Expansion 1 Live Stream Transcript - Melvor Idle

Missed the live stream? Check out the full transcript below!

Introduction

StrawHat

Hi there friends, and welcome to Melvor's first ever live stream. We're all really excited to be here, we hope the feeling is mutual. Today, we're going to be talking to you about the upcoming Expansion for Melvor Idle, and finally unveiling a lot of the content that is coming your way. Afterwards we'll wrap it all up with some questions that we have collected from you lovely players.

First let me introduce all of y'all to the participants of today's live stream.

Who better to ask about the Expansion than the creator and developer of the game itself, Malcs. How you doing Malcs?

Malcs

Hello, everyone! How's everyone going?

StrawHat

Wonderful, wonderful. And next we have Prat. Prat is the game designer and he assists with QA. His role is to plan the content and write the design documents for the developers to follow. At the same time he helps with testing and squashing bugs prior to release. How's it going Prat?

Prat

I'm doing well. Pretty excited for today.

StrawHat

Wonderful, and I see you have Chio in the background.

Prat

Oh yeah, he's gonna be listening in, just to make sure we say the right things today.

StrawHat

Chio will be our PR for today. And finally I am your host of the live stream StrawHat. I have been the Community Manager for Melvor and Malc’s very own personal troll since last year in October.

Okay. Tonight we have so much that we want to talk about, but only so much time to do it. So we're going to start off with a brief overview of what to expect from Expansion One, then we'll dive into the details for Combat, Non-combat, Township Part One, and timelines. Finally we'll end it all with our Q&A section. Before we get started though, I believe Malcs has a few things he'd like to say to the players. Malcs over to you.

Malcs

I do, yes. Thank you so much to everyone who's tuning in. This is the first time we've ever done something like this, and I'm extremely excited to finally reveal some details about what we have in store for you for Expansion One.

Well this Expansion is months and months and months of planning, you know, development work. It is the result of two years of growth for Melvor Idol, as well as Games by Malcs. I hope (that is) what we can present to you today. (We) can show you that we have grown so much over the last two years. We've grown extremely rapidly, as well. And I'm just so excited to actually share what we have in store. We won't have anything to actually show you today, but we will be going through a lot of the the questions that everyone's been asking. I'm going into detail about most of the Expansion, as well as a couple of unannounced projects that we have on the back burner.

StrawHat

Wonderful, I hope everyone is as excited as I am. And as you were just saying, we've come a long way since you were just coding Melvor in your bedroom two years ago. With that in mind, what is a brief overview of what's coming in Expansion One?

Malcs

Yeah. So, Expansion One is going to have all the skills increased to Level 120. So, that's every single skill in the game. We'll be increasing the level cap to 120, and every single skill in the game will also get content to fill that gap. We're also going to be releasing Township Part One, alongside an unannounced project that I'll get into a bit later.

StrawHat

Wonderful, okay. So, we have a lot to talk about friends. I know you all have been waiting a long time, so let's get started. We are going to start with the Level 120 combat. I'm sure there's a lot to talk about with the Level 120 content in Combat, so let's start with dungeons. Can we expect a few more dungeons to tackle, and if yes, will they follow a similar layout or style for Into the Mist or Impending Darkness?

Malcs

Yeah, so I had a couple of discussions about how we wanted to tackle the dungeons going into 120. I can tell you that we are going to have seven new dungeons coming in the Level 120 update. All of these will be coming after Impending Darkness, in terms of what kind of style we've gone for with these dungeons. We've definitely been monitoring the community, and just seeing the discussions around Into the Mist and Impending Darkness. And just seeing where the community is at in terms of like, what they actually do enjoy. So what we have decided is that we are going to go back to our roots, and we are going back to the old style of dungeons, which is prepare as best as you can and then you can idle it. All these dungeons can be idled. You complete the dungeons, you get the rewards at the end. The only dungeon that cannot be idled is the very, very last dungeon, and that's just the final boss dungeon. But we are going back to our roots in terms of what you can expect with these dungeons.

StrawHat

And Prat, do you have any sneak peeks for that final boss that you can share with us?

Prat

Well it's been it's been a long time coming for that final boss. I could say that we have had a lot of ideas of what we wanted to do, but you know we had a singular boss that we designed pre-everything. Like when Malcs had the (Melvor) Alpha come out, we already had an idea of (it). We were joking around about what the final boss could be, and now we finally reached a point where we could actually, you know, design him and get things right. And I’m pretty happy to say that the final boss is going to be very, very hard. But I'm saying that – but it's going to be – it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun.

StrawHat

Wonderful.

Malcs

The final boss is so hard, that the final boss is the only monster in that final dungeon. There's no other monsters that you have to kill, it's just that boss. So have fun.

