Development Manifesto: Harvest Crafting

Alright
This will probably be my first and last take on this game.

First of all, I'd like to address GGG Development team, Marketing team & Product analysis team - Including Chris as well.


First of all kudos on having something as great as path of exile being continuously developed, maintained, and fixes being rushed one after the other.

The game is streamlined, I won't deny that, but there's plenty of content for any new/prospect user, and the game doesn't really offer a good objective-oriented help guide that would introduce the said player to the content available in the game.

So what do I mean by streamlined in this case?
In short, it's appealing.

Hack and slash, full screen clear, diversity of build option, be it revolving around an item, mechanic, skill, passive, and so on.

A common pattern that I've seen on my previous league (Started in the cooldown period before blight) - is build targeting, the nerfs you throw usually target one or more specific way of building, while some people call it punishing (And my builds have been punished several times) it's necessary that you understand that these builds are popular due to their ability to clear end-game content.

Who among your player base doesn't want to kick Sirus's ass, who doesn't love hearing Kirac scream (By the golden arse of Innocence) knowing that the end of the tutorial is neighed and their quest to dominate the content they love, the boss battles that require a mechanical understanding of the game is within their grasp - We all do (Yes, all here refers to me, you, and any sucker out there whether they like the manifesto or not).

Bottom line is, you developed something great, that's loved by a lot of people around the globe.

So I do advise you to listen to your community more, nothing frustrates a player base than the lack of communication you provided in this thread.


The person who was talking about how (Thrilling it is to throw an exalted an orb at an item and see if you got what you want) - I have no remorse, but he obviously comes from a childish mentality and his position in the company needs to be revised, not attacking him personally but this kind of view clearly indicates a personal opinion and disconnect from reality.

Want to verify it? throw a poll or two on whether the player bases loves throwing the entirety of their countless hours of grinding and sweat on the result of an exalted orb outcome.

Under no circumstances was this ever the reason why one joined this game.

We're here to kill shit - We let out and gain the thrill of fighting these bosses, doing that content, upgrading our gear. Not gambling the entirety of our time spent.

Your game is absolutely great, it still lacks an auction house for better trading, a better guide for new players, and several other aspects.

But the moment you start becoming delusional and listen to obviously disconnected people over those who's been supporting you - financially, emotionally, and took over the past 8 years with the several inconvenient adversaries and still support you - you lose.



As to the player base, whether you hate me or not, whether this is on par with what you believe is right or wrong.

Be gentle - (Not in a creepy way)
But understand that usually black or white doesn't work
(Keep harvest) or (Screw harvest and pound it to become a useless mechanic of the game) are usually aren't our two options.

GGG should by now have a huge compass on this thread with over 440 pages of communication (Both negative or positive).

Your choice to support those who do not support you back is on you.

Whether they do go along with the clown-fiesta they intend to make out of harvest, or pause and listen to the many great ideas in this thread, should determine where your next $ is going to be spent. Be it onto supporting Path of Exile, or a different game with people who aren't living in a delusional fantasy of their own, I hope you understand this. Chris.



In case you didn't make much sense of what I was trying to say.

This development manifesto is a joke - As well as the reasoning behind it.

Cheers.
Without any sort of future vision I do not know if keeping the current implementation of the Harvest Crafting System’s power level is too much power-creep for the game in the short term or the long term. I do know I am disappointed by the changes proposed. What is presented in this development manifesto takes away the personal agency and allure of working on crafting projects over time. Based on my current playtime, availability of materials & crafts, risk & gambling tolerance, and my own efficiency (or lack thereof) I am not able to engage with the full breadth of the different crafting systems in the game. It appears to make much more sense to save and buy gear from other players than to risk the one-armed bandit. I would like to see design decisions move towards all crafting possibilities and permutations available with less risk to more players. Especially if itemization is a core tenet of this game, and making meaningful item choices should be more than “What do I buy next.”

Honestly, I think I am more disappointed with the communication surrounding the whole topic. The post itself appears to use generalizations and assumptions to make its points and justifications. Some language used could be read to mean different things by different audiences. I know in rereading the post I had different interpretations of key statements based on changes in surrounding context (such as the opinions of other players). Saying something is easy, difficult, rewarding, etc. in a vacuum does not unambiguously express the point that is trying to be made. At least not to me, and if the text works on generalizations or assumptions any further conversation could be fraught with confusion or misunderstanding. Which leads directly into another level that is missing from this conversation. You. There has been little to no continued communication from GGG staff. No polls, no AMAs, no curated round-tables, no podcast appearances, virtually nothing in the week since this manifesto went live.

