How We Approach Console Development

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The development and direction of the PC version has not and will not change due to the existence of the console version.

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The cooldown changes were primarily driven by performance concerns.

Source

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This doesn't really address the true nature of the issue. A console version killing a PC version happens in more subtle ways than outright dumbing down and whatnot.

All future content (skills, boss fights, whatever) will be neutered given consideration of what will and will not work on the console version. For a basic example, there will never again be a precision-targeted skill like Lightning Warp because that doesn't work on consoles. Consoles require auto-targeting, beams, or AoEs around the character.

Notice that covers all the channeled skills? They were, in fact, all designed with consoles in mind.

Around the discussion table for the rest of the game's life, the team will come up with lots of great ideas, and all of them will be subject to the "Yeah, but what about Xbox?" question. Those who had the ideas will pause, say "Oh.", and go silent for a moment.

As we all should, I suppose, because this is the beginning of the end of Path of Exile.

Well said.

its starting with flask already

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When we realised that the controls of the console version dictate four flask slots

My feelings are solidifying.

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Niustein wrote:

You have to either be A) delusional or B) retarded to believe what you wrote in "That means it would not have gone any faster without the console port since those features were a necessity for it in the first place."

Do you honestly believe that the PC iteration of PoE would not be in a better state if instead of having this dx11 team work on a console port, they hired people (with equal knowledge of dx11) to work on improving the current game?

Porting a game takes MASSIVE time and effort, a lot of which PC players will never see because it was spent developing things for the console. That's why a lot of people are upset about it. You're taking likely thousands of man hours (before it's even released) to make this port that could have been focused on the PC version of the game that wasn't.

What is a delusion, besides thinking that you know something which you don't?

Since we're all outsiders to the inner workings of GGG, let's set up a hypothetical scenario in which the decision is made to roll out with these console-friendly performance improvements:

"We could adapt to dx11, implement multithreading, put in a new sound engine etc, but we don't have the money..."
"Hey those sound like changes that could make PoE playable on consoles!"
"You're right! If we use those changes to build a console version and open the game up to more paying players, then we can justify the cost of implementing the changes in the first place!"
"Cool, let's hire a bunch of people to work on the console version and get this done!"

Is that how the conversation went? I dunno, seems plausible. I hope the console version doesn't turn poe into a shitty game.

Whose game is 400% more faster??

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Pepetheworld wrote:

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The development and direction of the PC version has not and will not change due to the existence of the console version.

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The cooldown changes were primarily driven by performance concerns.

Source

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1774087/page/16#p13977740

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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 ...

thinking emoji

So yea this OP is basically just a straight up lie to placate the unwashed hordes.

With fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Interesting, with the current state of potions, I will actually like to only have 4 flasks on the PC version...

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ThatsSoGoodman wrote:

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Niustein wrote:

You have to either be A) delusional or B) retarded to believe what you wrote in "That means it would not have gone any faster without the console port since those features were a necessity for it in the first place."

Do you honestly believe that the PC iteration of PoE would not be in a better state if instead of having this dx11 team work on a console port, they hired people (with equal knowledge of dx11) to work on improving the current game?

Porting a game takes MASSIVE time and effort, a lot of which PC players will never see because it was spent developing things for the console. That's why a lot of people are upset about it. You're taking likely thousands of man hours (before it's even released) to make this port that could have been focused on the PC version of the game that wasn't.

What is a delusion, besides thinking that you know something which you don't?

Since we're all outsiders to the inner workings of GGG, let's set up a hypothetical scenario in which the decision is made to roll out with these console-friendly performance improvements:

"We could adapt to dx11, implement multithreading, put in a new sound engine etc, but we don't have the money..."
"Hey those sound like changes that could make PoE playable on consoles!"
"You're right! If we use those changes to build a console version and open the game up to more paying players, then we can justify the cost of implementing the changes in the first place!"
"Cool, let's hire a bunch of people to work on the console version and get this done!"

Is that how the conversation went? I dunno, seems plausible. I hope the console version doesn't turn poe into a shitty game.

"What is a delusion, besides thinking that you know something which you don't?"

You haven't actually replied to anything I said in that comment.

I'll reiterate, porting a game is a MASSIVE endeavor. This sort of goes hand in hand with the fact that the people in charge of the XB1 port (and some massive QoL upgrades, sure) have worked on this since 2015 (as per the original post of this thread). These people must have been on payroll.

Something that gets thrown around a lot (even in the PR posts GGG has done since the announcement) is that

"Console development has so far significantly improved the PC version. The game runs massively faster (roughly 400% of where we were before we started the console version) because of the need to run on the console hardware."

This 400%, presumably, has been from the improvements that this core group has worked on in the last year and a bit. But, the thing to consider is that would a 400% increase have been possible without the console port? GGG hasn't recouped ANY costs yet for the XB1 port, while still making a sizable sum from their PC player base (for reference: several entire million dollar expansions were supported by supporter packs). Many people are wondering why they wouldn't invest the money spent into making the port (again, thousands of man hours at LEAST, if not significantly more) into improving current glaring issues (balance, 400% speed, etc) instead of putting it into something that much of the playerbase won't even see. Whether or not that point of view is justified is another thing, but that's how it feels.

Many games have tried a console port and ultimately both products have suffered as a result, people are just really afraid that's what's going to happen with PoE.

the whole console port development does make sense on some of the changes made in the last year, and while poe is still some of the funnest I've had with the speed and clear speed meta, it's now obvious that console has shaped PC play already.