To be honest i’m really excited for it. Torchlight 2 isn’t in my Top 3 besides Grim Dawn and Diablo 3 for no Reason, and i’m happy they decided to make a proper sequel instead of a F2P MTX Game.
Also for me personally as far as it sounds from the FAQ they also have the Approach which i would’ve love to see for Diablo 4 and such as well. They give us a proper Singleplayer-Offline-Mode, where Characters are saved locally, while they have a proper Online-Multiplayer where they still can give us MMORPG’ish Features like a shared Hub / Towns where you see other Peoples, and if you do Questing and stuff you get in a instanced private Area. It kinda shows that you still can please both sides, the solo crowd which enjoy the value of enjoying the game whenever they want, without a fear the Server might someday shut down, while giving Multiplayer-oriented Players also some really neat features.
Another cool thing would be modsupport with a local / open Multiplayer, than the game would absolutely perfect, but i’m really happy with the approach they did now.
FINALLY, Runic Games (or in this case, Echtra Games) got the guts to turn their torchlight mmorpg project into classic old torchlight 1 & 2 style loot hunt arpg!
maybe they realize the prospect of mmorpg isn’t a great idea for torchlight series (that unmentionable torchlight mobile should have been ominous warning for not going mmorpg with torchlight). torchlight is famous for its modding capability and ease of access for both casuals and hardcores rather than massive online group play.
torchlight series is kinda similar to grim dawn, titan quest and non ladder diablo2 in this case. their niche are gamers who prefer single player focused arpg with some multiplayer occasionally.
maybe runic games’ past stubbornness of wanting to make torchlight 2 and its successor go mmorpg is because they want to imitate diablo 3 and PoE’s success as mmorpg loot hunt arpg. but i don’t see that happening, unless they’ve already got other strong franchises to support their finance backup and large number of employees.
with ports for ps4 and xbox one, i can see Echtra is really serious on wanting to revamp their decisions on making mmorpg. torchlight 2 got new attention due to its nintendo switch port released not too long ago. so i think Echtra want to focus on developing new franchises for consoles to build up finance and reputation.
I really enjoyed TL and TL2 - but there are so many games out there now, I really hope that Echtra brings something new to the table that will draw people in.
That being said, I will definitely keep an eye on it.
hey, sorry for this kinda personal question, but are you by chance RetsReds? i’ve seen that profile with your profile picture around in forums.runicgames.com providing a lot of great feedbacks on hidden/badly explained mechanics of torchlight 2. sorry if i refer to the wrong person.
its a shame that forum is sold out. lots of fan works and important game mechanics infos of torchlight 2 just gone like that. UGH! i hate to see it happen to grim dawn, but i can’t help thinking it can happen too, since the old grim dawn forum was replaced to this for security reason. grim dawn had lost a lot of good threads on that old forum…
oh, it seems my worries are for naught then. that’s good to hear.
still, we forumers should save pages of important gd infos like favorite guides and tips to master the game mechanics into our own computers just in case.
Indeed… the only things we lost were general chit-chatty type threads for the most part - and they weren’t lost… they were purposefully removed by Crate primarily because they were old and served little long-term value. Nothing of actual value was lost (guides, build threads, important info etc… were all retained).
Found this . UI looks much better that in TL2 , bigger icons and cleaner, i like it. Crafting looks promising, i hope we won`t be rolling merchands in 2020. Action element sucks, on the video =( I hope it won’t end as press A to clear screen, like in PoE. Dancing around creeps during leveling on SSF HC elite in TL2 was the best thing =). Graphics sucks too, lool like something from ~2001 or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nxtbMR2Ips
hopefully they’ll add more customizable settings in the options. like rotateable camera (ranged bosses critting you in elite from south angle…), adjustable damage number size & verbosity, no screen shaking options (i hate it. in end game its annoying in gd when screen shakes all the time), adjustable ui size and position.
graphics do not concern me, since torchlight’s cartoonish+darkish world design doesn’t lend much option for high end graphical fidelity. but that is its own charm. maybe they’ll add ragdoll physics this time? its fine if there’s no ragdoll though. torchlight series is famous for its light graphic & system requirements.
i notice that tl3 has status effects icons above skill bar like gd. and the screen edge also glows in colors when you’re affected with status effects like poisoned (very dangerous debuff in torchlight series).
i love how runic/echtra puts more emphasis on item crafting/customization and world lore/theme designs. agree with the feedback about how bosses should be more dangerous and exciting to fight against.
