We are the Runic Games dev team, creators of Torchlight II. Ask us anything!

Are you guys tired of being asked Diablo 3 questions?

YES!

-Erich Schaefer

[deleted]

Go ahead, but make it fast. Trying to wrap this up and get back to work (and by that I mostly mean trying out FTL).

-Erich Schaefer

If I die from playing this game, will you please tell the media that it wasn't the games fault and that I died by doing what I loved.

Don't die on us...respawning in town only works in the game. Real life is Hardcore Mode. -- Beck

Hello Max and Erich, (And rest of team!)

Clearly I have been waiting for this chance! Diablo 2 is my favorite game of all time and I still play it pretty much every day :)

I have a few questions I have wanted to ask you two for years, I also have a few things I have wanted to tell you for many years as well. As an avid fan of Diablo since 1996 and an active player of both Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 since their release, I really just wanted to thank you both for such an amazing contribution to the gaming world. I believe I speak for everyone who has had the opportunity to play either D1 or D2 when I say that these two games revolutionized how PC RPG gaming should be done. You guys and your B.North team really set the standard of which really only torchlight has come close to touching, even 16 years later. (Huge fan here!) (Insert "we're not worthy" clip from Waynes World)

Your game has really meant a lot to me, giving me lifelong friends which I met back in 1996-97 over Battle.net and have remained best friends over these long years. There is a very good reason thousands of people still continue to play your games, they have transcended time and I believe the re-playability of Diablo will never be matched.

Now for some questions

1. How good is the relationship between Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, David Brevik and Bill Roper in 2012? Does the original Condor team still talk and have a good relationship? I believe these names to be the greatest combination of minds in gaming.

2. Two Part Question. “One of the key reasons for the closure was Blizzard North's poor development of what was to be Diablo III which did not meet the expectations of Vivendi” –Question 1, Do you agree with the previous reasoning behind the B.North split? If not, what is your reason, the real reason?

Question Two: I believe the current team at Blizzard has not just failed, but butchered what you guys created in their version of “Diablo” 3. I know I am very partial to Diablo 2, but anyone who has played D1/D2 and then goes to play Diablo 3 can easily tell that this does not have the same passion and heart in it as you and your team had when creating the world of Diablo.

How do you feel about Diablo 3? I mean both of you; really tell me the truth here. Also, what would you have done differently?

1. As a hiring authority myself I have a great understanding of IT contracting and I have often wondered if the bad blood between you and Blizzard has prevented them from at least allowing you two to consult on the Diablo 3 project, to lend your expertise as creators and founders of the world of Diablo. Did you ever get asked by Blizzard to consult or 1099 for the D3 project? If not, how big of a mistake do you think this was? I really cannot fathom their thought process, trying to create something without the heart (Max) and Brain (Erich, sorry Max) behind the entire concept of Diablo. PS: Do you foresee working on the Diablo 3 Expansion, after such negative feedback Blizzard has received on their Diablo 3, do you think they will consider working with you two for the Expansion? Would you even want to?

2. Diablo (Movie?):

   If you could re-unite the entire original Blizzard North Team (David Brevik, Bill Roper) to work on a Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 Movie, would you? (Please!!) If so, which director would you want to work on a Diablo movie? Any actor choices in mind for the main cast!?

3. What are your personal favorite characters from the Diablo universe and why?

4. Sorry for all of the Diablo questions, I would like to say I love Torchlight! Both 1 and 2! Can’t wait for it! When can we expect the Torchlight MMORPG? Will it be pay to play or free like Guild Wars 2?

PS: Extra Question: How often do Max and Erich bring up working at Blizzard? Is it like "Back in my day" type of stories? Like, they are the grandfathers of gaming talking to their grandchildren about how they had to code, uphill, in the snow, using only binary, barefoot...? Because I totaly can picture that.

Thank you both so much for everything! Keep on kicking ass you two!

Wow, a giant question that drew my eye immediately! This is Erich answering, by the way.

Question 1

1. Max and I are pretty tight, seeing as we're brothers, live in the same building and work at the same job. Still great friends with Brevik and Roper. I don't see them as often as I'd like, especially Bill, who's moved away, but we share some long time bonds forged by some of the best times and worst times. I don't keep up too much with the old Condor team, except Matt Uelmen and Peter Hu, and a few guys that were friends from even before Condor, but its great to see them at conventions or the occasional drinking fest.

