I am a software engineer who quit my day job to build a fantasy MMORPG. AMA!

Just what percentage of this MMO is science-based? Just how much of it involves dragon-breeding?

The game has tons of stuff that is science based!

The rate that you fall is based on Newton's laws. Also, things like the phases of the moon and day/night cycles are accurate to the real world (if the earth was spinning 10 times faster, and the moon was orbiting the earth 10 times faster).

Also, unlike a lot of 2d games, the human proportions are fairly accurate to the real world.

There is no dragon breeding yet, but I have always wanted to add dragons to Aberoth. A fantasy game needs dragons. If I do add them, though, where do I go from there, what tops that? Until I add dragons, the game will never be done. Also, large creatures are much harder to draw and animate than smaller ones.

As a game developer, my advice to anyone making their first game is to start small, and to certainly not make an mmo. You have not only made an mmo, but it has been released and has seen some success.

What would you say has made you the exception to the rule?

What would your advice be to others who are making their first game?

This was not strictly the first game I wrote, but is the first game I put a substantial number of hours into, and my first commercial game.

Thank you for thinking I am a success! I feel I have quite a way to go, but I'm getting there. I think persistence is what got me this far, just the raw number of hours I have put into the development of the game. I think it also helps that the graphics are basic, and a lot of the game is text, so that adding new things is not an insurmountable task.

As far as advice, the "just do it" cliche works pretty well. Also, if you make an online game, I would suggest releasing it to the public as soon as possible. Aberoth was horrible when it was first released, but I followed the advice that if you are not at least a bit embarrassed by your first release, you released too late. I did not even see a lot of the problems until other people started playing.

In the current indie game climate, I would consider anything above crickets chirping a success. The vast bulk of indie games make next to zero money, while the top few are breakout successes. If you can meagerly sustain yourself, you're probably doing better than 85% of the games out there. I hope that your transition to full-time development helps get you into even more success!

I am wrapping up a year of personal time off to work on my own projects, and will hopefully rejoin the professional work force soon. I can relate to how bewilderingly terrifying your full-time decision probably was. Good luck!

Thanks for the perspective. The decision was extremely difficult, but I figured that I still have skills, so if I need to I can go back to the corporate again world later.

I hope you had fun and learned a lot from your personal projects.

I've spent the last 4 years playing Aberoth and I'm thrilled to be able to ask you anything - so after god knows how many thousands of hours I've put into your game, one question has always played on my mind, whats your favourite cheese Simple?

Cheddar.

How sharp do you like it?

That is hard to say, since I am not a cheddar expert, and am not aware of any universal cheddar sharpness scale. Maybe slightly sharper than normal. I don't like the super sharp stuff, though.

Have you ever started or fully developed and iteams or npc but then trashed it completely? or is their anything in aberoth that you made but no one has ever seen?

I have not really had any huge area or NPC that I have trashed. I have started on a lot of stuff that I have either thrown away, or have not used yet. The realm of protection was something that was fully developed but then removed.

As far as secret stuff, I once added a room that you could only teleport to, and filled it with several very rare gems. That took people a while to find. The mirror was in the game for a few months before anyone found it.

There is actually one item in the game that no one has found yet. I never announced it because I don't really expect anyone to find it ever possibly, and I did not want people to be frustrated looking for it. There are probably also some lines of text that no one has seen.

The benefit of being a sole developer is that I can add things that no one knows about, that are not on any spoiler sites. I plan on adding more unannounced items in the future. I think it would be cool if there were always 5 or 10 unknown items / places in the game at all times. As soon as one was discovered I could add another.

I have not played your game, but as an avid gamer that loved hidden knickknacks (like FF7), the ability to randomly reward exploration through adding these things is beyond amazing. I hope you continue to add things where it pays to play (in rich experiences) as opposed to pay to play (those experiences) experiences.

Reminds me of Ready Player One. ;)

I do think adding things things like this differentiates Aberoth from huge mainstream games. Players actually have some chance of finding something no one else has seen before, which is not realistic in a huge MMO.

I also try very hard not to make the game pay to win. There is really only one level of advantage, which is a membership, but everyone who has a membership is on equal footing. You can also do pretty much everything in the game without a membership.

