now, the user can now simply just keep scrolling down the list until they find a listing that they are looking for.

Once the user has found the item they are looking for, they can go ahead and purchase it. The UI will automatically register this purchase and subsequently update any elements related to the purchase. Again, this removes the need of another full-page reload and thus further reduces friction between the user and the game.

Mobile Web App

The 4th phase of the beta will be accessible through mobile browsers, allowing you to play on the move. However, I'll be upfront: this feature wasn't high on our priority list. As a result, the mobile browser experience might leave something to be desired. For the optimal experience, our native iOS and Android apps will be the way to go.

Battle

A recurring feedback from our beta testers centres on the battling system. We've heard your concerns: the system often feels unrewarding, monotonous, and demands excessive interaction. We completely understand with these sentiment, that's why we have made necessary adjustments.

We received various feedback on how to improve the battling system and a lot of them simply revolved around either making the mechanic completely idle or by splitting off the system so that there are two types of battles: idle battles and active battles.

We recognized that many of these challenges could be tackled using existing mechanics, aligning with our core vision for the battling system.

Current issues with the battling system

We have two types of battles: enemies (which you need to manually hunt and defeat), and dungeons.

Enemies were overwhelmingly powerful and lacked balance in every respect. Most were virtually unbeatable unless players monitored their screens non-stop, healing after every hit. It essentially deviated from the very essence what we are trying to achieve.

Furthermore, the time it took to hunt down an enemy, especially entry-level ones, was excessively lengthy. For instance, hunting the first available enemy (a rabbit) took a whopping 40 seconds before the battle even commenced.

Dungeons were virtually out of reach for nearly all beta testers, save for a very select few. We recognized that dungeons encapsulated exactly what players wanted - an idle battle experience. Yet, the steep level requirements meant hardly anyone had the chance to engage with them.

How we have addressed those issues

Firstly, we've notably toned down the strength of these enemies. Now, a reasonably equipped character can tackle multiple enemy rounds without being glued to their screen for potential healing. Moreover, with the reduced enemy stats, battles should conclude more swiftly.

We've also greatly shortened the hunting duration for enemies. For instance, a rabbit, which once took 40 seconds to hunt, now only requires 8 seconds. This substantial time cut aims to alleviate the tedium and friction players felt during the hunting process.

As for dungeons, we're rolling out four new ones designed for characters ranging from levels 3 to 60, with the entry-level dungeon opening up at combat level 3. By making them more accessible, players now have the choice to engage in combat through the traditional idling system or to actively hunt. Our goal is to offer both options, each with its unique advantages and considerations.

Public Release

We're undeniably nearing our launch date, but there's still much to accomplish. Our goal is to ensure everything is polished and perfect before we go live. After all, making major alterations to mechanics post-launch would not only be undesirable but also time-consuming.

With that in mind, here's the revised likelihood of the game's imminent release:

Before November 1st: 20%
Before 2024: 95%

As we draw closer to November 1st, the goal seems increasingly elusive. While I haven't entirely dismissed the possibility – especially given our significant development progress in recent weeks – our priority remains to be on the game's stability and polish. We're committed to delivering a quality experience rather than hastily pushing it out just to meet an essentially arbitrary deadline.

That said, we are still completely on track on developing it before 2024. In fact, my personal goal is to release it by the winter holidays because:

• In my opinion, winter holiday events are the pinnacle of seasonal in-game events and I don't want to wait until December 2025 for us to have our first one. The thought of that depresses me.
• I have an extended break over the winter holidays and the very last thing I want is for this game to be mulling over my mind during this period. If it's not released by then, I will constantly be thinking about it.

Guilds

In our previous blog post, we hinted at having guilds ready for launch. However, we've decided to let it simmer a tad longer in the oven. As a result, guilds won't be available on launch day.

Phase 4 Availability

The 4th phase of the closed beta will be available within the next week or two and we will be inviting more players to join us. We plan to run our first seasonal campaign (event) during the 4th phase for Halloween. If you are interested, you can join us in our Discord channel for a chance to participate in our closed beta!

Closing remarks

As we inch closer to the game's release, our focus is shifting from introducing new features to enhancing the overall gameplay experience. The updates in phase 4 stand as proof of this direction. While, on the surface, there might not seem like a ton of new flashiness to rave about, this update is, by far, our most extensive. That's thanks to the countless tweaks and improvements we've implemented both behind the scenes and in the user experience.

As with all of these pre-launch blog posts, everything is subject to change. Nothing is final.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below!

If you haven't already, remember to pre-register over at https://www.idle-mmo.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Threads!

Summer has came to an end and the release of IdleMMO is still out of sight despite our claims that it would be released this summer.

In an ideal world, that would've been true. However, our plans slightly changed after we announced the game. We have received an incredible amount of interest in the game - way higher than we originally anticipated. We've garnered over 2,100 pre-registrations and attracted over 1,200 members to our Discord channel. Remarkably, this growth is entirely organic, stemming from word-of-mouth referrals. We've invested no marketing efforts into the game, aside from a few occasional blog posts.

Originally, our plan was to launch a polished, albeit minimalistic game and expand on it over time. However, given the unexpected surge in anticipation, we've chosen to delay the release to further refine key mechanics. We now aim to have pet battling and the guild framework in place at launch. More importantly, we are committed to ensuring balance and stability, learning from past oversights in our previous games.

We cannot provide a definitive release date at this time, and it's possible we may never announce one in advance. As previously shared in our blog, we're inclined to 'shadow drop' the game once we believe it's ready. This could happen without prior notice. Setting a fixed release date would place unnecessary stress on us and could inadvertently shift our focus from the primary goal: creating the best game possible.

That said, in an effort to still ensure we remain on a timeline (despite us being incredibly flexible), here are the chances that the game will be released publicly within the next few months:

Before October 1st: 0%
Before November 1st: 60%
Before 2024: 95%

We're aiming to launch the game ahead of the Halloween season, aligning perfectly with our desire to introduce its first seasonal campaign (i.e event). This timing would be ideal.

However, that said, I want to make it clear that we will not hesitate to delay the game even further if we feel like it is not ready.

From now until the official release, we'll be conducting several closed beta tests, available to our Discord members. While our initial plan was for three phases, we've decided not to set a limit on the number of beta tests. Instead, we'll conduct as many as needed to ensure a smooth release.