I am but one small voice in the sea of stranded exiles on Wraeclast. This exile makes the following requests:
  • Will you please make your mission statement and philosophy statement available (preferably permanently linked) so that I am able to better understand the varying influences that drive the design and implementation of Path of Exile’s complicated systems.
  • To better understand what is intended with itemization, will you please detail how many tiers of gear strata there are (in terms of power level) with examples, and the assumed threshold (time, luck, knowledge, 3rd party tools, etc.) that is required to obtain them.
  • I know that balance will be applied uniformly to the game, so different player levels might be affected differently with any given change. Even so, please do not refer to the player-base as a monolith. It is really unfortunate to hear the CEO of my favorite game over the last few years say, “It is too easy for players to create mirror worthy items.” and in the process (unintentionally?) imply I am playing the game wrong because I have not achieved that level of… well.. anything.

Well then, I guess I will no longer have the need to spend money on MTX in this game.
Or better, I will roll D100 every time I want so buy something and on 99-100 the transaction will be done.
Let the 1% of streamer mules/whales take care of income.
"
Dripen wrote:
Alright
This will probably be my first and last take on this game.

First of all, I'd like to address GGG Development team, Marketing team & Product analysis team - Including Chris as well.


First of all kudos on having something as great as path of exile being continuously developed, maintained, and fixes being rushed one after the other.

The game is streamlined, I won't deny that, but there's plenty of content for any new/prospect user, and the game doesn't really offer a good objective-oriented help guide that would introduce the said player to the content available in the game.

So what do I mean by streamlined in this case?
In short, it's appealing.

Hack and slash, full screen clear, diversity of build option, be it revolving around an item, mechanic, skill, passive, and so on.

A common pattern that I've seen on my previous league (Started in the cooldown period before blight) - is build targeting, the nerfs you throw usually target one or more specific way of building, while some people call it punishing (And my builds have been punished several times) it's necessary that you understand that these builds are popular due to their ability to clear end-game content.

Who among your player base doesn't want to kick Sirus's ass, who doesn't love hearing Kirac scream (By the golden arse of Innocence) knowing that the end of the tutorial is neighed and their quest to dominate the content they love, the boss battles that require a mechanical understanding of the game is within their grasp - We all do (Yes, all here refers to me, you, and any sucker out there whether they like the manifesto or not).

Bottom line is, you developed something great, that's loved by a lot of people around the globe.

So I do advise you to listen to your community more, nothing frustrates a player base than the lack of communication you provided in this thread.


The person who was talking about how (Thrilling it is to throw an exalted an orb at an item and see if you got what you want) - I have no remorse, but he obviously comes from a childish mentality and his position in the company needs to be revised, not attacking him personally but this kind of view clearly indicates a personal opinion and disconnect from reality.

Want to verify it? throw a poll or two on whether the player bases loves throwing the entirety of their countless hours of grinding and sweat on the result of an exalted orb outcome.

Under no circumstances was this ever the reason why one joined this game.

We're here to kill shit - We let out and gain the thrill of fighting these bosses, doing that content, upgrading our gear. Not gambling the entirety of our time spent.

Your game is absolutely great, it still lacks an auction house for better trading, a better guide for new players, and several other aspects.

But the moment you start becoming delusional and listen to obviously disconnected people over those who's been supporting you - financially, emotionally, and took over the past 8 years with the several inconvenient adversaries and still support you - you lose.



As to the player base, whether you hate me or not, whether this is on par with what you believe is right or wrong.

Be gentle - (Not in a creepy way)
But understand that usually black or white doesn't work
(Keep harvest) or (Screw harvest and pound it to become a useless mechanic of the game) are usually aren't our two options.

GGG should by now have a huge compass on this thread with over 440 pages of communication (Both negative or positive).

Your choice to support those who do not support you back is on you.

Whether they do go along with the clown-fiesta they intend to make out of harvest, or pause and listen to the many great ideas in this thread, should determine where your next $ is going to be spent. Be it onto supporting Path of Exile, or a different game with people who aren't living in a delusional fantasy of their own, I hope you understand this. Chris.



In case you didn't make much sense of what I was trying to say.

This development manifesto is a joke - As well as the reasoning behind it.

Cheers.


Well written sir :)
I hope GGG can see your post
"
Madplayer_ wrote:
Well then, I guess I will no longer have the need to spend money on MTX in this game.
Or better, I will roll D100 every time I want so buy something and on 99-100 the transaction will be done.
Let the 1% of streamer mules/whales take care of income.


Looks like you never spent anything to begin with

This was one of the most fun leagues I’ve played in the last few years, the harvest has kept me in the game until the end. I think they could do it in a different way
At the beginning I was quite angry at GGG for this news.

not so much now, thu to this I got demotivated from this league and stopped playing,

then looking for alternatives I found Last Epoch. thx GGG.
"
Rene_2706 wrote:
At the beginning I was quite angry at GGG for this news.

not so much now, thu to this I got demotivated from this league and stopped playing,

then looking for alternatives I found Last Epoch. thx GGG.