My hope is that everyone who plays a lot will eventually get a membership to support the game.

Do you plan to flesh out the pet system a bit more? White wolfs are pretty cool and all but they are super weak and pretty difficult to heal.

I have had a lot of requests to improve pets. I could give wolves the ability to level up, which might be cool. Not sure about healing. Maybe there could be a way to feed a potion to a pet, that way they could be healed, sped, etc.

Still, I wonder if it would be too traumatic to lose one after spending so much time leveling them up. I think that is one reason I did not spend more time on them, since they have permadeath. Hmmm, I guess resurrect could still work.

Why is it a rare occurance for you to log onto your in game account simple these days?

The main reason is that when I log on as Simple, it is difficult to play the game. I actually play the game quite a bit as alternate characters, so I can experience problems and annoyances in the game, and to try to get new ideas on what to add.

I do like talking to people that play the game, though, and talk to players daily through email.

Another problem with talking to player online is that it is hard to pay attention to everyone at the same time, and I don't like to play favorites.

All that said, I will try to make an effort in the future to log on more as Simple.

When will you add a new area to aberoth? :D

I hope that I will release a new area in the next few months. I new area is a massive undertaking since it requires new mobs, items, and scenery, but I know it is what people want!

Can you give us an idea of how many hours you'd have to put into to create a new area? for example the maze?

Just rough estimates: The maze maybe took 15 hours to build. The minotaur maybe 20 hours. 15 for the master thief. 20 for the rat. A new item probably takes 5-10 hours to create, depending on how complicated or novel it is. So, I would say ballpark 100 hours for a zone like the maze.

I love aberoth and what you have done with it, But what gave you the idea for the theme of aberoth simple?

I'm glad you like the game!

I played a lot of nethack when I was younger, so a lot of the basics are from that (scrolls, potions, rings, wands, etc). Of course nethack itself is just based on a lot of standard DnD stuff, so I am not really reinventing the wheel there.

Nethack was also super brutal, which is also how Aberoth started (no engraving, full loot drop). It is still very hard, but I realized that it needed to be softer since it was an online persistent game. Losing everything is just too much to take.

The graphics are simple so that it is possible for me to add new things at a reasonable rate. It still takes a long time, but it is at least possible.

What are some games you enjoy?

Earlier this year, I bought played through Diablo 3 and the expansion. That game is so beautiful! I also spent quite a bit of time on Agario, and got pretty good at it.

I spent hundreds of hours on FTL a few years ago, but have not played it in a while.

I am not playing anything now (except Aberoth!). I will probably buy The Witness when it has a sale of 50% off or more.

What was your life like growing up? Where do you currently fall in te economic class system and where were u when you grew up? How many siblings do you have?

I grew up middle class, and still am pretty much middle class, economics wise. I have 4 siblings, who I played a lot of games with (board games and computer games), when I was younger.

Do/Have your siblings played Aberoth?

Yes, they have all played, but I don't think they are currently active.

First~thanks for the always fast response times to emails and genuine care. I was wondering: would you ever consider consolidating the realms or do you like the spread out idea? Only other thing i could ask is if i or any other in the community could ever help with anything (free help :D) whether that be small coding jobs or even design based like squid once tried to do. Anything would be cool for US to do to help you progress Aberoth further!

I don't think I will consolidate the realms. My goal is to fill them up with people! In any case, the population is too high for one realm to support everyone, and I don't want to be constantly merging realms. I want people to feel their home realm is stable.

How do scroll dim and glows work in aberoth?

This is one of the unsolved mysteries of Aberoth!

I have given hints that:

1) It is not random.

2) players cannot influence when scrolls glow or go dark in any way.

what do you mean by players can't influence like its based on moon or something similar or that it requires to much input for 1 or 2 people to do.

It is impossible for any one player or combination of players to have any influence.

Did you make the right choice in leaving to make it?

So far, yes!

I have enough savings to do this for at least a year, but at that point I will need to re-evaluate. If the game is still growing, my plan is to stick with it. If it does not work out, I will have to try something else.

Any idea's for what you might make if it does not work out?

I'm not sure. I don't have too much of a plan B!

Great news that you're having success after having quit your full-time gig! Good luck to you in the future. I had no idea!

Anyway, not sure if I'm too late for this, but ...