To participate in our beta test, join our Discord server and select the "Beta Entry" role. When the closed beta is live, individuals from this role will be randomly selected for an invitation.

Phase 1 and Phase 2 beta tests

Over the past few months, select members from our Discord community were invited to join the first two phases of our beta test. While the first phase closely resembled an alpha test, we simplified terminology and called it the initial phase of the beta. Consequently, we reset all progress as we transitioned to phase two.

Overall, the feedback was very positive. Although it's still early days, we're pleased with the game's performance.

After each beta phase, we asked participants to share their insights through a brief form. We'll delve deeper into the changes prompted by this feedback later in the post, but first, here's some data:

Feedback Data

The total amount of responses we got from the form was 42. Not every participant completed every question hence some discrepancies.

Question 1: On a scale of 1 to 5, how much did you enjoy playing IdleMMO?

27.3% said 5
57.6% said 4
12.1% said 3
3% said 2

Thoughts: We are cautiously optimistic with these results. Having the majority of the votes rate it a 4 is a huge boost to us. That said, we recognise that some players might still be in their initial "honeymoon" phase, so we're approaching these responses with caution.

Question 2: On a scale of 1 to 5, how smooth was your experience?

39.4% said 5
24.2% said 4
36.4% said 3

Thoughts: We are extremely happy with this. This is the very first iteration of the game at its earliest phase and we are already at a point of feeling like the game is stable.

Question 3: Do you see yourself playing IdleMMO after it has been publicly released?

93.9% said yes.
6.1% said maybe.

Thoughts: What a relief! I had genuine concerns that players might engage with the beta but then decide not to come back.

Question 4: What are your thoughts on our approach to an idle game with a short expiry limit for an action?

The general consensus was that the participants were happy with the approach due to it feeling "different" than other idle games as it feels more like a game rather than a daily task.

Here are some highlighted responses:

I like it because it's unique [compared to] other idle games, which makes it more fun to play. I feel like this feature is unique [compared to] other idle games.

I enjoy the different approach in having to check in more frequently.

I like it a lot, the hunts a little too active/too many clicks. I wonder how this will effect the longevity/endgame since the progression is a bit quicker.

I’d personally like to see a longer idle time. It would accommodate folks with busier schedules (work, school, and whatever else comes up). It would allow them to not miss much on gains, etc. I’m all for a longer idle time, [perhaps] 5-8 hours.

I like it. [What's the] point of an idle game that you login [to] every 24 hours or so? I like the activity aspect, even if it's an idle game.

I would prefer if it was longer. I mean, there is not much difference between clicking once every 2 hours [and] every 12/24 hours. Most people play idle games because they can relax [with] it, but also play actively when they have the time.

This was one of the reasons I stopped playing the beta. The limit needs to be raised substantially.

Thoughts: We recognize that our approach may not resonate with everyone, especially those with tight schedules. Yet, we aimed to bring a fresh perspective to the "idle" game genre. We saw little value in creating another title mirroring the countless ones already available. As highlighted in our previous blog post:

During our initial research, we discovered that many idle games allowed players to remain idle for extended periods of time, sometimes up to 24 hours or even longer, without requiring any interaction. However, we found ourselves disenchanted with the “set it and forget it for 24 hours” gameplay as it diminished the sense of active engagement and turned the experience into a mundane daily task rather than an enjoyable game. In developing IdleMMO, our aim was to incorporate idle mechanics that enable significant character progression in less time compared to typical idle games, but with the requirement of at least some level of player interaction.

Question 5 to 8: We polled players on various aspects of the game, including their favourite and least favourite features. The responses concerning favourites were diverse, a fact we found both surprising and heartening. On the other hand, the hunting and battling system was almost universally singled out as the least favourite features. We fully grasped the reasons behind this sentiment and implemented changes to enhance it. We'll delve deeper into those adjustments soon.

Changes

As a result of both the feedback and the slight change in our plans, the game has shifted slightly towards providing a more rounded gameplay with deeper features and mechanics. Let's just dive right in!

Battling System

Originally, players had to first hunt an enemy, then manually initiate and actively watch the battle to finally collect rewards. This process was cumbersome, unengaging, and contradicted the core idea of an idle game. Both we and the players found it unsatisfactory, signalling a clear need for change.

We've divided battles into two categories: hunting and dungeons. While we intended hunting to be a more "active" aspect, requiring player engagement for progression, dungeons were designed to be the true "idle" feature, letting players progress through a dungeon over extended periods. However, we realize we made the hunting aspect overly "active", turning what should have been a fluid experience into a cumbersome one.

We've revamped the system to make the transition between hunting and battling much smoother. We implemented two key changes to this system:
- You don't need to wait for the enemy to be hunted before initiating a battle anymore. Battles will now start automatically, even when you're offline.
- You don't need to watch battles unfold anymore. The hunting and battle mechanism operates like typical idle mechanics, where you don't need to actively play for events to transpire. However, there's a twist: your health decreases gradually as the battle continues.

Let me demonstrate how this works.

First you select which enemy you want to battle. This can be any enemy within your level.

Before you battle an enemy, you must hunt it. Once the hunt is initiated, a countdown will appear until the enemy can be fought. The hunting time is dependent on your movement speed and your movement speed can be increased with mountable pets.

Immediately after the hunt has finished, the battle has begun. Over the next 40 seconds, your character will continue to battle the enemy until it has been defeated.

During this time, you will slowly lose health as the battle progresses. It's important to keep an eye on your health and refill it with food when necessary. You are able to refill your health mid-fight.

Once the battle has finished, you will automatically get the rewards. From the point of hunting the enemy to defeating it requires absolutely no action on your behalf. It is all done for you. However, you must manually hunt another enemy if you wish to do it again (thus fulfilling our wishes of making the battle mechanic more" active" than dungeons).

Membership

During the first phases of the beta, the benefits were strong. We were fully aware of it as it was our intention. It was also immediately noticed by the community. I've always attached myself to the idea that its better to release something initially that is slightly too powerful/beneficial and dial it down than vice versa.

Given that the membership subscription is our primary revenue source (enabling us to eliminate gacha systems, energy systems, and the like), launching a lacklustre membership would be extremely detrimental. This is why we initially offered it with strong benefits and, after collecting sufficient data, made calibrated adjustments that balanced it.

