Unplayable/unenjoyable; optimization/balance.

TLDR: Optimization Priority #1. Peak hour ping is abysmal. Balance sorely lacking in many areas(combat, currency/equip drops). Market inflated, state of currency needs attention.

I enjoy this game as it would appear on paper, but when it comes to actually playing this game it is a God forsaken curse. There is ALWAYS some issue present; whether it's rubber banding, shaders constantly loading, or flat out lagging from the spell clutter drowning the screen. I have even started resorting to playing solo in an attempt to minimize the issues but it does NOTHING.(THANKS GGG, ALWAYS ONLINE GAMES!!!!!) NOTHING works. I had to take the overclock off my CPU and RAM to have a remotely stable experience(works fine in countless other games from RDR2, Stellar Blade, Killing Floor 3) and I find myself experimenting with DX12/Vulkan more than any other game - and now the game runs a TINY bit better. The latest mapping update brought another tiny ray of hope - a little better optimization. The ridiculous lag swings during peak hours are unavoidable, though, and you can regularly see people complaining in global chat.

Today, after 700hrs in PoE2, I found my first citadel ever - a copper one. After rubberbanding my way to zamanra I hit a 300 ping spike and died in a single hit.
I am really not sure what is left to experience in this game at this point. Dying to performance issues at this stage in the game, in one hit, while incurring an XP penalty(WHY is there an XP penalty during EA?Are we not meant to test endgame?) is not on anyone's to-do list. I cannot even IMAGINE playing hardcore in the garbage state that this game is in. I want to note that I am on a 9800X3D/4090 with 1GB fibre internet.

The market is hyper inflated with exalts but impossible to find divs or annuls at a decent rate to try and make your own gear. So the game is crafting focused now but doesn't drop the required crafting mats that you need 10s if not 100s of. Extremely uninviting to new players or people late to start the season.

Between the optimization issues and balance issues, this game has a LONG way to go. Stop releasing cosmetics, stop making useless unique items that no one looks at, and fix the game at the most fundamental level. Optimization is priority 1, with balance in a close 2nd. I really enjoy this game, but enough is enough.

I am done with this game until there is a substantial patch. There is nothing left to experience in this game outside of repetition and frustration.