Could you share some of your ideas for new areas?

Thanks Ternarian!

Here are some general ideas of things I want to add to the game, in no particular order. Adding all of these would take more than a year!

Ocean, perhaps with a small island zone. Lakes and rivers or creeks. Permanently snowy area. Swamp Mountainous area Demon underworld area More dungeons (maybe a low level goblin dungeon).

A PvP area (arena) where there is no xp loss on death, and all kills are considered justified (no wanted or infamy) Also, possibly no engraved items allowed.

Music

Additional servers in different parts of the world for improved latency. All of Aberoth will still be accessible to everyone in the world, but someone's home realm could be on server close to them. For example, the black circle realm could be on a European server.

Languages other than English.

Throwing weapons, bows and arrows.

Dragons!

Hi Simple, thank you for the op game.

• How many unique players play the game on a given day?
• Do you have other games in the works?
• How can the aberoth community help you?

A couple suggestions - I play your game a lot. I have spent 5x times more money to trade for items than on my actual characters in game. I understand you want to keep the game affordable but

1. Please create a Aberoth trading store where you can atleast get some percent of the trade and it is safer for users to trade.
2. Maybe give the users an option to purchase some aberoth goodies like a shirt etc.

I don't have the numbers for a day, but in the past 7 days there were 1391 champions played from unique IP address. I would consider that the number of actual active real people that play.

Simultaneous players tops out at a bit more than 100 on the weekends (but some of those are alts).

I don't have any other games in the works. I have some ideas, but for now I am 100% focused on Aberoth.

The community can help me by telling your friends how cool the game is, and purchasing memberships if you have extra money. Also, just playing the game, having fun, talking to other players helps the game be more fun for everyone.

Edit (to answer the suggestions):

I have thought about making a store where users can trade items for real money. Steam has a way to facilitate this. I felt that it is a bit of a conflict of interest, however, since I would be potentially profiting off people losing items to pkers. If there was an official market, it could also encourage pking for profit (which probably already happens).

I have also thought about making an official store to buy and sell characters, but I think this would only work for Steam characters.

A shirt would be a great idea! I have no idea how many people would buy one, so that is something I will probably try out. Whay else could I sell?

Hello, Ive had a question for you for a while. Actually I had 2.

1. What is Aberoth run on? Javascript, Html, etc;

2. Will you make another game like aberoth or add more quest lines and NPC's to Aberoth?
   

The server is written entirely in Java. The web based client has a Java version and a Javascript version. The web site is some php and some static html pages. The Steam client is almost all Java client, but has a small bit written in C++ to talk to Steam.

I don't currently have plans to make another game like Aberoth, but I will definately add more quest lines and NPCs to Aberoth in the coming year.

I have always appreciated the almost necessity(or at least subtle encouragement) to specialize in the school of magic. It's created some small variety in character abilities unlike other mmos where everyone in the endgame has ultimately homogenous stats.

I was wondering, are there any plans to add to the magic system whether it be spells, items that interact with scrolls or just items in general?

I will definitely add to the magic system. The next things I want to add are the tier 4 scrolls. I also want to add a spellbook that can hold 8 or 10 scrolls, but only scrolls in your specialization.

I do like player specialization, and have been toying with the idea of character classes (perhaps just Wizard and Warrior) to start, or adding weapon specializations. Balance starts to become a big issue, though.

Hi Simple (creator of aberoth, for those that don't know), I'm one of the more recent to join this game, being a steam player, and I'd like to say my thanks for all the enjoyment I've had playing so far before I ask any questions, thank you.

Do you think it's more important to satisfy newer players instead of older ones, who have per say, "hit a wall" where there isn't as much to do anymore? i've always personally thought it would be awesome to see you in game, however I haven't. I've always wondered are you focused on actually working on the game, and using the development server to play on, and to busy to play on the normal realms, or is there a other reason like you just don't want to (shrug).

I've always loved the chest loot system in the game, the random loot and each chest feels different, thus being at skal its a joy because you feel like you are being rewarded for all your hard work defeating the tomb. Do you think that even bigger chests for bigger enemies is a good path to go? This would support the larger amount of players needed to take down such boss so everyone has loot.

