I did the unthinkable and visited VotV's Discord channel.
After much bumping my head against the buttons and channels, I found a message from someone marked as "Patron III tier" and "Translator", mentioning that "0.9 Test saves files will be compatible with Stable 0.9" but noting that "with the current spawing problem of certain events, unforseen consequences might happen".
Another user, this time simply a "Member", speculates that "chances are we won't get an eta either, version b is not likely to be the stable release so will probably be another shadow drop".
Another "Patron III tier" user seems to be sure that "we will get another unstable shadow test version that should fix alot of issues", potentially referencing some info only Discord or Patreon users are aware of. They're hinting on that, at least, a new shadow build is currently in development.
Unfortunately, a "Patron II tier" user picks the hill "stable wont come a long while, we first got a few patches we gotta get through to get to stable", but the trustworthiness of this claim is too complex to verify for our small (1-person) team of independent researchers.
A relevant piece of information comes from a reputable source ("Admin"), mentioning that "stable releases don't have estimated dates, as fixing bugs and polishing stuff can take unpredictable turns". Highly distressing.
There's a WIP changelog for the new version 0.9.0b, but, in comparison to all the other threads, 0.9.0 is also marked as WIP. It's unclear whether we should expect two builds (0.9.0 stable / next unstable and 0.9.0b) or the team switched completely to 0.9.0b and are currently too busy discussing which artwork should they put on the next batch of merchandize mugs to find a minute to update the title. Here's the changelog, edited as of November 11:
Fixed: >Signal pulse effect on the coordinate panel doesn't have a lifetime indication >Glowsticks attachment after save and load >Crash after going to the main menu while downloading the signal (?) >Kilo server problems >Medkit bought from the store cant be unpacked >Server break rate >Radio tower save and load >Physical interactions with the drive slot >Village protection strikes down all entities >Murderfur debug point is visible >Floppy discs turn into errors after save and load >PC doesnt save the floppy disc data >Transformers decay rate >Day speed game rule >Black hole sun teleportation event isnt rendering properly >Certain events not spawning properly >Printed objects bounding box >NPC path finding inside the cremator >Tower, coordinate radar and transformers decay rules arent working >Glue arrives as kerfuro part from the store >SOme UI issues **[NEW]** Changed: >Funguns properties >Item prices -Fuse >sv.request doesnt reset the packets >cr.health and sv.health changed to "check" >Coordinate towers going down frequency >Signal amount in the daily task >Sugar selling price >cr.check functionality >ATV -Default lights brightness -Car battery depletion >Office supplies can be crafted into scrap >Farm plants fruit drop amounts >Data structures >"Physics damage" now applies to fall damage and ragdoll damage only >Objects inside the open containers can be collected or held >Added more physical interactions >Kerfur face >TV screens materials >Garden hose can be put in inventory >Cardboard boxes -Price -Breakable -Duct tape is now functional >Nails strength >Autumn and spring bird sounds >Printed objects -Added new properties >Drone sack is detachable >Swimming -Removed depth boyancy -Reduced swimming speed without the scuba mask -Added swimming sounds >PC UI **[NEW]** Added: >1 craft >1 console command >3 microevents >1 signal >2 settings **[NEW]**
For your information, I already left the Discord channel and didn't expose myself to it for more than an hour. I'm safe & unharmed.