Initially, in our original scope, our intention was to provide a subscription system akin to Runescape with locked out skills, locations, etc. Essentially, our goal was to make all paying players on the same playing level.

Since our initial plan, we've delved deeper into monetisation strategies and sought feedback from our community on game monetisation. This exploration prompted a significant rethink of our membership system. While Runescape's model has proven to be successful, it's a dated approach that tends to sideline free members. After all, those who play for free but engage daily are equally valuable as their paying counterparts.

As a result, we've redefined our membership system. We aim for it to offer significant benefits, ensuring value for subscribers, while not alienating or disadvantaging free players.

Our preliminary changes are as follows:

Alternative (Alt) Characters

- Alt characters were a member-only benefit but now all players can create 1 extra alt character for free regardless of membership status.
- You can unlock another alt character level slot once one of your characters has reached a combat level of 60.
- You can purchase 2 additional slots for tokens.

This allows for 5 alt characters overall. We've transitioned this from a purely membership-based system to one where it can be unlocked solely through gameplay. Tokens can be readily acquired in-game, either by completing campaigns or through daily rewards.

We'd also like to clarify that trading between alternate accounts is not permitted. Hence, users with multiple alt accounts won't have any inherent advantage over those with fewer.

Idle Times

Originally, idle durations were set at 30 minutes for free players and 60 minutes for members. This allowed free players to set an action and be away from the game for half an hour. While we had emphasised our goal to create an idle game that demands slightly more engagement than others, we identified two problems with this approach:

- We felt like 30 minutes was too short (even by our standards).
- By allowing members to have double the idle time, it created a larger gap between free and paying players.

During the second phase of the beta, we made the following changes:

- We increased the idle time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes for free players and from 60 minutes to 120 minutes for paying players.

However, that only tackles one issue. That is why we will be introducing even further changes so the idle time for free players will increase from 60 minutes to 80 minutes

We are still open to adjusting the idle times for both members and free players, but we want to wait for more data before making any further changes.

Members get a marginal 15% EXP bonus

We're still on the fence about this feature, and it's undecided whether we'll retain, reduce, or remove it entirely. Our goal is to offer a membership benefit that justifies its value, without creating significant disparities or disadvantages.

After our research and reaching out to some members of the IdleMMO community, it was agreed upon that this was the "lesser of the evils" so-to-speak in regards to monetising an MMORPG.

We believe a 15% boost strikes the right balance - significant enough to be noticed but subtle enough not to skew the game dynamics. In IdleMMO, progression is primarily driven by time spent playing, and this modest boost won't change that.

Free players can access every area

As noted above, we originally expected to create the game that had a similar model to Runescape with locked out skills and locations. However, we realised not only did it fail to fit our vision, but it also severely handicapped the free players. Therefore, all players will be able to access every area of the game regardless of membership status.

More Inventory/Pet/Bank slots for free players

During phase 1 and the early stages of phase 2, the membership subscription literally doubled the inventory space, pet space, and bank space. Not just that but it was the only way players could increase their space.

We quickly realised this was a bad idea. That is why we made the following changes:

- We increased the free inventory slot count from 28 to 35.
- We increased the free bank slot count from 28 to 35.
- We increased the free pet slot count from 7 to 14.
- We decreased the membership inventory slot count from 49 to 42.
- We decreased the membership bank slot count from 49 to 42.

Not just that, we now allow characters to upgrade their inventory/bank/pet slots using gold.

Simply put, members now only get 7 additional slots (instead of double) and the remaining slots can be purchased with gold.

Further comments on the membership

Creating an MMORPG game is an incredibly expensive process and monetising it is a very difficult and sensitive issue to tackle. I want to make it abundantly clear that we are still open to adjusting every part of the membership subscription. We want to make sure that we get the membership absolutely right for both us and the community. The very last thing we want is for either:

• A membership so undervalued that it's not worth purchasing, jeopardising our ability to continue game development.
• A subscription so dominant it's perceived as "pay-to-win" or unfairly disadvantages free players.

As far as membership benefits go, the "big" hitters are what I have discussed above. The others are just small bonuses, such as having a cool gradient name and badge.

In essence, our system is in an experimental phase, and we kindly ask for your patience as we refine it. We've already committed to avoiding gacha systems, energy mechanics, character boosts, and loot boxes. This is why we're treading carefully with our subscription model. While we will offer skins for purchase with tokens, we don't intend to rely on them as our primary revenue stream by pricing them exorbitantly (*cough* Overwatch *cough*).

Pets

Pets were a big hit with the beta testers despite doing or providing absolutely nothing of value (yet). We have made a few changes to the pet system that we think everyone will enjoy.

We've added health, happiness, and hunger stats to the pet.

Health - Health will be used for battles. You will be able to send your pets on hunts to level them up.
Hunger - Your pet's slowly get hungry over time so remember to feed them every once in a while!
Happiness - We don't want you to forget about your pet so you must pat it to make it happy!

Also, when you tap the pet to give it a pat, it will leap with delight!

To feed you pet, you can use any food items. Food will increase both the pets health and hunger.

Search

During our time play-testing the game, we noticed that it was difficult to find a very particular item, enemy or location. That is why we have added an easy-to-access global search bar that allows you to search pretty much anything in the game.

Profile Status

You will be able to view, in real-time, what other players are doing by visiting their profile. You can hide this if you want to remain incognito.

Appear Offline

Helpful for those of you who wish to remain fully incognito so you can continue your progress even while working ;)

Updated Character Page

The initial character page, as showcased in our introductory blog post, was rather basic and didn't fully highlight the character's skin. We've revamped it, allowing the player to display their character in all of its glory!

Campaigns

Campaigns are our completely free battle pass system. We aim to make this as friendly as possible and for it to serve only as a system to encourage active gameplay. We haven't fully fleshed out the system yet so we cannot demonstrate how it functions right now. However, this is our plan:

- Each global campaign will last for 2 to 3 months. (Subject to change).
- Once a global campaign "ends" and a new one starts, you will still be able to access any older campaign.
- You will be able to switch between campaigns at any time. Therefore, if you join the game in a few years, you will have access to every global campaign since its conception and can switch between them. We wanted to eliminate any fear of missing out. If you have played Halo Infinite, it will work similar to that.
- Seasonal events (Halloween, Winter Holidays, Easter, Valentines etc) will be incorporated as seasonal campaigns and will only be possible to play during the respective season. During this time, you will be able to seamlessly switch between global campaigns and seasonal campaigns.
- To obtain EXP for your selected campaign, you must complete daily, weekly and monthly tasks.
- The campaigns will be a completely free way for you to obtain tokens and skins.

