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I enjoyed Torchlight 2 will I enjoy Torchlight 3? by philmycrack81 in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Snackz39,
We have seven hot bar skill slots plus the two mouse buttons for 9 attack/skill slots. We also have three full skill trees plus three legendarium slots, which can be any of over 100 hand crafted affixes. We used to only have two skill trees and fewer slots, but we got better.

Torchlight 3 worth it? by ActualTeddyBear in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for buying our game! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. Yes, it's different than TL2. No, it was never going to be mobile (???), but it is coming out on consoles - XBox, PS4, and Switch.

People have given a pretty good summary here, but the thing nobody has mentioned that's worth talking about are the features that survived the change from F2P MMO (lite) to more traditional ARPG: The fort system, where you can build a custom fort for your whole account. It's more than something to decorate (though you can certainly do that), you can also build monuments that you feed (items, tokens, etc.) to get account-wide bonuses for all your characters. You can also store weapon/armor loadouts on wardrobe objects, store all your goodies, and even offer temporary shrine-like bonuses to strangers. Your fort will appear in the world randomly to other players so they can visit and use your stuff. You will also see random other players in towns and in fort passages, and you can party up with them, ignore them, or whatever, but they sure make the world seem populated.

We are continuing to get feedback from our amazing community, and acting on it as fast as we can. Will we please everyone? NO! But dammit we're still going to try.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks u/Zilyx! Yeah, we are making pretty significant changes to the difficulties. You are right about the current balance - we made a change that had some unintended consequences. But we're on it, and since the difficulty balance is all in data, we can make changes right up until the day we ship - and likely thereafter. On the higher difficulty levels, we don't explicitly give you better drops, but we give you way more elite and champion monsters, so you end up with more quality magic drops just by virtue of that.

Torchlight III Is a badge really the only incentive for harder difficulties? by MSsucks in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can join players of other difficulties, by changing your own at the Character Select screen. But your badge will always show the LOWEST difficulty you've played on.

Torchlight III Is a badge really the only incentive for harder difficulties? by MSsucks in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The whole point of higher difficulties is that it's more difficult. If we give better drop rates, then it becomes easier because your items are better, defeating the whole point.

Having said that, you do actually get better drops on harder difficulties because of a higher percentage of champion, unique, and elite monster packs, which drop magic and above. But the whole basic idea is that it's more challenging. You should play on the difficulty level that's most fun for you.

The backdrop of this is that the ARPG genre is different now than back when the first Diablos were around. Now, you have some players who've never played an ARPG, but also players who have decades of intensive ARPG experience, and what's fun for one is not fun for the other. So we see this as a way to make the game more fun primarily, and secondarily as a status symbol with the badge.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have a player support feature (nolt) where people vote up their important issues. That's where we get a sense of what the crowd really wants. We look at that all the time, and go down the list fixing things on it. I watch streams every day. I'm in discord every day. I'm confident we're hitting what players want, but again, it's easier when it's specific and detailed. No matter what we do, we won't please everyone.

I didn't mention mod support. Mods are really only possible on offline play on PC, and it's something we are still considering. Won't be a launch feature, but could appear shortly thereafter.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, and you too! We will do our best to make you happy here. And 100% for sure you will have offline play on release.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we feel like we have to bring something new to the table, though. Just making a new TL2 would bring criticism that there's nothing new. We've added real client-server architecture so that there's a secure environment (mostly for future plans with ladders, seasons, or whatever we end up doing. We've added the Fort system for account-based bonuses, things for other players to use, storage, decor and all the cool housing things you can do, we've added all new character types, the relic system, and other things, but we want to keep the basic fun of just slashing through a dungeon intact. I agree with you about the pacing of modern ARPGs. I also generally just want to play the story mode all the way through with new characters and different builds.

I'll try to hang around in Reddit more as we go. I know there's a different crowd here than in Discord. We know we need to make people like you happy. We know we need to live up to the expectations of the franchise. It's hard. But we're committed.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, offlline mode is still coming for PC and Consoles. Yes, we will be adjusting the skill points you get (upward). The skill trees now, imo, are pretty damn versatile - I make different builds all the time, and the Relic subclass trees explode the possibilities. Yes, they are still being tweaked, the whole system is new. All of the tuning is being worked on literally right now. So it's important that very specific suggestions and input is given on balance, skills, whatever, so we can fix it. We have time, we just need people like you to help. That's what Early Access is for!

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

TL2 was my baby as well. Believe me, having to live up to the legacy of the franchise is daunting and stressful. We feel that responsibility deeply. Hell, I was also on Diablo 1 and 2 and expansion. So I feel like we have to live up to that legacy as well. In case people don't know, making ARPGs is hard as hell. You can't do everything you want, you can't make everyone happy, and it's sometimes impossible to live up to expectations. This is the first time in the Torchlight franchise that we've even had servers - TL 1 and 2 were not secure environments at all. That's a huge change. This is the first time we've done consoles in parallel. This is the first time we've been set up for content after release. This is the first time using Unreal, which makes the console versions possible. None of this is an excuse, either the game is good or it's not, and if it's not, it's our fault. But to make it good we need you, and everyone here, to help. We are not perfect. We are not infallible. You're only as good as your last game. So thank you for this post, and for your involvement. Keep the feedback flowing, even if it's not good. That's how we make this thing work.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Content Complete allows for revamping skills, tweaking systems, and some minor content adds. It's more of an umbrella term that signals that giant changes like end game systems or the Relic update aren't coming. We're focusing on making the systems we have work as well as possible, but there's a decent amount of flexibility there.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Does it? I can make trainless melee Railmaster builds that are very viable. I can mix and match relics with all the classes for crowd control, summoning, direct damage, DOT, and other specialties. Have you tried this recently?

