Thread: torchlight is $5 on steam

Fun game. I made a... um... The girl.

What is this about free multiplayer online?

Originally Posted by kyle700

Fun game. I made a... um... The girl.

What is this about free multiplayer online?

From Malakili's post here ... http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3245

It seems there is a lot of confusion on this forum about what exactly is going on. So I was hoping to make a thread where I could try and answer some really frequent questions and comments that I see in the MMO forum here. Let me state that I am in no way affiliated with Runic, and these answers are the best I have from following along for quite some time with Runic and their development of Torchlight.

1) Will there be multiplayer in Torchlight (the single player ARPG that is currently released)?

No. The developers do not plan to add a multiplayer to the currently released version of Torchlight. There is a very rare possibility a 3rd party multiplayer mod could arise, but it is unlikely, and isn't official.

2) Then what is this Torchlight Multiplayer I keep hearing about?

The Torchlight MMO is a separate game from the Torchlight ARPG that has already been released. It will be a free-to-play + online shop MMO game set in the Torchlight world. This will be an MMO, and thus multiplayer. This is not a multiplayer mod to the Torchlight ARPG and you will not be able to carry over your current Torchlight character into the MMO version.

3) What is a free-to play MMO? Don't MMOs have a monthly fee?

A free-to-play MMO is free to download and play. The way the game makes money is by selling things (some select things, not everything) for real money in game. These may be potions that increase your exp gain for a duration, items, mounts, etc. (These are just examples and to my knowledge there has been no confirmation from Runic about what exactly will be sold in the Torchlight shop. Shopping at the store is optional, and you can play the game without doing it. There will be no monthly recurring fee to play the game.

4) Why doesn't Torchlight, the ARPG that is currently out, have multiplayer?

Torchlight was made in under a year with the goal of providing a highly moddable single player ARPG experience. Runic decided that, rather than add multiplayer to this version of the game, they would focus on delivering the best single player game they could in their time frame, and then move on to development of their MMO.

5) When will the MMO be released?

Runic has said that their current time frame is 18-24 months from the release of the Torchlight ARPG. I imagine like most release dates, this is subject to change. But again, I remind everyone that I am not affiliated with Runic, so all I have to go by is that general time frame they've given.

So basically the ARPG is kind of a test bed and money maker for the MMORPG that will be released later on. Might be interesting to see how it does, though I don't know how well it will translate into an MMO.

Well I always thought Diablo would make a good MMO as well. Maybe this Torchlight MMO will give me an idea if it could actually work or not.

Sucks though that this version of Torchlight will never have a multiplayer option. Honestly that is part of the reason I got it as well when I heard about it.

Oh well, for $5, can't really go wrong.

I already bought it a while back.