It is hard to say if it is more important to satisfy new or old players. I want to satisfy both, of course.

Long time players are very important to the game, and they are the most invested, and often support the game the most. I appreciate that, so I want to make sure to add new high level areas and content. Those areas can also be the most interesting since they push the boundaries of the game.

But, people's first impressions are very important for attracting and keeping new players, so I cannot ignore the noobie areas either. Something like the starting orc prison has been seen by tens of thousands of players, while maybe a few hundred have seen Skaldor.

What I love about adding new content, even though it is very difficult work, is that once it is in the game, it is there forever. A new player starting today has actually quite a bit of content ahead of them!

I did answer above about spending time in the game, but since many people have asked about it, I will make an effort to play more often as Simple and Simpletoo.

It does seem like a new enemy that requires many people to defeat would be in order. I do like when people group up to defeat an enemy.

What prompted your decision to use 8 bit graphics in Aberoth?
Do you ever think about making any other games using the same engine you developed for aberoth?

It was a combination of my nostalgia for games of my youth like Kings Quest, Pitfall, and Dragonfire, along with the fact that simple graphics makes it easier to add things to the game (especially 1 pixel items).

Also, Aberoth is a pure voxel engine, in that each pixel exists in 3d space, which allows for items to truly exist, and for structures to be created in the game world at the voxel (pixel) level. I don't know of any other game that does this.

I have pondered making another game with the same engine, and might try that in the future.

what is your favorite addition you have made to the game. and what is your favorite boss/mob?

I really like the grand shaman area. It was the first area to use dynamic lighting. Unfortunately, many people experience extreme lag because of the complexity of the area, so I am a but gun shy to use it everywhere else.

I also like how the grand shaman is somewhat unpredictable because of his spells.

1.can i see you ingame? 2.why dont you play aberoth more? you made a realy good game

I'm glad you like the game! You can see me in game as Simple or Simpletoo (on Steam). I made a detailed reply to Yeraton above about me logging on that you can read. I will try to log on more often in the future, though.

Does your boss at your old job play aberoth?

I don't know, maybe if he sees this he can answer! My boss is a great person, and I told him that Aberoth was the reason I was leaving the company.

Why have you moved towards getting rid of major PvP? Like lowering pk drop rates. Confuse scroll wait time, far extended fatigue wait time(normal is 6to10, fatigue takes 30+seconds to cool down),adding Ornate mirror to basically kill off evocation users. I don't condone pking, nor condemn it. Just wondering.

Lowering the drop rates was not just aimed at PvP, but benefits everyone outside of PvP as well. However, I did feel that with the high drop rates, PvP had too much of an advantage vs PvE.

I have not changed the fatigue and confuse wait times in a long time, and removing the protection realm should have helped PvP.

The Ornate mirror was not targeting anyone in particular, it is just a cool item that has a cool effect. Different items do different things.

Did the removal of protection realm cause a drop in membership sales?

It is hard to say. I did give refunds to several people, but overall membership purchases have been pretty steady.

As a high schooler who wants to be a video game programmer when I grow up, what would you recommend doing? What programming languages should I learn? Should I learn how to use Unity or Unreal Engine? Are there any good places to learn these languages? (Also, I already know some Python.)

EDIT: fixed grammatical error

I would recommend just doing it. Why not make a small game in Unity and also one in Unreal Engine? If you do that, you will know a hundred times more about each engine than reading about them.

I wrote Aberoth in Java, which was what I was most familiar with. I also wanted to write the game engine myself, so I did not use an existing engine.

I am not sure where the best places are to learn, but there are a ton of tutorials out there on the internet!

How big is your family? What age are you and your family members? other stuff about your family etcedera.

I am married and have children.

How old are you?

I'm in my 40s.

If you ever got to the point where you could afford to employ a second person what skills would you be looking for and what creatively impressive job title would you give them?

It would probably be an artist. I think a good artist could add a lot to the backgrounds of some of the areas, and provide a lot of ideas for atmosphere.

I might also hire someone to produce music, but it would not be a permanent position. I might just use stock music.