2A. That reason is a joke! Never heard it before, though. The reasons we split were many, but the main one was that Vivendi was shopping our studio around to buyers with no input from us, the team (both Bliz North and South). And the process was taking a long time, during which they kept deferring renegotiating our bonus structure. (Our profitability was still growing, but the bonus structure wasn't keeping up with it due to a lot of complex crap.) So we said: "hey, either we get some say in this stuff... you know, our whole future... or we're going to resign." And they said: buh-bye. Another reason for me personally was just sort of some wanderlust, though. It was time for some new adventures. I was getting fat and lazy at Blizzard.

2B. I don't believe the D3 team has failed or butchered anything. They made an awesome game that I enjoyed a lot. These games are incredibly hard to make. I see a lot of passion in what they did. That said...

Question 2

re: D3, while I think its a tremendous accomplishment, there's a couple things they did that really hurt my personal ability to keep playing. The auction house, even the regular one, detracts from my own loot gathering. I hate seeing all the great stuff that's so easy to purchase and is so much better than what I can find on my own. The other big thing is the character customization. I really have no clue where this idea that what aarpgs need is fewer customization choices came from. I want to make a character that succeeds or fails based on my decisions. And after that I want to make another and then another that are totally different. I guess there a lot of people that don't want to carve their own way through these games, but for me it's critical.

1. No, Blizzard never asked me to consult. Nor would they ever - its not their culture and rightfully so. Nor would I have accepted. I have to be an intrinsic part of the team or not be involved at all. I don't think it was a mistake on their part. That team has to grow and coalesce together without outside distractions. It would have been just weird as hell, probably... There's no way I could ever see working on another Diablo product with one extremely improbable exception. If I could afford to buy back the rights, I would in a heartbeat. And then I'd turn it over to David Brevik, the true Heart and Brain behind Diablo.

2. A Diablo movie would be fantastic. But I'm not the guy to do it. That would of course be Uwe Boll. (Actually Roper would be the man.) This is all goofy talk, of course. It's not going to have anything to do with me if it ever does happen.

3. My favorite characters from the Diablo universe are every character I created and developed, and chose skills for, and equipped, and kicked Diablo's ass with. I have no love for the NPCs other than Cain. And the cocktail midget.

4. Thanks for the Torchlight love. Stay tuned for our next game, but its very unlikely to be anything like a traditional MMO.

Damn, that took me forever... I'm slow at this, forgive me.

best moment of my sad nerdy life, thank you.. nerdgasm...

I can now see why they didn't ask and why you wouldn't accept to consult. I will find out the buyout on the rights to Diablo and start saving for you... They will sell anything I hear

By the way, I can help you lose your fat. I lost 90 pounds over the last year. My plan quick summary: 1/2 of all you eat should be vegetables. Eat less than 100g carbs a day. Sell your car and get a bike.

-Erich

I noticed that Torchlight 1 is now released on Linux. (Thanks HumbleBundle!) When will Torchlight 2 release for Linux?

That's on the agenda as something to discuss, but we're a small team that doesn't know much about Linux and don't want to grow or take on busy work. That said, we know there is a demand and we do like to please.

-Erich Schaefer

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All good about the noise. You'll be done remodeling soon - right? Thanks!

-Marsh Lefler

Ya we should be done by the end of the month hopefully! I actually have a question as well.

How important do you feel it is to play Torchlight 1 before playing Torchlight 2, are there big things that I'd miss out on?

I need a new game to play and if necessary I'll go back and take care of the original first, but I always like new and shiny!

Gameplay-wise, just play Torchlight 2. We've improved it a ton! If you want to have an idea of the story, though, you'll probably need to play the first to understand what's going on.

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

Do you plan on doing regular content updates after release, and if so, what type of content could we expect?

Yes, we want to do more content post launch. For level design specifically, new map scrolls for endgame, phase beast portal rooms, and more variations of already existing levels so there is even more randomization where we feel it is beneficial. We will just have to wait and see how fans react, and what they ask for and try to accommodate if we can.

