I don't think I can do this every 3 to 4 months., the campaign is just too long.

"

You do realize that POE2 peak had more peak players in a single league than POE1 had in 79 years of existence, right?

Yes, and half of them never came back after a year. They tried it out, disliked it, and left. That's why GGG introduced a lot of things which they explicitly said before they would never do, like sprinting and offline trade.

For me, it is really funny that the "POE2 is perfect as is" and "POE2 is just not for you" crowd fail to realize that GGG, in every iteration, is trying to give people like the OP here what they want.

Sprinting was literally introduced to make the annoying backtracking faster, which is exactly what the OP is complaining about. And you can be sure that other improvements are in the making to appease players like him.

I agree campaign is too long but also maps/atlas aren't in a great spot right now.

Though part of me thinks half the issue with the maps at the moment is I feel exhausted by time I get to them since the campaign is so long.

I know the campaign has its defenders but I really think some super long, souls-inspired, ball buster campaign you need to do over and over and over is going to eventually ward off the majority of players and the game will just die.

My personal reasons, why I can't play this game every 3-4 month, even though I could do it in PoE1:

1. Campaign Map Design
Some maps feel unnecessarily large, with too many dead ends and side quests spread far apart. This often forces you to backtrack, even with sprint and waypoints available. As a result, I spend a lot of time wandering through already cleared areas or running into every dead end just to find the right quest location.
In games like Skyrim or Elden Ring, these dead ends are usually filled with secrets or valuable loot, but in PoE2 it’s mostly a handful of enemies and maybe a chest or two—not enough to make the detour worthwhile.
Smaller maps, fewer dead ends, and more accessible side quest locations (or small visual hints that point out sidequest direction) would save players a huge amount of time—without sacrificing fun—and let them reach what matters most: the endgame

2. World Map
This might not be the biggest issue, but the world map is difficult to read. Often, I’m not sure which area contains a specific rare/unique monster or treasure, because icons are placed awkwardly between waypoints. Yes, you can hover over them to see the details, but it still feels unintuitive.
It’s frustrating to enter a new map only to realize the treasure was in the previous one, forcing you to backtrack and explore all over again. Admittedly, that’s technically “my fault,” but PoE1 did this part better.

3. Campaign Difficulty
The game feels tough right from the beginning. I played a lot of PoE1, so I know the basics, but I can imagine new players struggling even more than I did. In PoE1, I could comfortably play hardcore. In PoE2, I often end up dying, which is why I switched to standard.
I think Act 1 should feel like a “breeze,” gradually ramping up the difficulty, with a sharp increase towards endgame. That way, players can progress faster and still enjoy the real challenge where it matters most.

4. Trials
This has already been discussed a lot, but I’ll add my thoughts. Trials often feel overly time-consuming because of mechanics that frequently cause failure. Honour essentially forces you into a “no-hit run,” since a single strong attack can almost one-shot your honour, even if you could have tanked it otherwise. And Ultimatum sometimes give you bad disadvantage options to choose from, resulting in a near impossible challenge (at least for me). Melee characters, in particular, feel at a disadvantage here. And dying like 3-5 times is very time consuming, especially in later trials that are way longer.
Repeating trials three to five times until success takes a lot of time and drains the fun. Personally, I think these “sanctum/ultimatum”-style mechanics should be completely optional and exist mainly as item farming opportunities through treasure chests.
Ascendancy points, on the other hand, should be tied to content that aligns more naturally with PoE’s core hack-and-slash gameplay—maybe an ascendancy dungeon with waves of monsters ending in a strong boss fight. Honestly, I’d rather fight five bosses in a row than grind through the current trial mechanics.

Doing the campaign once per Season launch for ONE character is fine.

As is, I'd keep playing other classes/ascendancies, but I just don't because I can't bring myself to doing the campaign multiple times.

10-12h is what it takes me on average, if I want to try 4-5 ascendancies, no way I'm spending 50-60h JUST repeating the campaign.

"

djuq4l#1584 wrote:

"

You do realize that POE2 peak had more peak players in a single league than POE1 had in 79 years of existence, right?

Yes, and half of them never came back after a year. They tried it out, disliked it, and left. That's why GGG introduced a lot of things which they explicitly said before they would never do, like sprinting and offline trade.

For me, it is really funny that the "POE2 is perfect as is" and "POE2 is just not for you" crowd fail to realize that GGG, in every iteration, is trying to give people like the OP here what they want.

Sprinting was literally introduced to make the annoying backtracking faster, which is exactly what the OP is complaining about. And you can be sure that other improvements are in the making to appease players like him.

I honestly don't know why I bother replying, this feels like rage bait. No one ever said poe2 is perfect, at least I didn't

I have multiple posts with complains and suggestions, and one of them is, guess what, that maps are too big past act 3 even after rework and that their layout is horrible

But trivializing the campaign more than it already is trivialized is something I don't agree with, and poe1 is there if people like the op want to play it, it's the whole point of having both games running. The game style that is being asked already exists, it's there, just go and play it. There's also last epoch if you don't like poe1, a game you can be done in a day. Maybe also d3 where you can start one shotting anything, or d4 where the game is so easy you can play blindfolded. The options are there, just choose

Also, are you even serious? There's no way you mentioned trade and sprinting as example when the old trade and pointless backtracking both were universally hated lmao

"

Sakanabi#6664 wrote:

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dissonance90#3107 wrote:

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Kraythax#2592 wrote:

I am 54, a VP of Engineering (which means busy full time job) a single father widower with kids to manage. I make good money and want to sit down when I can and play a video game. One of the greatest things about Path of Exile 1 is that I dont worry about competing with others, half the time I play SSF anyway because I dont want to just do someone else's build. I have gotten to the point where I can do the campaign in about 12h. Is that a record speed? God no. But It is probably a best for me and I am comfortable with that.

