Why POE2’s Direction Is Worrying for Veterans and Newcomers Alike

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

Bringing up Nioh to defend PoE2 is an odd choice because the two games are fundamentally different. Nioh thrives on preparation and precision—adapting gear, using buffs, and mastering mechanics to overcome challenges. Its slower pace feels intentional and rewarding. PoE2, however, leans on bloated health pools and repetitive combat, which turn fights into a slog. If PoE2 focused more on preparation—like tuning flasks, jewels, or builds for specific encounters—it could create meaningful difficulty. Instead, it often feels like an endurance test, not a challenge.

Now you're just being dishonest about Nioh, where combat is also quite repetitive because you fight a lot of the same monsters the exact same way many times in multiple NG+ modes where they just get "Rare monster" stats to make them tougher. Also the preparation aspect is false, as there are many objectively best charm buffs in that game that you put on shortly before the boss and even then it takes quite a while to beat the boss. There is no boss one-shotting in Nioh like there is in PoE 1, the bosses in that game are not loot pinatas.

"

Criticizing the campaign isn’t about “instant gratification.” In a seasonal ARPG, the campaign is a stepping stone, not the focus. Dragging it out unnecessarily burns players out before the real game—the endgame—even begins. Adding variety or optional challenges would improve the campaign, but just making it longer doesn’t make it better. Respecting players’ time in a seasonal cycle is crucial.

It is all about instant gratification. Lets say GGG listens to you and makes the campaign optional. You get 65 levels and portal to endgame right from the starting beach, cool! Now the next thing you're going to do is to complain about lower tier Waypoints because they seem like a waste of time compared to mid-tier, after all only the late endgame matters right?

So GGG listens to you again, now you can skip straight to mid-tier Waystones. Now you complain that you can't just straight spawn a Mageblood on your feet on level 1 and get an instant portal to Arbiter of Ash. In fact all endgame bosses take too long to kill, thats boring, lets make them one hit kills and a big Congratulation screen at the end which gives you 300 Mirrors as a reward.

"

As for “instant win buttons” or “casualization,” that’s a strawman. No one’s asking for that. PoE1 succeeded because it encouraged experimentation, preparation, and resource management. PoE2, in its current state, doesn’t. Inflated stats and drawn-out fights don’t reward skill; they punish patience. Difficulty should feel rewarding, not tedious. Learning mechanics and adapting builds should matter more than just enduring bloated encounters.

And again I refer to Nioh where the fights four times as drawn out as in PoE 2 currently, yet you seem to be fine with them. If the difficulty doesn't seem like its enough to you right now, then GGG solution is obvious: They should make PoE 2 even MORE difficult.

"

Finally, the personal attack about how I played Nioh or Elden Ring is laughable and irrelevant. Whether I soloed bosses or played co-op has no bearing on the argument. Those games reward preparation and mastery.

You contradicted yourself. Summoning for help is not mastering the game. Therefore its very relevant.

"

The point remains: PoE2 needs to preserve what made PoE1 great—freedom, creativity, and meaningful preparation. Dismissing valid criticism as “casualization” just avoids addressing the real problems.

What meaningful preparation? 99% of the time you zoomed across a map in less than 1 minute and every map boss was a loot pinata that exploded in fraction of a second. What preparation is that exactly?

Meaningful preparation in PoE 2 was me last night taking a lower tier Waypoint to Mother of Filth map boss because I didn't have the confidence to fight her in a high tier juiced map. I also changed my charms to counter Poison and Chaos damage to make sure she doesn't poison me to death. The boss is sufficiently dangerous that I had to prepare. In PoE 1 scenario I would just kill the boss in less than a second, whoops that was a boss? Riveting. Great preparation indeed.

"

1453R#7804 wrote:

Your proposed "Solutions" would produce a game that is utterly and completely useless and unplayable for anyone and everyone who isn't a PoE1 Supervet.