-Patrick Blank

I love it that you guys do an AMA.

Something I've always wanted to know is why you guys sell your game for 20 bucks instead of 60 what seems to be the accepted norm now.

Also, how come you guys seem not to be afraid of piracy? (no drm?)

We sell for $20 because we want a bigger community, and for people all over the world to enjoy our game. Not everyone has $60 lying around. Plus, digital distribution, like on Steam, makes this more economically viable for a company like us. We couldn't make money selling $20 boxes only, but we'll do fine with this price because of the trend towards digital distribution.

With respect to piracy, a small company like ours isn't going to solve it. And the last thing we think is appropriate is to punish our honest customers for something other people are doing. We believe that if we put out a quality game at a fair price, there will be less incentive to pirate the game, and that those who do pirate it may decide to buy it down the road. That's our approach and we're sticking to it!

-Max Schaefer

I don't think anti-piracy measures work super well in general. Being nice and transparent about what we do, and charging a reasonable price, seems like the most effective way to convince people to buy our stuff. That, and a demo. I mean, we HAVE DRM. But it's not super-draconian. It's mostly there to allow a mechanism to continue playing after you unlock the demo, which is the same download. It will, of course, be cracked within minutes. It probably already HAS been cracked!

-Travis Baldree

What exactly do you guys do tomorrow at 10AM to go live? Do you literally transfer files to steam servers? just send steam a code or signal?

If all goes well until then (i.e. no last-second emergency fixes), we don't do anything. The code is already at steam. I'm playing the release version now.

-Erich Schaefer

What would you say you are most proud of about Torchlight II?

I am most proud of the team we have assembled. Their dedication, talent, and love of the game shows through in every detail. Every single person here has their stamp in the game, and it wouldn't have been as good without everyone's contribution. What's more, they are all good people - the sort you want to have a couple beers with after work. It is a privilege to be a part of Runic Games.

-Max Schaefer

The amount of content in Torchlight 2 is pretty staggering. Especially for a small team of about 34 people. It's almost unheard of. I'm really proud of how much content the environment artist and level designers made to create this wonderful playground throughout the game. And all of it is fully randomized to really support re playability without things feeling too repetitive and static. I don't know of another game that does more randomization in the levels than we do in Torchlight 2.

The concept, and character artists made a huge amount of items, armor, weapons, monsters... soo many monsters. The programmers had the large task of creating, tweaking, and polishing a very large amount of monsters and boss fights that all feel unique and awesome to fight. And we have a small support team that has had a huge task of being the company backbone supporting us this whole time, and has done an awesome job of it. Collectively, as a team, I think we hit it out of the park.

-Patrick Blank

What were you most excited to add to Torchlight II?

Two things. A proper overworld and weapon specific animation sets. -- Beck

So I was watching Yogcast play beta the other day and I just want to say I love how you made the game an improvement from T1, instead of trying to make a whole different game. Also one of the features I like (little but nice) is that some weapons have a unique upgrade where you have to kill a certain amount of mobs so it upgrades, is this still in and have you changed it at all?

It's still in, and we've added more of them!

-Matt Tanwanteng

Adding a system of statistics (basically variables) for skills and UI stuff means that modders will have tons of flexibility in making neat stuff. Also the berserker frenzy mode is probably one of the most awesome feel-good abilities ever. And multiplayer, of course!

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

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Multiplayer. Otherwise I'd be pretty bored... -justin

Did you make any changes to Torchlight II based on how Diablo 3 players reacted to the changes Blizzard implemented to the Diablo franchise.

If so, what changes were made as a result?

Actually, not a whole lot. Given the direction of their game versus what we were doing, their design decisions didn't really end up affecting ours. This biggest change I believe we made in response was renaming our first dungeon because it was also named the Defiled Crypt.

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

With all honestly I can say I can't think of a single thing we changed. We knew what game we were making and by the time Diablo 3 came out there was little time to change the core mechanics of our game. ( we had to be out by end of summer! ) -Marsh Lefler

Since the original Torchlight has now been released on Linux via the new Humble Indie Bundle, is there a chance we'll see Torchlight 2 on Linux at some point?

