Nevergrind Online cover
Nevergrind Online screenshot
Genre: Indie

Nevergrind Online

209: Early Access 0.12.46 - Japanese localization completed

209: Early Access 0.12.46 - July 8, 2022 6:25 AM EST
• Updated the Japanese localization. Enabling it on the store, today!
• Mobs will no longer be able to use many skills, including aura attacks, while stunned or frozen.
• Added some special handling for line wrapping for asian languages.
• Fixed a bug that notified yourself about coming online (friend alert).
• Golem's Shelf was changed from a 1hb to a 2hb bonus. This change is not retroactive.
• Added a GCD to Vampiric Gaze (SHM). It was supposed to be there. Sorry Shamans. Heh. Nothing personal.

208: Early Access 0.12.45 - July 7, 2022 3:43 AM EST

208: Early Access 0.12.45 - July 7, 2022 3:43 AM EST
• When mobs cast Blood Fire on players, it now properly reduces their armor as intended and is reflected on the character sheet.
• Mobs now start with a question target and then their avatar updates to their actual target after they first attack.
• A user's preferred language is now automatically set by default if it is supported by the NGO client.
• Improved the language drop-down menu which now includes the absolute and relative names for each language. This now matches how Steam handles listing them in a drop-down menu.
• Localized some more text that was missed.
• The character create name input is now localized.
• Many, many, many localization improvements. Too many to individually mention. Source: Dude, trust me.

Patch update: German Language Support Added

203: Early Access 0.12.40 - July 5, 2022 1:05 AM EST
• Added German language support to the game.
• Adjusted the size of the options window to give it a bit more room.

200: Early Access 0.12.37 - July 4, 2022 3:05 AM EST

• Added Chinese as well as the ability to select between English and Chinese in the options. This status will be updated on the Steam store page, today.
• Ice resistance now reduces the power of chill on your attack and skill haste (GCD). If you have 75 ice resistance, it will change the chill penalties from 50% to 12.5%
• Possibly fixed the infamous potion glitch? Let me know if it went away. It is difficult to duplicate.
• Messages in the combat log were re-formatted to rely less on syntactic structures that vary by language. The new format is more log-like and less of a narrative description. This will make it much easier to localize for a global audience.
• Fixed a bug that was causing the Sanguine Harvest (SHD) proc to indicate undefined in the combat log.
• Elemental damage is now called out much more clearly in the combat log with colored text.
• Fixed (ROG) Talisman of Treachery. It no longer indicates damage on the tooltip.
• Deleting a guild leader will now also delete the entire guild and its members (not the character, just the membership).
• Fixed the Half Elf bonus to defense and archery. Fixed the Wood Elf bonus to archery. They were either not applied at all or not applied correctly.
• Heal-over-time component now appears in their skill tooltip for (DRU) Nature's Touch and (SHM) Rejuvenate.
• Duration timers for mob DoTs are no longer shown since they're short in duration and intended to be more mysterious because they are not cast by an ally. Ally buff durations are still shown.
• Fixed a bug related to Screaming Ire's proc. The tooltip and buff were not working correctly.
• Improved tooltips for mob status debuffs. Previously they were not working as intended.
• Fixed the descriptions for (WAR) Pummel and Whirlwind. They were reversed.
• Vampiric Gaze now indicates its leech target values on the skill tooltip.

199: Early Access 0.12.36 - July 2, 2022 2:48 AM EST

• Re-worked the buff tooltips. Instead of simple popovers with the buff name, they now show the skill description and remaining duration, if applicable. This should make it much easier to determine what buff does what within a party context.
• Fixed a small bug when resetting default options. It no longer yanks you to the General options tab and it now properly updates everything including the hotkeys tab.
• Fixed the calculations and display of everything related to resist physical (Steelclash).
• Fixed the wording in (WAR) Bulwark's tooltip.
• The ease property will no longer appear on magic, rare items until higher levels. Kinda pointless to have a level 1 item with ease on it.
• Fixed a bug that caused meteor's flames to report damage by undefined.
• Finished up some more localization foundational changes.

Fixed the undefined on first-load bug

198: Early Access 0.12.35 - July 1, 2022 4:25 PM EST
• Fixed a bug that caused undefined to be all over the place, but only for users that were loading the app for the first time. Also... back from vacation 😎

Localization Is Under Way!

I am happy to announce that I am working with three native speakers who are eager to translate the game into German, Japanese, and Chinese. These are planned to be the first three alternate languages available in Nevergrind Online. The translators already have the game text and it will be in the game as soon as possible. The store pages will be translated as well! I made the decision to translate as much as reasonably possible. Skill names, lore, UI text, tooltips, combat logs, and more will all be translated. There is quite a lot of text in Nevergrind Online, so this is an ambitious task!