StrawHat

Have fun. That's all we're going to say. That's all we're going to say. What about Combat content outside of dungeons, can you give us any insights into that?

Malcs

Yeah, so outside of dungeons, we wanted to really add a lot more content throughout Combat, so what we are adding here is: We're going to be adding eight new Slayer areas, all of these coming after the existing Slayer areas. What these will actually do is, these will actually provide you a lot of the necessary items required to tackle the next dungeon.

So the way it will kind of work is that as you go into the Level 120 update, you're going to go into these Slayer areas. You're going to beat the Slayer areas, get all the items that you need, and then hit up the dungeon. Once you finish that dungeon, you're going to go back to a Slayer area, get as much as you can, and then get into the next dungeon. So, all these Slayer areas, we have around 50-54 new monsters coming in total, all from Level 100 to Level 120. And we also have quite a lot of unique items, and gear for you to obtain throughout these dungeons and Slayer areas.

StrawHat

Okay, okay then that's really exciting. And I know we have a lot of new content coming to tackle. What are you adding to help prepare the players for the upcoming task to complete this content, Prat?

Prat

We wanted to focus a little bit more heavily into things like the Slayer areas, just because we've found that putting everything in a dungeon is a bit too much sometimes. And it's kind of a lot of RNG that players would have to go through. So, what we wanted to do with the new Slayer areas is to add more power to the Slayer areas themselves. But at the same time, you know all the best stuff will come from dungeons. But Slayer areas won't feel like a massive jump in-between. So yeah, it's going to be a lot, a lot of new items, a lot of new things, you know. I hope it'll be enough.

Malcs

It’s hard.

StrawHat

I'm sure, I'm sure it will be. I know, you guys have been working really hard. And speaking of new items, so how does the scaling of new Combat gear work? We have a very high Damage Output, and Damage Reduction now. What is being done moving forward?

Malcs

When we were designing and developing these dungeons, we had to really consider exactly where we're at in terms of power and scale in the game. As those that have reached the very late game, you will notice that we are very much nearing the Damage Reduction cap. And this does indeed pose some issues moving forward with content. We could either go vertical scaling or horizontal scaling. So, what we have decided is we are going to continue on that linear path upwards, where monsters and yourself will be outputting more Damage, as well as obtaining higher Hit Points.

The reason we've done this is because the amount of XP that you need to get to Level 120 is a lot. It is an absurd amount of experience. And because your Damage is directly tied to experience, we need to make sure that the player is outputting sufficient Damage to get to Level 120 in a reasonable time. To Combat, the Damage Reduction issue that we have, there are a few ways we could go about doing this. But what we have actually decided is that we are going to continue to push the boundaries of Damage Reduction.

So, what you'll find moving forward in these Combat areas is that monsters will actually be able to passively reduce your Damage Reduction, meaning that you're going to have to find Combat equipment with higher Damage Reduction than what’s currently available to be able to get through to these dungeons. So for example, if you have 80 Damage Reduction, you might go into a dungeon. All the monsters in there reduce your Damage by 20, and you're scrambling looking for that extra 20 somewhere that we've added inside the game.

We think that doing this kind of mechanic is probably the easiest to follow. It's quite simplistic. There's no, there's no like, dynamically changing Damage Reduction, because it's all: you're going into this dungeon, this is how much Damage Reduction you lose, and you can prepare for that. And I think adding this allows us to push the boundaries of difficulty with these dungeons, and ensure that players are definitely careful carefully planning their Combat journey.

StrawHat

Okay, okay, as you can tell, there's been a lot of thought that's gone into the Expansion, in all of the mechanics. And we always listen to all, what all the players are saying. So we really appreciate all your suggestions. With that in mind, Prat are there any new tools available to players that can help with Combat?

Prat

I'd say that because we're focusing a lot more on Slayer areas. For example, you know, there'll be a lot of items that’ll be a lot easier to obtain. Well, I say easier. But compared to, you know, idling dungeons, it'd be a lot easier. But with the 120 Combat, there's going to be Prayer that will also go to 120, as well. So there'll be a lot on the Combat side itself that add to it. And then not even speaking about the Non-Combat skills that will benefit, as well. So there will be a lot of different buffs, and everything that will help you along your way. Because you need it.

Malcs

We also have a brand new spell book coming, as well. So yeah. We've seen that players do really enjoy the concept of ancient magics, and the power and uniqueness that they actually provide to the player. So what we've actually added to help you throughout your next Combat journey is we've added another spell book from Level 100 to 120, that will contain roughly 10 new very unique spells. And these spells will directly assist you with getting through the dungeons that you have to face, because they are very difficult. You know difficulty is a word you use loosely in an idle game – difficulty as in preparation for a dungeon. And you have to use them to your advantage to actually get through.

