[Torchlight 2] It's out!

Uselesswarrior

All this talk about the Diablo 3 beta got me excited for Torchlight 2 as well.


Official Site

What is it?

Sequel to the surprise hit indie game for 2009. Created by some of the same folks involved in Diablo 1 and 2.

When is it coming out?

Runic's line is before the end of 2011, which I tend to believe as this game would get buried if they released it after Diablo 3.

Haha, summer 2012. Preorders are up on Steam and directly from Runic (Actually I don't see anyway to order from Runic directly, looks like a Steam exclusive for now)

What's new?

Co-op play, bigger worlds, 4 new character classes, new UI, new Matt Uelmen music.

Why should I care

Because it's Diablo style action for $20 and the game looks pretty awesome. Also mods and no always on DRM.

Videos

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pax-2011-embermage-walkthrough/720161

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc0ThT_u-Ts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x_G2nmYbLk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pa7Ri_Eabk

Oh and if you want to talk about Torchlight 1 that is cool as well.

Uselesswarrior

OP reserved.

surrealitycheck

i like torchlight

it is full of torches

and lights

thejazzman

Just to make sure people fully understand how involved the Torchlight team was in Diablo 1 and 2, they weren't just some of the devs, they WERE Blizzard North. Max and Erich Schaefer founded Condor, which became Blizz North. The composer of the Diablo 1 and 2 music is the composer for Torchlight 2 (Matt Uelmen). Runic games actually has much more claim to the diablo legacy than Blizzard do (in terms of the gameplay and music). So uhh, yeah, people who liked Diablo 2 should be more excited for this than diablo 3 tbh.

Forar

Except Torchlight 1 definitely fell short of the D2 magic for me. I enjoyed it, beat it once and delved a bit with all of the classes, but it never grabbed me the same way D2 did.

I'm intrigued by TL2, but I wouldn't say I'm lusting to get my hands on it.

Stigma

Torchlight 1 was going for a Diablo 1 style rpg. I think that T2 probably has a chance to nail the D2 magic.
I've got my fingers crossed for an eventual XBLA version.

Uselesswarrior

I kind of liked the lack of open areas in Torchlight 1, but the skills left something to be desired.

technical

I loved the first game web though it was rather limited. Pretty excited about TL2; it will feed my loot grind urges until D3.

Alucard6986

thejazzman wrote:

Just to make sure people fully understand how involved the Torchlight team was in Diablo 1 and 2, they weren't just some of the devs, they WERE Blizzard North. Max and Erich Schaefer founded Condor, which became Blizz North. The composer of the Diablo 1 and 2 music is the composer for Torchlight 2 (Matt Uelmen). Runic games actually has much more claim to the diablo legacy than Blizzard do (in terms of the gameplay and music). So uhh, yeah, people who liked Diablo 2 should be more excited for this than diablo 3 tbh.

Eh, they're both going to be great, don't really see any need to classify either of them as being the true diablo successor or some such.

As far as release date goes, is there any indication torchlight is in fact going to be out before diablo?

MechMantis

Alucard6986 wrote:

thejazzman wrote:

Just to make sure people fully understand how involved the Torchlight team was in Diablo 1 and 2, they weren't just some of the devs, they WERE Blizzard North. Max and Erich Schaefer founded Condor, which became Blizz North. The composer of the Diablo 1 and 2 music is the composer for Torchlight 2 (Matt Uelmen). Runic games actually has much more claim to the diablo legacy than Blizzard do (in terms of the gameplay and music). So uhh, yeah, people who liked Diablo 2 should be more excited for this than diablo 3 tbh.

Eh, they're both going to be great, don't really see any need to classify either of them as being the true diablo successor or some such.

As far as release date goes, is there any indication torchlight is in fact going to be out before diablo?

I would say Diablo III's a Blizzard game, so Torchlight II coming out before Diablo III's a given, but then again, considering Runic's pedigree...

Honk

I need Torchlight II to be released before Diablo III. Because it's the only way I will be able to play it with my friends, ever.

Once Diablo III is out, their interest in this game will be completely gone. Sad fact, I want to play both.

Zek

Diablo 2 was deeply flawed in a lot of ways. D3 seems to be fixing pretty much all of them - I hope Runic isn't afraid to innovate the same way.

I'm concerned that Torchlight 2 won't have persistent online storage though. That really takes away a lot of the incentive to grind for gear.

ronya

Will there be server-only characters, similar to Battle.net's Realm characters?
No such service will be hosted by Runic Games. Final word on a community-based private server system has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Oh well.

TheOtherHorseman

Torchlight failed to grab me because, ultimately, I knew I couldn't play with friends, which is what kept me coming back to Diablo 2 for a ridiculous number of years. This game seems to rectify my core "where my bros at" issue.

Bethryn

From the gameplay videos, it really doesn't look like they've properly addressed a lot of the legacy action RPG problems that plagued the first game.

Oh well. 8(

Inferior Boots.