PoE1 Supervets, by definition, are ultra-invested In PoE1 and have the least incentive of any gamer out there to support or play PoE2, since their game already exists and they have 10k+ hours into it.

You are arguing to seniority - arguing the idea that anyone who isn't already super heavily invested in PoE1 has no right to invest in PoE2, nor do they have any reason to.

Creating a second game that tries to appeal ONLY to existing PoE1 Supervets while completely and utterly ignoring the many, myriad, and multitudinous problems that the original game had in appealing to anyone outside its incredibly narrow niche would result in a failed game that appeals to no one. Since POE1 Supervets will never want to play this new game. After all, why would they? They already have a game that caters exclusively to their every whim and has done so for the last six or seven years, to the specific exclusion of everyone else.

The definition of insanity is performing the same action and expecting a different result, they say. Does that not mean that making the exact same game they've already made and turning POE2 into a complete genetic dupliclone of PoE1 and then expecting it to reach a much broader, wider, and more profitable audience is, in fact...insanity?

Your argument is based on the flawed idea that veterans want PoE2 to be a carbon copy of PoE1. That’s not the case. What we want is for PoE2 to evolve while respecting the core systems that made PoE1 successful. The problem isn’t that it’s “different”—it’s that the changes being made often feel tedious rather than meaningful. Slower pacing and bloated fights don’t add depth; they take away from the challenge by replacing creativity with endurance.

The idea that veterans wouldn’t play PoE2 because “their game already exists” is absurd. Veterans have invested in this franchise for years because we care about its success. As I’ve already mentioned, ignoring that core audience to appeal to new players is a mistake. Games like Diablo 4 have already shown what happens when a game alienates its dedicated community to chase broader appeal: it loses both.

You also claim PoE1 is a “narrow niche,” but that’s simply wrong. PoE1’s depth and creativity drew in players who wanted more from their ARPGs, which is why it’s one of the most successful games in the genre. PoE2 should build on that success rather than discard it. Sacrificing the game’s unique strengths to cater to casual or transient players risks creating something that appeals to no one long-term.

To your final point about insanity: the real insanity would be ignoring what made PoE1 thrive for over a decade. PoE2 doesn’t need to recreate PoE1—it needs to evolve its systems while maintaining what made it great. Ignoring its legacy for the sake of being “different” is exactly how a sequel fails.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

Now you're just being dishonest about Nioh, where combat is also quite repetitive because you fight a lot of the same monsters the exact same way many times in multiple NG+ modes where they just get "Rare monster" stats to make them tougher. Also the preparation aspect is false, as there are many objectively best charm buffs in that game that you put on shortly before the boss and even then it takes quite a while to beat the boss. There is no boss one-shotting in Nioh like there is in PoE 1, the bosses in that game are not loot pinatas.

This argument completely misses the point. Nioh’s combat is engaging because it rewards precision, mastery of mechanics, and strategic preparation—whether you optimize your gear or adapt your playstyle. It’s true that gear changes aren’t always required for every fight, but the game gives players the tools to adapt when necessary. The pacing in Nioh works because it’s tied to meaningful challenges, not artificially extended through bloated enemy health pools.

PoE2 doesn’t replicate this dynamic. Slower fights in PoE2 don’t feel challenging—they feel like endurance tests. There’s a big difference between mechanically engaging combat and encounters that drag due to inflated stats. Comparing PoE2’s pacing to Nioh ignores that Nioh rewards skill, while PoE2 often tests patience.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

It is all about instant gratification. Lets say GGG listens to you and makes the campaign optional. You get 65 levels and portal to endgame right from the starting beach, cool! Now the next thing you're going to do is to complain about lower tier Waypoints because they seem like a waste of time compared to mid-tier, after all only the late endgame matters right?

