Originally posted by Archdeacon Monseigneur:

just killed the queen with a buddy of mine, and for all we know the game has now been completed until the next major update.

...

i remember getting this exact feeling of "what do we do now..?" when killing Yagluth in the previous patch.

well, yeh... it's early access...
of course it's not finished.
what were you expecting instead? :L

Originally posted by Webbman:

Nothing stopping you from getting the other gear and working on the new skills, maybe build a new castle near (but not too near) the Ashlands. You know thats coming so you could prepare for that.

and u probably have to start over

The game is a sandbox create ur own content or just use mods since vanilla is super lackluster

And that is the difference between a live service game and not.

Live service games tend to continue to trickle new content to players over time so they will always have a way to progress their characters while games like Valheim (or Subnautica, The Long Dark, etc.), even as sand-boxy as they are, have a defined end to their story.

But for many that 'story' and progressing to its end does not comprise their whole game experience and that is where the sandbox comes in. For example they may be builders and they still enjoy creating long after having finished the 'story'.

If you are a player that thrives on progression then probably your only meaningful options are to start a new game or wait for more content.

build a massive base and stockpile resources for the next bigger release. if youre only there for character/boss progression youll run out in no time every time as clearing a biome as fast as possible to progress simply never was the idea of the game thats for certain.

the only longer progression is skill leveling. but weapons past 70 take ages to level up as far as i can see. my bow skill is on 73 since a few DAYS of playing now.

but soon pickaxe will reach 100 finally and then ill mine out odin himself with it.

the entrance exploit is being patched out next minor update.
the incentive is on you some too, for sandbox games. You want to play magic, why not go play magic? Craft it, level it, and fight the fixed queen with it or go do a couple of mines wearing the new armor and wielding fire. What do we do now? I made a new base, and have been working on a warehouse to hold 4 stacks of all the high demand items in the game for a buffer. Ive set up the traps and ballistas to defend it and intentionally left it a bit weaker to raids than usual so I have to protect it and am learning to work with my defenses so I don't get shot or bear trapped. I found and cleared 2 frost caves because I wanted red carpet this time. I upgraded my mistlands base with a bunch of fog clearing torch stations. Stuff.. find stuff to do.

Originally posted by jonnin:

the entrance exploit is being patched out next minor update.
the incentive is on you some too, for sandbox games. You want to play magic, why not go play magic? Craft it, level it, and fight the fixed queen with it or go do a couple of mines wearing the new armor and wielding fire. What do we do now? I made a new base, and have been working on a warehouse to hold 4 stacks of all the high demand items in the game for a buffer. Ive set up the traps and ballistas to defend it and intentionally left it a bit weaker to raids than usual so I have to protect it and am learning to work with my defenses so I don't get shot or bear trapped. I found and cleared 2 frost caves because I wanted red carpet this time. I upgraded my mistlands base with a bunch of fog clearing torch stations. Stuff.. find stuff to do.

that sounds like a lot of busywork / hobby stuff that doesn't really serve a progressive purpose, which is what i am looking for.
hence the post.

There wont be any incentive to keep playing after you finish the game, even after its full release.

It's not the type of game the devs are making.

If you want to replay it, that's purely on the user, but the devs have stated they have no intention to have that kind of post game content to keep players going after finishing.

Story/Objective done, games done.

Originally posted by Hiryukaen:

There wont be any incentive to keep playing after you finish the game, even after its full release.

It's not the type of game the devs are making.

If you want to replay it, that's purely on the user, but the devs have stated they have no intention to have that kind of post game content to keep players going after finishing.

Story/Objective done, games done.

seems like a missed opportunity to me. but ok.
if we at least get like a end-game cinematic i'll be fine with something like that.
but even at this unfinished stage of the game it would be nice with... more to do, before it ends.

imo every zone should have a finishing cinematic, or some in-game event that happens for some more grandure impact on the player, like at the beginning when that raven-lady-valkyrie thing flies you into the starting spawn.

for meadows (Eikthyr) this could be something simple as its just the starting point of the game.
for elder it could be some kind of scene involving the greydwarfs.
for swamps it could be about disinfecting the swamps and put the dead to rest.
for the plains it would be about conquering the zone and watch the goblins flee or something.
for the mistlands it would be clearing the mist and and lifting the curse - removing the need to use wisplights to see.

just ANYTHING to show the player "You're done here, congratulations you beat (this stage of) the game"

a gory video of chopping off the boss head and dragging it off toward the distant but visible in the video standing stones?
But I hate OOBE videos. If they do that, it needs to be opt out.

Ugh... so basically you want more content. You can't get more. Devs are working on it but the game will end anyway.

This is a sandbox game, where you can skip parts of it, go to places in different order. Cinematics wouldn't make any sense, since killing the boss doesn't change anything in the world. You just get an item which is required for some part of the progression.

"just ANYTHING to show the player "You're done here, congratulations you beat (this stage of) the game""
There is a thing like this. Placing the trophy inside the Ring.

Early access sandbox game in a nutshell.

Nothing stopping you from getting the other gear and working on the new skills, maybe build a new castle near (but not too near) the Ashlands. You know thats coming so you could prepare for that.