Development Stories: Path of Exile 2 Narrative Design Philosophies

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Jinnigan wrote:

Also Malachi's gotta show back up at least once right?? For one of the most smartest and powerful dudes in the POE1 campaign it's odd that you kill him once and then he just... stays dead...?

Imo, Malachai should be like the Dracula of Castlevania series but for poe, it has potential to keep evolving

After act 5, the game went bananas regarding lore, with the pantheon and gods stuff...

I'd like to learn more about those weird researchers trying to make Replica Uniques. I also wonder how Grigor's doing!

I've also been very curious if a script was ever written for the player characters for Acts 5-10. I've always been terribly curious of how Marauder would feel about killing Tukohama, or Templar killing Innocence, and others. If there's anything like that out there, would you ever be willing to share it in some form?

Heidi O'Loughlin for witch's voice in PoE2!
My favorite places is a dark forests, incursion theme, ghostflame/spectre/undead theme and I like Catarina and Oshabi.

Whole Oriath's "Nazi" theme is breaking my immersion and feels alien.
I hate Einar's personality with passion.
I really miss character voce lines in later acts. I wish that all monologues was more serious not a stupid bravadas from hollywood 90's.

And remember The Rule: more shit talking - less immersion in the hopeless, grim and dark feeling!

I would love to visit Lioneye's Watch 20 years after Kitava fell, and see how it changed, if it expanded, was abandoned, ruined, whatever. The place is iconique

Einhar, Beastmaster and his Origins :D

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Arterton wrote:

I hate Einar's personality with passion.

"You know, Einhar usually likes when people put their heart into something. Like my friend! He used to be the best blacksmith in all of Ezomyr. So it was only a matter of time before I asked him to join me on my hunts to revere the First Ones. But for no reason, he started to attack me instead! Einhar did not understand why his good friend did that! Arterton reminds me of my old friend. I love passion, but I do not love Arterton."

I would like the elder seal to be broken on POE 2, and in this way would connect the past of POE 1 with the current POE 2.

seems good

Even though I've stepped away from the game from time to time, I still believe that GGG is one of the best game companies ATM. When ya'll gave streamers queue-prio the other day I got a little worried, BUT at least you admitted fault and reasoning to the playerbase. That was the right move.

To me Path of Exile has always felt like it was in a "test state" ... constantly improving and being iterated on. (I mean that with no disrespect)

Upon seeing footage of Path of Exile 2 I feel like we're finally starting to see the real polished goal that was intended from the start. I'm super-hyped about it.

The footage and systems info I've seen give me that triple A vibe.

Seeing the game evolve over time for the better has been very interesting.

Keep up the good work, ya'll killin it.

When I first played PoE, it was in its beta infancy. I did not get far. The graphics were substandard for the day, the gameplay was punishing to beginners, and there was zero story. Of those flaws, the one I could not forgive was the story. Some sort of narrative could have kept me plugging along, but it was non-existent. I grew bored within a couple sessions and went on to play other games. I came to PoE after Diablo 2 and Titan Quest both of which had far superior storylines. Today, there is a narrative arc present in the campaign. To be honest, it's not great. It has, however, continually improved in scope, coherence, and quality over the years of its development. It's become more complex and richer to match the game system itself.

I restarted playing PoE in Harbinger league and have played every league since. All I ask, is that GGG doesn't treat the narrative as an afterthought. Story is not sweet and decorative icing on the cake; it is the cake. If you wonder why people skip the dialogue and other narrative elements, there's more than one answer but really only one within your control. Some people don't like to read--fuck them, they're stupid and/or lazy. Some people play a game only for the actual gameplay elements: build, smash, loot, build, smash, loot, ad infinitum ad nauseum. I don't know what to say about these types. Maybe, "Go get 'em, Tiger, I guess..." One element is within your control, and initially, GGG flubbed it. That's the quality. You created all these dialogues and monuments out in the game space. They amounted to a whole lot of interesting world building, but world building is not the same as story telling. Even today, game events hold together by the flimsiest of threads. Don't get me wrong, it's better, much much better.

The world is now built. Please don't make the same mistakes in PoE2. If you want me to continue into the future, start with a story. Give me some possible goals and let me achieve them in one way or another. Start with quality writing, good dialogue, and great characters. Maybe then people won't skip it all--at least not on the first few playthroughs anyway. The game has improved drastically over time, please bring the same quality to the campaign story. Good luck to you in the coming years.


Best,
BW