This is a classic slippery slope fallacy. No one is asking for a “portal to the endgame.” As stated earlier, the campaign in a seasonal ARPG is a stepping stone to the core gameplay loop: the endgame. Dragging out the campaign doesn’t make it more engaging—it makes it more exhausting, especially when players have to repeat it every few months. Improving the campaign with variety or optional challenges is a productive suggestion, but pretending that wanting a better-paced campaign equals “instant gratification” is disingenuous.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

And again I refer to Nioh where the fights four times as drawn out as in PoE 2 currently, yet you seem to be fine with them. If the difficulty doesn't seem like its enough to you right now, then GGG solution is obvious: They should make PoE 2 even MORE difficult.

Again, this comparison fails because Nioh’s difficulty isn’t about how long fights take—it’s about how skillfully you execute mechanics. Long fights in Nioh remain engaging because every moment requires focus and precision. In PoE2, the same experience isn’t mirrored. Lengthy encounters are often a result of bloated health pools, not improved mechanics. More difficulty in PoE2 doesn’t mean more health or slower combat—it means creating challenges that reward preparation, decision-making, and mastery.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

You contradicted yourself. Summoning for help is not mastering the game. Therefore its very relevant.

This is an irrelevant personal jab rather than an argument. Whether I soloed bosses or played co-op in Nioh has no bearing on the points being discussed. The mechanics and preparation in those games remain rewarding regardless of playstyle. This comment is just an attempt to discredit me without addressing the actual criticisms of PoE2.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

What meaningful preparation? 99% of the time you zoomed across a map in less than 1 minute and every map boss was a loot pinata that exploded in fraction of a second. What preparation is that exactly?

Meaningful preparation in PoE1 wasn’t about map bosses—it was about endgame encounters like Maven, Sirus, or Uber bosses. Players adjusted their flasks, crafted gear, and optimized their builds to handle these challenges. The fact that you reduce PoE1 to “zooming maps” shows a lack of understanding of the game’s depth. PoE1’s systems rewarded creative planning, whether it was crafting gear, choosing jewels, or experimenting with builds.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

Meaningful preparation in PoE 2 was me last night taking a lower tier Waypoint to Mother of Filth map boss because I didn't have the confidence to fight her in a high tier juiced map. I also changed my charms to counter Poison and Chaos damage to make sure she doesn't poison me to death. The boss is sufficiently dangerous that I had to prepare. In PoE 1 scenario I would just kill the boss in less than a second, whoops that was a boss? Riveting. Great preparation indeed.

If preparation in PoE2 was reduced to swapping charms for a single boss, that’s hardly meaningful. PoE1 allowed players to prepare for encounters in far deeper ways, from gear optimization to resource management and flask setups. The fact that some / most map bosses in PoE1 were quick to kill doesn’t negate the extensive preparation players needed for true endgame content. And let’s not ignore that PoE2’s fights are often “sufficiently dangerous” only because of artificially inflated health pools, not because of better mechanics.

11 years of POE1.
The same into Diablo 1 and 2.

Done all Souls and souls-like games.

I've had times where I played 14 hours a day in my life, and others where I'm a casual with house, wife and kids.
I know all aspects of gaming. I get how it's hard to placate all of them.

But I wholeheartedly agree with the OP.

GGG dropped the ball on this game on so many things.
Melee is horrible.
Tried both titan warrior ascendancies and melee is just dead. Had to resort to totems with BOTH of them.

Ascendancies awful.
Worst POE1 game mechanics to pick. It's random, it favors a few distinct builds and punishes the rest.

Passive tree a big downgrade.
Not impactful at all. Once again, I struggled to get my warrior to 3k hp, and see immortal sorcerers with 15k energy shield in ranged gameplay. WTF.

Gems a big downgrade.
Limited supports cripples build diversity. UI bad, counterintuitive and annoying.

Crafting a big downgrade.
The main currency hardly drops, and you are incentivized to trade rather than craft. It is also random to a level it feels like flushing currency down the toilet.

