My interest for the game dropped a lot after some recent news.
First the character customization will be very simple, on the level of d3 (without rune system, so even worse).
You will need to collect crafting materials to build stuff (you need to do this as all your skills you get from buildings in hideout, and you will need to wait out for the boring mining animation, like mining wood stone and similar). The thing is they are implementing timers, where you will need to wail lats say 24h and similar to build or craft things.
The downscaling of your items and similar in new frontiers is another thing I personally dont like with their horizontal progression thing.
The focus on console and control support (with bad interface, big icons, lists and similar, they went backward compared to tl2 game).
They are going free to play, but very pay to win, with boosters for better drop rates, and bigger problem, selling in game items, like relic weapons for real money.
When I talked to Max Schaefer it worries me even more what type of thought process he has for having timers in the game (to have realism and putting time limitation so other people can catch up), and considering things like pay to win not there because there is nothing to win in this game, so its ok to have selling items and drop rates in a loot based arpg game.
So far very disapointed, but hope things will change, as its still early.
It just sounds like they want to abuse the P2W system, then again, other games have been doing similar for a while now. But honestly, this may end up backfiring. But Iâm sure there will be plenty that will lap it up.
Problem is, by doing so, just encourages devs to follow a similar stance. As long as there is the appeal, this will continue.
I donât know where that game is going with the horizontal progression and all, but it is supposed to be in pre-alpha. Alpha is supposed to be released after test with people next weekend. Which means lots of things may change.
Max also promised to listen to the public, so perhaps its worth telling him a few times.
On 11/13 in their blog entry, Our Free-to-Play Philosophy, they list out a few of their core values (re: monetization):
Iâve bolded topics that are concerning to me.
[ul]
[li]We believe that the Free-to-Play model gives the widest possible audience access to Torchlight Frontiers. We will be building the game with this approach to start, with the hope that it provides the ability to grow and expand our game for years to come. If it doesnât, we will change course.[/li]> [li] We believe item sales should enhance your enjoyment of the game. We believe the best items to sell are ones that you want to buy, but do not need to buy. [/li]> [li] We believe that you should earn your game play rewards through adventuring and killing monsters! However, we understand that some peopleâs time is constrained by real-life responsibilities, so within reason we will allow for limited acceleration of various metrics, like gold, luck, etc. Whenever possible, we think these powers should be shareable with your friends, and will still require that you earn your loot through adventuring.[/li]> [li] We believe that normal gear, like your armor and primary weapons should be attainable only by adventuring and finding them. That said, we may sell some special items, like specific Relic Weapons. If we do, we will always strive for there to be a reasonable way to attain or craft them through normal gameplay.[/li]> [li]We seek to have fun with cosmetic items, like decor for your fort. These will span the spectrum from things you can buy, to things that drop from monsters, to things you can craft. These items have no gameplay impact, so they are entirely optional for you. But they are fun![/li]> [li]We reject âpay-to-winâ. For one thing, there is no specific âwinningâ in Torchlight Frontiers. We want you to be who and what you want to be in our world. We know that killing a boss and finding that cool rare item is immensely satisfying, but buying that same item from a store or auction house is less so.[/li]> [li]We have no plans to gate content from you. There will be no âpremiumâ areas where paying players can play but non-payers cannot. The world of Torchlight Frontiers is open and fair, and we value our non-paying players and paying players alike. You are all valued members of our community.[/li]> [/ul]
Maybe not âpay to winâ, but âpay for convenienceâ, especially if the game is designed to make it very grindy and have long wait times for things to build. Still not good.
I think GD is the last true single ARPG. Every new ARPG (or videogame, really) will be made as service, like POE/Warframe. So waiting for something simmilar to oldschool games is pointless, imho.
Nah, if I donât like that trend, I can very much let the devs know that instead of just rolling over dead. Whether they care enough to change their minds is another matter (and depends on how many complaints they get), but saying nothing or cheering them on certainly wonât do that.