And much more...

This is just a little teaser on the changes we have been working on over the past few weeks. We are heavy in development right now and we have much more exciting stuff planned that we can't wait to showcase to you.

Please note that everything listed within this blog post is subject to change. Nothing is final.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below!

If you haven't already, remember to pre-register over at https://www.idle-mmo.com.

You can also join us on discord for a chance to participate in our closed beta!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Threads!

We are thrilled to announce the exciting rebrand of SimpleMMO!

It wasn't that long ago since we recently moved away from the sword logo to the dragon logo. In fact, we went into detail on the reasoning behind the rebrand and ultimately it boiled down to it being the most effective in pulling in new players.

As time went by, we slowly started to lose our love for the dragon logo due to two big reasons:

• The colour scheme presented significant challenges in our work process. The combination of blue, purple, orange, and red, along with small black elements, proved to be quite problematic when attempting to establish a cohesive and unified brand for the game. Despite the promotional images using a darker background, it was originally designed with the intention of placement on a white background. We've recently made a company-wide decision to shift our focus towards creating products solely using a dark colour scheme and, in our opinion, the logo doesn't blend as effectively against darker backgrounds.
• The dragon and the text lack unity, existing as two completely separate elements, with the dragon positioned on top and the text beneath. While this design approach might suit other businesses or software, we realised it wasn't quite fitting for a game. Our aim was to create a logo that exudes a more unified and game-like appeal.

During our pursuit of designing a new logo, our initial step involved creating a fresh app icon, which would serve as the foundation for the subsequent logo design.

The process for deciding on our new icon lasted approximately 6 months utilising the same tools provided by Google as we done during our previous rebranding. The tools allowed us to see if a logo was effective at bringing in new downloads to the game. As the app icon has a huge prominence in a store listing, being the first element users encounter on the Google Play page, it stands as one of the most critical factors in driving new downloads.

We went through various different types of icons testing the effectiveness of them against our dragon icon. During this period, we leveraged both traditional icons and icons created by artificial intelligence (AI) to explore its potential in creating an icon that could be even more effective than our dragon design.

Here are just some of the icons we tested throughout the time period:

Despite these icons, a critical problem remained unresolved: they failed to address the issues we had with the dragon icon, leaving us apprehensive about the possibility of yet another rebrand in the future, repeating the same cycle of uncertainty.

Throughout this period, we also dedicated our efforts to developing our second game, IdleMMO, and we are delighted that its logo addressed all the concerns we had with SimpleMMO's dragon logo. The newly purchased logo boasts a cohesive design and an established colour scheme, perfectly aligning with our vision for the game.

So, naturally, we decided to use the same artist for SimpleMMO.

The results were overwhelmingly positive, as it was determined with 90% confidence that the new logo could potentially yield a remarkable 25% to 40% increase in engagement.

And it was definitely evident...

It is perfect and, as a result, we decided to completely change our brand to this new design.

The rebrand will be gradually introduced over the next few weeks, and we are absolutely thrilled with the response we've received so far. We firmly believe that this new logo perfectly aligns with the direction SimpleMMO is heading towards.

The summer has finally arrived (If you're not from down under!). The second quarter of the year has ended. The Memory Lane event is no more. So... what now?

To the observant players among us, you have probably realised that SimpleMMO has seemingly lacked updates of actual substance. In fact, the last update that wasn't a measly bug fix or balancing change was the introduction of new items more than two months ago.

"So... what gives?"

A very good question. I'm aware of the fact that some people just simply don't like to read huge blog posts so let me write two answers; a short TLDR and a longer version.

Too Long Didn't Read (TLDR)

TLDR; we are shifting our focus on settling a lot of technical debt that has accrued over the last five years. A lot of this tech debt is behind-the-scenes so while it may not look like we are making changes, we are actually making a lot of them. The update logs don't list them because they don't affect you (the player). This is an incredibly lengthy process but will it result in a far more sustainable game in the future to extend upon. We have a long-term vision with SimpleMMO and that hasn't changed.

Tech debt refers to the negative consequences that arise from prioritising short-term solutions or compromises in software development, resulting in additional work and challenges in the future.

Long Answer

Recently we have been developing our other game which is due to come out this summer - IdleMMO. As we approach release, this is obviously taking up a lot of time to prepare the game ready for production. I am aware that, in a previous blog post, that I mentioned IdleMMO won't affect SimpleMMO, and that still remains true. We always move resources to other projects when they are close to the finish line, but we return them to normal levels once we've manage to pass the release. In fact, this is the case with literally any project we do so there is no difference in the way we are working.

However, I'd be lying if I said that IdleMMO didn't indirectly affect SimpleMMO in a somewhat significant manner. We have been building IdleMMO from the ground up using the same framework as SimpleMMO, except we have one major difference - we are placing a huge amount of focus and attention to detail on the quality of engineering that enters the code base. We are trying to minimise any possible technical debt and, as a result, making changes to existing mechanics and adding new features to IdleMMO is a breeze (albeit a long one). It's night and day in comparison to SimpleMMO. It's much easier to see this comparison when they are both fundamentally an online role-playing game.

When I make changes to SimpleMMO, it often feels like I'm engaged in a furious wrestling match with a bear on a wild cocktail of steroids, riding atop another even more roided-up bear. It's no simple feat, thanks to the technical debt we've accumulated over the years.

As you may have heard me mention countless times before, the very first iteration of SimpleMMO was never intended for the public. Have you ever studied a programming course and your very first project is a "Hello World!" project? If you're not familiar with a "Hello World" project, it's essentially the simplest way to grasp how to output a message using a language or framework of your choice. It's like taking that very first baby step into the world of development.