• 1 -Simple some people claim that your past updates coupled with some game features are an effort to convert the game from a pvp game to a pve game focused on mass grinding catling to a different crowd of players. Some of those features are the mirror, the arcane realms, the nerf to engraved drop rate that was already low to begin with, the huge recall range, the unfriendly mechanic that is broken and allow defenders to multi account pvp but prevent attackers of doing it, the whole multiaccounting issue that is heavily abused by p2w players, the low mob consume drop rate compared to how much is required for pvp, expensive and rare tier 3 scrolls but cheap counters to them... What is your opinion about the state of the game now? Do you think it is still a pvp game? Do you see pvp happening in the game often enough to call it a pvp game? Or do you have plans of heading the game in a different direction?

• 2- Some people, including me, accuse you of adding certains updates sacrificing game quality for commercial reasons. One update to illustrate my point is protection realm, further explanation unnecessary since you already know every complaint there was about it. Personally I think that's a natural step as a game developer but nonetheless it's still a curious question that me and some others would like to ask, so have you ever worked an update or a feature in the game knowing it would make the game worse as a pvp game but give you returns, wether in memberships or new accounts?

• 3- What would you think about a 1 world aberoth, without multiple realms, higher consume drop rate or maybe even the removal of consumes entirely and a new battle system with innate skills dependant of mana that scale with level like most mmo games, and pvp enforcement such as bounty system and specific rewards that are only acquired through pvp (classic example: Silkroad online)

• 4- I'm not as bad as people try to make me look, so I'm not just gonna bash you but I'll also compliment you for not making steam accounts tradeable. I can see that in years when all the community has changed to steam players multiaccounting will be more difficult and the game might look more natural.

Cheers (Don't delete my post)

~ Alphard, aberoth god 2016

1) I'm not converting the game to PvE. I am probably done nerfing PvP for a while. I'm not sure how you consider the game not PvP, since anyone can pk anyone else anywhere and take at least 10% of their gear.

2) The protection realm was added as a way for people to level up when they were hunted. It did not work out as I expected, so I got rid of it. I never intentionally sacrifice game quality for money. If I wanted to do that, I would just sell items in an item shop, like: forest dagger $10, bone shield $100. I do try to make money from the game, since in the long run that is the only way I can keep developing it. My biggest challenge is selling thing that have value to players, but do not make the game unfair.

3) I always intended Aberoth to be one world, but without realms, it is not practical to expand to meet the player base.

Will there be any limited membership items like the green hat anytime soon?

I don't have plans for any additional limited time items, but I still like the idea, and may add more in the future.

What do you plan to do with gurun's old cave?

I really did not plan anything specific for his cave, other than a general idea that it will be a good entrance to another high level area.

I was mainly focused on getting Gurun out of there. I liked the idea of him being in the desert, but it makes more sense for him to be closer to town. It lets players easily acquire supplies that they need, and allows low level players to earn a bit of extra cash selling potions and scrolls.

Do you have any plans to release an area that limits the number of players that can enter at one time? When you have a large group of high level players even werewolf posses little challenge.

I don't plan on adding an artificial limit to the number of players. Part of the philosophy of Aberoth is that there is no instancing of dungeons or areas.

It looks like I need to create a higher level zone!

Also I wasn't think artificial - i was thinking pressure pads and gates to control the numbers. Be good to have to get an actual team together rather than just taking along anyone and everyone with a ms.

Yeah, I would consider something like that to limit the number. The tomb is kind of like that to require at least two, but there could be some mechanism to require a different number. Not sure if the area should then be locked, or if another team could also enter later.

I love the addition of charms to the game. Do you have any plans to add more items in the future to help diversify player builds?

I think charms are a great way to diversify builds, in that there can be any type of benefit to a charm. I don't have plans for any additional item slots right now, but any slot could be used for diversity, such as gloves that have the same defense, but different special powers.

In a game like this, though, it will always be tempting to add more item slots.

What are the drop rates in percentage or ratio on the ruby, thick spellbook and human skull?

I never reveal drop rates for items. You'll just have to ask around!

Assuming this game continues to develop and attracts more and more people, will it require more people to work on the game than just you? If so, what kind of skills would you look for in a person that you decide to hire?

If the game becomes really big, it will probably require more people. The first person I would hire would probably be an artist, to do concept art, backgrounds, items, etc.