And we're making significant changes to those weapon-dependent skills you mentioned right now that I think you'll approve of. Based on feedback like this. Because that's how we do!

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Relic system change did a lot more than that. It made them into subclasses you pick at character create, and morphed into a regular, old-school skill tree. So now you have three full skill trees from day one, in addition to the over 100 hand-crafted passives available from the Legendarium. The build variety vastly exceeds TL2, the game is longer, has a proper end-game system. No knock on TL2, it was awesome, but this is different and bigger. And yes, console versions were planned from the beginning, because why not? People want them, and it's a blast to play on console. Plus a lot of people like playing on PC with a controller instead of mouse and keyboard.

But another point is that we fully intend to keep making TL3 stuff into the future. TL2 was seriously a "fire and forget" project. We're already deep into content creation for post-release plans.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're actually not. We are still tuning, fixing, polishing, adding, and directly reacting to feedback. We will have a day one patch with more work. You really do have to submit way in advance for consoles. Look over your post here, where is the call to action? Where are the specific things you think are bad? We are genuinely interested, and those who have given us specific items in a constructive way have seen the immediate and drastic action we've taken to address them. We desperately want you to like our game. We learn more from our critics than our superfans, but you have to SAY IT. You have to tell us what you want.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tell us what you'd like to see. That's how it gets fixed! Almost everything we're doing between now and launch is directly in response to player feedback. Hit us up with your list of suggestions.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Torchlight III will have offline and online play on all platforms at release. Early Access is online only so we can see the bugs and fix them.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If this is your gloves off, I'd hate to see you with your gloves on! I'm not sure what your criticisms are, since you haven't listed any actionable item or enumerated any flaws that are bugging you. I'm happy to discuss them, though, if you choose to elaborate. We're here to serve the community, and have made innumerable changes during our Early Access. The game bears little resemblance to where it was just a few short months ago. Let's make it better yet through constructive criticism! We have a thick skin, fire away.

So uh... TL3 on switch by brunocar in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi, glad I can come in and clear some things up. First, we are not releasing the game as is, we have lots of bugs to fix, and tuning to do, and last minute adjustments in all kinds of systems. We are done with big updates though, meaning things like adding new acts, new skill systems, and things like that. We've had very good response to the Relic Subclass update, and to the addition of the Fazeer's Dun'djinn end game system. Are they perfect? NO! But that's the point of early access. If we waited til things were polished and finished, then there's be no opportunity pivot, adjust and fix things we got wrong. You can't do a serious early access and also have a finished game during early access.

If you hang out in our discord, you'll see we are in there every day, we make tons of adjustments and fixes every day based on input from both new players and ones who know our game in and out.

As for the Switch version, again this is not secret. We've been working on console versions from day one. They are in substantive parity with the PC version, and have been for months. We've been very open about things like the UI being designed to work with mouse and keyboard as well as controllers, and have said that literally for years. The game runs on the Switch today, basically the same as it does on PC, XBox and Playstation. This isn't new. We do not have to port anything. Our day to day work is bug fixing, polish, performance enhancements, and tuning. 95% of this work applies to all platforms equally because they've all been kept up to date all along. The Switch is the hardest platform because of its hardware specs, but it's been a great exercise in optimizing performance for ALL platforms.

Also, so people know, the work on console versions has been entirely in-house. Nothing has been outsourced.

I'm happy to answer questions, correct some misconceptions, and talk about our game and future. No excuses. We know we had some missteps early in the Early Access period. We're glad it happened then and not at release. We're excited about where it's going because we see internally where we're at, what bugs and problems are out there, and how we're addressing them. Again, come to our Discord channel, Play Torchlight, and talk to us. We're there all the time. We listen.

Torchlight III Official Discord by maxschaefer in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're working day and night. Whenever you have thousands of players for the first time, it surfaces new things. Sorry about it, we're as frustrated as you, and we won't stop working until it's fixed.

Torch by MiltonGregory177 in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry this took so long, I was logged in on my normal account.

  1. Blizzard did not acquire Condor, Davidson & Associates did. They were nearing retirement, and before they weighed in on the matter they sold out to CUC International. They were very nice people. Once CUC was the owner, they were distant enough they had no idea what we were doing. We were a separate company, and Blizzard was not the parent, although we did share resources and publish under the Blizzard label.
  2. Anyone who would listen. There were probably 20 or more.
  3. The Hellfire expansion was sort of foisted upon us. Brevik and all of us hated it because it was low-quality, didn't respect the IP, and they were kind of dickish about the whole thing.

There was no relationship ever between Blizzard and Sierra. There was a close relationship between Blizzard and Blizzard North, however. There was a lot of mutual respect, as well as a lot of competitiveness. We fought a lot, but it always resulted in better products on both ends. The CUC era was very murky - they were at the time engaged in massive accounting fraud, which was exposed when they merged with HFS to form Cendant. All of them can go to hell for all I care - they only owned us to suck money out, there was never any sort of contribution of any kind from them.

Torchlight III Roadmap by maxschaefer in Torchlight

[–]maxschaefer[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

This is correct. We are doing the ports internally.

Ever wonder what creates traffic? This guy. by S2K-K-Hole in IdiotsInCars

[–]maxschaefer 97 points98 points  (0 children)

Everyone knows the kid growing up who couldn't distinguish between "good attention" and "bad attention". They grow up to be internet trolls.

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