There is a baffling affliction that seems to be affecting ARPG developers in recent years, where they have a fantastic system that they try to tweak to make it a bit more developer-friendly, instead of consumer-friendly. Diablo 3 infamously launched a real-money market that had players paying microtransactions towards other players in order to get better pieces of gear. It was also online-only, meaning you either have a solid internet connection or you were stuck playing something else.

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The developers of Torchlight 3, Echtra, are not to be outdone. They’ve opted to make Torchlight 3 online-only, and the servers are tremendously unstable, meaning that while the title has officially released into the Early Access program on Steam, it’s a steep battle to get it functioning.

For players that don’t have stable internet, it might as well not even release.

Yet finally, after years of waiting, we are beginning to see brief moments of life within the next iteration of the Torchlight franchise, and the Early Access identifier marks a hope for Echtra to figure out a bit more consumer-friendly mechanics before it becomes a full release.

Unfortunately, as the title stands now regarding Steam reviews, there’s a bit of a mountain to climb as 40% of reviews are positive.

This is the first title that sees Echtra taking control of the franchise, where Runic Games were the developers for both Torchlight and Torchlight 2. Now Perfect World is acting as the publisher, and the shift is apparent in regards to how the title actually plays out.

In addition, you should be expecting almost constant crashes as the title currently stands; users note that they are experiencing crashes as frequently as every fifteen minutes, with others claiming they happen every 30. This implies that the catalysts for the crashes are varied and numerous as the title currently stands in the Early Access program.

While Steam users aren’t necessarily big on the idea as it stands right now, it’s Torchlight in a new packaging with new mechanics and ideas being brought to users.

It’s doubtful that Echtra and Perfect World would allow a strong franchise such as Torchlight to twist in the wind until the player base has all but disappeared into the nether, exploring titles such as Path of Exile or, if Blizzard can figure out which way is up, even the upcoming Diablo 4.

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For the interim, however, it’s not an easy sale. Torchlight 3 is currently available for purchase on the Steam platform for $30, and is in Early Access. There is currently not a published road map for the title.