SimpleMMO was essentially my "Hello World" project as I dipped my toes into Laravel, a PHP framework. By that point, I had already been developing web apps for a few years, but I had never ventured into using frameworks, so there was a lot of room for experimentation. Initially, my plan was to create a test project to learn the framework and then start fresh once I gained some footing. However, that plan never came to fruition, and as a result, its mere conception turned into a heavy burden of technical debt.

I built the core concept of SimpleMMO overnight. Specifically, from 12am to 5am. Within that time, I built the travel system, the inventory, and an extremely basic attack page. Perhaps not so coincidentally, they are the three "heaviest" mechanics in the game with the most amount of technical debt. They've haunted me for years.

Simply put, the reason why I was able to build three entirely separate systems in a mere five hours was because I just thought "Eh, I'll fix it later." Obviously, I never did which is why you are reading this blog post. I did make some pretty major changes to the travel mechanic in the past when we moved away from the step limitations, which significantly improved performance but the very foundation of it is still rotten.

"Why did you not fix it later?"

A valid question I presume you would ask. The answer is simply because... I didn't want to.
Fresh out of university and in search of a job, I started on this project with the simple desire to create a game, without expecting anyone to actually play it. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that over 1 million players would register for the game. I wouldn't have even anticipated 10 players. Nevertheless, even in such circumstances, a smart and organised individual would strive to enhance their code, regardless of whether the game attracted 10 people or a million. However, my smooth fickle brain thought it would be fine to just leave it... and here we are today... still talking about simple mistakes that were made more than 5 years ago.

The issue with settling technical debt

The concept of initially creating a foundation using "messy" code but subsequently improving it once the system has been built is a sound approach. In fact, that is still what I do today (with a heavy emphasis on improving the code). My preferred approach is to start by creating a "skeleton" of the mechanic I'm building and then go back to it later for a significant restructuring. I find that this method helps me mentally distinguish the user-facing functionality from the underlying structure. Initially, I can concentrate on making it functional, and then I can shift my focus to fine-tuning it to work precisely the way I envision. However, this process should happen before the code hits the production server. With SimpleMMO, I don't have such a luxury. Ensuring full backwards compatibility with prior iterations of the game when making changes to existing mechanics and frameworks is a major challenge. The primary issue lies in the fact that rebuilding something with backwards compatibility can take me nearly 3 to 4 times longer than starting from scratch. It's an enormous headache that I'd prefer to avoid.

As a result, our primary focus on SimpleMMO is to lift it out of the stone age and bring it to the 21st century. Luckily for me, I've already been going through a lot of systems and bringing them up to speed. You may have noticed a lot of overhauls recently. Tasks, collections, daily rewards, etc. They are, for the most part, considered "up-to-speed" to what I now consider production-ready battle-tested code. However, the very foundation of the game is rotten, and I don't want to keep kicking the can down the road any longer.

As mentioned previously, we've already made plenty of changes, but there is still a lot of work pending. This could honestly take us more than a year.

What to expect

I don't anticipate SimpleMMO will have any brand-new mechanics in the near future (with the potential exception of the auction house). What you can expect is overhauls and significant improvements of existing systems and UI changes.

Mechanics

A lot of mechanics will significantly change so that they are ultimately easier to play and understand. For example, the World Boss mechanic is older than dirt and was built with string and gaffer tape. That will receive significant changes so that it feels generally nicer to interact with. "Jobs" is another big one.

Mobile UI

The mobile UI is incredibly outdated and based off the old material design language that Google brought to market in 2014. We have plans on giving it a much-needed face lift.

Rebrand

In 2021, we introduced the new SimpleMMO logo. Whilst effective in the Google experiments (thus was the primary reason why we went with it), it still doesn't feel right. I'm not a big fan of it. In fact, I just don't like it. There is no established colour scheme to it makes it extremely difficult to work with. Over the next few months, we will be experimenting with new logos and branding designs to ensure that we can find the one that I like and is also effective.

Removal of Features

As we will be taking a look at literally every part of SimpleMMO, no stone will be unturned. Consequently, we will review the least utilised features or those that provide no utility, and we will simply remove them from the game. While we won't be removing popular or beloved features, we will thoroughly review those that appear to be pointless and prove to be more burdensome than beneficial. "Wishlist" and "Ads" are at the top of the list to review.

Discussion Boards

The discussion boards are reminiscent of the old bulletin boards that consumed the internet in the early 00's. We have plans on completely changing the way the discussion boards work so that it incorporates new, modern ways of interacting with other players. We are actively exploring alternatives to the suggestion section due to its current issue of being inundated with duplicate suggestions, making it increasingly challenging to identify unique suggestions that hold actual value.

Conclusion

In summary, our ultimate goal is to establish the long-term sustainability of SimpleMMO. Currently, the game's structure restricts development solely to me, as the spaghetti mess it has become cannot be easily handed over to other developers. Ideally, the workload wouldn't be solely mine to bear. Moreover, it's challenging to introduce new features to a game when I am aware of how much of the foundation has decayed over time. Merely piling on additional features would exacerbate the situation further.

All in all, rest assured that SimpleMMO is still under heavy active development despite it having fewer updates that affect the players. As a result of this, we have adjusted our public roadmap by removing the quarterly changes and creating a new category titled "Upcoming". The reason is that we cannot provide an exact timeline for these changes, as they depend entirely on how the development process unfolds while addressing the accumulated technical debt.

P.S If you haven't seen it already, you can read about our game "IdleMMO" by pressing here.

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming release of IdleMMO - a new idle MMORPG game that will launch later this summer.

It brings a familiar system to fans of our other game, "SimpleMMO," while introducing exciting new elements. We can't wait to share this incredible experience with all of you. Over the past 8 months, we've poured our hearts and souls into preparing, planning, and developing this thrilling new game that will soon reach your desktop and mobile phones.

So... let's just dive in!

Skills

IdleMMO will contain a variety of skills that you can level up in order to obtain materials or certain items. This is a common mechanic that have no doubt experienced in other games.

This idle action has two timers: the total time remaining (located at the top right of the element) and the item time.

The total time is a countdown and determines how long you can perform that action Your character will continue performing that action until the total time reaches 0. After that, you must initiate the skill again.

The item time is a countdown until you receive a new item. This could be anywhere from a couple of seconds to a minute.

