SSF: Only for the Elite? >:)

I've noticed you can get FOMO if:

1. you watch streamers
2. you know how to use the trade website
3. you join a party and your cool build looks like uncool compared to the zoomer, you're walking through his monsters corpses and stroking his ego every step

I've been on both sides for 3. I had a temporalis BM in trade and nobody wants you in their party. Equally I was trying a new build and nothing ruins the fun like a stat stacker blowing the map up.

SSF immunizes you to all this.

HC SSF

I played SC (with trading) up to 89, than HC to 88 x2, finally HC SSF (currently arround 81)

SC took too much time in trading, going out of a map cuz someone offers a trade feels like cutting the game fun. Also it makes anything so much simpler. Everything become a lot faster boring, specially since most builds do aoe dmg.
Even if you just buy higher lvl gems and not better gear, you can still zoom through the campagin / first maps.

By going on SSF; collectiong the right stats on your gear becomes also a great challenge, to get your @res and chaos res up, also get your +skill lvl on it and the right defense, every fitting puzzle feels like a mirror drop!
If you can buy it, it is zero emotional, like cheating the system.

Going on HC SSF makes it even more emotional, even just fighting the first time vs some bosses in the campaign, you can hear your heartbeat.

Later in maps, like someone already mentioned, you try to minimalize the risks, as you put too much effort/time into every char.
On the other hand, you pick some risks here and there, as it simply makes fun.
That`s how I lose my first lvl 88 HC by fighting against T19 Rathbreaker. RIP.

I think, going SSF would be a great journey for nearly everybody, who accept to make slower progress (or invest much more time). The new update will make it even more enjoyable at all.
HC is for sure not for everybody, those who try out will find out for sure :)

I usually play self-imposed semi-SSF on trade (use alva for crafting mats, dont buy gear)

SSF is definitely the slow-track for playing and if you're comparing your progress to other players using trade it can feel like falling behind. But ignoring that aspect, finding gear is just way more satisfying than farming things to liquidate into divs and purchase gear.

SSF I feel like im ironman stuck in a cave trying to make shit work with rocks and chewing gum. In trade i feel like im at a car dealership taking floor models for a test drive.

mat_24#4508

Direfell#7544

thanks for amazing insights!

looks like iam gonna dive into SSF (not hc ssf yet) with 0.2

Cheers

I like SSF because it makes finding or crafting gear very satisfying.

You need to have a pretty good knowledge of building your character and crafting because it is harder. But ultimately the game is not that hard until you get to pinnacle bosses.

The only downside is playing with friends. I have several friends that I really have a blast playing with a couple of times a month in person. We basically play self imposed self-find.

Now hardcore is too much for me. I find it too stressful. After a boss fight my heart is beating, I am sweating, I am drained. And when I die, I am all messed up especially if it is a buggy or cheap death that was practically unavoidable. I can see the appeal for some people but it is not for me.

It makes finding loot more exciting, and trades is just too strong and annoying to constantly do, like going on a trade site and dealing with people.

It's just more fun for me, unfortunately the game is made with trades in mine so it's consider "hard mode" when it should be the normal mode, and trades should be the baby mode.

I just don't like playing baby mode in my games.

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arkanie#2558 wrote:

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arandan#3174 wrote:

The problem with trade is that - if properly taken advantage of - it trivializes the game.

It also puts you on a hamster wheel of chasing FOMO, because if you actually do want to engage in it, you either do what is most profitable, or you stay behind the curve as far as the market is concerned.
This pertains to everything - from mapping strategies to the builds themselves.

If you wish to play the game the way you _actually_ want to, then SSF is the answer. You decide what to build, what to pick up off the ground and what areas of the game to focus on.

In trade that choice is just an illusion and whilst you can force yourself to resist the temptations of FOMO, one has to ask why even play that mode then?

I can't say for sure what you mean by FOMO, but I think you're referring to the inevitable pull that shapes our gameplay over time. Like, I was happily rocking my Galvanic Xbow for ages, doing my own thing… and then, at some point, I just had to switch to HoWA. It just happens, right? Are you talking about that kind of inevitability when playing outside of SSF? 😊

'FOMO' translates to 'fear of missing out', it is a psychological 'condition'. It 'forces' people into doing things they literally do not enjoy simply because they are considered to be more profitable / enjoyable.

It dictates what builds are strong for clearing/insta gibbing bosses etc., since in an economy everything boils down to profit margins.

The game becomes a second job for most if they want to remain 'competitive' in a market scenario, and/or relegates the rest to slowly grinding 'pocket change' for certain items they are told they need in order to enable a build that will get them into earning big (it won't, you need far more knowledge in order to achieve that).

I play 'soft-SSF'... so I am able to exchange stuff between my chars.

I think trading is a garbage concept because it takes away the aspect of finding better gear - which is important for an ARPG. Trading makes it so, that you can just buy your ultimate character - at this point you have finished the game and it becomes pointless to play any further. Its like cheating... can be fun, but gets boring quickly.

On the other hand: wading through piles of trash items, to find (or 'craft') some kind of a sidegrade is not very encouraging either. I hope with 0.2 they do some adjustments in this regard.

I only scare from 1 thing if I play SSF:

ITEMS...

trade is realy helping to fill the gap / unstuck on certain dificulty

BUT WHAT IF I CANT CRAFT PROPERLY OR REMAIN UNLUCKY

thats it.

i hate current trade system. i want to avoid it but i scare from SSF for that reason.

i dont expect to skip dificulties like we can do with trade but i really scare to stuck on somewhere at SSF

(edit: iam rookie, just begin poe 2 with EA)

i play trade league to test stuff then i go HCSSF where the fun is :D