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[Fugu]

Completely understandable. It really does diminish from the excitement of finding good loot.

The best we can do is ignore mods/trainers and play with like minded players.

Well, there's that and the fact that, thus far, I think that Diablo 2 is a mechanically superior game, but time will tell. There are some things, like Torchlight 2's handling of sets, that I would consider superior elements of the game as compared to Diablo 2.

If they wanted to offer a closed multiplayer option that's fine with me since I'd very likely only want to play with friends regardless, and wouldn't need it.

I wonder if I'm in the minority for being rather against an item economy and real money item trading. I don't want every game to turn into TF2 with item dropping/selling/trading/microtransactions...which I realize sounds hilarious since that sort of mechanic presumably came from MMO's to begin with.

I don't put real money item trading in the same category as item economy. In fact, I would consider real money item trading to be the enemy of an item-based economy.

It isn't hard to be a better game then Diablo 2, Diablo 3 really just killed itself with the loot reward loop. I would say that Torchlight 2 is definitely a better game then Diablo 2. Will it live as long as Diablo 2 did? No way in hell, but Diablo 2 had far less competition for multiplayer online games then TL2 does.

Diablo 2 may have had the most intense competition for multiplayer share ever: CS, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Starcraft, Age of Empires 2, Everquest and Tribes were all at their high point when Diablo 2 released.

 

[Toma]

It isn't hard to be a better game then Diablo 2, Diablo 3 really just killed itself with the loot reward loop. I would say that Torchlight 2 is definitely a better game then Diablo 2. Will it live as long as Diablo 2 did? No way in hell, but Diablo 2 had far less competition for multiplayer online games then TL2 does.

Well, Diablo2 was the best loot game/dungeon crawler for me before Torchlight2 and I think I pretty much played every one of them. Most other games simply didnt nail the loot aspect as perfectly.

 

[Orlandu84]

Agreed. Well said.

It is such a shame that closed online was omitted from Torchlight 2. It's the only thing that doesn't automatically propell this game into the stratosphere past Diablo 2.

Ditto. It would be great if Runic incorporated an option for a closed online system at some point. As someone who loves mods though, I am happy that the open system is an option.

 

[datamage]

This game is quite a treat for my loot whoredom. (More so after D3.)

Here's a pic of my Engineer. (Trying to finish the Dwarfking set, need 1 piece.)

 

[dionysus]

You know the loot system is good when you feel like you hit a huge payday because you came across a magic find enchanter.

And I am enjoying this as much as I remember enjoying D2. D2 was a long time ago though.

 

[RazorEdge]

Supercharge is a necessity if you rely on normal weapon attacks most of the time.

Thank you!

 

[Blizzard]

I don't put real money item trading in the same category as item economy. In fact, I would consider real money item trading to be the enemy of an item-based economy.

That's a fair point.

Also, thanks to the person who clarified ladder vs. non-ladder, since I have not played Diablo 2 and was not familiar with the setup there.

 

[TheExodu5]

This game is quite a treat for my loot whoredom. (More so after D3.)

Here's a pic of my Engineer. (Trying to finish the Dwarfking set, need 1 piece.)

Dwarfking set is so awesome.

Hey, when I beat the game the quest giver had a few "Forgesomething" (Forgeplate maybe?) engineer only unique set pieces available. Any idea on a reliable way to farm that set? Seemed awesome for a tank.

 

[Toma]

Anyone know whether there is a way to find a map works map with spiders without looking through all of them? From the name or symbol somehow?

Oh yeah, btw. Is the hidden room in the second Djinni task level containing a unique item and two huge golden chests well known? I farmed that spot 5-10 times,lol. All that loot.

 

[v0mitg0d]

Hello everyone!

Torchlight 2 has launched and I.Eat.Games. (ME!) will be interviewing Max Schaefer today at 4PM PST. Post your questions here and I'll pass them on to him.

Thanks,
-Mark

 

[BertleTheTurtle]

This game is quite a treat for my loot whoredom. (More so after D3.)

Here's a pic of my Engineer. (Trying to finish the Dwarfking set, need 1 piece.)

I know how you feel, I need 1 piece of Ironlord.

 

[Alchemy]

Diablo 2 may have had the most intense competition for multiplayer share ever: CS, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Starcraft, Age of Empires 2, Everquest and Tribes were all at their high point when Diablo 2 released.