StrawHat

Okay, okay. I'm seeing a lot of pogs in the chat. I'm so glad. People you should be excited! Then tell us about the story behind Expansion One. I've heard it's very story driven.

Malcs

Yes, it is. So for those that don't know, Melvor does actually have a story. Funnily enough, I really do enjoy the world building aspect of this game, even though it is idle and about four people would probably read the story. I do want to incorporate a storyline and the world building aspect more and more into the game, and this Expansion is going to directly highlight that. So, what you'll see is that this entire Expansion was actually developed with the storyline first. So, every single thing you're doing in Combat from Level 100 to Level 120 is going to be written down, and your journey is going to be laid out directly in front of you. Every single dungeon that you go through, you're going to get a storybook detailing exactly what you've done, why you've done it, and it's going to be your journey to the final boss. The final boss itself inside this Expansion has appeared in the existing storyline, as well. And Impending Darkness finished leading into the Level 120 content, so we've had this content planned prior to releasing the game. We've had this whole storyline planned out, and we can finally get it out to you soon.

StrawHat

We love to hear it. Again we have a great reaction in the chat. Yes we do actually have lore in Melvor. Please actually pick up a book. Now, Combat sounds insane, but what about Non-Combat? What do you have planned here?

Malcs

The Combat aspect was just a nice portion of it. Getting into Non-Combat is where things get a lot more interesting. So, Combat itself will provide a good amount of tools for you, but you're not going to be able to get through Combat without the tools we provide in the Non-Combat skills. Every single skill, like I said before, is increasing to Level 120. And I'm not talking about just a few items here and there. I'm talking about filling the gap every one to two levels throughout, up to Level 120. So in total we're probably looking at around over 500 new items being added in this Expansion. Stuff like, for example, Woodcutting currently has eight trees to cut. In the Expansion, we're adding nine more. And these nine more blocks will domino effect into all these other (skills). Summoning, Agility, Astrology, everything is getting so much more content post-99 and you're gonna have to use all of this to your advantage to be able to get through all the Combat content.

StrawHat

We love to hear it. This is so exciting. And Prat, do you have anything else to add to that?

Prat

It was pretty fun to finally go back and actually add new stuff to past skills. Because I don't think we've touched any of these older skills since (the) first Alpha release, you know, didn't even add a new tree. So, it's good to go back, add a lot more thing. And it's been a learning experience, as well. It's kind of, you know, getting back to the roots of the game, seeing how everything kind of links together. It's been really fun, it's been really fun. So you know things, like Smithing, has got four new tiers. So there's so much stuff out there. We have like another eight runes, as well as nine rocks. Get ready.

Malcs

So many rocks.

StrawHat

Okay, that is really, really exciting. Speaking of that then, are there any cool new mechanics that are coming to the skills that you have to share with us, Malcs?

Malcs

Yeah, so this is definitely very much still a work in progress. But what we wanted to do heading into Level 120 skills is we wanted to have a few more unique synergies between skills that don't currently have them. However we did stick to keeping it simple, and a lot of the skills will have the same mechanics. But one of the ones that I can kind of tease is the new meteorite mechanics that's coming to Mining.

So what happens here is that Astrology will now synergise with Mining, where as you're studying the stars and the constellations in Astrology – obviously because you're starting up the sky for so long, you're going to see some stuff. So what you're going to be able to spot is meteorites falling from the sky, and these meteorites will actually appear within Mining for you to mine. Which you can then Smith into very, very unique items. And these unique items are actually pretty damn good. This meteorite does not have a Maximum HP, so you can continuously spot meteorites throughout Astrology as much as you want, stack up the meteorite as much as you like, and then mine it to depletion in Mining. And this does not regenerate. You have to go back to Astrology to refine it.

That's just one thing that we're looking at adding, on top of a few other unique mechanics you'll see for some skills that very much need it.

StrawHat

Speaking of maybe skills that very much need it, are there any plans for skills like Agility and Summoning? Prat, what do you think?

Prat

So we look to Agility and Summoning as sort of the pillars for buffs when it comes to Non-Combat. We wanted to put a lot of work into it and to make sure that players would kind of feel the progression, as they're going through leveling all this. So with Agility, we've currently added five new tiers for the players to choose from, which will build on top of your course right now. As well as pillars at the end of 120, so there's going to be a lot of different buffs that players will get to choose from. And Agility is so balanced in the way that, you know, you get your resources and you get your buffs. It's so simple.

And then on the other hand we have Summoning. So, Summoning is is a funny one. It's a funny one because the reason why we kind of skipped some skills was purely because when we were writing Summoning and finishing off Summoning, Malcs didn't even start Agility (yet). We didn't even know what was going to be coming. So a lot of the skills, we just thought, we'll leave it for later. We'll find a time for it. And yeah, so now's the time for it.

