How We Approach Console Development
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When we started our Xbox One project in 2015, we looked at how other online game communities reacted to the announcement of a console version of those games. While many players were excited, some were disappointed and had a few fears:
After we saw other communities reacting like this, we internally pledged to make sure that our development of the console version of Path of Exile took these concerns into account. We hired new team members specifically for the the console project. They were directly responsible for the massive improvements to frame rate, client load times, memory use, as well as the introduction of the 64-bit client, DirectX 11 renderer and new audio system. These changes were immediately released to the PC version as soon as they were available. Even if you're not a console gamer, this project improved the game for you. We haven't modified the game content on the PC version due to any console decisions. When we realised that the controls of the console version dictate four flask slots, we didn't remove a flask slot from PC. People have suggested that we add console controller support to the PC version, but that would require changing how skills work to support it, and that's not a rabbit hole that we want to go down. The development and direction of the PC version has not and will not change due to the existence of the console version. The announcement today will not only create a vibrant console Path of Exile community, but will bolster the PC one over time. We're really pleased at reading all of the excited posts from people (inside our community and outside) who are eager to play Path of Exile on Xbox One. We saw concerns from players who are worried about the above topics, and wanted to use this manifesto post to reassure them that we planned around those concerns going into this. I hope you enjoyed the new trailer and spotted a few of the easter eggs that hint at the massive amount of content we'll be announcing next month! Last edited by Chris on Jan 18, 2017, 7:54:03 PM Last bumped on Jul 28, 2022, 11:28:06 AM
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Well Done GGG <3
Please feel free to message me if you are having problems about anything!! I would love to help! Stay frosty exiles! You'll Never Walk Alone! Last edited by bockist on Jan 18, 2017, 7:52:25 PM
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:) Interested in seeing how this turns out.
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dank
IGN : Breeze_path
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Thank you for all your hard work! Can't wait for 3.0!!!
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This doesn't actually address anything... "This definitely wont affect PC negatively at all" aside from how you've spent a large amount of money developing a console variant that didn't go to improving the many QoL things that plague your current playerbase as it stands.
I'm unconvinced that all the money you've spent on: "They were directly responsible for the massive improvements to frame rate, client load times, memory use, as well as the introduction of the 64-bit client, DirectX 11 renderer and new audio system." wouldn't have been improved if you had spent that money on people to fix the issues plaguing the current PC client. I'm not holding my breath, and will of course be very happy at any PC optimization that does come out in the next league and into 3.0. But until that actually happens, this is very much just PR talk. Last edited by Niustein on Jan 18, 2017, 7:55:24 PM
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The cynic in me says the performance improvements should have been prioritised regardless of the port version, and assigning their value to the port's existence is porky at best.
You say you don't want to jump down a rabbit hole, but you're already looking at it in the rear view mirror. PoE's major draws are difficulty and depth of mechanics. The former is a moving target, the latter is getting watered down more and more as time goes on. You say console and pc will be developed separately, but that simply isn't the case. You aren't going to completely alter mechanics to function entirely differently from one version to the other, and you aren't going to spend time developing new mechanics that don't function well on the console version, which means that the game will have a glass ceiling in this area. Unless the two games are literally divergent from each other, with different design teams and completely separate skills and back-end mechanics, console is already affecting PC as we speak, because there are choices that you need to make that you cannot make with a console version in the wings. Its existence snuffs out all hope of certain changes being made that many were hopeful would eventually come. Can only hope to be wrong, but history from other game(s) show us the reality. Last edited by Pathological on Jan 18, 2017, 8:00:46 PM
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I'm proud of you guys either way, feel bad that you have to take all the bitter responses.
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Can anything be said at this time on whether or not it will be free to play like the PC version and how supporter packs will be dealt with?
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" If you had actually read the announcement you'd already know it states that it will be f2p. Designing Cospri's Will: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1665314
Designing Cospri's Malice: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1717008 Iron Heart/Iron Fortress too! |