And none of those games had the player footprints that games like WoW, LoL, etc. have today. Diablo 2 had actual solo player progression even in an online format which allowed players to sink more time into the game compared. Hell, I'd be surprised if any of those games had TORs player numbers.

Online gaming is just more crowded now, harder to keep a high number of active players then it used to be.

Well, Diablo2 was the best loot game/dungeon crawler for me before Torchlight2 and I think I pretty much played every one of them. Most other games simply didnt nail the loot aspect as perfectly.

Loot is the best part of Diablo 2, and loot is fantastic in TL2. But TL2 also has much better gameplay mechanics to go with it. I played a fuckton of Diablo 2, but I hate the min/maxing that happens in the late game for it. Fuck stamina and fuck potions.

 

[Fugu]

That's a fair point.

Also, thanks to the person who clarified ladder vs. non-ladder, since I have not played Diablo 2 and was not familiar with the setup there.

The setup is a bit more complicated than the division between ladder and non-ladder.

Closed battle.net contains both a ladder and a non-ladder component. All closed battle.net characters are stored on Blizzard's server and all characters on closed battle.net, ladder and non-ladder, are forced to play the official patch version of the game.

Ladder resets after an arbitrary period of time that Blizzard seems to pull out of their ass, but it's mostly somewhere between six months and a year. When it does, every character on ladder -- along with all of their items -- is sent to non-ladder, and everyone has to start over again. This prevents duping and item values from getting out of control, as well as limiting the amount of gear you can have at any given time. One ladder season refers to the period of time between resets.
Non-ladder characters are where all characters made before September 2003 and all characters from previous ladder seasons end up. Other than some restrictions on loot (some items can only be found or made in the ladder), this is basically identical to ladder except that the characters on non-ladder can be several years old.

Open battle.net is completely separate and does not have a ladder; instead, it encompasses all single-player characters, characters created for TCP/IP direct connect games, and characters created for open battle.net. Open battle.net doesn't force you to use the game's current patch version, so you can run whatever the hell you want so long as all of your clients are running the same thing.

And none of those games had the player footprints that games like WoW, LoL, etc. have today. Diablo 2 had actual solo player progression even in an online format which allowed players to sink more time into the game compared. Hell, I'd be surprised if any of those games had TORs player numbers.

Online gaming is just more crowded now, harder to keep a high number of active players then it used to be.

Only because there are more players in PC gaming than there were when Diablo 2 was released. There being less players in total does not make the arena any less competitive.

 

[Dice]

I think I'm going to try and build the outlaw set for my outlander.

 

[Dog Problems]

Has anyone tied that mod that gives you potions to respec? Does it really not flag you as a cheater? I have no desire to respect at the moment so I'm just curious about it.

 

[Alchemy]

Only because there are more players in PC gaming than there were when Diablo 2 was released. There being less players in total does not make the arena any less competitive.

But Diablo wasn't competing with CS, Quake 3, etc. It isn't anywhere close to the same type of game. In terms of an online RPG its only real main competition were MMOs but that market was still growing into what it is today. Now we have more MMOs vying for players attention and even more dungeon/loot whore games.

For direct competition Diablo 2 had... Nox and Everquest? Even then Everquest is a bit of stretch there.

 

[TheExodu5]

But Diablo wasn't competing with CS, Quake 3, etc. It isn't anywhere close to the same type of game. In terms of an online RPG its only real main competition were MMOs but that market was still growing into what it is today. Now we have more MMOs vying for players attention and even more dungeon/loot whore games.

For direct competition Diablo 2 had... Nox and Everquest? Even then Everquest is a bit of stretch there.

Ultima Online
Ragnarok Online

Some other free ones I can't quite recall (Helbreath, I think?).

 

[spirity]

Hello everyone!

Torchlight 2 has launched and I.Eat.Games. (ME!) will be interviewing Max Schaefer today at 4PM PST. Post your questions here and I'll pass them on to him.

Thanks,
-Mark

I think a lot of people are very pleased with TL2, but they're going to want more. We know there's going to be some free dlc sized stuff, but what about something meatier, like an expansion?

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

I have a few of the pieces for various sets.

Steam: bigbosseyepatch

I don't mind donating!

 

[Toma]

I think a lot of people are very pleased with TL2, but they're going to want more. We know there's going to be some free dlc sized stuff, but what about something meatier, like an expansion?

I second that, additional content please. Is it already known when the mod editor might be available? If not, that question too of course.