So for the last, I think, five skills… so we have Astrology, Fletching, Agility… what else are missing, Summoning itself and Farming. We've added summons for all those, except for Farming. Because I think Farming is a little weird and a little tricky to do. So there'll be four new summons just for skilling, and then on the other side we've added another four for combat.

And the issue with Summoning is everything must synergize. So, the grand total for synergies…currently we have 90. This number has now risen up to 196. So, I hope there's gonna be a lot of new build ideas, and yeah it's gonna be good.

StrawHat

I cannot wait to see what the new upcoming meta is that everyone discovers from the 196 new synergies.

Prat

Absolutely. There’s gonna be something that is so OP.

StrawHat

We can’t wait. You guys let us know, let us know. Now, we have the question that's been on everyone's mind. I've seen it been asked a thousand times already in the chat today. What are the plans for Mastery? Are we also going to see this increase to Level 120?

Malcs

Yeah this is definitely a question that everyone's been asking ever since we even announced that skills were going to Level 120. So what we have actually decided for Mastery is that they will not increase the Level 120. Mastery maximum level is staying at level 99.

The reason we've decided this is because there's no reason to increase its Level 120 in its current state. The only reason you will do that is to increase play time, and people just do not appreciate that. So, what this update will do is that you can now train your skills to Level 120 with extra content, while mastering your skills to Level 99. However what is happening, is that all the new items that we've announced will most likely get Mastery, so it is a bit of a balance. But no, Mastery is not going up to Level 120.

StrawHat

All right you heard it here, chat. You heard it here. And if I hear anyone ask it again in the Discord, you're being kicked.

Okay now, can players still wear their skill capes that they achieved at level 99, or are they going to be increased to Level 120, as well?

Malcs

Yeah so skill cap's another interesting one. What we used to do in the past when skill caps were removed, the Maximum Cape was removed for Maximum players when a new skill was added. And then considering what we were going to do for Level 120 was another interesting discussion. What we have decided is that Level 99 capes are staying as Level 99 capes.

So, you will be able to wear your skill cape post-99 to assist you with your level grind after that. The max skill cape is staying as it is, so you can still get Level 99 in every skill, and you can use your max cape to train out post-Level 99.

We don't have confirmation on what we're doing at the Level 120 mark just yet, and we also don't have confirmation on what we're doing in regards to the 100% completion cape just yet. So I'll have more details on those two aspects closer to release. But your skill caps are safe. They're not being removed, and you can use them to train to Level 120.

StrawHat

There you go. See, we're going to be kind. We're letting you keep the capes, and they'll help with the grind. I think sounds perfect. Then we have one more thing to discuss for Non-Combat skills, and it's something that we saw a lot of people talking about in the questions thread. It's been the discussion around Astrology and its current state. All right, are there any plans for that to change or additions to the skill, besides the little bit of the meteorite mechanic that we discussed earlier?

Malcs

Yeah, so Astrology in its current state is very interesting. It is one of my favorite skills thematically. I do enjoy the concept of looking up to the sky staring at the constellations and studying for bonuses and nothing but bonuses. However, where we did fall over was the RNG aspect of it. During play testing, we did find it was fun. However as Astrology was released, and we played it for about a month or two, we did see where players were coming from and the fact that it's just annoying going into Astrology and just rerolling everything to try and get that near impossible five percent everything. So yes, Astrology mechanics are going to get reworked in Expansion One. What we are going to be doing is most likely removing the RNG aspect of Astrology and giving you nothing but bonuses in a way where you can actually complete Astrology. So you can go in there, spend your stardust, get to the maximum and you have that maximum forever, because you spent the stardust to get there. We are going to move away from the RNG aspect and allow you to complete Astrology.

StrawHat

I'm not sure if you're looking at the chat, people are so happy about that. They were all haters, they were all haters.

Prat

Well, we're pretty happy, as well.

StrawHat

Yeah okay, and we're all happy, we're all happy. Now we're gonna move on to town on a ship. Township Part One. We've got a lot of theories around here, so what is Township, and how will it work in Melvor?

Malcs

Okay so, Township Part One. We've always referred to this as Melvor’s version of construction, and since we have referred to it as that, it has very much grown since then. Township itself is an integrated town management simulator within your game. It is a Non-Combat skill, so you do have to train it to Level 99. The main aspect of Township is to develop, and build a town. We have around 50 or 60 different buildings that you can build to increase your population, increase your education, increase your happiness, all sorts of different mechanics to increase the output and generation of your town, including a unique biome generated map that everyone's going to be able to use.

So everyone's town is going to be unique to them. What Township will do is integrate into the game itself and backwards, so stuff that you do within the general game, you can use that to help your town. And if your town is at a level of management, you can get your town to benefit yourself back into the game. We're still finalizing details on what exactly the town is going to provide you, but we hope that what we do have in store is going to be exciting for you.

