Phew! That was an interesting two+ hours. Thanks to everyone for your questions, and a special thanks to Randy Pitchford himself, who went well into overtime after the original 2-hour mark.
If you missed it, Gearbox's CEO and the man behind Borderlands 2 teased a few details about the future of the sequel in some of his answers. Here are a few of them, but be sure to hit the (now closed) interview for more speculation:
- Gearbox is in talks about putting Borderlands 2 on the Vita.
- The first story content-heavy DLC will have details revealed very soon.
- One DLC planned for the near future might have something to do with Pitchford's desire to "ride on one of those sand skiffs from Return of the Jedi."
- Borderlands 2 could see more additional playable classes like the Mechromancer. Pitchford's words: "We created the ability in Borderlands 2 to add additional characters because we want to use that ability. The Mechromancer is the first one. I hope to do more. The success of the Mechromancer will help to define this."
- There are plans to make a Mac port.
- There's going to be a Claptrap game for the Wii U that combines America's Next Top Model, Just Dance 3, JAWS and Attack of the C.H.U.D. Ok, not really. That one was a joke. Or was it?...It was.
- Looks like there might be more skins, heads, and possibly other character customization in future DLC.
- T.K. Baha will make some sort of return outside his small appearance in the sequel.
The interview had some interesting insight into Pitchford as a developer—and gamer—as well. I'll just share this one with you and you can read the others yourself.
Reader Enigma asked: "I never expected it but what was the motivation behind including ladders in the game? I'm still too used to finding creative ways to jump to obscure locations before looking for a ladder... :D"
To which Pitchford replied:
I don't know - the level designers sort of just wanted to do it and felt they could get away with it. In general, I evolved into an "anti-ladder" kind of level designer. When I was younger and less experienced at level design, I used ladders all over the place. I'm not sure if other level designers evolve the same way I did, but I feel good about my reasons for evolving beyond ladders. I have to say, though, that as someone who is super comfortable using ladders in FPS games, I like using the ladders in Borderlands 2. They're not used in critical path situations, so I think even a more casual FPS gamer that has difficulty with ladders won't find their inclusion in Borderlands 2 to be a hindrance to their progression. Our designers were pretty responsible with their use.
Interesting stuff.