Uselesswarrior

Bethryn wrote:

From the gameplay videos, it really doesn't look like they've properly addressed a lot of the legacy action RPG problems that plagued the first game.

Such as?

Henroid

Torchlight's art has a lot of character to it, which is pretty much what got me hooked on the game. I'm looking forward to part 2 and all, but mostly as a single-player experience. Really, single-player games are pretty great sometimes you guys! :P

(and yes I know it has multiplayer, I can't help but feel someone was gonna try to point that out)

taliosfalcon

ronya wrote:

Will there be server-only characters, similar to Battle.net's Realm characters?
No such service will be hosted by Runic Games. Final word on a community-based private server system has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Oh well.

Gah, that pretty much just dropped it from a must buy day 1 purchase to "well, i guess i'll pick it up if steam ever has it on sale for less than 5$...probably"
for me

Henroid

Runic Games isn't in a position to run a system like that. I think you guys are maybe underestimating how much money such a thing would cost. They need to pull in money to sustain it for a long time.

What I want to know is, if that system not being present is a deal breaker for you, then why? Is it the security side where characters can cheat? Did you really plan on playing with random people or with people you know and trust to not cheat?

HyperAquaBlast

Torchlight is my favorite Diablo clone so far and I am always in search of the new best Diablo clone. What is also odd about me is that I don't enjoy playing Diablo 1or 2.

Honk

taliosfalcon wrote:

ronya wrote:

Will there be server-only characters, similar to Battle.net's Realm characters?
No such service will be hosted by Runic Games. Final word on a community-based private server system has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Oh well.

Gah, that pretty much just dropped it from a must buy day 1 purchase to "well, i guess i'll pick it up if steam ever has it on sale for less than 5$...probably"
for me

I don't get it. Why are server side characters that important?

taliosfalcon

Henroid wrote:

Runic Games isn't in a position to run a system like that. I think you guys are maybe underestimating how much money such a thing would cost. They need to pull in money to sustain it for a long time.

What I want to know is, if that system not being present is a deal breaker for you, then why? Is it the security side where characters can cheat? Did you really plan on playing with random people or with people you know and trust to not cheat?

I play with random people far more than people I know due to working odd hours, and I find games like this boring as hell single player (couldn't stand torchlight one due to this) so yeah, a game like this is pointless to me w/out server side characters

darklite_x

Out of curiosity, did you buy the first one, Talios? Honestly, I don't see the problem with the server only characters thing. I mean, I understand why it would be a good thing, but I've always looked at Torchlight sort of as a budget title that's a fun way to kill some downtime. I never really considered it as the type of game that you could invest as heavily into as Diablo 2 was, and therefore I never really thought it needed that kind of security. Definitely looking forward to Diablo 3 more than TL2, but TL was good enough that this will be a day 1 purchase for me.

HyperAquaBlast

Honk wrote:

taliosfalcon wrote:

ronya wrote:

Will there be server-only characters, similar to Battle.net's Realm characters?
No such service will be hosted by Runic Games. Final word on a community-based private server system has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Oh well.

Gah, that pretty much just dropped it from a must buy day 1 purchase to "well, i guess i'll pick it up if steam ever has it on sale for less than 5$...probably"
for me

I don't get it. Why are server side characters that important?

Cheating I guess. I would think it would make playing this game style pointless online especially with the type of mods you can enable on Torchlight 1.

Henroid

taliosfalcon wrote:

Henroid wrote:

Runic Games isn't in a position to run a system like that. I think you guys are maybe underestimating how much money such a thing would cost. They need to pull in money to sustain it for a long time.

What I want to know is, if that system not being present is a deal breaker for you, then why? Is it the security side where characters can cheat? Did you really plan on playing with random people or with people you know and trust to not cheat?

I play with random people far more than people I know due to working odd hours, and I find games like this boring as hell single player (couldn't stand torchlight one due to this) so yeah, a game like this is pointless to me w/out server side characters

Ah okay, fair enough.

Honk

Oh I see. That'd indeed put me off playing with randoms.

darklite_x

Let's be honest though, it never took very long for the ladder seasons of D2 to get hacked to shit with dupes and whatnot. Realistically, the safest way to avoid cheating in either game is going to be the same method, only play with people you know/trust.

Vi Monks

darklite_x wrote:

Let's be honest though, it never took very long for the ladder seasons of D2 to get hacked to shit with dupes and whatnot. Realistically, the safest way to avoid cheating in either game is going to be the same method, only play with people you know/trust.

This is true, but the sort of hacks you'd find on open battle.net go so far beyond anything on ladder, it's ridiculous.

ronya

Runic is planning on making a Torchlight MMO, so running servers of some kind is clearly in their future. So a future non-MMO Torchlight III might feature server-side characters a la Diablo II.

Of course, by the time Torchlight III hits the ground, Diablo III would have already been out. Probably.

Athenor

I was about to say, I thought T2 was supposed to be the MMO, using the money from the first game?