We honestly don't know yet.

-Travis Baldree

Thank you for the AMA.

1. Will you go into some detail on how magic find (MF) works in a multiplayer game? Is the drop based on the MF of whichever player gets the last hit or opens the chest? Is it based on your own MF regardless of who gets the last hit? If your pet has any MF how does this interact with your MF in regards to last hits, etc.?

2. Are any legendaries restricted to a certain class?

3. What were some classes/pets that were discussed but that did not make it into the game?

4. Why does heal bot despawn whenever the player zones? Is this intentinal? Does it effect other summons?

5. If your pet or summon gets a last hit on a mob does this count towards unlocking an augment or does the player have to get the last hit?

• Magicfind is not shared - each player applies magicfind to drops that roll for them. No kill credit is required - but you must be in the drop range for shared loot (several screens)
• There are no current class-restricted legendaries.
• Some robot pets didn't quite make it in, and there were numerous variations of the classes. At one point the Berserker was supposed to also use Dragon and Raven magic.
• The heal bot despawns during zoning because there's no other way to actually despawn him!
• Currently the player must deliver the blow to power an augment. We have talked about altering this, but it would be post-release if we do

-Travis Baldree

1) Since loot is individual, it's based on your stats. It'll be your magic find + the magic find of your pet.

2) Don't know offhand so I'll leave this alone for now =P

3) I'll distract you with a tangential answer where we had raven and dragon type stuff for the Berzerker that got axed in favor of just the wolfy stuff he has now. Outlanders were once Wanderers, and Engineers were once Railmen. There's a lot of prototype skills in general that the boot after trying them out.

4) This is intentional. Some people dislike the fact that otherwise you would just hit the button once and never touch it again. It doesn't affect other summons. My vote goes towards keeping it around =P

5) The player has to get the last hit. If you can't take him mano a mano, maybe you don't deserve that augment! (We talked about possibly changing it, but it would have to be a patch for later.)

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

Any plans for extra content for Torchlight II?

The current plan is to do a few free things that we'll release to everyone over the coming months - a pet, some new items, a random map set, and things like that.

-Travis Baldree

Hi guys, really looking forward to the game! Any word on when we Mac using people can get our hands on it?

We don't have a date for the Mac version yet, but will announce as soon as it is pinned down -Travis Baldree

As a fan of Torchlight who has a backstock of games to play, what's the best reason/feature for me to put Torchlight II at the top of the list?

Torchlight II is like concentrated Torchlight. It's a sparkly, psychedelic, tumbling magic carpet ride of demon-slaying. You can play with your friends on line or over a LAN. You get to adventure across an amazing world. You can choose a bulldog to summon skeletons and sell your stuff for you. And it's $20.

-Max Schaefer

What would be the single most important difference from Torchlight that you want your fans to know about?

Torchlight 2 has 6 player co-op.

-Patrick Blank

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Pick the class that you don't think you'll like...and then be amazed at how fun it is. -- Beck

The Engineer!

-Patrick Blank

This question is for Max Schaefer:

You said you wanted to use elements in games like Minecraft/Terrarria and combine them with the hack and slash dungeon crawler genre. That's an awesome idea! Will we be seeing this in the future?

Only if I can convince 29 other extremely opinionated and talented developers! :) -MS

Why did you choose to release the game during the day vs a midnight release?

The real answer is so that we aren't up at midnight responding to any potential issues - we want to be fresh and ready to watch over the launch! There have been a lot of sleepless nights here and we need a little bit of rest in advance.

-Travis Baldree

How can you sleep knowing it will release in the morning!

It's really freakin' hard! I haven't slept well in a week, waking up with the craziest nightmares about what we might have done wrong.

-Erich Schaefer

Will you start working on the Torchlight MMO now? Or did you cancel that?

I'll be frank, we have no plans to jump into that right now. The landscape is a little different than a few years ago, and creating the amount of content we did for Torchlight 2 was a supreme effort with a team this size. Taking on an MMO immediately afterward is not our current desire.

-Travis Baldree

when will Adam shave that ridiculous mustache?

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER!

