My goal with Chapter I was to make it clear that we're fully embracing RPG elements, not shying away from them. Now, as I said before, it's also important to work on the basics: better crafting, progression, and everything around them that makes a good game. A lot is going to change; I don't say this lightly. I'm not afraid of it all. The game loop we have today serves early access quite well, but it won't be the one we have in the future. The world will be the main character, thanks to world gen v2. That being said, I had a great time working on and playing Chapter I myself, but I'm not blind to the fact that the old world gen, progression, and crafting feel very dated. Our vision for Hytale is much grander than what it is today, and given how well Chapter I went, I truly believe we have the team, community, and support to get there. Another goal was to see how our production would hold up. This is a brand new team, rebuilt from the ground up just a few months ago, so we needed to learn where to hire and how to adjust our planning. Chapter I was a great first chapter to learn from, and the results were incredible. More than 80% of our hires in the past few months were from the modding community! While the team is busy with the cozy stuff, I'm personally working on revamping weapon and armor itemization by adding affixes and ways for players to improve their crafted and looted items. As simple as it sounds, it's another transformative change, because it lets us add reward vectors across the entire game. The first version will look basic at first glance, but it will grow over time, with affixes like "minion damage" that work with future minion runes, and much more, to create a wide variety of builds. I've been a big ARPG player since the late 90s, so you can expect to see a lot of inspiration. Cheers all, see you soon. Simon

Congrats @Taf_The_Penguin on winning $15,000 for completing my hardcore challenge!