Greetings, Hunters of Torchlight!
It has now been a month since the open beta of Torchlight: Infinite started. Although there were no extreme or major incidents, a series of small twists and turns and abnormal issues still caught us by surprise. Now that things have settled down in this version, we finally have time to share with you what has happened during this period of time through this developer's blog. At the same time, We will also address some issues that have generated more feedback from the community recently.
Update Principles
After the launching of Torchlight: Infinite, we've followed three principles with regard to the update frequency:
1. We roll out major updates on a seasonal basis, mainly to balance and adjust important systems such as skills, gear, heroes, talents, and drops.
2. We fix general bugs and errors on a weekly basis, which is why we usually have routine weekly maintenance.
3. We locate and fix urgent errors as soon as possible. For example, there was an error with the Ignite-related affixes earlier, which allowed Hunters to enter an abnormal invincible state. After locating the cause of such issues and making sufficient preparations, we will take down the server and implement a solution immediately to avoid giving everyone a bad gaming experience.
These three update principles should help you understand why updates were implemented so frequently around October 21.
- On October 19, we carried out the routine weekly maintenance.
- The event, Savage Shadows, started on October 20.
- An emergency server maintenance was implemented on October 20 to fix the invincibility issue caused by the problems with the Ignite affixes.
- An emergency server maintenance was implemented on October 21 to fix the invincibility issue caused by the problems with the Wilt affixes (similar to the Ignite affix the day before). However, when the maintenance was almost over, we realized that an art resource of the Savage Shadows event had been accidentally lost due to the update. As this would cause the game to crash abnormally, we extended the maintenance time to solve this issue.
- On October 22, some PC players were unable to enter the game. we managed to fix this issue with a 1-hour hotfix.
Upon reviewing the situation, we noted that the routine maintenance and several emergency maintenance events had collided. The frequent server shutdowns and maintenance during this time have obviously affected everyone's gaming experience to a certain extent. In the future, we will devise better plans to fix issues with abnormal affixes and try to implement such fixes in routine maintenance.
With regard to the build balance issues that everyone has reported, we have started working on the adjustments, but we will not implement any changes until the next season when everyone restarts because we don't want to affect the stability of the trading ecosystem in this season and don't want all your efforts so far to be in vain. Of course, we'll verify and tweak all changes internally and in a small beta server first.
Handling of Violations
We've handed out a lot of mutes and bans recently. The main reasons for the bans are as follows:
1. Using third-party botting tools to play the game automatically or earn profit.
2. Using an unauthorized channel to top up or gain unjust enrichment through the rules of third-party platforms (such as by committing credit card fraud by making malicious refunds).
We made the decision to release the Trade feature after many rounds of internal evaluation and with great determination, mainly to facilitate communication between Hunters and build a dynamic and vibrant game environment. However, we firmly disapprove profit-making activities through this feature. Please do not underestimate our determination to crack down on script-based profit-making activities and offline transactions.
Unauthorized channels mainly refer to the "use of stolen credit cards." If you take a little time to learn about this, you will know that the use of such credit cards is regarded as a gray economy practice in most countries and is not protected or supported by law. Topping up in the game in this manner doesn't generate any income for the developer. It's just like buying an item with counterfeit money—the transaction will be terminated and the item will be sent back once the seller receives the counterfeit money. The only people who benefit from this process are those who provide these services. Therefore, we call on all Hunters to not top up through unauthorized third-party channels. Remember to protect your account and property.
Of course, if you have any disputes about a ban, you can contact Player Service to appeal the ban. Our Player Service colleagues will help you as soon as possible.
New Season
Now let's talk about something everyone is probably more interested in --- the new season. We're working hard on the next season's content, and the theme is "pirates" and "plunder" related. We will launch at least one new hero and two new traits for existing heroes, as well as a batch of new skills and Legendary gears.
At the same time, we'll also bring many optimizations to the game. We've received a lot of feedback about the UI of the PC version and have heard everyone's strong desire for the support of controllers. We'll do our best to implement these two improvements in the next season. However, about adding a multiplayer mode, it will still take some time for us to develop.
The last part of this log is a Q&A session.
FAQ
Q: You keep releasing paid events but take forever to implement bug fixes and improvements. Why is that?
A: As paid events have been planned a long time ago, it doesn't take up much of our development time. As long as it is developed and configured in advance, it will automatically start at the configured time. We mostly focus on the production of the new version and improvements for the current version, but as these two things are being carried out simultaneously, many improvements and adjustments involving underlying layers of the game will be launched in the next season, so please rest assured.
Q: What will happen to the players who used the bug to get Flame Elementium earlier?
A: Maybe you've seen a screenshot of an Inventory with many stacks of 999 Flame Elementium. Such images are obviously edited. We have carefully checked all the settings and codes related to drops and can confirm that there are no related issues. If you want to see Flame Elementium dropping everywhere on the ground, you can check out the "Chaos and Invasion" gameplay guide shared by other Hunters. Using a reasonable combination of cards can improve your farming efficiency. Combine that with a little luck and the God of Might will give you great rewards.
Q: When will S1 end? What will happen to the account data after the season ends?
A: S1 is expected to end in January, and the new season is also scheduled to start in January. All your unlocked heroes, hero traits, Pactspirits, and appearances will carry over to the next season. They count as the shared assets of your account, so they can be used by all characters you create in the same account. However, this only applies when they are on the same server. For example, all characters created on the US server can only use assets of the account that are on the US server. Other things like Season Passes and Auction Booth Tabs will expire at the end of the season and will need to be repurchased in the new season. The characters of the Incoming Dark Surge season will be transferred to the permanent server after the new season starts. Hunters will need to create a new character to participate in the challenges of the new season.
Q: Lethal Flash and Frostbitten Heart can be exchanged with Hero Emblems in the next season. Then how can we get Thea, who is unlocked in the Season Pass, in the next season?
A: In the next season, Thea can be purchased with Primocryst. And in the season after that, Thea will be able to be exchanged with Hero Emblems.
That's all for this developer's log. We encourage you to share your thoughts and feedback with us through our communities, especially Discord. Torchlight: Infinite is still in the open beta phase, and we will continue to optimize and improve the game based on your suggestions and feedback. Please help us make it a better ARPG and witness the transformation of Torchlight: Infinite.