StrawHat

Sounds very exciting. We have a lot of people popping off in the chat, as would be expected. Prat do you have anything extra to add to that?

Prat

I just want to say that this is just Part One for now. We wanted to get the building solid. We wanted to bring it up to a point where we were happy with the building mechanics, and (where) we're happy with how it plays along with everything else. So, we'll also be trying to experiment with things like an optional task system, as well. We'll be able to help your townsfolk with any problems they'll have, as well. But in saying that, yeah, it's the main focus of Part One was just to make sure everything is correct, and everything feels good to play, and to nail the management aspect of it. And you know when we're ready, we'll get Part Two up and running. And Malcs, would you like to say something about Part Two?

StrawHat

You skipped one thing –

Malcs

Yeah, you did skip a question.

StrawHat

Prat, come on. I'm the host here, you're not trying to take my job.

So, back on track now. What is the difference between Township compared to other skills in the game?

Malcs

Yeah, so I will get into Part Two and the Part One aspect, and what exactly that means, so be prepared for that.

Township is very much quite different to any other skill we've made. It is by far the biggest skill we have added to the game. I did mention previously that Township was a Non-Combat skill, however Township is actually going to have no Mastery. You don't have to worry about Mastery in Township. There's no reason to add it, there's no place for Mastery. It's just a self-contained building management simulator.

Township is also designed to be leveled alongside all your other skills, so as you progress through the game, you'll usually go back and check on what's going on in your town and assist people there. As Prat mentioned earlier, we have a task system being tested and developed for Township. This is kind of like our version of a quest system, where your townsfolk will give you a task to complete outside of Township. Go get the resources, go help with this to get some bonuses through your town or some XP or something. So, Township is something for you to look after. You know, when you log into the game collect your progress, go to your town to see if anyone needs anything, spend a few minutes here and there trying to trying to help your town. It's very, very different in how it plays. Township's also passive. It's a passive skill. You don't have to stop training anything else to train Township. So that's another good aspect. It's not going to affect anything else. You can do it whenever you like.

StrawHat

Okay. Now with that in mind, we're at the question. Prat, do you want to ask it?

Prat

Malcs we mentioned it's only Part One.

Malcs

Yes.

Prat

Could you please tell us why?

Malcs

Okay so Part One, Part Two. When we developed Township, we accidentally made it too big. So we had to cut it in half. What happens here is Part One is all about managing your town. Part One is all about building your town, looking after your people. It is set inside the normal world. What Part Two is gonna implement is that you are not the only town in the Melvor world. There's other towns out there, and you're gonna have to manage that aspect, as well. Whether it be through an alliance, or being their enemy through Combat disagreements, politics that kind of stuff.

So Combat will be added to Township, and you're going to have to manage that aspect. In Part Two what we have, just to give you kind of an idea of what to expect, one of the first things you're going to be asked in Township is to select your god. One of the four gods in Melvor, that your town will be worshiping, will provide a unique bonus to you. What's going to happen in Part Two is that there are towns out there that worship a different god, and they don't like your god. So you're going to be butting heads for quite some time to settle this kind of disagreement. So yeah, further into the future, Part Two is the Combat aspect of Township.

StrawHat

This is all so exciting. I can tell exactly how excited the chat is, they're going off in Discord and here on Twitch. So there's a lot to look forward to, you know, per usual. We're over achievers. We did a little too much, we are going to break it up. But we're not done. Is there anything else you'd like to reveal about what be may be coming to Melvor Idle?

Malcs

Yeah, so I have a unannounced project that I'd like to finally announce to everyone that we've been working on for the past four months at this stage. One of the biggest things, or one of the coolest things, about the Melvor community is the scripting and extension side of it. So what I can announce is that we are adding official cross-platform mod support to Melvor Idle.

What this means is that we are developing an inbuilt mod manager and mod browser on every single platform of the game. People can create and develop mods for Melvor and upload it to this manager, and you'll be able to access those mods throughout every single platform. We've actually brought on the developer of the Melvor Bond manager, for anyone that knows that, and he is actually leading the development of this official mod support. What will also come with this is that there'll be an integrated game API that people who create mods can access, where you can add an assortment of stuff to the game. So what we're really looking at is being able to make Melvor Idle completely customizable with user-generated content. And it's going to be awesome to finally see what people could come up with.

StrawHat

Yes it is very exciting, because I know you know better than anyone else – our community is very creative. So I'm interested to see what kind of mods we'll see come out of this. Now, it's time to transition into some of the nitty gritty details that we have to share with players. One that I know we've seen a lot as well. When will Expansion 1 be released?