During our initial research, we discovered that many idle games allowed players to remain idle for extended periods of time, sometimes up to 24 hours or even longer, without requiring any interaction. However, we found ourselves disenchanted with the "set it and forget it for 24 hours" gameplay as it diminished the sense of active engagement and turned the experience into a mundane daily task rather than an enjoyable game. In developing IdleMMO, our aim was to incorporate idle mechanics that enable significant character progression in less time compared to typical idle games, but with the requirement of at least some level of player interaction.

For the initial release of IdleMMO, we aimed to keep things simple by including six skills: Woodcutting, Mining, Fishing, Alchemy, Smithing, and Cooking.

Our system is designed to ensure that every skill has a practical purpose. For instance, mining grants you valuable ore while smithing enables the transformation of ore into metal bars. These metal bars, in turn, can be utilised for forging various items. With the cooking skill, you can prepare and cook the fish you've caught, enhancing their usefulness. Additionally, alchemy empowers you to create your own potent potions, expanding your range of abilities.

We have plans on extending the skill system significantly to include other popular mechanics such as Farming.

Forging

The Forge allows you to craft your own items using the materials you have acquired from skills and enemy drops. It follows a fairly standard convention. For example, to craft a Tin Sword, you need Tin Bars.

Crafting an item takes time depending on what you are trying to forge. Typically, the better the item is, the longer it will take to forge. You can decrease this time by enhancing your "forging efficiency" through the use of special items.

World Map

IdleMMO will feature its own custom-made map with different locations that you can travel to. The locations unlock as you level up and each location will contain different materials that you can gather, world bosses to encounter, and enemies to meet.

Travelling to a location will take time depending on your current position. If you are travelling a long distance, expect to wait!

You can increase your movement speed by equipping special items and even mounts. Movement speed is an important factor in speeding up your gameplay. It will allow you to travel throughout the map at a faster pace and it will also let you to hunt enemies quicker.

Character

Classes

IdleMMO will be released with three to four classes with plans to introduce more as time goes on. Each class has special "talents", EXP bonuses, and different item requirements.

Talents are unique bonus abilities for each class. For example, Warriors have the "Warriors Blood" talent which increases their basic damage by 2. More talents can be unlocked as you level up.

At the moment, we have 3 classes: Warrior, Rogue, and Ranger.

Warrior focuses on strength, then defence. They can equip swords but not daggers or bows.

Rogue focuses on speed, then dexterity. They can also equip 2 daggers but cannot equip swords and bows.

Ranger focuses on speed and dexterity equally. They can equip only bows.

This is not an exhaustive list of their abilities and restrictions. Adjustments may be made before release.

Stats

You're probably reading the above stats and wondering "Ok... but what exactly does strength and dexterity do?" Well... let me describe them:

Strength - This increases your damage against opponents.
Defence - This decreases the damage you receive against opponents.
Speed - This determines how quick you attack your enemy. Basically, a higher speed value means that your battles with enemies end much quicker.
Dexterity - This determines your chance of landing successive hits against your opponent.
Critical Chance - This determines the chance that you will land a critical strike.
Critical Damage - This determines the bonus that is applied on landing a critical strike.
Attack Power - This increases your damage against opponents, and is obtained from equipment. Attack power is weaker than strength. One point of Strength is more beneficial than one point of Attack power.
Protection - This decreases how much damage you mitigate and is obtained from equipment. Protection is weaker than Defence. One point of Defence is more beneficial than one point of Protection.
Movement Speed - This dictates how fast you can travel and hunt.

Alternative (Alt) Accounts

You will be pleased to know that you will have the ability to create multiple characters under one account and effortlessly switch between them without the need to log out.

Market

We have invested significant effort into developing the market, aiming to make it as user-friendly and seamless as possible. Based on our experiences and lessons learned from SimpleMMO, we are determined not to repeat past mistakes.

The market will be a very important mechanic for most players. It will allow you to sell the items in your inventory to other players as well as buying items from them.

The market is split into two areas: Listings and Buy Orders.

Listings

Listings are items that either you (or other players) want to sell.

When navigating to the market page, all items available on the market will be listed. Pressing on an item will then display all listings for that specific item.

From there, you can press on any individual listing you wish to purchase from.

Buy Orders

Buy Orders enable you to specify the items you wish to purchase, along with the desired quantity and the amount of gold you are willing to pay. Other players can browse the available buy orders and opt to fulfil them, facilitating a seamless transaction.

We wanted to take things to the next level too. If an item is listed on the market and all requirements of an existing buy order are met, the buy order will be automatically fulfilled. Allow me to write an example:

Let's say @Hunter398 wishes to purchase 30 Oak Logs for 40 gold pieces each. All they would need to do is create a purchase order like so:

Once @Hunter398 has created the order, it is easily viewable on the order page.

Now, let's say @Mordred logs on and they wish to sell 5 oak logs for 20 gold each. They forget to look at the Buy Order list and simply create a listing.

Immediately after @Mordred lists their item, the game will automatically scan the open orders list and fulfil any orders immediately.

As @Hunter398 has an open order for 30 gold per item, then that means that this listing will fulfil the order automatically. Not just that, but because the listing was 20 gold, the game will automatically refund the difference to the player who created the order (in this case its 10 gold per item).

So, in conclusion, @Mordred will receive 200 gold immediately after creating the listing because it automatically fulfilled an existing order. @Hunter398 will receive all 10 items that @Mordred listed plus a refund of 100 gold because the listing was lower than the purchase order.

To put it even simpler: @Mordred sold their items immediately without their listing even touching the market because it fulfilled an existing order. @Hunter398 received 10 items at a discount because @Mordred listed the items for lower than the purchase order price. It's a win-win (unless, of course, you consider that @Hunter398 missed out on an extra 10 gold per item because they failed to check the purchase order list)!

Battling and Hunting

Before battling an enemy, one must hunt it. The time it takes to hunt an enemy depends on your characters movement speed. As mentioned earlier, you can increase your characters movement speed by equipping special items and using mounts.

Once you have caught the enemy, you will have a small window to attack the enemy before it runs away.

Battling an enemy requires no interaction. The battle will continue until either you defeat the enemy, or your health runs out.

World Bosses

World Bosses allow multiple players to attack a single enemy simultaneously. Most the players from SimpleMMO are well-aware that its implementation of the World Boss mechanic is ... particularly poor. We wanted to improve upon that significantly and streamline the entire process.