The game is getting a beating, mostly negative, because the game is online only at the moment. Looks like they under estimated the demand, didn’t do a stress test. or should have provided a single player offline mode.
There also some concerns that this is basically a mobile game, rather then a TL 1 and 2 successor. Considering that the publisher seems to have messed up a lot recently, I have a feeling making the game into a basic online experience was the plan.
Right now, I think I will skip, maybe hopefully down the line, the game will be a lot more playable. and better character skills and builds. Another issue that has been raised.
how hard is it to make single player offline mode for arpg loot hunter game compared to making online multiplayer server for it?
i feel like runic games is too stubborn in wanting torchlight to go online with reliable server, or its their publisher(s) who are being stubborn.
First of all, Singleplayer is still planned, but for Release. Secondly: That’s something which would be neat to know based on the experience of a actual developer. As far as i know / my knowledge goes however it’s not that fast / easy to implement if you build a Game purely as online-only Game and takes awhile.
But even if this isn’t the case, i’ve also to point out we’re still talking about a Early Access Game. I know Crate & Grim Dawn had a pretty smooth Early Access, and that’s cool, but people shouldn’t forget what a Early Access actually is, meant for and how it works. Issues like that are to be expected and i’d argue, especially for a Game like TL3 which want beside a single player a strong Multiplayer as well, it’s more important for them that the Community firstly test properly the Server and Multiplayerplayer-functionality, before half of them move on to the offline Singleplayer Experience which will most likely fine anyway.
And yes, i bought yesterday the Early Access, and i couldn’t play it either. Sucks. But people should finally learn that this is how Early Access actually works. You play a work-in-progress Game and test stuff (and hopefully give proper feedback), and sometimes it means that some really serious issues are there. But that’s part of it as well. For People who don’t want to take a risk, or can’t handle that, shouldn’t mindlessly buy into Early Access and rather wait for the Full-Release.
well, then all torchlight fans must accept that torchlight 3 is primarily focused towards online experience first, single player offline second.
its understandable that runic want torchlight 3 to go early access 1st. considering it was previously designed to be a free to play mmorpg.
gotta admit there are many players of all kinds of vid games out there that still doesn’t understand how to treat early access games. when players are playing early access game, they play it to test it and give constructive feedbacks to the developer, not playing it primarily for fun. high patience and tolerance is needed to endure the bugs and crashes until dev and most players consider the games stable.
I must correct you, Runic is now more, it got closed down. TL 3 is down by Echtra Echtra Inc, It was founded by Max Schaefer. He left Runic a little bit before Runic closed it’s doors.
But really, I think it was a bad idea going back to perfect world, they seem to just have a bad track record with games.
I don’t really trust perfect world or this new studio. I will watch TL3, but currently, I’m not going to get it until there is at the very least an offline mode, and build choice.
Well it’s kinda the Question how much the Online-Focus will impact the Singleplayer (offline) experience, because so far it’s not like there is any loss for SP Players, i’d rather argue the opposite, thanks to the Online-Focus we also kinda profit at some aspect. I mean Housing / Forts as examples, that’s a Feature which i’d argue only exist due for MMORPG’s / Online Games it’ve become kinda “standart” to have something like that. For Offline Singleplayer-Games (or better say ARPG) it’s not that common yet, and wouldn’t be sure if they would’ve ever added it, if the Project would’ve started out as a proper TL3 Sequel. And i for one, even as a singleplayer-fan love such Housing Features, because it gives me the feel that even while adventure through a world, i’ve a place where i (my character) feel home and can even personalize that.