I started playing DayZ Namalsk mod.

Thanks GGG, forgot there were other games!
"
Dripen wrote:
Alright
This will probably be my first and last take on this game.

First of all, I'd like to address GGG Development team, Marketing team & Product analysis team - Including Chris as well.


First of all kudos on having something as great as path of exile being continuously developed, maintained, and fixes being rushed one after the other.

The game is streamlined, I won't deny that, but there's plenty of content for any new/prospect user, and the game doesn't really offer a good objective-oriented help guide that would introduce the said player to the content available in the game.

So what do I mean by streamlined in this case?
In short, it's appealing.

Hack and slash, full screen clear, diversity of build option, be it revolving around an item, mechanic, skill, passive, and so on.

A common pattern that I've seen on my previous league (Started in the cooldown period before blight) - is build targeting, the nerfs you throw usually target one or more specific way of building, while some people call it punishing (And my builds have been punished several times) it's necessary that you understand that these builds are popular due to their ability to clear end-game content.

Who among your player base doesn't want to kick Sirus's ass, who doesn't love hearing Kirac scream (By the golden arse of Innocence) knowing that the end of the tutorial is neighed and their quest to dominate the content they love, the boss battles that require a mechanical understanding of the game is within their grasp - We all do (Yes, all here refers to me, you, and any sucker out there whether they like the manifesto or not).

Bottom line is, you developed something great, that's loved by a lot of people around the globe.

So I do advise you to listen to your community more, nothing frustrates a player base than the lack of communication you provided in this thread.


The person who was talking about how (Thrilling it is to throw an exalted an orb at an item and see if you got what you want) - I have no remorse, but he obviously comes from a childish mentality and his position in the company needs to be revised, not attacking him personally but this kind of view clearly indicates a personal opinion and disconnect from reality.

Want to verify it? throw a poll or two on whether the player bases loves throwing the entirety of their countless hours of grinding and sweat on the result of an exalted orb outcome.

Under no circumstances was this ever the reason why one joined this game.

We're here to kill shit - We let out and gain the thrill of fighting these bosses, doing that content, upgrading our gear. Not gambling the entirety of our time spent.

Your game is absolutely great, it still lacks an auction house for better trading, a better guide for new players, and several other aspects.

But the moment you start becoming delusional and listen to obviously disconnected people over those who's been supporting you - financially, emotionally, and took over the past 8 years with the several inconvenient adversaries and still support you - you lose.



As to the player base, whether you hate me or not, whether this is on par with what you believe is right or wrong.

Be gentle - (Not in a creepy way)
But understand that usually black or white doesn't work
(Keep harvest) or (Screw harvest and pound it to become a useless mechanic of the game) are usually aren't our two options.

GGG should by now have a huge compass on this thread with over 440 pages of communication (Both negative or positive).

Your choice to support those who do not support you back is on you.

Whether they do go along with the clown-fiesta they intend to make out of harvest, or pause and listen to the many great ideas in this thread, should determine where your next $ is going to be spent. Be it onto supporting Path of Exile, or a different game with people who aren't living in a delusional fantasy of their own, I hope you understand this. Chris.



In case you didn't make much sense of what I was trying to say.

This development manifesto is a joke - As well as the reasoning behind it.

Cheers.


Perfect post well explained sir.

I won't go again on what I think of the changes themselves, already did it on this post, but I think I'm not wrong if I say that what myself and others found most insulting was that "disconnected developer personal opinion" as drippen says, of how we love to use our hard earned currency closing our eyes and gambling.

At least an apology message should be published about that line, specially with 454 pages already and counting, each day that passes makes that apology lose value.

BTW, the 30 euros that would probably go to another MTX//pack have already been spent on Last Epoch, thanks for giving me the reason to look outside PoE and try it out, it needs more work of course, but looks it is going in a real good direction indeed!
Last edited by Portu on Mar 21, 2021, 5:11:25 PM
"
bustr wrote:
Cannot wait to do 36-40 Challenges and then Quit for 2 1/2 months until next League, man have I missed the boredom and void, thanks for making the Corona times worse already.

While you at it, here is a list of all Mechanic's abused by the 1%:
-Deep Delving (Fractured Fossil like every 3-5 nodes, around a Mirror per day possible)
-6 Account The Feared (Invitation) Grind (sounds annoying to setup, but its easy cause you can skip a lot of content with alt accounts)
-6 Account Yellow / Red Beast Grind (same as above)
-Imprint -> Split Base Snowballing (If you or your Group is one of the first to get a popular Base, you basically Snowball into absurd amounts of Currency with little to no effort, other than having a friend or 2 who abuse Beast farming, or just you know, get them in shady ways GGG wont do anything about)


But Harvest, yeah that is the REAL ISSUE.


god THANK YOU.

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