Itemizations is bad.
You'd think loot drops was the most exciting thing in a new ARPG, but no, lets do "exilemart" -I was told to check every vendor for items ever level to succeed in the campaign. WOW! So much fun! Let me do more vendor scrolling please! Said no-one ever!

No unique drops disappointing.
I really looked forward to playing this for the first time, discovering cool uniques and build around them, like advertised.
Yeah, I don't get any uniques.

And end game. So disappointing.
They nailed bosses in this game, apart from some bad one shot mechanics. But largely a lot of fun. You'd think they would make bossed prevalent and easy to get by in endgame -but no, lets run gigantic maps with no bosses, and only one try at each boss.
In Elden Ring you could try a boss two hundred times in succession. Learn, adapt, go again. In POE2? Two hours of lost progress and 15% EXP gone.
Yeah, this is not a souls-like game at all.
Not in a good way, anyway.

And 20 hour campaigns? You'd better be able to make that into 5 hours when you start new leagues. Who the hell wants the slog that is act 1-3 over and over again. No thanks.

+1 bump

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

Your argument is based on the flawed idea that veterans want PoE2 to be a carbon copy of PoE1. That’s not the case. What we want is for PoE2 to evolve while respecting the core systems that made PoE1 successful. The problem isn’t that it’s “different”—it’s that the changes being made often feel tedious rather than meaningful. Slower pacing and bloated fights don’t add depth; they take away from the challenge by replacing creativity with endurance.

Yes this is should be the stance. GGG can make it as different as they want, but they need to be alot smarter about it. They want the gameplay to be slower? fair enough, they want the gameplay to be slower but the mobs to still be fast and the maps to be bigger? No something has gone wrong there.

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

This argument completely misses the point. Nioh’s combat is engaging because it rewards precision, mastery of mechanics, and strategic preparation—whether you optimize your gear or adapt your playstyle. It’s true that gear changes aren’t always required for every fight, but the game gives players the tools to adapt when necessary. The pacing in Nioh works because it’s tied to meaningful challenges, not artificially extended through bloated enemy health pools.

PoE2 doesn’t replicate this dynamic. Slower fights in PoE2 don’t feel challenging—they feel like endurance tests. There’s a big difference between mechanically engaging combat and encounters that drag due to inflated stats. Comparing PoE2’s pacing to Nioh ignores that Nioh rewards skill, while PoE2 often tests patience.

And again I'm calling your dishonesty here because bloated stats is EXACTLY what Nioh boss encounters are in endgame. Unless they have a Cursed mod on (Nioh's own Rare monster mods), then they are the same bossfight but take far longer. How far did you play in Nioh, or Nioh 2? If you didn't play it past the standard campaign, why did you include it on your list of authority over being good at challenging games?

"

This is a classic slippery slope fallacy. No one is asking for a “portal to the endgame.” As stated earlier, the campaign in a seasonal ARPG is a stepping stone to the core gameplay loop: the endgame. Dragging out the campaign doesn’t make it more engaging—it makes it more exhausting, especially when players have to repeat it every few months. Improving the campaign with variety or optional challenges is a productive suggestion, but pretending that wanting a better-paced campaign equals “instant gratification” is disingenuous.

Its not a fallacy. It happened in Blizzard games. It happened in WoW and it happened in Diablo 4. Now both of those games are ruined. Because Blizzard listened to players like you who simultaneously want a rollercoaster ride but then want to actually skip the ride. Campaign is an integral part for the game. If its too boring then obviously its too easy or needs more variation each month. Which they have started doing in PoE 1 by the way, by adding more secrets to find. They already announced they're going to do the same in PoE 2.

"

Again, this comparison fails because Nioh’s difficulty isn’t about how long fights take—it’s about how skillfully you execute mechanics. Long fights in Nioh remain engaging because every moment requires focus and precision. In PoE2, the same experience isn’t mirrored.