 

[Fugu]

But Diablo wasn't competing with CS, Quake 3, etc. It isn't anywhere close to the same type of game. In terms of an online RPG its only real main competition were MMOs but that market was still growing into what it is today. Now we have more MMOs vying for players attention and even more dungeon/loot whore games.

For direct competition Diablo 2 had... Nox and Everquest? Even then Everquest is a bit of stretch there.

I don't know too many gamers that only play one genre of game.

Cacklespit took me 29 minutes on solo elite. Gooood stuff.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

regarding closed servers, if enough people want to have closed servers there's really nothing stopping runic from adding support in a patch. it's a long time ago now, but I think some people forget that early battle.net was basically the wild west, and it wasn't until the service really took off that blizzard added the things we've come to associate with online in a loot game.

 

[Fugu]

regarding closed servers, if enough people want to have closed servers there's really nothing stopping runic from adding support in a patch. it's a long time ago now, but I think some people forget that early battle.net was basically the wild west, and it wasn't until the service really took off that blizzard added the things we've come to associate with online in a loot game.

If by "early battle.net" you mean the original Diablo, then yes, but the major difference between Diablo and Diablo 2 in terms of online is that Diablo 2 offered a closed service.

 

[commissar]

Hello everyone!

Torchlight 2 has launched and I.Eat.Games. (ME!) will be interviewing Max Schaefer today at 4PM PST. Post your questions here and I'll pass them on to him.

Thanks,
-Mark

Are they likely to ever make a dedicated server client?

 

[vaelic]

cant quite pinpoint it, but melee fighting in this game does not feel "weighty" enough for me... impacts just dont do it as they do in D3

 

[jim-jam bongs]

If by "early battle.net" you mean the original Diablo, then yes, but the major difference between Diablo and Diablo 2 in terms of online is that Diablo 2 offered a closed service.

of course, but this is roughly equivalent to diablo in terms of online, it's their first co-op attempt other than their mmo.

 

[Ceebs]

Dwarfking set is so awesome.

Hey, when I beat the game the quest giver had a few "Forgesomething" (Forgeplate maybe?) engineer only unique set pieces available. Any idea on a reliable way to farm that set? Seemed awesome for a tank.

I am working on it atm. I just set the difficulty to causal and popped forcefield and ran through the last dungeon ignoring the mobs.

4 runs so far of both bosses . It takes like 10 minutes or so to get all the way down and kill them. It looks like they both drop 1-2 unique items from that tier of stuff. I got the ring on my last run, and the shield one before.

 

[Fugu]

of course, but this is roughly equivalent to diablo in terms of online, it's their first co-op attempt other than their mmo.

Well, only if you count Diablo 1 and 2. And in my opinion, they count at least a little bit.

 

[Morokh]

Just beat

Spoiler

The Alchemist

21:50 played on that character and there is still something after that, but I must go to bed .. badly ... xD

Well, only if you count Diablo 1 and 2. And in my opinion, they count at least a little bit.

That's pretty much why their decision on the online was well thought before doing it.
From the guy's experience with D1 and 2, the size of the team and resources they have, plus modding, it seems like the model they choose is the best bet for them.

And frankly, better that than a buggy 'closed' D2 system because they can't keep up with it ...

That doesn't mean that the online part will stay the same as of now, I read a post on Runic's forums yesterday where a dev talked about eventually changing some things like being able to create groups, and make it so if a member adds someone to his ban-list the whole group would also have it, to kind of create a snowball effect on banning cheating people.

 

[MasterShotgun]

Now these are some shoulder pads. The stats are not very noteworthy, but they sure look cool. If anybody ever finds some pieces of the Warcaster set, I'd be glad to take them.

 

[Cloudius12]

I am working on it atm. I just set the difficulty to causal and popped forcefield and ran through the last dungeon ignoring the mobs.

4 runs so far of both bosses . It takes like 10 minutes or so to get all the way down and kill them. It looks like they both drop 1-2 unique items from that tier of stuff. I got the ring on my last run, and the shield one before.

After you beat the Alchemist, you can take the backdoor to fight him really quickly once you reroll your world again.

Edit:
Ah you were talking about the next boss after that.

Just a tip then for anyone farming uniques.

 

[Dice]

If we're talkin crazy shoulder pads...

Spoiler

Dem primary colors.

 

[spirity]

If we're talkin crazy shoulder pads...

Spoiler

Dem primary colors.

emberclad pauldrons?

 

[Neki]

How good is Astral ally? Only spells I've leveled are Prismatic, Thundering Locus, Fire Pillars and Charge Mastery.

