Wtf are these decisions? PoE 2 rant

Man this feels awful, I was really hyped when they announced that gems didn't need to go into the sockets of the items anymore, because I really thought their plan was to let me enjoy killing monsters/looting/cooking a build instead of doing chores. I thought it was a shift in philosophy from PoE 1 and I really liked that (I have dabbled in PoE 1 over the years but never quite enjoyed it, too much stuff annoyed me about it even if underneath there was an amazing game...). It was a game for a hardcore audience and I understood that. But with the announcement of PoE 2, and considering they were planning to have 2 games, I thought they were planning of making a game catered to people like me that didn't want to invest too much.

However, I was very wrong with my thought process. PoE 2 I feel wastes so much of my time that I won't be playing launch and future leagues. And I love the feel of the game, but there's so much bullshit that I can't take... It just isn't for me, for the following reasons:

1. Trading is archaic: I don't care about friction and whatever the fuck the reasoning behind it is. It's awful to go to a website, scroll through it, set up weighted sums and whatnot, whispering people, depending on the value of the item they are likely to not answer, you lose so much time, and the seller does too, and for what? So many games have better systems INTEGRATED into their games, I don't care if it creates problems that's on the developers to solve. I only care about my experience. And if I'm making a character on the trade league, It'd be nice to be able to trade without wasting time.

2. Loot filters & Id scrolls: Why is this not in the game? Last Epoch did it and it was amazing. Also why are the items unidentified? If they were identified on drop and I could setup a loot filter ingame with the affixes I'm looking for, I'd be way more inclined to pick items from the monsters I kill (which is what I play ARPGs for - killing and looting).

3. Movement speed: It's way too slow, and the maps are way too big. And also you got Blink and Temporalis into the game so congratulations I guess, now there's an even bigger gap between players that can afford a 300+ div item and those who cannot.

4. Map objectives: Backtracking is insanely bad when coupled with the low movement speed and the size of most maps.

5. Breach splinters: I have to pick 300 of these one by one for my breachstone. Engaging gameplay for sure.

6. Juicing maps is insanely boring: I can get the maps giga juiced with my atlas tree but for that I need to pick the shittiest nodes, slap a distill on them so atleast I'm not completely wasting my time, do the useless towers with the shitty delirium effect on them too, because if not well that was a waste of 2 minutes to do that tower. AND REPEAT THE PROCESS FOR THE NEXT TOWER, AND THE NEXT ONE. Then after I get 5 or 6 towers picking the worst nodes to get to them, I can finally do my juiced maps and enjoy looting monsters in my ARPG game.

7. Penalty for death: 10% exp, loss of the node, and likely having to run it again (and waste your time because now it's useless) to get to another juiced node you might miss otherwise.

8. Who thought the endgame mechanics atlas trees were a good idea? I have 292 hours played right now. I have never seen an invitation (had to buy two just to get 4 points in the tree even though my character was more than capable of doing the King in the Mists). I had managed to get around 450 or 500 splinters, and had to buy the rest to get 8 points in breach. I have done around 15 lvl 79+ logbooks and never gotten the boss, so still at 0/8 in expedition. I managed to farm a simulacrum and I failed it, so 0/8). I killed the arbiter a couple of times and could probably go easily for more but going for citadels means I'm not juicing maps and then my drops become really mediocre. I feel like 200 hours (which is what I put into this character) should have given me plenty of chances to face the bosses but if I wasn't playing trade league, I'd probably have 4/8 breach, 4/8 arbiter, 0/8 expedition, 0/8 simulacrum and 0/8 ritual, and that is with around 150-160 hours in maps... This means if a league is around 3 months, and I play two hours a day, I probably wouldn't even be able to face a pinnacle boss +4 and wouldn't even get to see the other pinnacle bosses, despite my build being able to beat them, just because the game won't give me the drop required to access them, and so I can't use the build I cooked and see how it performs against the best and coolest fights in the game during a league's lifespan. It theoretically becomes easier when you get some points into breach, 4 points into ritual, 4 into expedition/delirium, etc. but for those you need to actually find/grind the items required to access the bosses and defeat them, it just feels terrible all around.

