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Runic not ready for Torchlight MMO anytime soon

Jef Reahard — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, News items

So when's that Torchlight MMO coming out? When it's ready, and when Runic can muster the money and resources needed to properly handle the long-term commitment that an MMO represents, according to CEO Max Schaefer.

"An MMO is a hell of a commitment," Schaefer tells Rock, Paper Shotgun. "It means we're gonna be doing that for a few years at least prior to release and then committing years of support for it afterward. So it's a decision we take very, very seriously."

RPS says that a Torchlight MMO has always been Runic's end goal, but given the fact that the 30-man company is still fiddling with Torchlight II, we suspect the massively multiplayer version remains a ways off.

Runic not ready for Torchlight MMO anytime soon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not So Massively: MOBAs, shooters, and dungeon crawlers

Brendan Drain — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends

League of Legends revealed Nautilus this week, continued its world tour with a look at the community in Singapore and Malaysia, and announced impending nerfs to Sona, Soraka and Vladimir. Dota 2 fans faced yet another week without updates as Valve was busy this week installing new servers. Bloodline Champions released a gameplay video of its new bloodline, Headhunter, and Rise of Immortals revealed that its next character will unexpectedly be a US marine. Upcoming FPS Firefall tackled the question of whether it's an MMO this week, while futuristic FPS Blacklight: Retribution released a new Intel Report video on its Piledriver map.

Diablo III revealed further details of the game's difficulty modes this week, confirmed a Q2 2012 release target, and launched the Battle.Net Balance service. We also discovered new map restrictions coming to the beta that will stop players from playing with the map permanently open. Torchlight II's website was overhauled this week, and Runic Games revealed that the game's beta will be starting soon. Dungeon crawler Path of Exile continued its own beta this week with patch 0.9.6 and showed just how complicated its passive skill tree is with a new calculator.

Continue reading Not So Massively: MOBAs, shooters, and dungeon crawlers

Not So Massively: MOBAs, shooters, and dungeon crawlers originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Max Schaefer talks Torchlight II development, potential MMO plans

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous

There are a lot of people eagerly anticipating Diablo III, but there are also several people looking forward to Torchlight II, the followup to the hugely successful spiritual sequel to Diablo. A recent interview with Max Schaefer, co-founder and CEO of Runic Games, discusses the development of the sequel including some of the contrasting points between it and Diablo III -- including the lack of any sort of virtual item shop. As Schaefer puts it, the team wants to put together a good game that stands on its own, and if it's successful the developers will look in the direction of an expansion rather than a straightforward shop.

Schaefer also discusses a potential MMO coming out of the studio, something that's long been among the studio's plans -- one of the big reasons that Runic partnered with Perfect World Entertainment was due to its expertise with running an MMO. He claims that it's definitely still on the table, but it would be a big change for the studio, since the company has focused on staying small and launching an MMO is a very long-term commitment. Somewhat sad news for those hoping that Torchlight II's launch would spearhead MMO development directly, but the possibility certainly remains.

Max Schaefer talks Torchlight II development, potential MMO plans originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Torchlight MMO still on schedule, depending on success of Torchlight II

MJ Guthrie — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, News items

Fans who are eagerly awaiting news on the status of the Torchlight MMO were offered a brief update during Runic CEO Max Schaefer's interview with Eurogamer; unfortunately for fans, it appears that completion and release of the MMO are quite a ways away.

While Schaefer assures players that it is still planned and that they "have a lot of good ideas for the MMO," he also admits that they currently have other priorities -- namely the release of the forthcoming Torchlight II. He is clear that they "just aren't committing to any kind of schedule yet." Looks like fans will have to bide their time a while longer.

Torchlight MMO still on schedule, depending on success of Torchlight II originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Torchlight's Schaefer: MMO subscriptions aren't the way to go

Jef Reahard — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

Runic Games CEO and Torchlight developer Max Schaefer knows a thing or two about addictive, loot-driven dungeon crawlers. After all, he was a founding member of Blizzard North and instrumental in the development of Diablo and Diablo II. So, when Schaefer talks about game design, people generally listen.

Whether Schaefer's expertise extends to MMO business models is up for debate, though, which makes a recent interview at Charge-Shot.com an interesting read. "I don't think really anyone can do [subscriptions] anymore because pretty much everyone that does subscriptions has one for World of Warcraft," Schaefer posits, while speaking of his plans for the upcoming Torchlight MMO.