Malcs

Ah yes, the the release date. When can you get your hands on it? All right, so as you've heard, this Expansion is massive. It is the biggest Expansion – well the biggest update – we've ever attempted to develop. So the Expansion One will be releasing in Q3 of 2022. As we get closer to that date, we will give you an exact date. However it's still currently in very active development. Things are still changing quite rapidly, and custom artwork is still being done for it. And once all that's complete, it will go on to testing. The whole thing is getting localized, and all that does take time. So, Q3 2022 is when the official release date will be.

StrawHat

Perfect. Okay then, will it be available on all platforms at the same time?

Malcs

Yes, so Expansion One will release on every single platform Melvor is available on at the exact same time.

Holly

Okay okay perfect, as we usually do it, so no surprise there. Then the question that also has been asked a lot, will this Expansion cost money?

Malcs

Yes, so this is a question I've seen quite recently, quite a lot, as well. Since we've talked about the Expansion, there's a few things we had to consider with this. The main one is where exactly we want Melvor to go into the future, and whether or not, and how long we've actually wanted to support it for. So I can announce that some of this Expansion will be paid, and I'll get into that in a second.

The reason for the paid aspect of the Expansion is that Melvor has become something a lot bigger than I expected two years ago. You know, if we look back to two years, of when I was working on this – I was working a full-time job, coming home, sitting in my bedroom, and just coding this cool game that I thought was pretty great that people were playing. And it was my way to learn how to code a game.

And then you go on through the years, and you just see how much it has grown. I now have a team of people. Prat is working for me full-time, I'm working full-time on this. I've got CoolRox working as a developer, I've got artists, as well. You know, Melvor has become basically my life. And I don't want Melvor to go anywhere. And to be able to sustain Melvor far, far, far into the future, I do need to release some paid Expansions. So moving forward, all of these Expansions, there will be a paid aspect to it.

Now in terms of cost, this Expansion is going to cost $4.99 USD. And it's going to work the same as it does currently, where you can purchase the Expansion on one platform and it will unlock on every single other platform. So you only have to buy it in one place, and you have it all.

What part's going to cost money? The Level 120 content is the paid aspect. So you need to pay $4.99 USD to access Level 120 content. Township, the mod manager, quality of life, bug fixes, anything that we add that is not after Level 99 is free. Every single person is getting that free. And my goal with these Expansions is to ensure that people that do not wish to spend money on an Expansion is getting a big content drop for free. Because you've already bought the game, and so that's more than enough. I want to make sure that you are still getting the updates you deserve.

Just to recap, $4.99 USD for the Expansion. Level 120 content is the only paid aspect. And everything else we have discussed is free.

StrawHat

Incredible. I'm seeing a lot of people in the chat and some people said, “please let me give you money.” You can, go ahead. There's Patreon, there.

Malcs

We are really – we wanted to make sure it was very fair. Because you know, Expansions would never cost near how much the game's going to cost. And we want to make sure it's as fair to the players as possible. It's something that I've valued since I started making this game. That I want to make sure that the monetization model of normal (mode) is as fair to the players as possible. So, I hope that I can continue to prove that to you guys, and yeah, show you that the content you will receive in these Expansions is definitely worth it.

StrawHat

Exactly, exactly that's something. Players will always come first for Melvor, and I hope that you guys can all see that.

So that is actually the end of, sort of, the discussion around Expansion One, and now we're gonna dive into some player questions that we have. All right, we've received a ton of questions for this stream, but we only have so much time that we're allowed to air today, so we're going to dive right in with our first question.

Question 1

Our first question is something that we already discussed, will we ever see individual masteries reach Level 120? Let me just make sure that you guys don't ask me this again.

Malcs

Yes we are answering this question again, just so you do know the answer. Good thing to emphasize here is the ever aspect. There's no reason for masteries to ever go to Level 120. So you're safe. Level 99 it is. Don't worry about that level cap increasing, we're staying at Level 99.

StrawHat

Gorgeous. And that question came from Arlitub.

Question 2

StrawHat

Our next question comes from tsothoga. Sorry ahead of time if I mispronounce all of these, because I might. So the question is, will new content (new skills, existing skills from 100 to 120, new dungeons, etc.) be gated behind walls or difficulty checks that make the content inaccessible to brand new players or recently started players?

Malcs

Yeah, so in terms of gating the content for like new or recent players, yes of course the Level 120 content will be gated. Because you do need Level 100 at least to start that content. This also has to do with the dungeons, as well. And the Combat content, all the content, does come after Impending Darkness. However, what we have done and decided on in terms of this – because what currently happens is Impending Darkness does require level 99 in every skill to even access for the Expansion – we're going to remove that so you'll be able to access Impending Darkness whenever you're ready. That way you can actually go to Level 120 content when you're actually prepared, rather than getting it behind a level requirement. For Township, no. There's no gates for that. You do require some resources from the game itself to actually start building your town, but there isn't really any get level locks or gates for that one.