9. Crafting: It just feels terrible, like absolutely terrible, with the most interesting and powerful items being gated behind absurdly high prices for the average player, so the rest of the population is stuck with utterly trash systems reliant on RNG.

10. Oh and btw loot during campaign is AWFUL. You don't have nearly enough orbs to make nice items, the monsters drop jackshit, the bosses and rares usually drop straight dumpsterfire too. My actual best items have been from VENDORS in the fucking town? In an ARPG? This feels so bad and not exciting at all, just boring browsing the shop after every level up and gambling whenever I'm able to.

So yeah, I really enjoyed the time I spent in the game, and it was a lot, almost 300 hours in, I got my money's worth and then some, for sure. But man, it for sure makes me mad that GGG had the perfect opportunity to keep PoE 1 for the more hardcore players that really wanted to put the hours in, and PoE 2 to capture people like me, but they failed, atleast with the second one.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to vent before uninstalling it. I really wanted to play this game for the next ten years but it baffles me I feel like the dev actually hates me having time for other stuff.

EDIT: The bosses were amazing, the people that designed them deserve all the praise. Truly the best part of the game.

They have lost their way likely due to tencent involvement and changing priorities.

Map tab? No. A stash tab sale this weekend.

Qol that was already in Poe 1. No it's more tedious now because you spending more time in game doing one thing means longer time to reach a goal before you hang it up until the next reset or patch.

Money is important for any company to function, but there was always the sense this was a game made by gamers for gamers.


It may seem harsh to some, but to me it seems GGG has lost their way and are at a crossroads. Will it become Blizzard in time? Do you think that to them is a good thing or a bad thing now? The answer is something worth considering with regard to this experience

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FreeToBeMe#3538 wrote:

you spending more time in game doing one thing means longer time to reach a goal before you hang it up until the next reset or patch.

It really feels like this game drags forever man... I never actually got to the endgame of PoE 1 so maybe it was also similar, I can't talk about that, but I certainly expected it to be a smoother experience in PoE 2, not braindead or anything, just QOL stuff that let's me spend more time killing, looting, crafting and making my build, and less time clicking and backtracking and doing content that I don't care about. Feelsbad I really wanted to experience all the pinnacle bosses at max difficulty with my selfmade build, but only was able to beat Xesht +4 before burning out.

Thanks for understanding it! Also what you said about map tabs, I don't know how much time I've lost organizing my tabs for the maps. It's these things that I might not have noticed when I was in my twenties but now that I got less time to fuck around, I really started to hate.

Your opinion is valid and my opinion is valid. TBH, I enjoy all the aspect you mention in PoE2. I like the meandering nature of the end game. I like the finality of crafting. I like the risk management that comes with death penalty. I make my own loot filter. I don't juice maps, and I just enjoy maps for how they are. These are all fun for me in SSF, and I have a char at lvl 92.

Maybe it's just not the game for you, and that's okay. Maybe LE is a better game for you. I like Last Epoch, too.

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ac429#4687 wrote:

Your opinion is valid and my opinion is valid. TBH, I enjoy all the aspect you mention in PoE2. I like the meandering nature of the end game. I like the finality of crafting. I like the risk management that comes with death penalty. I make my own loot filter. I don't juice maps, and I just enjoy maps for how they are. These are all fun for me in SSF, and I have a char at lvl 92.

Maybe it's just not the game for you, and that's okay. Maybe LE is a better game for you. I like Last Epoch, too.

+1

there are things i dont like about poe2 too. but i wont paint poe2 in such a negative light.

its EA afterall

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ac429#4687 wrote:

Your opinion is valid and my opinion is valid. TBH, I enjoy all the aspect you mention in PoE2. I like the meandering nature of the end game. I like the finality of crafting. I like the risk management that comes with death penalty. I make my own loot filter. I don't juice maps, and I just enjoy maps for how they are. These are all fun for me in SSF, and I have a char at lvl 92.

Maybe it's just not the game for you, and that's okay. Maybe LE is a better game for you. I like Last Epoch, too.