Can we get 1 hint for the item you sated no one has found? Like a really hard riddle or something. I probably won't find it but I'd love searching for it!😍

I don't really want to give a hint for it, since it is the only item no one has found. Maybe if I add a bunch of hidden items and no one finds any I would give out a hint. As I said before, it is possible it will never be found.

What made you do this ama session?

To announce my intention to work on Aberoth full time, to create a forum where I could respond to what people were thinking about the game or the development process, and to hopefully expose some new people to the game.

To quote my friend Obesepig, who I think had a good question: "Looking forward, I got a question here, how would you feel about Aberoth turning into a huge game? Another one, how would you feel about Aberoth dying out?".

I would love for Aberoth to turn into a huge game! That is my goal.

I would be sad if Aberoth died out, but I don't think it ever will. Even if I stopped working on it completely, and all the old players left, there are still new players joining every day. The game is just as fresh and new to those players as it was to you when you first started, so I think it will always have an audience.

Also, the graphics were as dated 6 years ago as they are now and as they will be 6 years from now. I am not competing on that level.

I think many people would love to know what you think about the famous Akrabu legacy in aberoth?

Junglist_grans and blogattackartist already answered this pretty well, but I will share my perspective.

At the time, there was really no penalty for pking. 100% of a player's items dropped on death, and there was no infamy (I'm not even sure if there was wanted time, but I think there was). Akrabu was much higher level than anyone else, and he was ruthless. He would kill anyone and everyone for no reason.

He was really killing just about everyone off the game, and would survive even though pretty much no one else in the game was on his side. I just kept adding features to make things harder and harder for him. I added allies (with ability to see their hitpoints), so people could group up to attack him (before the ally system a group would end up hitting each other). I added the enemy hit point meter (which only works on enemies at a higher level than yourself) so people could see when he was wounded but he could not do the same). I made speed potions no longer stack. I let players keep some engraved items when they died. I added infamy. I added a limit to the number of players you could play at a time. I nerfed the wand of sleep (it used to do deep sleep). I added pushing of other friendly players (used to be used for blocking exits). I added protection in the respawn room.

Eventually, he was killed, and with infamy it was no longer possible to kill with impunity, and he stopped playing. He would have certainly remained very powerful and would have still been feared if he kept playing, but never dominate at the same level as before.

Do you plan to include 100% physics based dragons in your game?

I certainly hope so!

i recently discovered the mechanic that disables two unfriendly players on the same ip ,but it wasn't because of a alt it was my brother who plays in the same house as me. this is really annoying and prevents us from helping each other and can screw me or my brother over if we mis-communicate. do you think there is a way to change this? or a exception for non- alts?

The problem is that I don't really know who is just an alt or another real person. You can certainly help each other in all other areas of the game except when you are initiating pking together (you do not have to be unfriendly to defend yourself). Is there another situation that was giving you trouble?

What ever happened to your postcard collection? Is it gone now?

I still have my Aberoth postcard collection! I probably have about 50 of them.

I know IamA bit late, but...
I have always wondered, what do you use for drawing the art and map shapes?

Like, do you just draw the walls, and fill them in on MS paint or something? Thanks

For maps, I draw them in Gimp (but MS paint or any other image editor would work). For example, here is part of the orc cave. The light brown are short walls, dark brown tall walls, blue is solid (but invisible) dirt.

When Aberoth starts, the game reads this image file to create the level.

How much money do you make from aberoth?

Not nearly as much as I made in my day job! On a good month, Aberoth will gross a couple thousand dollars (including Steam and non-Steam purchases).

My goal is to eventually grow the game so the income surpasses my old salary.

Edit: Typos.

How does your MMORPG earn money? Is the cash flow good compared to your previous day job?

It makes money by selling memberships, vault upgrades, player customizations, name changes, and guild improvements. You can visit the Aberoth store here.

It does not make as much as my day job, but hopefully it will one day!

ok so you said you plan on adding a new zone. do you think that you will ever release a zone in which the mobs are less difficult then skaldor like between skaldor and gram?

That is a possibility. The reason that there are big gaps between different zones has to do with the way the game was developed. When I add a new high level zone, I try to make it a challenge for the top level players. But, since there is such a long gap between adding new areas, the new top area can be very hard.

I will spend some time trying to fill in the gaps.