At this time, we did make the decision to not translate the item names for various reasons. Perhaps I will revisit this in the future, but I couldn't think of a great way to do this without introducing a myriad of other issues. We will consider this the first wave of localization and it will certainly make it much more accessible to customers around the world. I see this is a key to growing the user base and signaling our commitment to Nevergrind Online's future.

After implementation I will monitor its impact and determine how to prioritize moving forward. Exciting days ahead!

189: Early Access 0.12.26 - June 27, 2022 11:15 PM EST

• Made billions and BILLIONS of changes underneath that will aid with the localization process. Be on the lookout for undefined references in game text and let me know if you find any.
• Fixed Barbarian's ice spell damage bonus.
• Adjusted the mob-to-player damage mitigation on (ENC) Stasis Field. It does more mitigation at lower levels, but less at higher levels. The player-to-mob ratio was not changed.
• Changed (WLK) Bloodfire to a fire spell + DoT from blood.
• Reduced (SHM) Poison Nova's cast time from 4 to 3 seconds.
• Reduced the cast time of (WLK) Blood Fire and Demonic Pact by half a second.
• Reduced the duration of several WLK DoT spells. This makes their debuff time shorter, but they will do more damage as a trade-off.
• Reduced (TMP) Primordial Sludge's duration from 45 to 30 seconds.
• Reduced the threat on (CRU) Benevolence from 250% to 80%.
• Introduced caps for how much mobs can be slowed by mob tier. For example a boss cannot be slowed as much as a regular mob. Slows are also less potent against higher tier mobs. For example, a 25% slow will not reduce a boss's attack speed by the full 25%.
• Reduced (BRD) Euphonic Dirge's duration from 21 to 18.
• Reduced (BRD) Subverted Symphony's duration from 30 to 24.
• Added a 25% slow to (SHM) Vampiric Gaze giving them a bit more utility in a group. Also made it instant cast.
• Reduced (SHM) Scourge's cast time from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Reduced duration of Scourge from 18 to 15 second duration.
• Reduced (SHM) Affliction from 27 to 18 second duration.
• Reduced (SHM) Poison Bolt from 3.5- to 3-second cast time.
• Disabled target toggle when clicking a player card or hitting the hotkey repeatedly.
• Redesigned the skill tooltip to be more readable. The skill description section now focuses more heavily on pure description without inserting dynamic numbers throughout. This will be handy later for localization and future buff descriptions.
• Warrior's Shield Slam now taunts, but has a short 7-second cooldown.
• Fixed an order-of-operations bug that caused a bunch of undefined references in rare cases.
• Bard's Bellow now taunts your target. This could be handy for off-tanking single mobs.

Nevergrind Online Roadmap Unveiled!

Many have asked and now ye shall receive! Be advised that this shalt be regarded as a living, breathing document that provides Nevergrind Online enjoyers a prophecy of the glory that is yet to come. Feel free to bookmark this page and refresh it to check on the progress I have made. I will continuously iterate upon this document in order to fully elucidate the sumptuous nooks and crannies that I will reveal in due time.

I will do my best to complete everything on this list and subsequently submit Nevergrind Online for a full release here on Steam. Predicated upon this foundation, I should forthwith highlight the constraints thereby that will impede the progress thereof. Try to remember that I only work on this project part-time. I am also married and we are raising three young children. Oh, yes, and a golden retriever. She needs attention, too! My family loves the project and I would not have been able to finish it without their love and support. My kids play it together on our computers and my amazing wife supports me by taking care of all of the tasks that I am not good at and/or don't have time for (we're both prior military btw!).

Aside from real-life getting in the way, development will continue just as it has for the last five years, so don't expect any slowdown. I love this project and nothing will stop me from completing it and supporting it for many years to come. I may not have as much free time as other developers, but I work fast and I am very consistent.

Note that I reserve the right to adjust anything and everything as I see fit, but this pretty much represents what I have in mind. Perhaps certain small things will get pushed to post-release. Perhaps I'll expand upon certain features more than I expected because they were more entertaining than I anticipated.

You can also check the Nevergrind Online Trello Board if you want to see what's on my radar.

