How to save POE2

During the pre-sale of POE2, it once had millions of players, but ultimately lost them. The fundamentals of the player base have changed; it's no longer a hardcore game with only a few thousand core players.
GGG hasn't realized this issue, and I believe most loyal POE1 players haven't felt it either.
I thought of a very small change to try in the new season: remove all currencies, at most allowing them to be special items in certain seasonal content, such as the Chaos Orb. I came to POE to experience its unique skill and talent system, to be a player, not a merchant. In real life, I am already fed up with monopolistic companies and the scheming between people; why should I experience it in the game as well?
For those who enjoy this kind of challenge, I suggest opening a separate 'masochist' server for each season, specifically for these unique challengers. And for ordinary players like us, let's just focus on enjoying the game.
Launch a new season, remove all currencies, and prove me wrong.


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I have played at least 10+ characters on different servers (in different countries) in both POE1 and POE2, and leveled them roughly to around 90-95, but I have never tried to push them to level 100. For me, the greatest joy comes from studying a specific skill build in depth and successfully applying it in the mainstream game environment (or defeating the endgame boss).

I mention this to show that I have invested a significant amount of time in POE and derived plenty of enjoyment from it, not to complain. For most regular players with much less enthusiasm than me, the game environment is too unforgiving. Hard-to-obtain currency is just one of the barriers. Even with enough currency, players still have to deal with gangs trying to steal their time.

I deliberately use the word 'time' instead of 'currency' so that you can feel (you have already spent too much time in this game, and it has alienated you) the disappointment of having your time stolen.

When there are only a few thousand players, this system might still be fine, which is also why I call POE a 'street gang game.' Gangs usually exist only in very small regions. But when the Western era ends, bounty hunters vanish as well. When the player base reaches a million, POE is not prepared. This is my point: when the fundamentals of the player base change, the experiences you once relied on to survive may need to be discarded.
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POE2 inherits the excellent skill and talent system from POE1 (possibly the best among all Diablo-like games), and the improved skill effects and action feedback make it even better. The most hardcore part of the game may have some small flaws and might be a bit too complex, but in terms of overall fun, I think it's fine.

For me personally, the enjoyment I get is sufficient. But today I suddenly thought, hey, why were so many people attracted to this game in the beginning, only to eventually leave? Perhaps some of our basic assumptions are wrong, and it's time to correct them. This is not a complaint, but a hope that POE can develop even better, as it's hard for me to find another game that satisfies me in terms of the depth of skills and talents.

Or set up a 'losers' server, to show some sympathy for us players who fail in real life, and give them a home. I don't object to this title.

Let me also share my build for this season: Poison Arrow Rain. Currently, the arrow rain has reached a frequency of 0.02 seconds, clearing maps quickly and efficiently. It can reach a frequency of 0.01 seconds, but at the cost of some survivability, and my gear isn't good enough yet. This build can provide a good experience with relatively cheap gear.
https://poe.ninja/poe2/profile/yanfei_game-4836/character/RINGBIRD

I was never a fan of season, not just in PoE but in any MMORPG.

Why not just combine the standard and season players, and roll out any new stuffs to everyone.

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slwong3#9402 wrote:

I was never a fan of season, not just in PoE but in any MMORPG.

Why not just combine the standard and season players, and roll out any new stuffs to everyone.

I don't object to the concept of seasons; they keep the game fresh.

However, I find it pathological for some players to dedicate 72 hours straight at the start of a season to establish a monopoly. Ordinary players are forced to measure their playtime as some kind of income and expenditure, becoming the sand at the bottom of the pyramid, consumed by those above.

It sounds like an extension of social Darwinism. That's why millions of players have left the game; today's young people don't want to be currency workers in games anymore.

PoE, unfortunately, I call it a street gang game. Even if GGG increases drop rates, resources will still be monopolized by gang members with special knowledge or who band together. Not to mention, the game content information in GGG is actually quite complex and opaque; you simply can't fight against these gang members without investing months of time.

