Why POE2’s Direction Is Worrying for Veterans and Newcomers Alike
" I have that stat maxed out. I agree with your points on the PoE1 systems tbh. I think they are ridiculous and a barrier to entry into the game and don’t add very much fun in a way that couldn’t be done in a much simpler more approachable manner. That said, I think PoE2 is pretty terrible right now once you get to maps and 3rd ascendancy you realize you’re just being punished by some sadistic game designers who seem to be designing the game for masochists. If there were improvements to speak of over the old PoE1 systems that would be one thing, but as it stands now crafting is literally burning currency, trading is worse than ever and the absence of an AH even more unforgivable, and the balancing and general speed/style of the gameplay are exactly the same as endgame poe1 but with far worse level design, sustain and astoundingly dispiriting punishments for failures often beyond the players control. Also I like the idea of a souls like arpg but this is a very poor implementation of one. It seems like a good one at first when you have very bad gear, because a souls like game requires that gear play a minimal role compared to skill. However, the game quickly becomes 99% defined by gear and level and 1% by skill. That’s normal for this genre but it certainly isn’t what they tried to pull off, I wager, since it’s the same as poe1. To pull off a real souls like arpg you need to make respeccing and rerolling new classes basically the point of the game and this game definitely does its best to actively discourage both of those. It probably just doesn’t work or requires a complete rework of the game philosophy and itemization, but I applaud them for trying. Last edited by maquino85#7657 on Dec 23, 2024, 2:23:23 PM
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" Previous examples of the genre were, yes. Current examples are not. The most successful example of the "ARPG" genre of all time is not Path of Exile. It is not even Diablo. It is the Borderlands series, which takes all of the "looter" fundamentals of the ARPG genre and mates it to an FPS combat engine. Borderlands is one of the best-selling game series of all time, with explosive popularity that effortlessly dwarfs any Diablesque ARPG. You can argue that "looter shooters" are different from isometric Diablesque ARPGs, sure. I can further argue whether the distinction is meaningful. Both are loot-centric "action" games with a focus on buildcraft and improving your character power through the acquisition of Better Stuff. Borderlands simply made playing the game itself fun, as opposed to the Diablesque formula of making "Playing The Game", moment to moment, be a boring and annoying tax you have to pay for the dopamine hit of Finding Cool Stuff. Path 2 is attempting to do much the same, by combining the essentials of strong action games with a core of "looter" gear progression to create something new. Frankly, most of the players I know and talk to on the regular are of the opinion Grinding Gear didn't go far enough - loot is too strong at the moment compared to player capability, numbers are overtuned. Damage, both incoming and outgoing, in the endgame is too high. Both players and monsters are getting one-tapped too easily, and it should change. " The overwhelming majority of Boomer Zoomer players in PoE1 copy other players' builds. Almost none of them attempt to create their own build from scratch. Even many of the people who write build guides are doing so after iterating on a build they tried from someone else. " Why would I? Build guides are "game knowledge." Copying a build guide proves nothing save that you know the methods of automagically generating the couple thousand divines you need to afford the stuff the guide writer tells you you need in order to clear endgame. And yet, clear endgame they do. All the while crowing about their superior game knowledge. " How is learning to read the ebb and flow of combat, learning the abilities and mechanics of enemies, and learning how to combine skills effectively less "artificial" than simply making the content numerically impossible to access or clear without requiring the player to use numerous third-party tools to analyze items and find the strongest affixes? The only "knowledge" check in Path the First is "do you know how to use Path of Building well enough to make a build that hits the arbitrary numerical breakpoints the game requires?" and "do you know how to generate enough currency quickly enough to assemble that build in the game, rather than just in PoB?" She/Her
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" Reminder, this is why : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcd9BfVw7hQ (Path of Exile 2 Announcement) You can watch everything, or start specifically at 5:05 |
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" I completely understand the technical reasons why it eventually became a completely separate game, but I still wish they had somehow figured out a way to go with the original idea announced in this video (ExileCon 2019): - 1 game - 2 campaigns - double the ascendancies - 1 endgame |
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" Agree, this basically echoes my previous statement. I think that if they want this to be a skills game not a find the best way to farm divs and buy a set of gear to insta screen clear game they need to kind of restart itemization and skills from scratch though because if that’s what they were aiming for they completely missed the mark The endgame is just a worse version of poe1’s endgame. The point is to smash maps at increasingly faster speeds to farm currency at increasingly higher div/hr to buy increasing better gear to smash maps at increasingly faster speeds… that doesn’t fit a skills / soul like game at all. The endgame should be increasingly harder bosses with possibly better drops but with limited power creep or more flair/prestige type rewards and a much stronger bias towards hanging out in towns to show off your elite shit like old school mmorpgs In a mmo, gear is important but the difference between a poorly geared max level and a well geared max level character isn’t like a billion dps. The rewards for end game raiding are honestly equally or more about showing off than increasing your character power Last edited by maquino85#7657 on Dec 23, 2024, 2:42:34 PM
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" Well they could, but chose a different path after having hesitated quite a long time to be honnest. In principle, what they try to do makes sense : - New game gives the opportunity for some core changes. - Hard reset is good on the creative aspect, more room for future updates - Hard reset is good on the code aspect, you can justify the costs starting from 0. - You eliminate the risk of your current mechanics exploding when a new one is implemented. - Hard reset is good because game is less scary to new ppl. Now, the pressure is about delivering, let them cook. Also having to deal with clueless ppl (new and old alike) about the past and the future is a very little price to pay considering the possible benefits. Wait and see :) EDIT : For example, this guy below is a good illustration, regarding those clueless ppl ^^ Last edited by rob_korn#1745 on Dec 23, 2024, 3:02:29 PM
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" I can see the desire, yeah. But I also look at it as they were absolutely right - after a certain point they would have been pulling an Overwatch and erasing a game people love and are invested in so they can replace it with a new game those people might hate. Leaving POE1 in place and intact was the best possible choice once they realized they couldn't do any of what they wanted to do without gutting the original game. Like, just imagine how much more horrible the reaction to POE2 would've been if the original game had been patched into PoE2's current state. Yeesh. She/Her
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might have already been said in the previous pages:
About Difficulty: it IS more difficult because of the "artificial" ways bosses and big enemies have been buffed, albeit in one very simple way. It tests your physical abilities, your reflexes, in ways that PoE 1 just simply didn't. While this may not be the OP's "version" of difficulty, it is most certainly a type of difficulty found in games like this one. It is also the difficulty layer I hate the most....I have always built tankier characters in PoE 1 because my reflexes are crap, my system can sometimes stutter, and I rarely play with a dedicated gaming mouse. My builds were designed to make up for my lack of dexterity. In PoE 2, I am utterly incapable of doing that at the moment. Learning the boss mechanics isn't the problem: everything is clear and telegraphed. But when I have to dodge the 1hko 20+ times a fight, I am more likely than not going to mis-time something. Instant death, and then restart. This is frustrating and has already on more than one occasion caused me to shut the entire game off for an extended time, until it finally caused me to give up on the game entirely. But I cannot deny it absolutely IS more difficult to play because of this. Build creation and itemization....that is way way way way easier. Too easy. But I know that will change with development and the release of more and more skills. Starting anew....with PoE 2
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" Honestly, the more you write, the clearer it becomes that you’re speaking in hypotheticals without a solid grasp of what made PoE1 successful or what PoE2 is actually lacking. Facts, not baseless analogies, would help your argument. Right now, it’s all noise. |
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" Yeah, it's exactly the same for me. |
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