I'll make my own "state of the game" thread another time. After checking back on this game after three years of absence, seeing almost nothing but recycled content and events since the last time I logged in, many players are, rightfully so, voicing their concerns about the lifespan of the game. I figure that, if the game is going to shut down at some point (not saying anytime soon), I think it would only be fair to give a final conclusion to the lore and storyline.

Spoiler warning? Are they spoilers at this point? Have there been new players? Not important right now.

Where we are right now is that the "Sleeper" is a sacred entity held within the core of Cradle, The Clockworks & Cradle were made to protect it as stated by Parma's Scout in the mission 'Dreams and Nightmares', and that there is an ongoing battle between it and The Swarm. A classic battle between good and evil done in a nice, simple way that got me excited after I replayed the mission last night. After the mission, Kora states that we're the last line of defense against The Swarm, and she'll send out the mission when we're ready.

We've been ready for five years now.

A whole slew of diverse questions and possible theories can be conjured up about with all the information we've gathered through the mission storyline. Who built The Clockworks? Is King Tinkinzar really the architect? What are his relations to the gremlins? How are The Clockworks' simulated environments a defense mechanism from The Swarm? Did The Swarm destroy the Skylark (Based on the intro cutscene. The NPCs may refer to it as "crashed", but I'd be hard-pressed to say that giant lasers leading to an orbital explosion defines a "Crash")? Was the purpose of its destruction to find sworn defenders from The Swarm? How was The Swarm created?

If I remember correctly, there was mention of a possible Tier 4 of the clockworks, or at least a new official Tier 3 boss. I think it was around the time the Gunner Update was first announced.

So why haven't we gotten either yet? I'll leave that for my next thread. I don't intend to add to the tensions and put more pressures on the dev team. All I am merely stating is that if this game is going to end, I would rather it end with a solid conclusion than be soulless, zombified cash grab.