Torchlight II (not the MMO)

[apocrypha]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/09/e3-2011-torchlight-pirated-over-5-million-times-in-china-runic-ceo-thats-fine-with-us

On DRM:
“You’re fighting against an immovable force by complaining and being paranoid about [piracy] and all that. We figure if we’re just nice to our customers, charge a low price for our game to begin with, don’t over-burden them with crazy DRM, and customers will be nice to us too. And so far, they have been.”

“We got a lot of letters from people saying ‘Hey, I pirated your game, but it was really cool, so I bought it.’ Y’know, we’re cool with that, we’re not as concerned about that sort of thing as other companies, especially if it makes our honest players inconvenienced. We assume that everyone is an honest player, and we want to make their experience as cool as possible.”

On LAN support, which was just confirmed:
“I don’t know why everyone else doesn’t do it. I understand that a lot of other companies want to run you through their portal to expose you to the other products they have and make it easy for you to click a button and buy other stuff. But we’re a small company–we have Torchlight and Torchlight 2. There’s really no reason for us to do that sort of thing. And it’s something [fans] have requested, and we’re happy to be able to do it.”

Hell, even if I didn't like the first one I'd consider buying Torchlight 2 just for this interview.

I actually didn't like Torchlight but I will buy Torchlight 2 because of that attitude. And in the hope that they fix the things that made me not like 1.

[Ratman_tf]

Edit also:

Here is some  info from e3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-yjSUMSY8 (Armor Sets Video)

Ugh. Some of those armor sets are BlizzardBad.

I hope the sets are leveling items. It really sucks to be putting together a set, and outlevel it in mid-collection.

[Malakili]

30 minutes of gameplay and developer commentary:
http://www.gamespot.com/shows/now-playing/?event=now_playing_torchlight_ii20110629

Looks good!  The guy playing is a bit frustratingly bad to watch play, but oh well. 

A few notable things for people who can't/don't want to watch - some of which is already known

1.  They've spent more time on "late game" itemization this time around. 
2.  Multiplayer supports up to 8 people
3. You can join/drop multiplayer games at will (sounds like D2)
3.  LAN play included
4.  Full dev tools released with the games again
5.  In multiplayer loot is dropped per player - so loot everything you see without worrying about stealing loot or your loot being stolen.
6.  There will be 3 Acts

[Fabricated]

Looks good but the loot attributes look the same with the bunches of random resists and questionably useful attack speed increases. :(

[Amaron]

Looks good but the loot attributes look the same with the bunches of random resists and questionably useful attack speed increases. :(

Well assuming they actually fix attack speed that wouldn't be useless.    It's not like they can make all the attributes useful though.   There have to be a bunch of bad ones to make "optimal" gear rare.

[Mrbloodworth]

Hey everyone, we thought we would share the news we just sent out to the Press this morning!

August 26, 2011 – Seattle, WA - Runic Games, Inc. ("Runic Games"), a specialized developer of PC-based interactive entertainment software in the United States, made two announcements this morning in conjunction with the Penny Arcade Expo 2011, beginning today in Seattle.

Runic Games unveiled the price point for Torchlight II today, and as promised, the studio continues to champion the model of affordable games with great value. Torchlight II will retail for $19.99 USD, the same price as the original Torchlight.

“It’s always been our goal to provide exceptional value for the price,” says Max Schaefer, CEO of Runic Games. “Everyone who wants to play Torchlight II will be able to comfortably afford to do so, and they’ll be able to play with their friend online or via a LAN, or play single player offline, all with no further purchases.””

Runic Games also announced the fourth playable class of Torchlight II, the magic-wielding Embermage. The mysterious Embermage joins the previously announced Engineer, Outlander, and Berserker classes. This marks the culmination of a month long buildup introducing each class to players.

Torchlight II will release for PC in 2011.

Link.

[Vaiti]

So, do we make the Torchlight II subforum now or?

"You have 18 Friends who play Torchlight"
16 of them are from f13.

[Mrbloodworth]

Really like it has drop in and out with up to 8 people.

[Talpidae]

These chaps are real smart.

[Malakili]

Super excited about this, I love these guys.

[Merusk]

All I need to know is WHEN.  2011 is getting very short.

[Shrike]

All I need to know is WHEN.  2011 is getting very short.

And D3 looms ever closer. Among other things.

Still, $20, I'll have a look regardless, but sooner is better...money is already tightending up with Deus Ex, Space Marine, Rage, Diablo 3 and ToR in the offing.

[Merusk]

I don't give a toss about D3.  I never enjoyed the first 2 Diablo games* but enjoyed the hell out of Torchlight.  Odd, I know.

* I also have very little to like about the direction D3 is taking on a lot of issues.  Voting with my wallet there, though I know it to be futile.

[Paelos]

I'll buy both.

[Malakili]

I'll buy both.

[Talpidae]

* I also have very little to like about the direction D3 is taking on a lot of issues.  Voting with my wallet there, though I know it to be futile.

