The hype train had a bomb threat but it turned out to be a homemade clock counting down to the release of arcade redux. Someone cut the wires so we need to fix the clock else the person will sue for breaking their property.

So um, give us some time to fix this clock then we can get back on the hype train. Don't ask why it's taken 2 years to fix this because the hype train comes out of the Twilight Zone so time may warp a bit in there compared to out here.

High hopes
Low expectations

I have simply copy/pasted Nick's post here and added links to what I think they refer to. The bolded parts are my comments on the direct point. I fully expect that we will see a swarm-related "new tier 3 boss" in the future, assuming all is well for SK's budget and whatnot. Yes, we could certainly use more communication from staff (which I feel they don't do in part because they don't have time and we'll just yell at them), and I wouldn't board a hype train that updates slowly, (slow and steady wins the race?) but there are many things building up to a grand conclusion, I think. Maybe one that will let SK rest in peace in the face of an infinite future of money and software update issues. It is a story that we are a part of, and stories end, so we can make new ones.
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We’ve recently made some big, exciting changes to Spiral Knights. Now that the dust is beginning to settle, I’d like to take a moment and tell you about some of the other projects we have in store for SK. Those big changes included not only Battle Sprites, but also rarities, and removal of mist energy, and many other smaller things.

Arcade Redux
After a great deal of evaluation we’ve decided to change the way the Arcade will work and the purpose it will serve to the SK community. After introducing missions, the Arcade has become a place of redundancy. It has also suffered from the recent sprite update, relying on mineral leftovers from the community.

Over several patches, we intend to transform the Arcade into the place it has always aspired to be:
- A sandbox-type experience where unexpected things can happen We have seen "unexpected" things somewhat for a long time already considering rare monster spawns, danger rooms, scenario rooms. I expect people want something much more frequent and drastic. The mineral gate construction influence was not as sandboxy as intended, well, IMO.
- A place where players can farm materials and items in between missions
- A feature that gives players some degree of control over the experience perhaps difficulty level, though that was implemented before the post. Personally, I was hoping the control aspect would be tied into the sandbox aspect, in other words...we could have an influence over gate construction again, but much more than we ever had with minerals. And perhaps this could even involve The Artifact. Many players desire the ability to design levels, possibly via Steam workshop.

Modified Rank Mission Campaign
The Rank Mission campaign is going to be receiving an update that continues the story of the Artifact and introduces a new primary antagonist for the Spiral Knights. The framework for this story will allow us to further expand Rank Missions post-Vanguard. Emphasis on primary antagonist, our focus has just shifted from Vanaduck to Herex, with Herex already mentioned in the game quite a long time ago *cough C42 cough*.

New Tier 3 Boss
A new mission arc will be incorporated following the events of the Firestorm Citadel that will include a new boss monster for players to challenge. Oh, we got to Dreams and Nightmares. Perhaps a swarm boss? A super infested Void-Herex?

Challenge Mode
In addition to the exciting features we have planned for the Arcade and Rank Missions, we're busy working on an all-new 'challenge mode' that will allow players to work as a team in cooperative scenarios and compete with other teams for a high score. Challenge mode will also feature rewards for those that really excel. Again, difficulty was implemented before the post, and well, doesn't seem related to these mechanics. Looks like new PvP mode potential to me.

More to Come!
This isn't all that we have in store for you, it's just all we can talk about right now. Many more exciting features are on the way! Keep an eye out here on the Spiral Knights forums for details on the above projects, and more.We've seen several new event (and promo -.-)-related items since this post, which take time to design, not to mention "balance".

So as always, thanks for playing Spiral Knights!

What I see:

OOO concludes the main mission story with victory over the swarm which turned out to be whatever's left of the Morai storystuff in nightmare form all along (edit: stowaways on our Skylark as spores or in disguise, or followed us in their own tech, whatever) and they decided the Core was a more worthy target than us or whatever *completely ignores chronology for the sake of story conclusion and uses the Doctor Who "timey wimey" excuse* and the Sleeper is happy and gets to grow up out of its CRADLE (the planet...is named Cradle...yeah...) and blahblahblah but we're still here so what happens to us Sleeper? Sleeper is like "you can stay here as long as you like! Here's the master code to the planet, which the architect definitely doesn't deserve!" Thus we use/program the Artifact in ways the sleeper could ever DREAM of (pun 100% barf intended) and bam - players can design levels under specific parameters (size limit, monster population limit, treasure box limit, a few minor things as determined by devs). Suddenly the devs can sit back and watch knights take off into the clockworks on ships of the imagination, without caring whether or not the Skylark gets repaired. Yes this is all meant to sound mostly ridiculous but plausible. Of course, vestiges of the swarm, whatever it may be (embodiment of sapient greed, Morai-as-nasties-that-can-infest-things-and/or-take-their-shape-in-some-way, or biologically engineered muck whatever, EDIT: how could I forget, "the sleeper's nightmare(s)?"), could remain for us to have fun smacking around, even if they are virtual projections of bad memories at this point. They never dropped valuable loot anyway!

And the devs will likely continue to throw boxes and new gear at us once in a while.

Also: something to take care of all that content that's so limited to boxes that were only here for a two weeks, if even that.

we left the morai behind us, the only way theyre coming back is if they had their own ship
which is possible since they were winning the war in the first place, of course they would have the resources for one

Still waiting for the Arcade Reducks to happen.

In most aspects, the game is the same as ever. Most of your complaints are not about the game being bad, but rather about the game not improving fast enough. That's a legitimate complaint. But whatever you originally found fun in this game, you can still find fun.

since I've quit this game, broken economy from what I can remember due to crystal energy being one of the main things in the game

Crystal energy plays a much less prominent role than it used to. So as far as I can tell you prefer the new Spiral Knights over the old one.

I'm well aware of the new heating system, by god did I hate it. And yeah that's true SK has never been better than TF2, I reached end game... and basically realised it's either run FSC forever to get energy to get SL stuff or try and make new weapons... that itself was okay, but when they "upgraded" the heating system I had to stop... it was just.. no.