In an interview at Gamescom 2018, the head of Torchlight Frontiers revealed numerous new details about the upcoming MMO-ARPG. We summarize the information for you.
Who is speaking? Max Schaefer is the co-founder of Blizzard North and Runic Games. With his new studio Echtra Games, Schaefer is responsible for Torchlight Frontiers, which is now becoming an MMO and is set to be released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The interview was conducted with the site mmorpg.com.
What to expect in Torchlight Frontiers
Looks like Torchlight, feels like Torchlight: The controls remain the same, the combat remains the same. Torchlight Frontiers is supposed to feel exactly like Torchlight 1 and 2. Additionally, the PC version will feature gamepad support.
This is how Torchlight Frontiers is structured: The world of Torchlight Frontiers is a mix of public areas – so-called Shared Open Spaces – and private instances for solo players and groups.
The public areas are basically the path to your quest that you are on. They will be randomly generated, but not to the extent of the actual quest areas – i.e., dungeons or caves.
There will be public cities and hubs. However, these will not be randomly generated, as players should always be able to find their way there and not encounter a new environment every time they enter the city.
The expansive public areas will resemble, for example, the world in Marvel Heroes, where you can randomly run into other players. Dungeons and similar areas will be designed to be more compact and are intended for solo players or groups. Most of the quests and the story will take place there.
Day-night cycle: Torchlight Frontiers will feature a day-night cycle. Currently, each phase lasts about 20 minutes. Monsters and items change with the respective cycles.
New class “The Forge” is a conscious robot
The classes: Some classes in Torchlight Frontiers may seem familiar to you. However, there is a completely new class called “The Forge”.
The associated lore is still being finalized, but in principle, it is a robot with its own consciousness that looks like a metal oven on spider legs. By shooting with its weapon, it builds heat as a resource and then discharges it in a close-range AOE attack.
So, while honoring the classics, the world of Torchlight is also being expanded. There will be four or five classes available at launch.
Pet system: The pets are getting a major update with Frontiers. In Torchlight 1 and 2, players had pets that could carry items and sell useless stuff for you in the city. They also helped you in combat.
All this will also be available in Frontiers. But now you will collect tons of pets and be able to store them in a dedicated hut in your fort. The pets are available across all your characters.
This is how housing works through forts
Torchlight Frontiers features housing: Torchlight Frontiers will have a housing system. The developers call it forts. Numerous things in the forts will be available for all your characters. They want to encourage players to create multiple characters and will provide corresponding good reasons for it.
Different characters benefit from each other: For example, pets can be used across characters. But that’s not all. Things you do there will grant your characters various skills or improve them in some way.
Your fort is also useful for other players: One example is the enchanting bank in your fort. This can be leveled up. Additionally, you can assign one of your characters as an enchanting merchant to it. Afterwards, your fort can be made visible to random players. They can then visit it and use your merchant just like a merchant in the city. The potential proceeds will go to you – after all, it’s your fort.
The developers want to provide enough incentives for players to create a cool fort with numerous useful things. Not just for themselves, but also for other players.
Torchlight Frontiers promises regular new content
Plenty to do: As Schaefer has assured, there will be extensive content, plenty to hunt and sufficient replay value – even for multiple characters. The developers even want you to level up multiple characters, even from the same class. Because you will have the ability to specialize your characters and customize them in numerous ways.
Character level not decisive: The developers at Echtra want to focus on progress in specific areas and regions of the game rather than on the player level.
Regularly new locations with fresh content and new features will be added. And all this content should be relevant for both high-level players and newcomers – right at release. They want to distance themselves from the idea that a level cap or gear score excludes players from new content.
Monetization system: This system is to be shaped through internal testing and with the help of the beta, based on player feedback. Some examples for item store ideas included purchasable cards that come with bonuses such as increased gold drops or increased magic find. When a player in the party uses such a card, every party member benefits from this bonus. However, it will also be possible to earn such cards in-game without spending money.
Is Torchlight Frontiers an MMO?
This is what the developers say: The developers themselves prefer to refer to the game as a Shared Online ARPG. According to Schaefer, it is definitely an MMO. But when you say that, people have specific expectations associated with that term. When Echtra says MMO, they mean it in a broad sense.
They want to emphasize that it is a Shared Online ARPG so that people know: It is Torchlight, just with the additional benefits of an online community. The goal is a long-term game designed for years.
Can you play Torchlight Frontiers solo? You can play it solo, but other people will always be around you. However, you can choose not to play with them.