Then there is POE2.

I will NEVER see the endgame in this game. Now that the league has been running a while and I have gotten past the horrific startup curve I am playing through the campaign and its long. For a casual like me we are talking 60+ hours already and counting. Its not long because its thrilling and exciting it is just long. Its not long because it is challenging ... its just long and tedious.

In POE1 if you want to blast the campaign you know where the bosses are, skip a bunch of mobs and go get them and move on, pausing to kill just what you need to level up. Its sort of the "If it ain't blue run right through" mantra. In POE2 you cant do that. Almost every zone demands a full scale clear. You have to wade through tons of monsters to get through the bosses. The rewards like dropped gems are on this mini boss and that, dropped only by yellow mobs and so on. You have to basically kill everything. In POE1 if you required players to kill every mob before they leave the zone they would riot on the forums. Its not challenging or engaging, its tedious.

And this means on the GGG scale act 6 will take a normie like me 30h to get through when its done as each act is longer than the previous. This isn't engaging, its tedious. Like mowing the lawn with a pair of nail clippers.

Once? Cool. Twice ... eh ... ok I guess ... every 3 months for each of your 3 characters you wanted to try? No no no. I cant even bear to roll a ritualist though I would like to try it because I know I will NEVER see endgame.

This is not a viable product for normal people. For streamers, Twitch content producers, dedicated racers, sure. Its annoying to them but not a big deal.

And to be clear I am not asking for a campain skip. I am asking for a campaign compression. Instead of having to tediously fight 32 packs to get to the boss, maybe only 10 packs. Instead of the zone being a vast morass of quasi random generated caves make it more open and direct so people can get to the boss and fight him. This means the streamers will blast through it. Sure. And who cares? Unless you are making a game only for streamers, content creators and those without a job or family.

I feel you.
I think, it's not an option to compress the campaign, but I think it's a good option for example to: When you complete a campaign in season the last boss of the campaign drops you general loot + 2 "Coins". The text on the Coin is "You can consume it and your char become a 65 level char immediately". If you don't need it - sell it. So you can level up two more chars in 1 seconds and try them in endgame. Problem will be fixed for most of the audience. You can consume it on level 1 or 20 or 45 - doesn't matter, it's just give you level 65.

Yeah, so player will be able to skip even more content by paying. RMT paradise.

GGG can make these "Coins" untradeable.

1. "You want it to be PoE1. This isn't poe1"

It IS a sequel to a specific IP. You don't rent JAWS 2 expecting Star Trek.
This is one of the more absurd arguments on these forums. Why WOULDN'T you expect more of the same?

2. You can thank the PoE1 player base for this game. Who do you think funded it? Furthermore, people paid for this, which makes them customers.

3. The campaign is long and the maps are huge.
.
*The locations are boring. We get:
-Abandoned coal mining trailer park town in WV
-Middle east
-Brazilin rain forest
-Hawaii

Cool once. Twice eh. Third time is annoying. Fourth is almost unbearable.
What if you make a mistake and mess up your build but it doesn't really become clear until mid act 3. Whoopsie-poopsie, start over.
What if you don't get lucky with drops or orbs? Oh well. "you just want poe1".

What makes this especially egregious is that the entire economy is set by racing players. If some guy like the OP only plays a handful of hours a week and it takes a month to get to endgame, forget reasonable pricing.

And there are two more acts coming.
Ugh.
I am on the extreme side. I wouldn't just allow seasonal campaign skips, i'd have permanent skips. Thats how awful it feels compared to endgame.
Two completely different games.

A solution would be to put some actual effort into these abilities and actually make them scale.
Whirling assault is terrible. Period. What about the new player that invests in support gems, ability gems, etc. and finds out its absolute garbage?
Oh wait....no more support or skill gems.

"You just want poe1"
comical.

"

Skyvortex#7923 wrote:

1. "You want it to be PoE1. This isn't poe1"

It IS a sequel to a specific IP. You don't rent JAWS 2 expecting Star Trek.
This is one of the more absurd arguments on these forums. Why WOULDN'T you expect more of the same?

sadly doesn't work like that, countless titles were changed entirely by simply having a 2 attached to it. games, movies. what you are after is a remaster, and even then... looks at d2r mosaic/charms etc

+1

Campaign is a total slog after the first completion. Mapping is, and always has been, the main attraction of the game as that's when the bulk of all the mechanics come into play. Expedition, breach, delirium, ritual, you don't get to properly engage in any of this until the endgame.

We should have to run campaign at least once per league, but then given the option to skip it on later character.

"

Skyvortex#7923 wrote:

1. "You want it to be PoE1. This isn't poe1"

It IS a sequel to a specific IP. You don't rent JAWS 2 expecting Star Trek.
This is one of the more absurd arguments on these forums. Why WOULDN'T you expect more of the same?

That's not how it works. There are plenty of examples out there of games that changed with a sequel and became much better, with the fans preferring them

Total war with warhammer fantasy which went from down to earth to magic, fallout from isometric to fps rpg, dark souls from linear to open world, almost every final fantasy especially XIV...

"

Skyvortex#7923 wrote:

2. You can thank the PoE1 player base for this game. Who do you think funded it? Furthermore, people paid for this, which makes them customers.

No, no one owes you anything