Simply put, attacking a world boss requires no interaction other than joining the lobby. Once the lobby has expired and all players are ready, the battle will start.

During this time, you will have the option to either watch the battle animation unfold or navigate away. Additionally, you can engage in market trading without the need to remain on the battle page. The only restriction is that you cannot engage in any other idle action (such as performing a skill or forging an item). You can only perform one idle action at a time.

After defeating the world boss, you have a brief opportunity to return to the battle page and claim your rewards. If you don't return to the page, then you risk losing them!

Battle Pass

Oh no! A battle pass! But don't fret... we promise it's good. Why? Because it's completely free. The entire reason why we wanted to put in a battle pass is to give greater incentives to actually play the game. That's it. To level up the battle pass, you just need to complete daily, weekly, or monthly tasks.

The battle pass will refresh every few months to bring you fresh new content.

... and more

This is just a small teaser on what is to come. Before its release, we still have a significant amount of work to complete, but we hold strong confidence that this game will reach your mobile phones and desktops this summer. Our priority right now is to release a refined and polished product, then continuously add on new features as time goes on rather than trying to cram in a bunch of features before release.

Question and Answers

We are sure this has raised many questions so we will do our best to anticipate what we think may be the most common ones.

What devices will this be playable on?

We plan to release IdleMMO on the Google Play Store, and Apple App Store. It will also be accessible on desktop via the Web App.

How will this affect SimpleMMO?

This won't affect SimpleMMO at all. The development road map is still in place. We have recently expanded our core development team to allow us to work on new projects. The development of SimpleMMO will continue as it always has. In fact, in the second quarter of the year, the development of SimpleMMO was ahead of its schedule by approximately three weeks.

Will this game compete with SimpleMMO?

No - we have specifically made this game with the sole intention that it doesn't tread on SimpleMMO's toes. IdleMMO walks its own path. SimpleMMO is a game that requires a lot of active gameplay and has a large amount of depth and features. Ironically, IdleMMO will be "simpler" (heh) and more streamlined than SimpleMMO. It will require fewer manual actions and character maintenance. It's totally possible to play them both at the same time!

Will this game have an energy system?

Unlike SimpleMMO, it will not have an energy system. The only limit on the game will be the time you need to wait between each action. You can play until your hearts content without having to wait for an energy system to refill. We don't have current plans to implement an energy system at this time.

Will you have a beta test?

The game will have multiple closed beta tests over the next few weeks with selected individuals invited to participate in them. Please actively monitor our Discord channel if you are interested in participating in a beta test.

When will this game be released?

We anticipate stealth dropping the public beta version of IdleMMO this summer, with the game going live without any prior notice or release day announcement.

Where are the "MMO" mechanics?

Admittedly, there are not a lot of MMO mechanics right now. As mentioned, we are focusing on creating a very compact and refined product and then building upon it as times goes on. Rest assured that while the game won't contain many "MMO-esque" features initially during the public beta (such as PvP, trading, parties, guilds, etc), they will arrive eventually.

How can I keep up to date on the progress of IdleMMO?

You can join our Discord channel (https://discord.gg/nDGbr7AKkk) to stay up to date on the development of the game. You can also register your email at https://www.idle-mmo.com/pre-register to be notified when the game goes live.

Will IdleMMO contain any mechanics that allow interaction with other players (such as a world chat)?

While we are receptive to introducing additional mechanics that facilitate inter-player interactions, we currently do not have any immediate plans to implement a world chat feature. Instead, we require all players to communicate solely through our official Discord server.

I have more questions. Where can I ask them?

You can ask any questions in our Discord server.

Disclaimer

Everything listed in this blog post is subject to change upon release (especially the attached screenshots). Our development plan constantly changes so nothing listed in this blog is final.

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FitIgniter was originally built in 2014 as a quick and painless way to find new exercises, supplements, and workouts. The entire app was completely bespoke. No framework. No engine. Just pure vanilla PHP and Java.

At the time, it acted as an alternative to websites like bodybuilding.com which, at the time, had so much bloat that it was almost impossible to quickly find an exercise that was tailored to your specific needs. We built FitIgniter with one ultimate goal in mind: it needed to be completely frictionless. The user had to find exercises and supplements according to their needs in as little clicks as possible. There was no bloat. No fancy design. No ads or sponsorships. It was built to be quick, snappy and straight to the point.  

Within the first year of its development, it gained fairly significant traction. It amassed more than 3,000 followers on Instagram, 1,500 followers on twitter, and hundreds of organic daily active users.

Unfortunately, since then it has slowly dwindled into obscurity (though, surprisingly, it still gets 4,000 visitors per month!). The last time we published an update was more than 6 years ago! That means the codebase is 6 years out of date. We have always wanted to extend FitIgniter but the amount of work to bring it up to 2022 standards would be a huge undertaking.

Instead of wresting with the old code base, we have decided to just start again. We are completely rebuilding the entire application and giving it a fresh-make over! The branding is still a work-in-progress so expect some minor adjustments to it in the coming months.

We have no ETA for the release of FitIgniter but you can enter your email in the form located at https://www.fitigniter.com and get notified when we release it.

If, for whatever reason, you want to continue using the old FitIgniter, it's carcass can be found at https://uk.fitigniter.com. Though, this will disappear once the new and improved version of FitIgniter has been released.

The Android app can still be accessed via the Google Play store but this will also be removed once the updated version has been released.

Website: https://www.fitigniter.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitigniter
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thefitigniter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialfitigniter

Aaaand... it's that time again! No warnings. No hype. Just the biggest update ever!

Painfully, we have made the mistake in the past on announcing our major updates months prior to release. This puts un-necessary stress on us due to two reasons: we are constantly getting asked when the update will be released, and we feel pressured to release it as soon as possible because people are waiting for it. That is why this update has had no prior talk or announcements. We have just been taking our time and gradually grinding away at this for the past 6 or so months.

Reliably, v10 was huge.... but this update is bigger. better. revolutionary. It literally turns SimpleMMO on it's head. We are introducing new features to the game that will have a giant impact on your gameplay. Not just that, but we are completely overhauling the entire way the game is played. From levelling, to customisation and rewards. The game is almost entirely new... but it's not.

It's just better.

