However, you also had more questions, and we have the answers! Character customisation options, voice chat, Mechromancer, a unique reward for Borderlands 1 players – I’ve done my best to answer as many of your questions about Borderlands 2 as possible. Read on…

Can we expect better more consistent framerate this time around? (via @Is_It_JustMe @Iantheausguy)
That’s certainly the plan! We’re entering the phase of development right now where we are focusing on framerate and stability, so it’s too early for me to give any final numbers, but you will see an improvement over the first game.

Can a second player on local splitscreen be logged in to a separate PSN ID and gain Trophies and stats? (via @frag123456)

We’re looking into this as well, but right now the answer is no.

The only important question: will voice communication be fixed? It was unusable in BL1. (via @keithschon)

Good timing – you’ll hopefully be pleased to know that a portion of our programming team is working on voice chat issues right now so they will be working for everyone when the game launches!

Will there be more character customization (individual skills, armor, etc) than in the first one? (via @justtom2012)

You’ll be able to choose from a large variety of swappable heads/hairstyles/headgear in addition to choosing from hundreds of unique color and decal themes, and both together offer a ton of options for customization. As for skills, each class offers a bigger quantity and more interesting variety of skills to choose from in the skill trees.

Will vehicle-based gameplay be enhanced? It was fairly basic in the original game.

We’re introducing a new vehicle, the Technical, which can hold 4 players at once and also has a few weapon configurations to choose from. Some are better than others depending on the types of enemies you’ll face and the environment you’ll be fighting in. On the other hand, Borderlands is mainly a game about weapons and loot so we don’t want to force people to stay in vehicles for too long.

Will there be a shortcut button for health kits? Going thru your backpack sucks, especially during battles! (via @TheVic82)

Yeah, that sucked. Pausing wasn’t really fun in combat. It was a tough decision, but we decided to remove carryable health packs and instead fill that need with new relics and shields that can help keep you out of that emergency state to begin with. The result is a more fluid combat experience since now you’re not worrying about when the best time to pause the game is and you still get that fun sense of preparing for a battle by choosing the right gear.

Health Packs will still appear and drop and they will now heal you up in the middle of battle.

What enhancements have you made to the weapon interface, inventory, and pickup system?

We have a completely new inventory screen and all of the other interface screens have received various upgrades. There’s a lot more useful data for gear comparison and also more descriptive text on the item cards as well. Having said that, the best way to know what a gun does is to use it – and some weapons are *very* special…

Money and ammo now automatically pick up if dropped from enemies as well!

Will the environments be more varied, instead of one big desert? (via @DoctorMous3)

Absolutely! We’ve shown a tundra, cavern, grasslands, and Hyperion tech environments so far, but there are many more in the game – I think you’ll enjoy the environmental diversity in BL2.

What are you doing to extend the variety of enemy types and combat encounters?

There are brand new enemy families in Borderlands 2, and the total count of unique enemies (including special elemental variants with unique AI) is in the triple digits. New environments + new enemy types and behaviours = much more varied combat encounters!

So when will we get the Mechromancer class and is it a exclusive to any version of the game ? (via @Tenkisin)

We’re hoping to release her to the world as soon as possible – but we have to get the game through the certification process as right now she only exists as a sketch and we need to finish up Borderlands 2! The good news is that the Mechromancer will be compatible with all versions of the game and she will be free if you preorder at participating retailers through the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club!

Is the story going to be more cut-scene based like UNCHARTED, or more audio log based like the original BL? (via @Ejsponge61)

We’re mixing it up a bit this time: few short cutscenes (and title cards) where necessary, lots of in-game moments, ECHO logs, missions, and environmental storytelling – not to mention the significant NPC improvements we made so it doesn’t just feel like a cardboard cut out of a dude is sending you on a quest.

What’s great is that we catered it towards both audiences that love story telling through NPCs and those who prefer to go kick some ass! If you choose to do the latter, you can run off as the NPC is talking to you and the discussion will appear as an ECHO transmission. No chains attached!

Will we be able to use custom soundtracks on PS3? (via @Nem0905)

No, but hopefully you’ll like the huge amount of new music we’ve composed just for this game!

Will there be any in-game bonuses in Borderlands 2 if you have a save file and completed the first game? via (@CFinalBlade)

Yes, if we detect a save file from the first game on your console then you’ll be rewarded with a unique swappable head and skin for every class!

Will the max level be past 69? (via @Martothedragon)

We’re balancing the game to cap at level 50; in the first game we ended up pushing the cap to 69 through post-launch patches and DLC. I don’t have DLC plans for Borderlands 2 yet but we tend to want to one-up ourselves each time, so… we’ll see what happens!

This weekend at the Borderlands 2 booth, we granted PAX East visitors chance to play with two brand-new characters for Borderlands 2 — Salvador the Gunzerker and Maya the Siren — in a new environment called the Caustic Caverns. The Gunzerker and Siren classes have made great strides compared to their counterparts from the original game. Players who choose to play as Salvador will be able to use his Gunzerking ability to run into a crowd with two guns blazing. If you played the first game, you may recognize this as an evolution of Brick’s Berserking skill. Meanwhile, Maya’s new Siren skill Phaselock isolates an enemy inside a phase bubble for a short time. Once you’ve Phaselocked a target, your primary choice is whether to focus your fire on the helpless foe before it breaks free or mop up any other threats nearby. Decisions, decisions!

Borderlands has a strong history of co-op gameplay and that’s still a core promise of this game. At PAX, we watched as Siren players Phaselocked an enemy, leaving an opening for the Gunzerker buddy to run up, dual-wielding, and take out the target just in the nick of time. I’m also happy to talk about our new setting for this demo, the Caustic Caverns. From the beginning of the project, we’ve wanted to explore a wider variety of unique environments and locales on the planet of Pandora. As different and cool as the Caustic Caverns are, they’re just a small taste of the diverse environments to be explored in Borderlands 2.

We’ve overhauled our user interface, too. The new inventory screen allows for easier comparisons between gear and offers a more streamlined layout in general, and an additional benefit of the change is a more natural layout for split-screen players – no more manual “pan-n-scan”. And by popular demand, there’s now a minimap on screen!

This is Borderlands, so you know we’re aiming to include lots and lots of guns. What’s new about Borderlands 2 weapons, though, is that they’re much more supportive of any given play style. Hate long reload times? Try a Tediore gun. Prefer sturdy, burst-fire weapons? Pick up a Dahl-branded weapon. We’ve made sure that each weapon manufacturer brings something unique and interesting to the table. Finding the perfect combination of gear for each situation is all part of the fun (especially as the Gunzerker!)

Borderlands 2 releases on PS3 this September 18th and is now available for pre-order at your local retailers – keep checking the Gearbox Software Twitter, 2K Twitter, and Borderlands 2 Facebook for more information regarding the game!