Axen

Wasn't the whole point behind the first Torchlight to drum up money and support for an MMO based in the Torchlight universe?

Could have sworn that was Runic's original intent.

I would imagine that once they realized how much people love Diablo clones they probably shelved the pricey, high maintenance MMO idea in favor of Torchlight II.

Not that I blame em.

Zombiemambo

ronya wrote:

Runic is planning on making a Torchlight MMO, so running servers of some kind is clearly in their future. So a future non-MMO Torchlight III might feature server-side characters a la Diablo II.

Of course, by the time Torchlight III hits the ground, Diablo III would have already been out. Probably.

Over the course of development, Blizzard has (potentially) lost a few customers due to their decisions. It's possible that T3 will carve out a space for itself.

Axen

Zombiemambo wrote:

ronya wrote:

Runic is planning on making a Torchlight MMO, so running servers of some kind is clearly in their future. So a future non-MMO Torchlight III might feature server-side characters a la Diablo II.

Of course, by the time Torchlight III hits the ground, Diablo III would have already been out. Probably.

Over the course of development, Blizzard has (potentially) lost a few customers due to their decisions. It's possible that T3 will carve out a space for itself.

I have a feeling the only customers Blizzard loses are the ones who've died of old age.

Scosglen

With a system like Torchlight 2's or open B.net you're looking at things orders of magnitude worse than just duping items, in terms of what's possible with cheating.

Everything from character trainers, to mods that make every item that drops on the ground a unique, to hacking up items that have an item mod list so ridiculously huge it breaks the borders of the screen.

So, the argument that "well Diablo 2 wasn't secure either" rings a little hollow.

Zek

I don't play with random people so it's not a matter of malicious hackers to me. But just the knowledge that anyone can hack in anything they want cheapens your accomplishments. Without the feeling of permanence I just don't have much desire to continue working on my character after beating the game once.

darklite_x

Scosglen wrote:

With a system like Torchlight 2's or open B.net you're looking at things orders of magnitude worse than just duping items, in terms of what's possible with cheating.

Everything from character trainers, to mods that make every item that drops on the ground a unique, to hacking up items that have an item mod list so ridiculously huge it breaks the borders of the screen.

So, the argument that "well Diablo 2 wasn't secure either" rings a little hollow.

Don't get me wrong, I remember how awful Diablo 1 was w/ regards to hacks, but honestly in these types of communities I really think the best option is always going to be "play with people you know." I just don't think that this is big enough of an issue as to be a gamebreaker. I think it'll still be a fantastic game, and I really don't think you can fault Runic too much for not providing servers. They're a fairly small company, but they're pretty well plugged into their community. It won't be perfect, but I think they've got a lot going for TL2. Bottom line, I don't think that the lack of server-side character saves should persuade anyone to avoid the game.

Athenor

Zek wrote:

I don't play with random people so it's not a matter of malicious hackers to me. But just the knowledge that anyone can hack in anything they want cheapens your accomplishments. Without the feeling of permanence I just don't have much desire to continue working on my character after beating the game once.

Cheapens your accomplishments? Howso? They are a little bit that's been flipped from 0 to 1 to show you have done something. Do you care what some random person on the web thinks? So get your achievement and move on. Play with your friends. Hold yourself to the higher standard and don't go after the glass bauble.

Scosglen

It's not a dealbreaker, if you like this kind of game, I agree.

On the other hand, it seems pretty clear that the lack of a secure online environment is doing to do a lot of damage to the game's potential online community. As you said yourself there is now a huge incentive to only play with people you know, and the lack of any kind of trading market or real legitimacy also hurts the game's longevity. It is what it is, they made the best of their limited resources by just opening up the platform from the get-go. It comes with its own drawbacks.

UnbreakableVow

Torchlight 1 was pretty rough on XBLA, at least in the trial. A really shoddy framerate...I couldn't even justify giving 5 bucks for it.

If they do Torchlight 2 on XBLA and fix that problem, that sounds like it'd be cool. I like this style of game.

The art style is so bad, though. So bad.

Zek

Athenor wrote:

Zek wrote:

I don't play with random people so it's not a matter of malicious hackers to me. But just the knowledge that anyone can hack in anything they want cheapens your accomplishments. Without the feeling of permanence I just don't have much desire to continue working on my character after beating the game once.

Cheapens your accomplishments? Howso? They are a little bit that's been flipped from 0 to 1 to show you have done something. Do you care what some random person on the web thinks? So get your achievement and move on. Play with your friends. Hold yourself to the higher standard and don't go after the glass bauble.

Glass baubles are what this genre is all about. The lack of any real persistence solidifies the game as a transient experience that you play once or twice to enjoy and then put away. These little things make all the difference in the world to the longevity of the community for a game like this.

Athenor

Ah. As a longtime MMO addict I see where you are coming from, but.. I guess this is why I never got into D2 or Borderlands multi.

Carry on, then!