Also the Battle-Pass thingy. I know and absolutely understand people who read this, now get shivers and despise it, simply because it have something to do with “battle-pass” and “modern-gaming” which some folks really hate. But without that, they would’ve never reworked the classic Fame-System of TL1 + TL2, and i really love an prefer this new concept. I mean the old Fame system was basically a second Level System where you’ve gotten a few additional Skill,- and Attribute Points. The new Fame-System however give you each “Fame-Level” new Items, the first row is unique Items / Cosmetics, the second row is repeatable and gives you random items and materials. And that feels pretty rewarding that, if you decide to keep playing with your maincharacter, that you still get rewards from time to time for “leveling” up and it makes sense to kill mobs and not run past them. It’s kinda a endless progression, but unlike D3 Paragon in a good way.
Also i love the Social features like seeing people in town and chat.
Yeah, i see that as well. And if you think about EA Launchday, it kinda proves the point that it was good to enter Early Access. Imagine they would’ve thrown out the full release at that state, that would be a real mess.
I mean don’t get me wrong. I understand the feeling of people to finally play the game you waited for early, and sometimes (like GD) if you are lucky, than you get even a pretty stable EA. But People shouldn’t forget the core idea behind early access, and i kinda find it wonky when people argue with: “Early Access isn’t a excuse”, meanwhile Early Access for a fact was meant to be a work-in-progress build which can / is allowed to have such issues. That’s the point of it.
That doesn’t mean folks shouldn’t give feedback, quite the opposite. It’s also the Point of Early Access that People should give feedback so the Game gets better in the end. But i’d argue there is a difference between constructive feedback and hating, flamebating, trashtalking etc and than even reviewbomb a freshly released Early Access Game. I mean i saw on steam a view faces, which no matter what kind of topic it is, they hate on the game instead of going to the feedback section and give feedback.
Well, true. PW is kinda wonky, especially if it comes down to Online-Games. However Remnant: from the ashes is kinda a fresh approach to (how to dey call it) premium model? You know basically simply buying the game instead f2p mtx non-sense. And it was a pretty decent start. I really believe that TL3 have good chances if they follow the same road. I mean seriously, the game have really potential, it was the F2P nonsense which kinda killed it.
I would recommend to wait for full release either way. Only support EA if you really want to support the project and don’t have any fear of risking your money. Nobody will blame you for waiting and stuff, and i for one would prefer if people would wait instead of throwing money at the screen mindlessly. In that case everyone would profit, devs wouldn’t have to have to deal with people who don’t understand how EA works, said folks wouldn’t waste money on something which they’re frustrated over it, and the community who actually enjoys to playtest the EA don’t need to deal with the bs in the forums.
yeah, i know its now echtra instead of runic games. its just that torchlight is always identified with runic games. even their logo looks influenced by torchlight. i dunno. its probably my inner nostalgia rambling. dunno if echtra game’s employees mostly the same as runic games, aside from mr schaefer.
me too, don’t trust perfect world. if echtra’s stuck under perfect world’s mmoarpig-'free’toplay addiction, then torchlight fans will have to adapt to mmoarpig style gameplay to enjoy torchlight 3 and beyond. i still feel the bad aftertaste from most mmoarpig around 2010.
remnant seems interesting spin on freetoplay. i’ll watch some gameplays and reviews for it.
still, until tl3’s single player mode is revealed, we won’t know if the single mode will be tainted by multiplayer mechanics, causing huge unbalance in gameplay. or it will be acceptable for single players’ enjoyment. your opinion convince me to give torchlight 3 the benefit of the doubt. though we still have to be patient with torchlight 3’s progress.
in short, early access is for people who had loads of patience and objective judgement. a rare breed indeed. even more rare are the early access testers who really enjoyed testing a lot of games while giving great feedback to devs.
