TL;DR - Nomo does art. Hreinn Games have coders and Sierra is not involved. Using excuses to push for a Spring release.
Nomo developed the original concept, backgrounds, and art while Sierra put those concepts to paper as it were. However, she left long ago (and many suspect is due to differing work ethics) whereas the coders and other writers, Ndsferrari and Monaco Dingo, have been on board with the project since November 2017 (at least; per their Patreon). And Monsinne have been involved since 2018 as I recall, but likely sooner.
In regards to delays, the excuse for why things are slow that sometimes gets tossed around by some including the dev team is that these latest additions to Hreinn Games (and the loss of Sierra) is that they're still new and still figuring out the ropes. This is nonsense, of course. It doesn't take years to simply settle in. As such and as respectfully as I can put it while making this point crystal clear, this is utter and complete *bullshit*.
People have rightly called them out on it. So instead (and this part is my opinion only), the team have come up with a new and exciting way to string their supporters and fans along... No news whatsoever! Instead of posting any kind of information, they chose not to post anything because without any posts of subsistence then people can't pick apart their excuses and put their feet to the fire. Silence is golden.
However, as time marches onward with the clamoring of their lack of professionalism and accusations of Hreinn Games are milking their patrons grows ever louder, they are then, I feel, obligated to throw a bone to appease their fans and curious onlookers. This sometimes comes in the form of a quick post talking about the game or a very minor update, but more often than not it's more excuses. Some are understandably tragic and people have given the team the benefit of the doubt, as I have; however, and not to sound cold, this only goes so far. Overall, the community have been extremely patient, understanding, lenient, and supportive more often than not while keeping the vitriol and toxicity surprisingly low when it comes to Hreinn Games as a whole. (I'm proud of you guys.)
Yet, they are squandering the faith people put in them. People are getting tired of it.
In regards to questions about a possible update, we can make a reasonable extrapolation of when that might be, given Hreinn Games past performances. They appear to have settled into a biannual release schedule. (See below.)
That the schedule Hreinn Games have now apparently settled into being one significant update each in spring and fall. And wouldn't you know it? Right on queue, Hreinn Games throws said bone mentioned above in mid-October which falls in the middle of the season. They typically don't deviate how often they now disseminate news. Thus, it came as a pleasant surprise when there was an uptick in their Patreon posts activity prior to this. It didn't last.
But they hit their target about throwing something out (or lack thereof). Yes, the last bit of news is unfortunate, but not tragic. Not only that, they tied in an excuse with some information about the game. They're pretty sly like that essentially saying "Here's why we're slow but here's what we got and hope you guys are excited enough to keep supporting us!". People looking at that in a vacuum would think that's a reasonable post. People who have been around knows better.
That said, don't expect a major release of the game until spring (maybe winter if we're lucky). It's the opinion of many, given that Hreinn Games hit their fall "quota" and considering when they release updates, there won't be any news or an excuse until December and not an actual update to the game until spring. It's been discussed many times how game development can be hard and how this game is complicated; hence, taking more time. On the other hand, there's also been many discussions about how a lot of it is mitigated and isn't anywhere near as complicated as some may believe it to be. Thus, development time is a poor excuse if it takes a full year to reach the next milestone update.
As much as I want them to succeed, as a former patron, I can only recommend that people do not support them financially on their Patreon until they shape up. As it is, Hreinn Games have burned a lot of good faith (and this certainly true of myself and many of my friends in the real world over here) and I cannot in good conscience continue to support them with the way things are. You can respectfully disagree, and I'm okay with that. Nevertheless, they have to do better, and the best way to do that, short of more frequent game updates, is to communicate much more often than they currently do. The radio silence route and their apparent release schedule should be red flags to current and potential new supporters. Look for good things to happen but also be careful of propping up your hopes too much.
As always guys and gals, be safe out there and stay awesome! Cheers!
Minor Edit: Quote for the release dates isn't showing the full list for some odd reason. Added cropped section, again. Sorry if displays duplicates.