While the majority of the interview focuses on the new Xbox Live incarnation of the original Torchlight -- as well as the forthcoming Torchlight II -- it's also a window into Schaefer's design sensibilities and therefore a possible barometer for the type of gameplay that fans might expect from a Torchlight MMO. "[Torchlight] is the kind of game you can play for 20 minutes before you got to go out to dinner, but it's also one that you can geek out on all night. It's just a very accessible format that gives people a chance to enjoy a game rather than work at a game," Schaefer explains.

[Thanks to Craig for the tip!]

Torchlight's Schaefer: MMO subscriptions aren't the way to go originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire, page 2

Kyle Horner — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Free-to-play, The Digital Continuum

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire, page 2

The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire, page 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 2009: Runic Games announces Torchlight launch for October 27

James Egan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items

Runic Games announced at the Penny Arcade Expo today that Torchlight is slated for an October 27th launch, with Perfect World as the game's publisher. Torchlight will be a fully downloadable game, sold at $19.99. Massively had a look at Torchlight at E3 2009 and noted the game is influenced by titles like Diablo and Fate, which should come as little surprise given that the Runic Games is headed up by CEO Max Schaefer (co-designer of Diablo) and President Travis Baldree (designer of Fate).

Runic Games now has a "Meet the NPCs of Torchlight" page up on the game's official site and will be giving fans an early peek at the game at PAX 2009. For the rest of us who can't be there, they'll also be on Twitter with updates from the expo.

PAX 2009: Runic Games announces Torchlight launch for October 27 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the ashes of Mythos, Runic Games is born

James Egan — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items

The fate of the former Flagship Studios staff is something a number of our readers have been wondering about, particularly after the confusion and drama surrounding the Hellgate: London and Mythos IPs. The writers at Massively have been curious about this as well, until now. We've gotten word from Joystiq that former Flagship Studios Seattle staff -- specifically, the Mythos team -- have formed a new company called Runic Games.

Max Schaefer and Travis Baldree are at the helm of Runic Games, and have stated that their forthcoming projects will be announced in the coming days. There are no further details at this time, but Runic Games now has a site where the announcement of their resurrection is posted. Massively extends its congratulations on making a quick comeback, and here's hoping Runic Games will bring some of that Mythos magic to their new projects.

From the ashes of Mythos, Runic Games is born originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Max Schaefer thanks Mythos community

Matt Warner — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, in-game, Forums, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Mythos, Free-to-play

It wasn't long ago that Max Schaefer, a Flagship Studios cofounder and operations chief, admitted to mistakes that the company encountered with Hellgate: London. Now, in a strange twist of irony the players are learning firsthand the lessons of Flagship's failures. The Mythos beta ended as it was placed on hiatus last night, possibly being the last time players will grace the world of Uld. Not long after that the Mythos beta forums went dark but before they did Max Schaefer left a wonderful message to the community.

"They say it's not so much the destination as it is the journey that's important. We're really hoping that's the case around here these days. I can't really believe I'm writing a post like this, but here we are faced with the unpleasant task of taking a hiatus from this crazy project. Unlike most games, Mythos has been running with our testing community for almost its whole life. I really feel like we've all done this together. And despite this bump in the road, I think we've succeeded wildly. This is undoubtedly the best game community I've ever seen. This is the best game development team in the world, in both Seattle and San Francisco. The things we've learned here, and with you all, will be with us forever.

Continue reading Max Schaefer thanks Mythos community

Max Schaefer thanks Mythos community originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythos' Max Schaefer talks about the economics of free

Brenda Holloway — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Mythos, Free-to-play, Casual

Flagship Studios' action-adventure MMO, Mythos, will be free to download and free to play. How will they ever make any money off the game? Sure, they have an item shop, but will that be enough? In this interview, Mythos' Executive Producer Max Schaefer explains how they will make the game profitable through the economics of free, bringing a World of Warcraft-ish game into a MMO market that already has a WoW, and the rise of indie games.

There's not a lot of new information in this interview, We might have asked why they didn't release Mythos as it was, and then release the Overworld as an expansion along with a lot of new content? How would they distinguish themselves from the rumored Diablo 3? What kinds of questions would you have asked about Mythos? If you can propose some really hard ones, we'll send them along and see if we can get some answers.