This is false. Have you tried playing Warrior? Using skills at the right time and releasing the button on Perfect Strike is exactly what bosses are about with that class. If PoE 2 wouldn't require mechanical precision, then we wouldn't have an army of people whining about the difficulty here right now.

"

This is an irrelevant personal jab rather than an argument. Whether I soloed bosses or played co-op in Nioh has no bearing on the points being discussed. The mechanics and preparation in those games remain rewarding regardless of playstyle. This comment is just an attempt to discredit me without addressing the actual criticisms of PoE2.

It is 1000% relevant, because it was YOU who appealed to authority of being "good" at challenging games. It is an objective fact that if you summoned someone else to fight the bosses for you, then you're simply not good at those games. I'm sorry but its true. The fact you don't even deny that you didn't summon for help suggests that you absolutely did skip the bossfights by summoning someone better at the game to beat them for you.

"

Meaningful preparation in PoE1 wasn’t about map bosses—it was about endgame encounters like Maven, Sirus, or Uber bosses. Players adjusted their flasks, crafted gear, and optimized their builds to handle these challenges.

And players are doing the exact same right now when preparing to fight Xesht and Arbiter. Especially now when you can lose so much progression if you fail. To say PoE 2 doesn't have the preparation you described is once again you just being dishonest. Lying gets you nowhere.

"

If preparation in PoE2 was reduced to swapping charms for a single boss, that’s hardly meaningful. PoE1 allowed players to prepare for encounters in far deeper ways, from gear optimization to resource management and flask setups. The fact that some / most map bosses in PoE1 were quick to kill doesn’t negate the extensive preparation players needed for true endgame content. And let’s not ignore that PoE2’s fights are often “sufficiently dangerous” only because of artificially inflated health pools, not because of better mechanics.

What extensive preparation exactly? Give an example of preparation in PoE 1 that is not happening in PoE 2 right now. Go ahead. Also I find it ironic that you think better mechanics are important for a boss fight while at the same time you think boss health pools should be so low that you can skip those mechanics.

I'm starting to suspect what you mean by "Preparation" is actually you making your build so OP that you delete endgame bosses in less than a second so you don't actually have to bother to learn their mechanics at all.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

And again I'm calling your dishonesty here because bloated stats is EXACTLY what Nioh boss encounters are in endgame. Unless they have a Cursed mod on (Nioh's own Rare monster mods), then they are the same bossfight but take far longer. How far did you play in Nioh, or Nioh 2? If you didn't play it past the standard campaign, why did you include it on your list of authority over being good at challenging games?

This is a flawed comparison. Yes, Nioh introduces tougher versions of bosses with higher health in NG+ modes, but the core difference lies in how the fights remain engaging. The mechanics stay dynamic, requiring precision and adaptability throughout. The longer fights in Nioh aren’t artificially slow—they demand focus and mastery. In PoE2, however, longer fights often feel tedious because they’re a result of bloated health pools rather than mechanically engaging combat.

Whether I completed Nioh or Nioh 2 past their standard campaigns is irrelevant because this discussion isn’t about my personal achievements—it’s about the systems in these games. Resorting to an argument about my credentials instead of addressing the actual points made is a diversion, not a rebuttal.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

Its not a fallacy. It happened in Blizzard games. It happened in WoW and it happened in Diablo 4. Now both of those games are ruined. Because Blizzard listened to players like you who simultaneously want a rollercoaster ride but then want to actually skip the ride.

This is a slippery slope fallacy. Wanting the campaign to be more engaging or better paced doesn’t mean asking to “skip the ride.” Campaigns in seasonal ARPGs aren’t the main draw—they’re the setup for the actual core gameplay, which is the endgame. Improving campaign pacing respects the fact that players will repeat it every few months, while unnecessarily dragging it out only leads to burnout.