 

[Dice]

emberclad pauldrons?

Emberheart Mantle

 

[spirity]

Emberheart Mantle

ah, I have something similar

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Well, only if you count Diablo 1 and 2. And in my opinion, they count at least a little bit.

how could I forget? what with all the royalties runic earn from the Diablo series, surely they could afford to do just about anything!

 

[MasterShotgun]

How good is Astral ally? Only spells I've leveled are Prismatic, Thundering Locus, Fire Pillars and Charge Mastery.

It's putting out some decent damage for me. It requires some investment since his initial duration vs cooldown sucks. In order to have it out almost all the time, it's gonna take at least 10 points. I'd say it's worth it if you're playing solo. If you're mostly playing online, go for something else.

Since you're running Prismatic Bolt, make sure to put at least one point into each of the passive Brands. Those will dramatically boost it's damage output. Also, if you're playing on Veteran or higher, one point in Frost Phase is pretty much required.

 

[Neki]

It's putting out some decent damage for me. It requires some investment since his initial duration vs cooldown sucks. In order to have it out almost all the time, it's gonna take at least 10 points. I'd say it's worth if you're playing solo. If you're mostly playing online, go for something.

Since you're running Prismatic Bolt, make sure to put at least one point into each of the passive Brands. Those will dramatically boost it's damage output. Also, if you're playing on Veteran or higher, one point in Frost Phase is pretty much required.

Yeah, I went tri-brand + frost phase, really like it. I might sit on the skill points until I get enough to get Tier 1 Astral Ally then.

 

[Fugu]

how could I forget? what with all the royalties runic earn from the Diablo series, surely they could afford to do just about anything!

The ambiguity of your post that preceded this led to a response regarding development experience, not finances. I'm not entirely sure what relevance your snarky and hilarious comment bears on the discussion, seeing as if you'd been following the thread, you may know that we'd already discussed finances as the likely reason why closed servers aren't a part of the game.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

The ambiguity of your post that preceded this led to a response regarding development experience, not finances. I'm not entirely sure what relevance your snarky and hilarious comment bears on the discussion, seeing as if you'd been following the thread, you may know that we'd already discussed finances as the likely reason why closed servers aren't a part of the game.

well that escalated quickly.

so since you already know why they didn't do it I can safely assume you just like reading your own posts?

 

[Fugu]

well that escalated quickly.

so since you already know why they didn't do it I can safely assume you just like reading your own posts?

I do; you should try reading them sometime. They're great.

 

[xCobalt]

Just did some quests during Act II and I managed to get a few pieces of the Regent set. I'm able to absorb 20% health on hit. As a berserker, I was able to take down a boss without losing more than 10% of my health. I'll be looking for the fourth piece to get another bonus!

 

[RS4-]

Just did some quests during Act II and I managed to get a few pieces of the Regent set. I'm able to absorb 20% health on hit. As a berserker, I was able to take down a boss without losing more than 10% of my health. I'll be looking for the fourth piece to get another bonus!

Wait until you get the feral or I think the dwarfking? set; feral has 40% health steal, dwarf has 30%

 

[Ceebs]

After you beat the Alchemist, you can take the backdoor to fight him really quickly once you reroll your world again.

Edit:
Ah you were talking about the next boss after that.

Just a tip then for anyone farming uniques.

Oh man, thanks for reminding me about that waypoint. I forgot about it completely.

It also does away with the first 2 phases of the Alchemist fight when you go in that way.

 

[Baha]

Hah, found a neat easter egg in Chapter 2

Spoiler

put the potion in the bucket!

 

[Shoogoo]

Hah, found a neat easter egg in Chapter 2

Spoiler

put the potion in the bucket!

Yeah, I didn't get that

 

[spirity]

It's not just finances that are a problem here with closed servers. Runic have always expressed a desire to stay small. They've self-imposed a maximum head count of 30-35 staff, and they're already at that limit. If they were to host closed servers, they'd need more staff. That's going to conflict with their company policy.

Of course, with TL2 shipped, there's probably going to be a few empty seats in the canteen. So.. who knows.

 

[MasterShotgun]

Hah, found a neat easter egg in Chapter 2

Spoiler

put the potion in the bucket!

Did you check the helmet that drops afterwards?

Yeah, I didn't get that

Spoiler

Silence of the Lambs reference

 

[Dead Prince]

Just solo'ed the Slime Tar on Elite.. LOL. easy. since they are slow. just used Hailstorm and Firebombs. lol.