Originally posted by GinsengSamurai:

If the game is to receive Mistlands, Ashlands, and Far North one day, then I surmise 4-5 years (2025-2026) after initial Early Access is a good amount of time needed to release Valheim version 1.0.

Funny how 4 updates in 1 year turned into 4 updates in 4 years, huh? A miscalculation of 1200% on time required. And so far we haven't even seen a "major update" on the game, certainly not of the caliber that other games receive.

I simply got comfortable on the fence, and for now I suggest instead of buying it, people simply wait and see what updates it receives. Putting money into Early Access with a team that's working hard and on-track (with a game that looks very promising) is one thing, but when the team goes off-track by 1200%... the investment seems better withheld.

It's unfortunate that teams in Early Access aren't held to the same standard that teams working for direct investors are (i.e. a company). Which means to say - accountable for delays, constantly communicating their project status, milestones reached, expected new milestones, etc. We as investors are basically in the dark, because there's little accountability.

To directly answer the OP: It's Early Access - the game's basic framework (Alpha development) and major features/areas/systems are of paramount importance. Adding in things like additional foods, building textures/sets, and so on is what Beta is for. There is a certain amount that needs to be bugfixed to keep gamers that invested happy, but overall we should see the single LARGEST push for content during Alpha. Unfortunately, we haven't.