Yeah, honestly you're completely right. I think my disappointment comes from my own expectations and isn't an inherent fault of the game. Like I said, since PoE 1 already appeals to gamers like you, I kind of expected PoE 2 to take a different route, and when I realised the game's philosophy didn't change, my hopes kind of shattered. But that's definitely on me.

I just hoped it would be different and I'd be able to play this game with my friends. At least we got MH Wilds coming out so that's something.

I'm really happy that there are people like you enjoying these mechanics, it feels magical to find a game that just clicks and hope it keeps doing that for you! I kind of regret being shortsighted and egoistic in my initial rant.

426 hours played.

0 invites

18 Logbooks. 1 had boss.

2 breachstones. garbage drops.

Best item found in game so far..... Headhunter from vendor.

50+ Divines found.

It's a grind fest with random 1 shots and garbage ass loot drops.

I hate the gem seyup and how you can only use a gem 1 time on your character.

From what I've seen in Early access, the key to success is to exploit, RMT, or be a big streamer. They all get out ahead and get rich until the next patch which puts the regular players behind and keeps the rich getting richer.

Honestly this feels like a DLC of POE 1 with new content and massive nerfs.
Unlike POE 1 there are only a few viable builds. Gone are the days of originality.

My only problem right now is that GGG can't decide what identity to give to POE 2.

In their fear to not alienate POE 1 players they made POE 2 just like POE 1 but worse. It has its good parts, but endgame is a bad version of POE 1. And ultimately they still managed to piss off many POE 1 players.

I just wish they took a hard stance and make a different game based on the same core principles. Scrap the old, and add new stuff, even if it goes farther away from POE 1; that should have been the whole point.

As an early access title, it delivers enough to keep you entertained for 50-100 hours; more than that and it just becomes painful. If by the time of release POE 2 isn't distinct from POE 1 they have failed.

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lupasvasile#5385 wrote:

My only problem right now is that GGG can't decide what identity to give to POE 2.

In their fear to not alienate POE 1 players they made POE 2 just like POE 1 but worse. It has its good parts, but endgame is a bad version of POE 1. And ultimately they still managed to piss off many POE 1 players.

I just wish they took a hard stance and make a different game based on the same core principles. Scrap the old, and add new stuff, even if it goes farther away from POE 1; that should have been the whole point.

As an early access title, it delivers enough to keep you entertained for 50-100 hours; more than that and it just becomes painful. If by the time of release POE 2 isn't distinct from POE 1 they have failed.

Yeah... that was exactly my impression, that they could have two very different communities in each game, with PoE 2 being able to attract a different kind of public, I really hope they do that and we all are able to enjoy PoE, and both games thrive... Let's hope for the best!!

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infernaloide#6103 wrote:

"

lupasvasile#5385 wrote:

My only problem right now is that GGG can't decide what identity to give to POE 2.

In their fear to not alienate POE 1 players they made POE 2 just like POE 1 but worse. It has its good parts, but endgame is a bad version of POE 1. And ultimately they still managed to piss off many POE 1 players.

I just wish they took a hard stance and make a different game based on the same core principles. Scrap the old, and add new stuff, even if it goes farther away from POE 1; that should have been the whole point.

As an early access title, it delivers enough to keep you entertained for 50-100 hours; more than that and it just becomes painful. If by the time of release POE 2 isn't distinct from POE 1 they have failed.

Yeah... that was exactly my impression, that they could have two very different communities in each game, with PoE 2 being able to attrack a different kind of public, I really hope they do that and we all are able to enjoy PoE, and both games thrive... Let's hope for the best!!

Yeah, I think so, too! I was actually apprehensive before PoE2 came out. I thought I wouldn't enjoy PoE2, because of how bossing focused it was advertised to be, and I didn't enjoy bossing in PoE1. But I was pleasantly surprised by PoE2, and now I can't put it down.

I feel bad for anyone who is not enjoying either of the games. There's so much to do, being miserable is a sign of being unable to find something to enjoy, rather than there being nothing to enjoy.