Fans of the upcoming Torchlight Frontiers should feel good knowing that both closed alpha testers and developers are pushing for the best game possible. Echtra Games admitted that the old system for general character advancement wasn’t pleasing players as much as it hoped, and so the studio decided to insert an alternative system in its stead.
The issue that testers had encountered was that skill points were being used for both gear and abilities, forcing players to choose between accessing the next tier of gear or getting a fun new ability to use. With the new version, skill points are used for just that while a new “Frontier” XP leveling bar will track progress within that biome and unlock gear accessibility that way.
“Your equipment is fundamentally linked to your ability to progress,” Echtra said, “and having to choose between new combat skills versus better weapons and armor put an uncomfortable pressure on players. We originally thought it’d be an interesting decision to make as you progress, but our alpha testers let us know otherwise.”