-Adam Perin

Alright guys I'll launch right into it:

A lot of serious Diablo II fans will probably agree that they are still looking for a robust HacknSlash that challenges the ARPG throne that D2 has been sitting on for 10+ years.

Torchlight 2 does seem to have such an infrastructure and degree of depth needed for that, however it lacks the "closed official vanilla server mode" likening to the Diablo II closed Battle.net mode.

I know you guys mentioned in numerous occasions that this was decided against because 1) it conflicts with the mod-happy nature of the game, and 2) it requires quite a bit of financial and manpower effort. However, I really think open client-side save online/offline game modes can harmoniously exist with closed server-side online-only mode. Look at Diablo 2, or Dungeon Defenders - they stay popular with insane longevity because people can choose between the two types of modes. As for 2), there is no doubt that TL2 will be a huge success, so on a long enough timeline this is a null issue.

So all in all, will you guys seriously consider adding this mode down the line? IMO it will be by far the biggest and most impactful addition onto the game in terms of longevity and popularity. Also, it'll save you guys the fuss of worrying about making an MMO.

Thank you!

-Jerg

We are indeed seriously considering it but have not arrived at a decision yet. Release, mod kit, and localization are occupying all of the available headspace right now.

Edit: I'd like to clarify this - I misread and thought that the question was regarding standalone, player-run servers, which we have discussed with the community in the past and are still considering making a possibility. We have NO plans to operate servers ourselves for a secure online environment. I'm sorry for what turns out to have been a really misleading answer.

-Travis Baldree

I don't want to turn this into a shit-sling but I was really wondering what your thoughts on Diablo III are - both the positives and the negatives.

I'm happy to answer this. We know how hard it is to make games like this, so we have a lot of respect for Blizzard and the Diablo III team. Even if they made choices that are different than ours or those of some of their customers, you cannot make a game of that magnitude, polish, and quality without a dedicated and talented team. Of course their launch was not perfect (whose are?), but they seem to be working hard to address player issues, and I think those who are negative towards them should give them some time to make adjustments. We are happy to provide an alternative, though, too. The genre is big enough for a lot of approaches and styles. I personally am happy for Diablo III, Path of Exile, Borderlands 2, Grim Dawn, and the other ARPGs that are revitalizing the genre. And we are all at least a little bit in debt to Blizzard and the D3 team for bringing literally millions of new gamers into our genre.

Making games is physically and emotionally exhausting. It's distressing to see the level of criticism people engage in when they aren't 100% satisfied, and while they certainly have a right to their opinions (we all have 'em), at the same time we should have an authentic respect for those who spend years of their lives pouring their talents into these games. Runic Games respects and admires Blizzard for all they have done for our industry.

-Max Schaefer

Are there any plans on releasing modding tools and/or using the steam workshop for player mods? Also, the game looks fantastic and I can't wait to play!

Yes to both, although we can't give you a specific release date for the mod kit just yet.

-Travis Baldree

This is awesome, thanks for checking reddit out! Sorry for the generic question, but how much did fan input affect some of the new additions you guys put into Torchlight II? Thanks so much again for popping in!

Fan input is huge to us. Many changes post-beta were the result of player suggestions or complaints. -Travis Baldree

We love to hear opinions and arguments. Many of us scour the forums and previews for good information. The beta test, though brief, garnered tons of good input. For instance, we saw a lot of people were unhappy with our 'old-school' skill trees and put a lot of time and effort reforming them into a new system. I myself was happy with the old skill trees, but I think I was just used to it more than anything. Fans opened our eyes on this, and I think everyone likes the new system better.

-Erich Schaefer

What are your long-term plans for Torchlight 2?

We have shockingly few long term plans in place for Torchlight 2, I'm afraid. Too busy just finishing it up. In the short term we will be adding some wishlist stuff that didn't get done, and addressing any emergencies that crop up. Many of us have cool ideas. But we just haven't put a ton of thought into it as a group yet.

-Erich Schaefer

you've got people from as far as South Africa waiting for this damn game :P how big do you think your following is ?

I would say....literally dozens and dozens....maybe more. 10 billion? Somewhere between dozens and dozens and 10 billion. Math is not my strong suit. Whatever the number is...hopefully, it's growing. -- Beck

Thanks for doing this, big fan of your work!

