Motivation is a ****

[Lady Isabelle]

Hey everyone. Still on my break, however after some thinking there is something I want to discuss.

I almost didn't come back to modding. I've been struggling with anxiety and depression(tm) over having to resume working. I was ready to give up, again. Why is that? The core reason is the work load. This hasn't been the first time I've done this either. A decade ago I wanted to do 23856832 things, then gave up instantly. This time it's different. I know how to better manage myself, yet still it wasn't enough. I've come to the realization is that despite better management, I still have 3478252345 things to do. I'm one person, and I've primarily worked on the majority of the features of the mod, with occasional help of other modders. This is too much work for one meatbag, I need to trim the fat.

So here's what's happening for the mod's future:

There is another surprise in the works, with the help of some friends. When it's done, I'll let you all know.

I'm still isolating myself from reading what's happening on discord, and letting an anonymous community manager keep a tab on things. I'm only opening my DMs to people of interest. I have multiple mental health problems ongoing as mentioned before, and I still need to disconnect. This will most likely be indefinite.

I go on and on about things i'd like to do with the mod, and I have a massive list of things I want to do to 'complete' 0.2. That list is getting trimmed down to bare bones. There wont be nearly as many features as I'd wish to have in the mod. Instead the essentials will be put in. 30+ pages of planned features for a major update is too much for me. Keep in mind this is still just planned stuff for 0.2. When I get back to work, I'll post an updated to-do list that is much more leaner. Stuff being removed includes, but not limited to the Mercenary rework.

Originally I wanted to have <every> item base to have a unique and set variant. That is unreasonable, especially since I'm doing this from scratch. Instead, a handful of items will have unique and set variants, where appropriate. Ideally to cover several build archtypes.

Apart from reworking familiar, which will come in 0.3 there wont be anymore additional necromancer changes.

The fire / cold / lightning sets for necromancer that really don't fit with the necro will now have adjusted items to fit any class. Magic and poison sets may come in the future. That however, will be shoved into 0.3

Jewel tweaks will also come in 0.3. The plan is to make them a little less stale, but the actual changes done will be minimal.

There was an intended overarching story that I plan on working on for the mod's end-game. I've decided that the current uberquest will be the finale of the mod, as I'm satisfied with the result and work put in. Overtime however I may add additional rewards, such as a unique charm (like hellfire torch) and different drop bias for each enemy type (such as runes, jewelery etc).

With all this in mind, hopefully this should ease up the burden. I want to finish this project. At this rate it's not for popularity, praise, or even if the mod is good. I want to finish something I've started. This has been a struggle for me every since I learned how to mod. This is a huge challenge for me personally, and I don't want it to beat me.

I hope you all have a safe and pleasant holidays. I'll resume working on the mod at the start of the next year.