Torchlight MMOG Will Be "Close to Single Player"

[vansau]

Torchlight MMOG Will Be "Close to Single Player"

The upcoming Torchlight MMOG sounds like it's going to be a blast, primarily because its developers want to make it something that gamers can play on their own.

<a hrefhttp://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/6697-Review-Torchlight>Torchlight is one of those games that's been solving my dungeon-crawler cravings while I wait for Diablo III to be released. Up until this point, Runic Games has been tight-lipped about the upcoming MMOG that <a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23442>CEO Max Schaefer revealed a couple of months ago. However, the upcoming issue of PC Gamer UK has some new information about Runic's next project.

The MMOG is going to be free-to-play, which means that it'll be supported by microtransactions (as is the case with every such MMOG). Runic is also planning to make the title feel like a single player game.

According to Runic's president Travis Baldree, "our vision is to have an MMO that plays as close to single player as we can get it. It will have the same focus on relatively fast action: carving your way through hordes of monsters with a large number of hugely devastating skills. The game has to be solo-able, but players will have to have skills that make them useful in a party and make them work together."

Baldree also makes a point of stating that the game will be fun without buying a bunch of in-game items via microtransactions. "I will never, ever buy a microtransaction item," he says in the interview. "I'm that kind of player. And the game has to be enjoyable for me, too. We don't want our monetisation stuff to offer ways to skip the game because the game is boring."

The new issue of PC Gamer UK is due out on Thursday.

Source: PC Gamer

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[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I've been really looking forward to this since i heard about it. The single player game is awesome so i'm hoping the MMO will be better.

 

[Jared]

Intresting...it seems to be taking a very different direction. I hope it will be successful, MMO's need some refrshment!

 

[Deofuta]

Ok, micro transaction sounds good so far. However, I am sure the definition of 'needed item' will change going from player to player.

 

[Nightfalke]

A...single player MMO?

Um. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

 

[Corven]

So they're making it sort of like demon's souls, where it's primarily single-player but if your having trouble with a particular dungeon you can enlist the help of others to finish the quest.

 

[Cyrax987]

I'm looking forward to this, the current Torchlight game I have right now is a blast and very diverse in gameplay.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I think i'm gonna give this and the original a try when i get my new Laptop. Should be fun.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

A...single player MMO?

Um. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

No no no.

It's an MMO than also encourages solo play for all it's classes.

Most MMOs I've played have classes that can solo well, and classes that can't solo for shit.

This game is just going to be solo-able for everyone.

 

[GodKlown]

I like this idea. entirely too many online games require you at some point to team up with random strangers, who may or may not even care to help you out. making it more about a single-player experience with the ability to include others is a smarter way to go. I get too easily frustrated/pissed when I get to a point when the game tells you that you can't proceed without at least 2-5 other people in a party, then you sit around for anywhere to five minutes to four hours waiting for enough people for you to complete some b.s. quest. cutting out that time-wasting crap is ideal for me, and the cost for playing sounds about right.
I haven't gotten a chance to play Torchlight yet, but I would certainly give the online version a go once it becomes available, provided nothing changes between now and the release date as far as it being a F2P. I could give a flying fudge about microtransactions. more power to them for trying to make money, but I'm sure they plan on having some advertising in the game somewhere to generate a more steady source of income. as long as it isn't really intrusive, I doubt it will distract from the overall game.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

I loved Torchlight for its simplicity and streamlining, but I wonder if that same simplicity won't make it a bit disappointing in MMO format. I hope they manage to give it the complexity and sense of scale that IMO an MMO needs to stay interesting.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

For a brief second I thought that said Twilight MMO.

I may need to sit down now I know the truth.

 

[deth2munkies]

So, a game that's a Diablo clone promises MMO content that mirrors single player...JUST LIKE DIABLO.

How is this news? This is just Diablo with a cel-shaded makeover and stupidly OP spells that make it even easier than Diablo ever was.

Kids: Dump Torchlight and go buy/download/whatever Diablo 2: LoD. It's ~10 years older yet better in every way. I'd be more irate if I hadn't paid only $4 for Torchlight.

 

[BboyTeddyBear]

hmm like others it does sound a lot like diablo already has going for it

 

[VanBasten]

I was kinda hoping that after the great success of Torchlight they'd ditch the micropayment MMO plans, instead make a full fledged sequel with multiplayer support and sell it for a one time fee. There certainly is demand for it, especially since D3 is still quite a way away.

That would have been AWESOME-O.

I'm just really, really, not fond of the whole free+micropayment model.
Will give it a try anyway because Torchlight was great(and, well, it will be free...)

 

[AgentBJ09]

Glad to hear. I played WoW by myself during my trial, and I liked it, so this MMO shouldn't be too different.

 

[Niryain]

So, a game that's a Diablo clone promises MMO content that mirrors single player...JUST LIKE DIABLO.

How is this news? This is just Diablo with a cel-shaded makeover and stupidly OP spells that make it even easier than Diablo ever was.

Kids: Dump Torchlight and go buy/download/whatever Diablo 2: LoD. It's ~10 years older yet better in every way. I'd be more irate if I hadn't paid only $4 for Torchlight.

Right, right. I for sure enjoy using cookie-cutter builds, having a completely messed up economy, and only being able to run Act-end bosses with other people. Diablo 2 -is- about 10 years old. That means the community is high level and not at all interested in new players. The thing that interests me about this game is that the community won't be that level. It'll be like a less-elitist Diablo 2.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

ENOUGH. FUCKING. MMO'S.

FUCK!

^ Does not play well with others.

Honestly, I don't mind seeing MMOs as long as they're unique. APB looks like it will do alright in it's own niche, maybe torchlight won't screw up too bad.