❌Talent Trees


❌Warrior
❌Crusader
❌Shadow Knight
❌Monk
❌Rogue
❌Ranger
❌Bard
❌Druid
❌Cleric
❌Shaman
❌Warlock
❌Enchanter
❌Templar
❌Wizard

❌Exceptional Unique Items


❌Amulets
❌Belts
❌Boots
❌Bows
❌Bracers
❌Charms
❌Chests
❌Cloaks
❌Focus
❌Gloves
❌Helms
❌Legs
❌1HB
❌1HS
❌Piercers
❌Rings
❌Shields
❌Shoulders
❌Staves
❌2HB
❌2HS

❌Exceptional Set Items


❌Warrior
❌Crusader
❌Shadow Knight
❌Monk
❌Rogue
❌Ranger
❌Bard
❌Druid
❌Cleric
❌Shaman
❌Warlock
❌Enchanter
❌Templar
❌Wizard

❌Elite Unique Items


❌Amulets
❌Belts
❌Boots
❌Bows
❌Bracers
❌Charms
❌Chests
❌Cloaks
❌Focus
❌Gloves
❌Helms
❌Legs
❌1HB
❌1HS
❌Piercers
❌Rings
❌Shields
❌Shoulders
❌Staves
❌2HB
❌2HS

❌Elite Set Items


❌Warrior
❌Crusader
❌Shadow Knight
❌Monk
❌Rogue
❌Ranger
❌Bard
❌Druid
❌Cleric
❌Shaman
❌Warlock
❌Enchanter
❌Templar
❌Wizard

❌Quality of Life


❌Item Buy-Back
❌LFG flag
❌AFK flag (ignores invites)
❌Inspect other players
❌Item linking

❌Nightmare & Hell Difficulty


❌Level 99 level cap
❌Additional champ traits by difficulty
❌Reduce all resists by difficulty
❌New talent skill caps

❌Miscellaneous


❌Various potion types (resists and whatever else I think seems fun)
❌Add a multitude of artflow.ai avatars for each race/gender combination.

❌Crafting


❌Blacksmith allows the ability to purchase new crafting recipes
❌Allow users to combine items to create new ones
❌Add runes + runewords
❌Add sockets to items
❌Put gems and runes in sockets

Nevergrind Online Smashes Expectations!

I don't even know where to begin. I barely slept this weekend due to being 24/7 wired on the dopamine rush of an early access launch that obliterated all of my expectations. Sure, we had a few bumps along the way supporting hundreds of users, but I worked through it and everyone was quite patient as I worked on putting out fires. By the way, keep in mind that this has all been accomplished with zero legitimate marketing effort. The only reason it shot off like a rocket was due to gamers finding exactly what they were craving in Nevergrind Online.



If you don't have time to read everything, here are the metrics throughout the first four days:

  • Easily clearing 1,000 copies sold
  • 118/118 positive reviews for a "Very Positive" 100% rating
  • #3 Hot Release on steamdb.info and still trending UPWARD


Without a doubt, my favorite part is the 118/118 positive reviews! I want every player to feel that every penny was money well spent! I know that, for many, finances are tough right now. I have been there, so I understand how difficult that can be. That's why I have complete respect for every dollar that is spent on Nevergrind Online. That's why I will never put microtransactions in the game. That's why I pack so much content, features, and replayability into an online game that costs a mere $20. I will never sell out to the outrageous monetization practices in the gaming industry that are destroying my childhood hobby. Once you buy Nevergrind Online, it is yours to play forever. I want my customers to think that my game is underpriced.

My passion is to design a multiplayer world where players socialize, make friends, organize, and overcome challenges in the game. I love watching players theorycraft in Discord and seeing "lfm", "lfg" in game chat. The game world feels so vibrant and alive with players that are excited to tackle the next challenge. It reminds me of the early days as a player on Fennin Ro when EverQuest was released in 1999. And that's exactly the kind of excitement that I wanted to generate with Nevergrind Online!



I also want to say THANK YOU for all of the incredible support. I believe in Nevergrind Online. I know how hard myself, the artists, and the testers have worked on polishing it to its current state. I know all of the nitty gritty details that required strenuous attention to detail to get certain key features engineered to perfection. However, even I did not expect the overwhelming support and positive responses that the game has enjoyed on Steam in its first four days. Thank you for taking time to write those reviews, to stream the game on Twitch, to join the Steam group, and to share it with your friends. Remember, almost all of Nevergrind Online's success has been via Steam Store presence and by word of mouth. I haven't paid a dime for advertising or promotion.



Also, I would like to say thank you for your patience. I easily could have earned a negative review with a few of the bugs that players endured throughout the first four days, but players have been very forgiving and understanding about the complex nature of running Nevergrind Online, the world's first multiplayer blobber with real-time combat (I may need Snopes to debunk me on this).



Last, but not least, yes, a road map is coming! It is all in my head, but I will create a dedicated steam news release with all of the planned definite (and potential) changes that I would like to have in the game upon full release! That way players can bookmark it and I can update it at intervals whilst players check on the progress and hold me accountable 😉

If you are enjoying the game in its current form, then you're going to love what I have in store!