• As someone thats used Ogre3d, it was great seeing a popular game being released that used the engine when TL1 first came out. I'd love to know what some of the challenges were that you guys faced when working with it, both for TL1 and TL2

• Where do you see the industry in 10 years time, given how popular independant games have become in recent years.

Thanks!

Ogre3D has overall been very pleasant to use. It's well commented, easy to modify, and extremely hardware stable. Many kudos from me to the Ogre3d team. Thanks guys! 10 years just seems like such a long time. My hope is that the current resurgence of small teams due to the rise of mobile devices and indie games sticks around.

-Travis Baldree

I posted this to /r/torchlight, but since this more direct, I'll post it here (with a little additional info):

What ports need to be opened/set up in QoS for Torchlight 2?

I foresee having the same issues which I have with Borderlands 2:

I manage a router with alot of users on it - and I use Quality of Service to prioritize their bandwidth. I already have Steam set up properly (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8571-GLVN-8711), and this works great for Source games (CS:S, TF2, DOTA, Portal 2).. my users can browse the web, use Youtube, and torrent away without any lag to the game. (I love this!)

Does TL2 use a certain range of ports or is it completely randomized? (If possible in a future patch, can we set up the game to run on certain ports via command line?)

Also, of course, I can't wait to play!

I'm actually planning on writing up an article for our support knowledge base that goes into depth on this subject, but to help you give your users the best experience possible, I'll answer this here too. :) Gameplay traffic is on random (well, "OS-chosen" really) UDP ports. There is a config file setting "UDPORT" (yes, I left out a P and now it's stuck with that name...) to fix this to a specific port. You'll want to set the your QoS to prioritize traffic with that as a source port. Destination ports will still be random, due to other players not using that option, and their NATs possibly randomizing those ports further. --Justin

How does the game handle the level of the mobs in multiplayer (it's setted on the host level, the strongest is "nerfed" to fit the game etc..) and the loot's level? Btw awesome game guys!

Loot level is determined by the monster that drops it - Monster level is set by region level ( which is within a very tight range determined by the first player to enter ). Difficulty of mobs alters dynamically based on the proximity of players to one another.

-Travis Baldree

Hey guys, how has the resulting fame and fortune from developing the Torchlight series affected the dev team? Does it give you all more freedom to throw ideas around and be able to implement them? Also, the resulting job security must be nice, am I right? XD

I ask myself this every morning on my commute to work in my golden helicopter, and after landing on our rooftop landing pad made of stacks of money and diamonds, I have to say, I don't think it's effected us much.

-Patrick Blank

Heya guys!

1. I just started playing Torchlight and was blown away by how fun and seamless it was. Thanks for a fun game that my son and I both enjoy.

2. I bought a 4-pack of T2 so my son, I, my wife, and a friend could play together. Is there anything special to know that will enhance the experience? The last time we played anything remotely close to this together was Baldur's Gate II.

3. How do you think the release of T2 will be impacted by the release of Borderlands 2?

Thanks, and I can't wait to play it.

1. You're welcome!

2. Max and I love to play hard-core elite mode. I wouldn't recommend it at first, but it really forces you to take it slow and coordinate your actions. And after you get demolished, which happens a lot, we go get a drink and a discuss how we're going to do better next time.

3. Its a hard question to answer, but I would say not much at all. The disadvantages (that we have to compete for hype and customer money) are outweighed by advantages. I think competing games brings more eyes to the genre. People who play BL2 will obviously talk about TL2, and maybe introduce players who'd never heard of us. Also, if Torchlight 2 is anything like Torchlight 1, we'll have a long sales 'tail'. We sold more Torchlights in our second year of release than the first. If people are busy with BL now, maybe by Christmas they'll have time to look our way. Borderlands 2 is great, by the way!

-Erich Schaefer

What do you think is next for you guys, after Torchlight 2? Any genre that interests you?

Its pretty up in the air. We have a lot of cool ideas and nothing pinned down yet. From my perspective, I think we'll probably continue to incorporate RPG elements and randomization in some new hybrid, character-based game. Maybe with more of a sand-box openess? Maybe with unpredictable emergent or procedural content. I can pretty much guarantee it'll have loot though!