Question 3

StrawHat

All right, perfect, thank you, Malcs. Then our next question comes from Rhyzak, and the question is: Will there be a hunting skill added to Melvor? It could function similar to farming, but not take so long. What do you think Malcs?

Malcs

No, there's no plan for hunting. I'll let Prat get into the details of why this is, but hunting isn't really something I see that Melvor has a place for. There's no where really that it can fit, especially looking at the current metas of Melvor, adding hunting wouldn't really make much difference. And to me it doesn't necessarily make sense to add it. I know people won't like that because it is a much beloved skill from RuneScape, but I personally don't see a place for it just yet in Melvor. yeah, what do you think prat?

Prat

We looked into it. It's just we never really had any decent ideas when we were taking a look, and how it plays. So as much as we, you know, looked into it, and wanted to have sort of a hunting skill, sadly it needs a certain niche right now. And there hasn't been any good ideas, just yet. So, I won’t, unlike Malcs, I won't say completely no. But I'd say that we don't have anything just yet.

Question 4

StrawHat

I love it, I love it. We'll team up against Malcs, it's fine. Okay, then our next question comes from sheshadarshian. Again apologies on any names being mispronounced. Are there any plans to support mods that can add new items / new skills?

Malcs

Well good thing we did actually announce mod support. However, what I can announce on top of that is, yes I did speak roughly about an integrated API that mods can access and this API will indeed allow you to create custom items, custom skills, custom game modes, custom monsters, just an assortment of stuff. So, we want to make sure we can give the player as much control as possible with the mods. I will say that I cannot confirm that everything in this API will be available on release, because we will be working on it into the far future to unlock more stuff. However the plan we do have is to make sure that if you can see it in Melvor, it can be changed or added or removed.

Question 5

StrawHat

Wow, okay. Very interesting. Again, I cannot wait to see what the players do with the kind of freedom that we're going to allow them to have. It's going to get messy.

We'll move on to the next question then. This question comes from willingchampion3059: I know it's probably unrealistic to ask, but in the future do you have any plans to incorporate a multiplayer aspect (grand exchange, co-op raid dungeons, rare drops). I know we've had this question thrown at us a thousand times, but I've also seen it in the chat a thousand times already in this stream. So go ahead and let him, let him hear it, Malcs.

Malcs

There's never a week that goes by without someone suggesting some multiplayer aspect.

StrawHat

Have you ever considered PvP? (sarcastically)

Malcs

No, I haven't actually good idea!

We're not adding multiplayer aspects to this game. I designed this game to be a very solo experience, and that is exactly how it's going to stay. There are zero plans for any multiplayer aspect, this includes even an in-game chat, like it's staying as a unique solo experience single player experience. So no, we will not be adding any multiplayer aspect.

StrawHat

All right. Rip everyone in the chat, you heard him.

Malcs

Unless you get a mod for it.

StrawHat

There you go. yeah, that's right. We’re just gonna keep the mod people busy.

Question 6

StrawHat

Okay then our next question. Arlitub actually had another question for us, and it was: Will you ever consider putting in sounds? Sound when reaching the end of a dungeon, running out of runes, finishing a wave in the Golbin Raid, etc. It might really help the alt-tabbers out. Also, go ahead and answer if there's going to be a soundtrack, as well. Because you know we hear that a lot.

Malcs

Yeah, so one of my goals for Melvor is to have a unique soundtrack. I would absolutely love to get an original soundtrack for Melvor. But that's far into the future. That's a lot of work. But that is something I'd like.

In terms of that, in terms of sounds, it hasn't really been on my mind to add sounds to the game. Just because of the idle aspect, you have to be really careful when you add sounds to an idle game, because a player will potentially be hearing that sound over and over and over and over again. And another aspect of this is that, one of the first things I used to do in idle games is mute the sound. I don't really see a place for it.

However I can't deny that adding like, an audio notification or something when you have like, a major milestone in the game has happened or something that needs your attention now. Especially for those that do have the game open all the time, I do think that would be a good idea. But there aren’t any current plans to actually add that.

StrawHat

Okay you heard it there. Maybe another mod. Maybe another mod. The world is your oyster now, chat, the world is your oyster.

Question 7

StrawHat

Okay on to our next question. Our next question comes from Rhyzak: more mini games question mark? The Golbin Raid mini game is pretty fun, but a bit too reliant on rng right now for gear. Are there any plans for a mini game that doesn't rely so heavily on rng?

