Skill Gems Feedback

I think the new skill gem system has just created a massive amount of item bloat.

Is there a reason support gems are even a thing?
I don't get why they even exist. They're only relevant for your first playthrough and then they just turn into clutter for your stash.

It'd be much cleaner if uncut support gems/supports weren't actually physical items, just things you assigned in the gem window.

There is nothing interesting to do with support gems if you've made some you don't want to use anymore. You can't reforge them, you can't upgrade them, you just use them and then they turn into clutter. They sell for garbage.

I just don't think having actual items for support gems/uncut support gems adds anything to the game. They're just inventory/stash bloat. They could just be things you select in the interface and never have to actually manage.

Even the uncut skill gems are just becoming a huge amount of bloat.
I am literally not picking them up / selling them for 25 gold once I realize my inventory/stash is full of them.

Agreed on the support gems. It feels like they are physical items only to satisfy some limitation in the game's code. If they find some way to make itemized supports actually interesting in terms of gameplay or character progression, then sure. Right now, they are as you say, just stash bloat. I honestly don't even think they need to be some additional vector for scaling your character. I always thought getting an extra 20% inc damage from quality on most support gems in poe1 was unnecessary filler.

POE1 (and now 2) seems to be designed around filling your stash tabs with items to create the issue of needing to buy more stash tabs. It's a free game and I get it they have to sell stash tabs... but uncut gems exist for the same reason they cannot stack... to fill your stash tabs.