[deleted]

You can definitely fight the orcs solo without being too high level. Maybe work on defense. Having two 3 defense rings, a defense amulet, and a shield helps a lot.

Hey Simple. I have a few questions, one of which being: Will you ever add a system where you can move engraved items around your vault, would this be hard to code or could it be implemented in a small update?

You can move engraved items in your vault if you enter your vault from the realm that the engraved item was dropped from. The basic principle is that engraved items cannot change realms.

Now that I think about it, though, a good solution might be to allow a player to pick up, but not carry an item that is in your vault from another realm. For example, it could say: "with great difficulty, you move the dagger stuck in the realm of life". It would then drop right next to where you are standing, but you could not pick up the items. That way you could move items, but not change their realms.

Oh hey I have that game on steam but the whole type in to talk to npcs confused me, I didn't know what to say. What tips do you have for new players?

Make sure to follow the hints in the lower left. They should guilde you through the early parts of the game. NPCs have a lot of dialog, but if you are interested in quests, say "quest" to any NPC you meet.

Many players in the game are helpful as well if you ask for help.

Hey simple, Proz here and I have had this question for so long. Do you like the way aberoth is now, or used to be?

I like it the way it is now overall. I would have preferred to have one huge world instead of realms, but that was the only way I could figure out how to accommodate so many people at once. I am pleased that it is still one world, in that people can travel to any realm, and that I was able to integrate the realms into the game lore a bit.

Hello, simple, huge fan of your game here. Been playing for 4 years now. I have a few questions, I'm wondering if your willing to answer. Thanks!

.Are there any other hidden easter eggs throughout the game?

Have you ever considered adding music to the game? (Possibly for boss battles)

Are there any shows or cartoons that inspired aberoth?

I'm glad you like the game!

There one item that has not been discovered, but I think that might be the only thing that has not been seen.

I do want to add music to the game, it is on my list.

There were not any shows that inspired Aberoth, but some video games like Ultima Online and Everquest, and graphics from King's Quest.

Simple!

Vayne/Ahri here.

I've always been curious about how difficult it is adding a new area, versus a new skill. Are there any new skills in the works for you?

A new area more difficult than just one new skill, since a new area requires new enemies, a new map, and new items.

A new skill is quite a bit of work as well, since it will probably require a new NPC to give the skill, which means new dialog and quests.

Do you have any plans to make a mode where dynamic lighting is removable in places such as the desert and the gramm lair so that people that are a little more laggy are able to battle high level enemies such as skeletons and gramm? This would be a great addition as there are many people who are laggy and end up quitting over it. Also do you ever plan on adding a search bar to the champions page and buttons on the customization page for players who don't have computers?

I did add a "bw" command that puts the game in black and white, which was designed to help players in these situations. Have you tried that? I also considered making a mode where the screen is much smaller, which would help in those situations. Maybe I will revisit that idea.

How can we send an email to you XD?

You can email me at: support at aberoth.com

Was it worth it? Quitting your job I mean.

So far, yes, I think it was worth it. I probably will not know if it was a wise decision until several years from now.

I actually wanted to go into the software engineering but swapped to mechatronics. What was your experience as a software engineer like?

What was a general days work like?

What motivated you to quit being a software engineer (like any major problems with it)?

How's game making for you now?

Software engineering in general is a good job.

In my job, there were other people in the company who spoke with the customers and decided on the requirements for what the next version of our software would do. They would then meet with the developers, and each developer would have some features to add. I did not feel the need to work crazy hours most of the time.

I still consider myself a software engineer. I think the biggest part I did not like about my old job was not being involved in deciding what was going into the product (and, I did not really have the expertise to do so, since I was making healthcare software, but do not have a background in healthcare).

The best part about making this game is I get to make all the decisions about what to work on, and see a project all the way from idea to completion.

What will you do if it doesn't work ?

I would probably go (try to) find another job.

who has spent the most money of membership/ other things on aberoth with irl money, also what will happen when u die?

I don't want to give out anyone else's information about irl money.

I don't know what would happen to the game if I die. However, since it makes more than the hosting costs, I suspect it would stay up and running (without any updates, of course) for quite a while.

I have actually written out basic instructions on how to pay the hosting provider and reboot the servers, in case I am incapacitated.