Mythos' Max Schaefer talks about the economics of free originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythos crew addresses the issue of bird-men

Chris Chester — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, Crafting, Mythos, Free-to-play, Races

At this stage of the game, it really feels like we've culled absolutely every bit of information that Flagship Studios has to give about their upcoming dungeon crawler Mythos. We've already found out about the in-game mall, email system, group content, mini-games, the class differentiation, and what color sherbet Max Schaefer prefers on a particularly hot day.

As it turns out however, there's always more minutiae to mull over! In the latest interview, the Flagship boys are asked about a bunch of things that you likely didn't even think to ask in the first place. What's going to be done about farmers, griefers, and spawn campers? (Something) How awesome will crafting be? (So awesome!) Will there be a bird race? (Like Big Bird? Maybe...) And as to the elusive question of whether and when the open beta is going to start, they still wouldn't give a solid answer. While that disappoints a little bit, at least their release date isn't set in mud, because we all know what that meant.

Mythos crew addresses the issue of bird-men originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interview with Flagship's Max Schaefer

Brenda Holloway — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, Mythos, Free-to-play

On their latest video podcast, the folks at 1UP had a chat with Flagship Studios' COO and executive producer of Mythos, Max Schaefer. He talks a little about Mythos' raison d'être as a sort of technology demo for last year's action MMO, Hellgate: London. It's taken on a life of its own since then to become the kinder, lighter action MMO, brighter and more just plain fun. In keeping with their more social goal for Mythos, there is full guild support, and they'll be adding in email, minigames, group-oriented content and, yes, an item mall. Following the lead of the Asian casual game market, Mythos is free to download, free to play, and though you may want to buy certain things to help you along the way at their item mall (though nothing overpowering -- you won't find the best swords or armor at the item mall), you will be able to see and do everything without paying a penny.

Schaefer calls this new philosophy "Triple-A casual" -- top flight production values using the latest tech, but keeping development time short and focusing on the fun. We've been hearing a lot about Mythos lately; here's hoping they start their open beta soon so that we can all play.

Interview with Flagship's Max Schaefer originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The man in charge of Mythos gets interviewed

Kyle Horner — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews, News items, Mythos

There's not much more to know about Mythos at this point, but CVG has gotten a few good chunks of information out of the guy in charge of the upcoming massively game -- Max Schaefer. One such revelation is that the Mythos team will be aiming for expansions every three months and that said expansions will be available to everyone. That's a sensible decision considering their business model profits from players sticking with the game or at least coming back for new content and paying for the extra stuff.

Aside from the standard Mythos matters, there's an interesting quote from Max, "PC gaming isn't going anywhere until people stop having PCs. It's up to developers and publishers to keep it fresh and keep bringing creative, entertaining games to market."

We're glad that somebody out there has a rational response to the PC gaming death question. Especially from Flagship Studios, who's first title wasn't exactly a major hit. If things pan out the way we think they will, though, Mythos is going to have a pretty dedicated player-base.

The man in charge of Mythos gets interviewed originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythos' Executive Producer gets interviewed

Kyle Horner — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews, News items, Mythos

Over at Stropp's World, there's a very good interview with Max Schaefer -- Executive Producer for Mythos. To clarify; Mythos is a top-down Diablo-style massively game that's been in beta testing for a very long time now.

Upon release Flagship Studios plans for Mythos to be free-to-play with an RMT model. In the interview itself, Max discusses their decision to use an RMT system. Citing the developer's desire to provide players with a "robust free experience" but offer attractive options through RMT to obtain extra luxuries and ways to improve their adventure. One thing we were happy to take from the interview is that Flagship knows better than to just sell the best items in their game -- meaning the only way to get the best loot in Mythos is to kill stuff.

Beyond the RMT issue (which some may or may not like, but hey the game's free right?) there is a lot of talk about future features. A crafting system is on the way, although not very much is known about it right now. There will be basic PvP dueling and the Shadow World; a series of portals throughout the regular game world, which lead to an exact mirror world where PvP is everywhere. Also, other modes like group vs. group, Capture the Flag-type and other non-player killing competitions are in the works. We have to admit that the Shadow World concept interests us, although it's not very surprising to hear.

[Thanks, Stropp]

Mythos' Executive Producer gets interviewed originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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