Is the primary purpose of PoE supposed to be a "slot machine"?
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WoW added a 'rotation assist' - the game literally plays for you. Before that many players were using 1 button macros/addons.
The vast majority of titles that put heavy focus on loot are played primarily for that, with some gameplay on the side. Obviously there are outliers (like m+ push grps in wow that get nothing for their effort in terms of loot), but that is beside the point and can be said about pretty much anything, poe1/2 included. Poe2 objectively puts much more focus on gameplay than poe1 ever did; probably as much as is feasible in a game of this type, the only question to be asked is whether things get worse, not better. |
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"Is the primary purpose of PoE supposed to be a slot machine." I hope not. I only play the game for its gameplay and the more it turns into a slot machine at the expense of engaging combat gameplay, the less fun I'll have.
Last edited by Meril#8494 on Aug 29, 2025, 6:00:09 AM
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" i will be honest with you. poe2 feels like a giant casino game with arpg elements. any form of rng will keep the game alive longer. if the game becomes deterministic, the game will die very fast. 34pre98qua
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To OP,
IMO, I feel the problem that leads to this is totally another reason. For example, The balance between "meaningful combat" and "kill or be killed" is lost somewhere between act 2-3. At first, you feel like you are really playing (especially in act 1), the mobs placement is reasonable, the amount of mobs per screen is manegable, you can dodge, you can comfortably hit a mob till its dead even if your DPS is low, you can actually dodge boss mechanics because you can see where they are going and so on. Upon entering maps/interludes (one can argue) but its maps in general, POE2 changes totally to a different game. From meaningful combat, actual dodging, thinking where to go next, managing the mobs you are fightning, CCing one mob and killing the other, etc, now you are facing the following: 1- Hundreds of mobs coming at you with the speed of light each with 6 or 7 modifiers. 2- Each of these hundred mobs have a chance to one shot you no matter what your defenses are. 3- You lost your ability to dodge to manage the fight as you will 99% probably roll into another 100 mobs coming from your flank. Now you are stuck with no way out. 4- The bosses now have one shots that cover half the screen with other mechanics popping all over the place. 5- You are one shot over and over again. 6- Now you are also losing progress: EXP, Maps, Tablets, Exalts etc. So what do you think a player will do now that his progress is at stake? He will seek alternative methods to overcome this 100 meter artificial barrier which was suddenly placed infront of him where as before he was enjoying the game and progressing normally and reasonably? Now the alternative ways he will seek is what the game design forced him to do. Seek overpowered builds to 1 shot those packs of mobs before they 1 shot him Seek 1 button builds to delete bosses before they become invulnerable and do their 1 shot mechanics also. And these builds need currency. And the currency will lose its value over time due to inflation. So he wants to get this currency faster. This will allow him to build his 1 button builds before he can no longer afford it. So it becomes a race against time. And this is the primary issue of PoE2. The sudden loss of meaningful combat at endgame is what drives people to seek overpowered builds to tackle this issue. And that is where the slot machine race starts exactly. |
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No, the primary purpose of Path of Exile isn’t a slot machine, though loot and RNG can definitely make it feel that way at times. The main goal is character progression, skill customization, and completing content, but the RNG drops give it that casino-like thrill.
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" This is because how core mechanics are designed. Characters can differ greatly depending on what passives, skills, and supports they will use - even in act 1 already. We have those crazy "25-30% MORE damage" supports, we have "shoot 3 projectiles instead of 1" supports. The difference is huge even with and without these. And you get them on lvl 2-3 of your character already. Then, if you take only defensive nodes in your first 10-15 levels, you will be significantly weaker than those who took only offensive. So balance disbalances itself very quickly. |
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I do think that the majority of PoE's visibility and reputation comes from this small minority of players, who put hundreds of hours to every league, and who indeed primarily play for the slot machine; their goal is to minimize the amount of active play and to maximize the ease at which they can move through maps/Temple and collect the loot.
Even for these players, it is of course also important that the game is visually appealing enough and so on. But I don't think these players are the majority of players. I think that for the majority of players, it's more stuff like, seeing how far they can go, wanting to get some one build to work well (even if it is copypaste from streamers), etc. Then there's the group of players to which I belong. I do like PoE2's combat mechanics, the flow of combat, and do play off-meta builds as well. I also play only on HC. My goals are pretty simple; see if I can finally beat Arbiter, try out all the pinnacle bosses, etc. After that I'll prolly not continue much further. If I don't reach those goals this league, I might try again next league. Or I skip a league. |
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Gambling and the slot machine implies you're investing money in the hopes of getting a better payout. That, right there, would be "crafting" which is why I refuse to partake in it.
PoE players: Our game has a wide diversity of builds.
Also PoE players: The [league mechanic] doesn't need to be nerfed, you just need to play a [current meta] build! And the winds will cry / and many men will die / and all the waves will bow down / to the Loreley |
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