In reality, there are punishments for monopolies. Commerce in PoE is brutal; extremely low drop rates force most ordinary players to engage in meaningless farming work, and this meager income cannot be fairly exchanged with other players; you have to pay protection money to gangs.

This is a stupid idea. Remove all currencies then no more trading? So we don't have any crafting and just RNG pick up loots? And how can GGG gain any money from selling stash tabs then? You keep mentioning monopoly in the game, tell me which content of the game forbid you to set a foot in unless you are a member of a "gang"? It's not the fact of inflated currencies that gate keep the endgame crafting but the scarcity of them, if dev massively buff currencies drop rate that you can freely craft whatever you want, try any builds you like this game will flourish.

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XxxPssySlayerxxX#5201 wrote:

This is a stupid idea. Remove all currencies then no more trading? So we don't have any crafting and just RNG pick up loots? And how can GGG gain any money from selling stash tabs then? You keep mentioning monopoly in the game, tell me which content of the game forbid you to set a foot in unless you are a member of a "gang"? It's not the fact of inflated currencies that gate keep the endgame crafting but the scarcity of them, if dev massively buff currencies drop rate that you can freely craft whatever you want, try any builds you like this game will flourish.

You're right, guy.

You can play SSF and use the orbs for their intended purpose, instead of using them as currency.

This eliminates 'scheming between people' as well.

Available right now - you're welcome.

It always feels like it's people who top out at level 80 doing all the complaining when they aren't handed a trophy and perfect gear upon completing their first tier 11+ map.

Get a character to level 95 and you'll have at least 500-1000 exalts and 50 divines worth of other orbs and gear just from your own drops that happened while getting the XP.

If you think you need those orbs first, to get the gear, so that you can grind to get the xp - then you're doing something wrong, full stop, bottom line. Change something - maybe it's how you're rolling maps, your build, or the tier, or whatever. just know you're doing it wrong and you need to change something.

If 1000's of ssf players can figure it out, and you can't, while having access to trade, the only excuse is that you don't want to do it - which is fine, just don't pretend it's the game's fault.

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karsey#2995 wrote:

It always feels like it's people who top out at level 80 doing all the complaining when they aren't handed a trophy and perfect gear upon completing their first tier 11+ map.

Get a character to level 95 and you'll have at least 500-1000 exalts and 50 divines worth of other orbs and gear just from your own drops that happened while getting the XP.

If you think you need those orbs first, to get the gear, so that you can grind to get the xp - then you're doing something wrong, full stop, bottom line. Change something - maybe it's how you're rolling maps, your build, or the tier, or whatever. just know you're doing it wrong and you need to change something.

If 1000's of ssf players can figure it out, and you can't, while having access to trade, the only excuse is that you don't want to do it - which is fine, just don't pretend it's the game's fault.

I have played at least 10+ characters on different servers (in different countries) in both POE1 and POE2, and leveled them roughly to around 90-95, but I have never tried to push them to level 100. For me, the greatest joy comes from studying a specific skill build in depth and successfully applying it in the mainstream game environment (or defeating the endgame boss).
I mention this to show that I have invested a significant amount of time in POE and derived plenty of enjoyment from it, not to complain. For most regular players with much less enthusiasm than me, the game environment is too unforgiving. Hard-to-obtain currency is just one of the barriers. Even with enough currency, players still have to deal with gangs trying to steal their time.
I deliberately use the word 'time' instead of 'currency' so that you can feel (you have already spent too much time in this game, and it has alienated you) the disappointment of having your time stolen.
When there are only a few thousand players, this system might still be fine, which is also why I call POE a 'street gang game.' Gangs usually exist only in very small regions. But when the Western era ends, bounty hunters vanish as well. When the player base reaches a million, POE is not prepared. This is my point: when the fundamentals of the player base change, the experiences you once relied on to survive may need to be discarded.