How early is the merfolk content/how much is there?

[lucid roost]

I'm not generally big on the farming life genre, and often only play for 2-5 hours at most before losing interest, but I'm HEAVILY into merfolk, which was how this game caught my attention. How long does it take (reasonable playthrough with neither rushing nor dawdling) to get to merfolk content, and how much of it is there?

Also, I saw in the FAQ it said there would be mer LIs in future updates but aren't now, and I was wondering if that was still current, or if that had been written in early access but not updated for launch.

[runic elk]

https://discord.com/channels/623097219628662784/1167915065916260392
For ocean storyline details

[junior basin]

The main Merfolk content requires you to reach 30 metre depth in the ocean, as well as wait for a couple of cutscenes to trigger and complete some of the other questlines on the island, particularly that of the goddess temple.

As for the LIs, that's still current. They won't be available in 1.0

[lucid roost]

Do you have a rough estimate of gameplay hours to reach that point on average? Thank you so much for the answers!

[junior basin]

I do not, but it can depend entirely on how much time you spend down there, how much you upgrade your scythe, how much you increase your stamina, etc.

[low pasture]

When I played in early access, I reached the merfolk kingdom around fall of year 1, so approximately 30 hours of gameplay? I was exploring other aspects of the game of course - farming, mining, etc. so you could probably do it a bit quicker if you just went diving every day. The diving mechanic opens around 5 hours into the game, and you’re essentially scuba diving and exploring the ocean to eventually reach the merfolk.