Malcs

So when we look at mini games, the whole purpose of mini games was just to add you know something different that's still in the Melvor world. But it should be, you know, something that you can play just for fun, something hopefully quick. So I guess RNG kind of helps with a lot of that, because you kind of want it to be something different every time you play it. If you remove the RNG element, it kind of becomes the best build you can go for. You know, I need to min-max this, so I can do well in it. So it's not something that we want to remove, especially for mini games. I could say there are a few other mini games that we have in planning, just for the future. But you know, when we have time, we'll talk about it, as well.

StrawHat

Okay we're gonna leave you hanging on that one though, chat. We're not gonna say anymore. Just keep your eyes peeled.

Question 8

StrawHat

All right, our next question comes from goldoni91: Is there any ETA of an offline mode on mobile?

Malcs

Yeah, so (it’s) something that I do definitely want to add to the game. For those that don't know what they're talking about, currently Melvor Idle does require internet connection to load. What they're asking is if there's an ETA on the offline aspect, where you can access the game totally offline. There is no ETA on the offline version of the game, however it is very much on the to-do list. So I can confirm it's going to come, but I just cannot confirm exactly when.

Question 9

StrawHat

Okay, very, very good. Then we're gonna move on to our next question that we have. We're getting near the end of our time. Chat, tell us that you're sad. Our next question comes from Alex_Demote, and it says what do you want to accomplish before calling this game finished?

Malcs

Yeah, I think that's a very difficult question to answer. Actually calling a game finished is one of the hardest things a game developer can do. To a game developer, game is never finished. There's always something you can add, and making that decision to call it finished is very tough. I don't know what I'd like to accomplish before I call them all finished. I can say that there is no way that that's happening anytime soon. I do want to keep working on Melvor, because there's so much that we can do with it. We can continue to push the idle genre, and that's something I really want to try to accomplish. Before calling it finished, it'll just have to be when Melvor is in a spot where I'm happy with it, (where) it's self-sustaining. Where I'm happy, I can go yep, like I've put so much work into this that I'm very much happy with the state of this and to move on from it. but I can't see that happening anytime soon at all. I absolutely love this game, and I just want to keep working on it.

Question 10

StrawHat

I don't think any of us can see it happening, either, considering how big Expansion one is. We cannot imagine what's coming down the road. With that in mind, our next question kind of builds off of that. From slayer21809, will you ever make more games or stick to updating malware only?

Malcs

I mean more games is always on the to-do list. I would absolutely love to work on another project. You know as you work on a game for so long, you always have these ideas that just never make it in or don't fit the current game, and those ideas could very much be used in another project. So I would absolutely love to work on another project in the future, but for now my priority is absolutely Melvor, and I'm just going to stick to updating Melvor for the foreseeable future.

Question 11

StrawHat

We have a couple fun questions to end the stream on now. So the next question is one of my favourites. It's coming from NFU2, and it is when are we getting the official Melvor Idle dating sim? We've been waiting for a while now. I've seen a lot of people spamming this in the chat.

Malcs

Well, thank god mod support's coming right?

Prat

Thank god for mod support.

Malcs

No, I absolutely love what could be created with the official mod sport. But I am absolutely scared for what can be created with official mods. So any modders out there, have the time of your life, and show me what you got.

StrawHat

Any modders in the chat? The challenge has been issued.

Question 12

StrawHat

We have our final question of the night. Our final question is coming from debbiepebble. When will Larry the Lonely Lizard get a friend?

Malcs

Well, you can answer this question with a question. When was the last time you actually pet him, you know? He's been sitting in your pet log for ages. Then consider, why is he lonely? And go, oh oh oh. Right. Poor Larry has been sitting there so lonely for so long, no love, no affection. Since you unlocked him, have you pet him? Did you pet him when you unlocked him?

StrawHat

There we go.

Malcs

Poor Larry.

Prat

Poor Larry.

StrawHat

Poor Larry. I’ve seen a lot of !petlarry's, I don't think the bot can even keep up with all of y'all. So it seems like he's on his way to being a little less lonely.

All right, team! This marks the end of our first ever Melvor Idle live stream. I hope everyone has had a good time, because it's been a lot of fun on our end. We put a lot of work into prepping for this, really excited to have seen the reaction from the amazing community. So let us know if these streams are something that you would like to see more of in the future, because we'd be more than happy to do that.

Until next time, thank you so much for tuning in. We'll have this vod uploaded on YouTube in the next few days and a transcript coming out around the same time. We'll have a TL;DR going out very shortly, after this live stream, so stick around for that. You'll be able to share that around. Have a great weekend, folks! Goodbye from me!

Prat

See you!

Malcs

Thank you so much everyone! Thanks so much for tuning in, it's so good to finally be able explain the expansion to you, so thanks so much for that, I really appreciate you being here.

StrawHat

Bye everyone we'll see you next time!