The speed meta sucks

Hello,

With the new PoE1 patch coming up, I want to express my disdain for ARPG speed metas. Clearing entire screens and zooming through maps in a couple of minutes absolutely sucks — it’s the main reason I stopped playing PoE1. I tried Last Epoch with its speed meta on steroids and couldn't get into it at all. It felt lilke monsters were made out of paper and the limiting factor was how quickly I press my skill buttons, and not how well I was able to read the situation on the screen and adapt acordingly.

There’s a point in every speed meta where builds become so fast that any meaningful tactical difference between them disappears. Everything wipes the screen with a single button press. There’s no engagement, no fear of dying, no need to solve survivability problems — just mindless zooming. It’s boring.

The truth is, once most players reach that level of power, they stop playing because the game becomes dull. So I implore the devs to keep gameplay engaging and balanced — and to delay the onset of the speed meta as long as possible.

Having skills with AoE large enough to clear two screens ahead is just dumb. I can understand that kind of power at the very endgame, after a significant time investment, but not before. And if the devs choose to embrace the speed meta, please find ways to make slower, more tactical, deliberate playstyles equally rewarding for those of us who prefer them.