Your comparison to Blizzard games like WoW and Diablo 4 is irrelevant. Those games failed because they abandoned their core audiences to chase broader appeal, not because they made campaigns optional or better-paced. Misrepresenting the argument doesn’t make your point valid.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

If PoE 2 wouldn't require mechanical precision, then we wouldn't have an army of people whining about the difficulty here right now.

The complaints aren’t about difficulty in principle; they’re about how it’s implemented. PoE2 often mistakes bloated health pools for challenge. Mechanical precision and decision-making are core to good difficulty design, but if a fight drags on unnecessarily because of inflated stats, it stops being engaging. Long doesn’t mean hard—it just means slow, and that’s the real issue people are addressing.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

It is 1000% relevant, because it was YOU who appealed to authority of being "good" at challenging games.

This is nothing more than an attempt to discredit the argument by attacking the person. My ability to solo or co-op in Nioh doesn’t change the fact that PoE2’s pacing issues stem from bloated mechanics rather than meaningful preparation or precision. Focus on addressing the criticism rather than trying to invalidate it with irrelevant personal attacks.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

What extensive preparation exactly? Give an example of preparation in PoE 1 that is not happening in PoE 2 right now. Go ahead.

Here’s an example: PoE1 allows players to prepare for challenging fights by crafting specific flasks, optimizing resistances, and tuning builds with jewels or gear that counter specific mechanics. These systems are dynamic and creative, letting players adapt in a variety of ways. In PoE2, preparation often feels reduced to basic tweaks, like swapping charms, which lacks the same depth. While PoE2 does allow for some preparation, the systems feel restrictive and oversimplified compared to the creativity PoE1 encouraged.

"

MEITTI#3999 wrote:

I'm starting to suspect what you mean by "Preparation" is actually you making your build so OP that you delete endgame bosses in less than a second so you don't actually have to bother to learn their mechanics at all.

This is a strawman argument. Wanting preparation to be meaningful doesn’t mean wanting to trivialize encounters. Many PoE1 players spent countless hours crafting builds specifically tailored to counter certain bosses, adjusting flasks, and gearing up strategically. That’s what meaningful preparation looks like—not skipping mechanics, but planning how to handle them effectively. If a build becomes powerful enough to kill a boss quickly, it’s usually a reward for extensive planning and effort, not an attempt to avoid challenge.


Your responses rely heavily on misrepresenting arguments, personal attacks, and irrelevant comparisons. PoE2 doesn’t need to replicate PoE1 exactly, but it also shouldn’t discard what made its systems engaging and rewarding in the first place. The feedback here is about improving pacing, depth, and meaningful challenge—not about skipping difficulty or trivializing the game. Addressing these points directly would be more constructive than deflecting with fallacies and assumptions.

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

Your argument is based on the flawed idea that veterans want PoE2 to be a carbon copy of PoE1. That’s not the case.

Flawed idea?

Friend, I've seen hundreds of threads now from people just like you demanding that literally every single change PoE2 made from PoE1 with the sole exception of graphical fidelity and animation fundamentals reverted back to a carbon copy of PoE1. I went over your original post twenty pages ago, and all your points boil down to "PoE1 did things this way, therefor this is the only correct way, and anyone who dislikes this way of doing things is a loser who won't support the game for the long haul."

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

What we want is for PoE2 to evolve while respecting the core systems that made PoE1 successful. The problem isn’t that it’s “different”—it’s that the changes being made often feel tedious rather than meaningful. Slower pacing and bloated fights don’t add depth; they take away from the challenge by replacing creativity with endurance.

Your idea of "core systems" is different from everyone else's as evinced by the fact that you're calling on everyone who hasn't beaten Ultra Uber Mega Pinnacle content in PoE1 to shut their faceholes and uninstall the game forever.

Has it occurred to you that Grinding Gear doesn't want people to do that? That maybe the new game is designed in such a way as to try and entice players who were turned off by PoE1's impossible impenetrability and vicious hostility into trying this new offering and finding themselves falling in love with the parts of PoE the first game no longer adequately serves?