Look, most of these changes will be welcomes by the player base. But, admittedly, some of these changes will have a negative impact of some of the "outliners" (i.e. the high level players).

Frankly, our main goal is to make the game sustainable. You may have noticed this with the changes we have introduced in the past month. We have introduced limits to the Knight feature, increased the prices for certain commodities to help control the inflation of gold (and it's working too!). This update extends upon this principle and will introduce a lot of similar changes. Some are small and some are large.

Other than that, please rest assured that all changes are for the good of the game. Initially, they may be a hard pill to swallow, but, in time, you will realise that they are ultimately for the better.

On, we will make a seperate blog post going through all of the changes in detail, but let's just take a look at the major ones.

Literally, we overhauled the entire travel system.

Since the creation of SimpleMMO, the travelling system has been the main part of the SimpleMMO. It basically is SimpleMMO. It's literally what makes the game so simple. However, we are unsatisfied with it. The idea of it is sound, the implementation of it is 'aight but the potential of it is incredible.

We have been experimenting with multiple proof-of-concepts on how to improve the travelling system. We must have tried about 20 various implantations before we came up with an idea that we were satisfied with.

The new travelling system is revolutionary. It now allows you to traverse an actual map in game. All maps are grid-based and they can go up to monumental sizes of 400x400 positions per map. That means there are over 160,000 squares on the map that you can traverse. You can travel up, down, left and right. Your current location will be designated by a X,Y coordinate. You can even meet up with people by going to the same X,Y coordinate and travel together!

This system is flawless. It now emulates the style of an MMO without having to sacrifice the "one button press" shtick the game has going for it. However, due to the limitations of the mechanics, we are now reintroducing limited steps. You can only step 100 times within 30 minutes. This can be "refilled" or even upgraded entirely by purchasing the update in the diamond store.

We can't wait for you to try it! There is so many new aspects and hidden gems that it will require a seperate blog post entirely!

Pet Levels and Battling

Ask and ye shall receive! This has been a popular request since the dawn of SimpleMMO and we have finally implemented it. Pets are no longer designated as "items" and now they are their own seperate entity in its entirety. You can level them up, battle them with other players, customise them, feed them. play with them and so much more. Think "Tamagotchi" but...like... 10 times better.

The only caveat is that all existing pets have been reset to level 1. You can also purchase stronger and better pets directly in the diamond store!

Level Cap

The infiniteness of the game, in theory, is fantastic. It allows you to reach un-imaginable levels of power. You are only limited in how much time you invest in the game. However, in practice, it is simply too difficult to balance a game with players that have a literal 500,000 level gap between them.

Because of this, we are now introducing a level cap of 1,000. Any users that are above Level 1,000 will be reduced to level 1,000 and will receive 1 diamond per 1,000 levels above this limit.

Diamond Chests

We wanted to make a way for players to easily obtaining better and more powerful items without needing to fill up their inventory space with old and un-needed items. Because of this, we are introducing Diamond Chests. Diamond chests can be opened with diamond keys and they have a 50% chance of finding a celestial. That means you have a 1 in 2 chance of finding a celestial every time you open the chest. However, the caveat is that they are expensive. You can purchase a single diamond key in the diamond store for 50 diamonds. Diamonds, diamonds, diamonds....

Battle Overhaul

The entire battle system has now been entirely overhauled. We mulled over this for quite some time. We have always wanted to extend the battle system but we worried about ruining the integrity of the games simplicity. However,  we have finally reached a system that retains its simplicity but adds unimaginable amount of depth.

Now, each item has the potential for 4 elemental effects; fire, ice, stone, nature. Each elemental effect has a strength and a weakness to ensure everything is balanced. There is no single effect that is the best.

Due to this, now all enemies generated in the battle arena now have an assigned elemental effect to them. You can come across a "Fire Vorok" or an "Ice Acroflar". You will have to strategically use your elemental items to defeat them more efficiently.

However, due to so many structural and integrity changes that have been made, the EXP gain has been reduced by 45% and has been capped at 500,000 EXP per kill. Players who are PvP heavy can only kill 50 players every 24 hours. This cap can be reset by using diamonds.

Not just that but the gold you can steal from players has been capped at 1% and you now have a 2% chance of stealing diamonds from other players.

We can't wait for you to try it.

Guilds

Guilds have had a bit of a makeover and they now reset every month to ensure the maximum amount of competitiveness between each guild. This is similar to the "seasons" mechanic you may see in other games. The guilds are placed in tiers depending on how many members they have and they will compete against other guilds in that tier in regards to EXP gained.

The winners of each tier will receive 100 power points.

We have also added a few more changes. Guilds can now assign a officer to do actions on their behalf. The maximum amount of EXP that a guild can obtain in a guild war has now been capped at 10,000 EXP regardless of who the enemy is.

There are many changes so be sure to check out the update log.

Quality of life additions/notable mentions

• Diamond store balancing. It now costs 35 diamonds to refill your energy points.
• You now cannot attack online players.
• Silver key price has been increased to 150,000 gold per key at a 5,000 gold increment.
• Inventory limit has been decreased to 1,000 from 20,000.  Please ensure that you reduce your inventory numbers by the 31st April 2022.
• Market tax has been increased to 20%.
• Lots of crafting improvements such as more items and materials.
• You can now marry other players if your interaction level is high enough.

You can view the entire update log by going to https://web.simple-mmo.com/updates

We hope that you enjoy the update! Let us know what your favourite change is in the comments below.

It's been just over 4 years since SimpleMMO first hit the Google Play store. Since then, we've set our eyes on making SimpleMMO accessible across all different kinds of devices. After we released the current version of the Web App, our next goal was to make it available on iOS devices.

We are very happy to announce that SimpleMMO is now playable across all types of iOS devices (iPhone, iPod, and iPad) as well as silicon based macs.

You can download SimpleMMO by searching it in the App Store or by navigating to this link on your device:
SimpleMMO - The Text MMORPG on the App Store (apple.com)

If you cannot download the app yet, it may take up to 48 hours for the app to appear on the App Store.

We have plans on extending this app even further, including full iPad and Apple Mac M1 support.

Stay tuned by following our social media!

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord

You can also track upcoming updates by viewing our public road map here:

SimpleMMO Public Roadmap | Trello