Originally posted by RedHaze1911:

Originally posted by Hiryukaen:

The plot of the game establishes that it's essentially a wasteland devoid of life other than monsters

Xept for 9 other people u mean? xD

You asked what the devs will do, not what players can do. Players are sent there specifically by Odin. Between the intro text and the runestones it's explained it's devoid of other "people," exceptions being the merchants which seem to have unfinished lore but have been hinted that they have a way to travel into Valheim, at least one way and mistlands npcs who are either one of the only remaining civilizations or have/had the same ability as merchants.

There are runestones that chronicle previous iterations, Ulf, Astrid, Harald, Gudrun and probably more in the future.