I don't get to play new leagues. Not really. Oh, I can start a character and do the campaign, experience the basic introductory mechanics of a league, but I cannot participate in a new league 'properly' because in order to do that you need to be able to secure a thousand divines by the end of League Start Weekend and craft a build that can output over a billion Pinnacle DPS with EHP counts in the millions. And if you can't do that? Virtually all "endgame" content beyond basic mapping is permanently denied to you. You cannot access it, because that level of "build"craft is an absolute hard requirement.

How many new people do you think are going to reach this level of investment in a fifteen year old game so they can credibly give an opinion you won't cavalierly dismiss as being from a God Damned Tourist Noob(TM) and unworthy of the pixels it's taking up on the screen? Answer: significantly fewer than four percent, because that's the number of players who've earned the achievements for defeating the Eater of Worlds and the Searing Exarch in the current game. And remember - just being able to beat those two bosses is not even considered a thing. You have to be able to beat the Pinnacle versions of them, as well as Pinnacle maven, and you have to be able to do it in under ten seconds without actually being at the keyboard, or You Are Shit Forever and need to uninstall and join a convent to pray for forgiveness for your incurable suck.

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

The idea that veterans wouldn’t play PoE2 because “their game already exists” is absurd. Veterans have invested in this franchise for years because we care about its success. As I’ve already mentioned, ignoring that core audience to appeal to new players is a mistake. Games like Diablo 4 have already shown what happens when a game alienates its dedicated community to chase broader appeal: it loses both.

Counterpoint: Elden Ring "alienated its dedicated community" of Dark Souls folks to "chase broader appeal" by creating an open-world exploration-focused version of their game. They Changed The Formula in a huge way, that existing fans of the series hated and decried as a mistake that would sink the game forever.

Spoilers: Elden Ring did not sink.

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

You also claim PoE1 is a “narrow niche,” but that’s simply wrong. PoE1’s depth and creativity drew in players who wanted more from their ARPGs, which is why it’s one of the most successful games in the genre. PoE2 should build on that success rather than discard it. Sacrificing the game’s unique strengths to cater to casual or transient players risks creating something that appeals to no one long-term.

PoE1 has no 'depth'. Not anymore. What some refer to as 'depth' is merely different levels of failure. Creatively combining items, passives and skills to create interesting emergent effects and behaviors - designing a cool build - stopped being a thing anybody cared about in PoE1 more than five years ago. These days, the only thing ANYONE ever does in POE1 is look for ways to make BIGG NUMBAHS EVEN BIGGAH. Sheer absurd outlandish impossible scaling on scaling on scaling, multipliers on multipliers, double triple quadruple quintuple dipping, bigger bigger bigger more more MOAR. Nothing interesting ever happens. Nobody ever makes fun builds that actually feel interesting and meaningful to play. It's all Spell Vomit bullshit that produces eight hundred thousand spells a second, or finding some "novel" new way to scale Tornado Shot to the same eight hundred thousand projectiles a second, or whatever other boring-as-hell Supah Saiyan absurdity the flavor of the week is.

"

Kaukus1#7461 wrote:

To your final point about insanity: the real insanity would be ignoring what made PoE1 thrive for over a decade. PoE2 doesn’t need to recreate PoE1—it needs to evolve its systems while maintaining what made it great. Ignoring its legacy for the sake of being “different” is exactly how a sequel fails.

PoE survived. whether it thrived is up for debate. It persisted within its niche, but it was, and is, never going to grow much further. It'll never do better than picking up a few percentage points here and there because every living human being today who can play it is already playing it.

Trapping the new game inside the festering, rotting cancerous carcass of the old one does nothing save ensure that the new game will choke and die, and never be allowed to become what it might otherwise have been.

agree with everything and....

please remove the design to make lose time, many design decisions in the campaign are there just to make lose time, remove that