[Ingmar]

I'll be waiting to see if they give Torchlight II any degree of actual depth before buying. I found the first one really lacking in that personally. Classes weren't different enough, the loot was boring, etc. Was fun for a playthrough, but if 2 isn't a good leap ahead from that I probably won't bother.

[Ghambit]

If they can capture a roguelike a bit better whilst throwing in multiplayer and real-time iso play... then they win the prize.

[Yegolev]

I'll be waiting to see if they give Torchlight II any degree of actual depth before buying. I found the first one really lacking in that personally. Classes weren't different enough, the loot was boring, etc. Was fun for a playthrough, but if 2 isn't a good leap ahead from that I probably won't bother.

I found Torchlight to be lacking when compared to Mythos, if that tells you anything.  I don't know that I'll ever get to play a cigar-chomping gnome with a shotgun again, but I'm secretly hoping for something almost as cool.

Also:  WHEEEEEENNNNNNN?

[Fabricated]

I'll be waiting to see if they give Torchlight II any degree of actual depth before buying. I found the first one really lacking in that personally. Classes weren't different enough, the loot was boring, etc. Was fun for a playthrough, but if 2 isn't a good leap ahead from that I probably won't bother.

I found Torchlight to be lacking when compared to Mythos, if that tells you anything.  I don't know that I'll ever get to play a cigar-chomping gnome with a shotgun again, but I'm secretly hoping for something almost as cool.

Also:  WHEEEEEENNNNNNN?

I dunno, you can play a dapper monocle-sporting combat-engineer who beats things with a gigantic flaming spanner.

[Xuri]

I found Torchlight to be lacking when compared to Mythos
...lacking ... compared to Mythos
...compared to Mythos
...to Mythos
...Mythos

[rattran]

I feel the same as Yeg. Mythos beta had quite a bit of charm, and I preferred the shooty class to the Vanq from Torchlight

[NiX]

All I need to know is WHEN.  2011 is getting very short.

And D3 looms ever closer. Among other things.

Still, $20, I'll have a look regardless, but sooner is better...money is already tightending up with Deus Ex, Space Marine, Rage, Diablo 3 and ToR in the offing.

It does? Beta hasn't even started yet. I don't think we'll see it until early 2012.

[Amaron]

Mythos classes were very "love em or hate em".   Torchlight's classes were fairly bland but perhaps more suitable to a wider range of people.   In either case the second seems to have that problem fixed.

[Malakili]

...Mythos
 

I never played whatever ended up getting bought out, finished, and made, but in beta I thought it was a lot of fun.  I was far more depressed for the loss of Mythos than the loss of Hellgate when Flagship went under.

[Yegolev]

Yes, Hellgate was tripe but Mythos was awesome.

[Sand]

I'll buy both.

Me three.

[murdoc]

Posted on November 17th, 2011
"So... where is Torchlight 2? Didn't you guys say that you were planning to try to release this year?"

Well, yeah. We did - and we made a good run at that. We've come to the realization, however, that getting a game of this scope up to the quality and polish level we want to achieve is going to take a little longer; especially since we want to run a small beta before release to ensure that our launch is smooth.

The first Torchlight was released in record time, but it had plenty of issues that a little more development could have resolved. We didn't have the resources at the time to give Torchlight that treatment. Right at this moment though, we do have those resources for the sequel, and we feel strongly that we should apply them to make this the best game we can make and hopefully one that you'll enjoy and continue to want to play in the future. We've probably had 18 months of full development time on it so far - not excessively long yet, as far as that goes. The amount of time we need to take it the rest of the way is relatively small.

We feel pretty safe in saying that if you enjoyed Torchlight at all, this sequel is superior in every respect. Right now our job is to ensure that the quality level is consistent all the way to the end.

Besides, you're all playing Skyrim right now anyway, aren't you? Or Battlefield 3? Or Uncharted 3? Or Saints Row 3? Or Arkham City? Or Skyward Sword? Or Minecraft? Or Modern Warfare 3? Or Dark Souls? Or Assassin's Creed Revelations?

Those are awesome games. When Torchlight 2 goes live, we want it to be awesome too - all the way through.

With the glut of games out right now, I'm pretty ok with this.

[Malakili]

Well, I guess they've decided D3 release isn't something they care about then.  Fair enough.  I'm a huge fan of Torchlight, but if i'm full in the swing of D3 when it comes out, i'll likely just wait for a Steam sale and then play it later.

[Hawkbit]

Pretty much that.  I understand they can't release the product until it is ready, but now they need to make sure they launch well after the D3 stuff has died down.  Provided D3 launches in early 2012, that is.

[Ironwood]

I really, really do love the attitude these chaps have.  I'll be buying it for that, no matter what.

[Ratman_tf]

It's like Blizzard used to be!   

[Ironwood]

Yes.

[Sand]

Well, I guess they've decided D3 release isn't something they care about then.  Fair enough.  I'm a huge fan of Torchlight, but if i'm full in the swing of D3 when it comes out, i'll likely just wait for a Steam sale and then play it later.

If D3 hits first I will forget I ever heard the words "Torchlight 2".
D3 will probably make me forget about SWTOR.

[Ironwood]

I'll take that bet.