-Erich Schaefer

What's Falcor's favorite snack? Asking for a friend....

Anything Matt Tanwanteng drops. Anything made of food. Also some forms of deer poop.

http://i.imgur.com/TyfSQ.jpg

-Falcor

Skeletons. Because they're made of bones, obviously!

-Max Schaefer

TL3 or TL MMO? Is runic still going on the ARPG genre or are you people aiming for other genres?

We really don't know what we are going to do next. However I will say our next project probably won't be another Torchlight or a Torchlight MMO. We really need to take a break. Quite a few of us here have been doing ARPG's in the style of Diablo for 7 years; while Travis has been doing it for probably close to 10 years and lets not even talk about Max and Erich(15+). Something slightly different will be nice. We still love RPG's; especially action ones.

-Marsh Lefler

How many departments do you have and what are they?

Just one! The make games department :D

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

As a fellow programmer, Junior at UF, what languages were implemented to cobble up the game?

As an aside: I love you guys so much. I love what you do. And I've had Torchlight 2 bought since the first day I could pre-order it on Steam. Can't wait.

The game itself is C++, and the editor C#.

-Matt Tanwanteng (Tiamat)

What went into the process for deciding what other animals would be included as pets? Were there other critters considered?

It wasn't a real formal process. We knew we would bring back updated versions of the original pets and add what we could as time allowed. We wanted to attempt a flying pet (hawk). We desperately wanted Falcor in, because he's part of the team. And from there we basically tried to add things that felt like a thematic match to the classes. Yeah, lots of other critters were on the table, but it mostly came down to time. I still want to make our half bulldog/half mech pet that was going to be the Engineer pet. -- Beck

What is a dev studio like before their game gets launched? I've always imagined everybody being really stressed out and things to be crazy

It's filled with lots of empty beer bottles...

-Patrick Blank

What improvements, in your point of view, are there with Torchlight 2 over the first?

TL1 has a special place because we did it in 11 months with a smaller team than we have now and under very different circumstances. That said, there's not a single aspect in TL2 where we haven't improved upon the first. I can say that will full confidence. -- Beck

Your game is awesome , can't wait until tomorrow (beta was great :> )

How are everyone of you feeling right now Day -1 before the release ? :)

Speaking for myself, I would say I'm super excited but also a wee bit scarred. You work on something like this for so long, you want it to be just perfect. I think the game is great and I really hope others see the hard work we put into it. Its always a bit scary to see how others will judge all your effort, but in the end I think we are all pretty proud of the work we have done.

-Adam Perin

Being from Everett Wa, I am proud to support a local company. I have been with you guys since Mythos beta and beta tested TL2 and it surpassed my expectations, so I look forward to playing tomorrow.

Will you guys ever have any TL2 merch for sale? I wanted one of the PAX T-shirts, but was unable to attend and my friend who was there missed out.

This is something we explored a bit and may put more effort into after shipping. We actually whipped up 8-10 different designs for PAX shirts...and it was fun to do. So, we'll see. Keep bugging us for merch and we'll speed this up! :) --Beck

Do you like cats?

Also, thanks for the AMA! :)

You'd have to not like the Internet to not like cats. So: yes!

-Wonder (& Falcor)

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Notified Apple and got it removed. Thievery is the sincerest form of flattery :) -- Beck

First of all, I'd like to say thank you not just for creating Torchlight, but for all of the awesome support for the game after it was launched.

My question is: How do you guys manage to create a game like Torchlight that feels very old school but still manages to feel fresh and fun to those of us who've been playing D2 since it was released? Is there any aspect of the game that you give priority? And, is there someone who makes most of the major decisions overall or are all of the team members' ideas valued equally during the development process?

To a certain extent I imagine it is because we're still a little old school, but we like convenience too. Moment-to-moment gameplay gets priority - rhythm, satisfaction in performing basic actions, feelings of continual advancement and discovery, randomization to keep that fresh. Systems bend around those core elements. We're a team and argue about things endlessly, and this game is the product of everyone's opinions and efforts. We don't always agree, but we hash things out.

-Travis Baldree