GGG - Stand true to what you said about player feedback

Focus on problems, not suggestions.

Then remember that some problems are non issues.

When Diablo 2 came out before hell mode was solved, if the developers listened to what people would have said we would not have a game still having lobbies immediately fill up weeks into ladder reset 20 years later. It seemed impossible, it seemed like the developers released a troll game mode that was never meant to be beat. It was solved.

You said 100 on ruthless PoE1 would not be reached, we reached it last league.

When PoE came out, you guys had the right idea. Starting perandus/prophecy, league after league after league you kept giving too much power and speed creep by addressing the problem of "we feel weak" in the wrong way.

Stand true to your vision, there is a happy middle ground here (such as tutorials on how to get resistances, and tweaks to positioning/nodes on the tree)

This game may seem hard, but it absolutely gives you the tools you need to succeed. People want to skip the campaign, the campaign is bloody brilliant, the ascendancy trials are brilliant, nothing but glowing feedback across my guild (who is nothing but D2 and PoE vets having zero issues with the game that are non-technical like crashes, all level 85+ or in maps/waystones).

We are all long time supporters and believe you have a chance to make a game that targets us hardcore ARPG players without needing to make a Ruthless GSF like you did for PoE1.

PoE1 has the extreme zoom power fantasy skip-the-campaign style game. Nerfing Malachai on release made me really upset, I don't even wear my Awakening shirt anymore.

The new ascendancies are very well done, only small rebalances needed on some underwhelming ones and nerfs to overperforming ones. Again, player power being earned is extremely gratifying. Some are a small adjustment from feeling good.

Keep the combat engaging and challenging, and add small rebalances to skills/trees.

One of the things my guild is most worried about is the extreme fun we had reaching the limited endgame will be lost after waves of buffs and power creep like PoE1. Campaign is a rite of passage, and it's earned not given. It was this way in D2, it used to be this way in PoE1, and it is the way to keep us ARPG players engaged PoE2. Frankly, if the game released in its current state, we would still play it over anything else.

You made a fantastic campaign and game, stay true to the vision. There are many players who aren't making forum posts and instead actually playing the game.

PoE2 is amazing. Many of our guild mates who are far in the game are loving it. This is a good middle ground between what Ruthless wanted to be and a true ARPG. Please don't gut and kill PoE2 to cater to the base you are ALREADY pleasing with PoE1, that you alienated for 5-6 years of powercreep.

It would be an absolute shame for you to double back on your wise decision to make a different game then just make it a reskinned PoE1. I have already clocked in 300 hours on PoE2 -- keep it slow and deliberate, adjust the endgame zoom.

Signed, guild and social circle of longtime lifetime supporters of PoE, D2, and other awesome ARPGs.

FWIW, I have been complaining for ages about the direction PoE1 went, and believe it was largely due to how they handled player feedback.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3398993

Very much agree with most of it.

The difficulty is very good. The tempo is amazing. The impact of your hits is perfect.

Some smaller things might need to be carefully adjusted. But it can be handled by gathering enough data and then making small changes, rather that trying some big moves. The current state is way to good to be needing any large changes.

"

just_dont#6539 wrote:

Very much agree with most of it.

The difficulty is very good. The tempo is amazing. The impact of your hits is perfect.

Some smaller things might need to be carefully adjusted. But it can be handled by gathering enough data and then making small changes, rather that trying some big moves. The current state is way to good to be needing any large changes.

Absolutely agree with you. To the GGG feedback collectors -- Me and my guild are your target audience from D2 that you lost with PoE1.


Smallllll changes, especially to opportunity cost on the tree and the way some power spikes are handled go a long way.

"The new ascendancies are very well done".

Bloodmage is absolutely the worst, by far. The only good thing about it is progenesis, but until you get it, you can't even put points into the class, because you gimp yourself. It needs MAJOR rebalance/rework, or for the campaign to speed up to the point where you're not flailing for 20-25h without an ascendency, while everyone else gets to play with their toys. You also don't get uber powerful afterwards, so its not worth it compared to the other options.

It also seems that some skills don't have quality bonuses, so you can argue that for a subset of builds, Gemling Legionaire is useless. Seems like its easy to get gem levels, but not gem quality.

"

bdradu96mro#4822 wrote:

"The new ascendancies are very well done".

Bloodmage is absolutely the worst, by far. The only good thing about it is progenesis, but until you get it, you can't even put points into the class, because you gimp yourself. It needs MAJOR rebalance/rework, or for the campaign to speed up to the point where you're not flailing for 20-25h without an ascendency, while everyone else gets to play with their toys. You also don't get uber powerful afterwards, so its not worth it compared to the other options.

It also seems that some skills don't have quality bonuses, so you can argue that for a subset of builds, Gemling Legionaire is useless. Seems like its easy to get gem levels, but not gem quality.

Blood mage needs work, but is a very small change away from being amazing.
Cost sustaining doesnt feel good, and the delay on gathering remnants doesn't feel good.

Yes, i hope they kep this direction, poe1 beta was harder then poe2 EA, i always disliked how they changed directions. Now we have 2 games, zoom zoom gamers can play poe1, and the rest that got bait and switched on poe1 beta can have their game again.

nah its pretty easy to see percentage of player base isn't happy. And while there are a lot of people playing, that doesn't really mean much. Lot of games have large player numbers a launch still end up less than postiive reviews.

"

ziggro#7495 wrote:

Yes, i hope they kep this direction, poe1 beta was harder then poe2 EA, i always disliked how they changed directions. Now we have 2 games, zoom zoom gamers can play poe1, and the rest that got bait and switched on poe1 beta can have their game again.

God I felt that part of your sentence so much... Look at my characters, my packs, etc. I've been around for a long time.
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3398993 I had this thread longstanding for ages... People don't understand how I could have felt bait and switched

Ruthless was PoE's saving grace that made me come back from Diablo 2.

"

arcticlion#1613 wrote:

nah its pretty easy to see percentage of player base isn't happy. And while there are a lot of people playing, that doesn't really mean much. Lot of games have large player numbers a launch still end up less than postiive reviews.

Go to Act 6 town and log in various regions.
Most of the unhappy people are in act 2/3. We don't need to bend over backwards and repeat PoE1's mistakes.

STAND TRUE GGG. THE VISION IS FANTASTIC -- DONT BAIT AND SWITCH ME AGAIN.

PoE1 was a massive success, but you lost a lot of us dedicated vets by turning it into a sandbox game. I recognize this was a successful audience to target -- and you made the right decision splitting the games.

You have a unique opportunity to create the ultimate game for the players you alienated for 5+ years and attract new players who DONT like sandbox/loot simulator / Survivors-esque ARPGs.

Let the people who want the extreme power creep to play your sandbox game... Continue to make this special in its own way.