4 months cycle development is not working

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

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VoidWhisperer42#5989 wrote:

they do still care about this game.

Do they? Or are they just making the minimum amount of effort to make it profitable enough to fund PoE2? (Yeah, yeah, I know PoE2 is more than capable of funding itself).

The question here, between all the doomsaying and hyperbole, is of course "how much" they care and "why" they care. Are they pushing out new PoE1 league because they are still passionate about the game and have clear plans for the future, or are they pushing out new leagues just because PoE1 is still profitable?

I would say that if they really cared, we would have what they said we would 6 years ago. And if they really have plans for the future of PoE1, show us, tell us, talk to us. Be transparent.

This thread is a true testament that some people will never be pleased and use any fault they can find and point at as an excuse to be judgemental like this.

They could have easily said they'll focus completely on PoE2 and just do ladder resets or smaller events for PoE1 while they finish the sequel. But they didn't do that. Instead, they committed to not only maintaining PoE1, but dropping big content patches and refining the base game. All the QoL they're adding and the fact they're still refining existing systems in the game is proof of that.

And they maintain that they'll continue to run PoE1 alongside PoE2, putting themselves on a tight schedule switching between releases for both games.

Compare this approach to Blizzard and how they handled Overwatch. If you're unfamiliar: they respect their players so little they didn't even care that they'd lose access to playing Overwatch 1 like they used to. It's just gone. Instead, you can only play Overwatch 2. A lot of old fans don't like the new game and would rather continue playing the old one, but it's dead.

Meanwhile, GGG is taking great risk in splitting up their existing community into 2 games. While many will likely play both games, others only care about the one or the other. If you only cared about money, you wouldn't make such a bold decision. Their passion for the game is evident through and through.

Other criticisms like communication style you can rightfully point out. That's valid. But calling them uncaring? You'd have to be blind to say that.

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ArtCrusade#4438 wrote:

Their passion for the game is evident through and through.

Yeah, it's evident in PoE 2, not anymore in the original.

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BaumisMagicalWorld#0673 wrote:

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ArtCrusade#4438 wrote:

Their passion for the game is evident through and through.

Yeah, it's evident in PoE 2, not anymore in the original.

I beg to differ. I'm not a fan of Keepers but objectively the game is in a very good spot.

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BaumisMagicalWorld#0673 wrote:

Yeah, it's evident in PoE 2, not anymore in the original.

Not the original? That's why we just received a pretty big patch about a month ago and also got back to the 4 month cycle.

They clearly do care about the game lol

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ArtCrusade#4438 wrote:

They could have easily said they'll focus completely on PoE2 and just do ladder resets or smaller events for PoE1 while they finish the sequel. But they didn't do that.

Well, if we play the "...it could always be worse"-card, it's easy to be positive. Your hypothetical scenario would be tremendously bad for GGG after everything said and done in both ExileCon.

I'm old and old-fashioned and tend to hold people to their word(s).

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Celestriad#0304 wrote:

I beg to differ. I'm not a fan of Keepers but objectively the game is in a very good spot.

The game has been in what appears to be maintenance mode for almost 2 years now. Settlers went on for an entire year, and the league prior to it was the one with the second worst retention rate overall, now overtaken by Keepers league. We got an "expansion" that didn't feel like one and was essentially half-assed with a cliffhanger ending. It hasn't been tweaked since its introduction. We got some QoL stuff ported over from their new favorite playground.

PoE 2 got an entirely new class, 35 new Support gems, a whole-ass new expansion, tons of new uniques and skill gems, new items, new endgame, reworks, new core mechanics, and much more. All in one patch.

What PoE 1 is getting in return is endgame nerfs, lazy reworks that remove the identity of the original, more nerfs, clearly unfinished and buggy content that has barely been adjusted since release, very few new skills and basically only meta shifts, all of that over the course of 2 years. And before you bring up the new Ascenancies: They are poorly thought out and were already playtested prior in the Legacy of Phrecia event that offered alternate Ascendancies.

It was as clear as fresh spring water that their idea of maintaining both games without detriment to the other was nothing more than a pipe dream that huffed and poofed within the same breath. If you take a look at past major patches and expansions, it's fairly obvious.

You may beg to differ and disagree, but all of what I just said is objectively true.

Some people need to realise that "I don't like the current league" or "I don't like the direction PoE is going right now" does not equate "the devs don't care about the game anymore"

People have been complaining about the vision and meme'ing about Vision tm for years and that was way before PoE2 was on the horizon.

Same people have been dooming PoE and yet here we are. Still kicking. Thriving.

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ArtCrusade#4438 wrote:

Some people need to realise that "I don't like the current league" or "I don't like the direction PoE is going right now" does not equate "the devs don't care about the game anymore"

"Don't [necessarily] equate..."

I still like PoE. I am still playing it. Still enjoying it. But do I feel their passion for the game in the patches? Does it feel to me like they have a plan going forward? Have we really seen an endgame rework making the game better since freakin' "War For The Atlas"?

I also play FC25 from time to time - and somewhat enjoy it with friends (and some drinks), but you will never catch me sitting here praising EA just because I happen to like one of their games. Sure, it's the best football game on the market, but I don't think there's much passion to it between all the $. You know what? "EA could still be worse".

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ArtCrusade#4438 wrote:

Same people have been dooming PoE and yet here we are. Still kicking. Thriving.

Thriving? Where? Have you not been paying attention for the last couple years?

3 month cycle turned into 4 months into 1 year into maintenance mode and back into 4 months.

Ever since their 2019 ExileCon, where they officially announced PoE 4.0, their content production has decreased, not only in league cycles but also major expansions. Between the current half-assed "expansion" that ended on a cliffhanger and the last major expansion, time spans 2 years and 4 months, whereas prior to that we got a new major expansion roughly every 10-12 months.



Even the last 3 years alone show a content draught and faster player exit rate. The spikes are still high, but also thinner and further apart. Meaning less content and player engagement.



It's almost as if nearly their entire focus shifted towards 4.0 like they said they would, except it's not 4.0 but a different game. "Thriving" is definitely not what this is.

Yea let's ignore all the good stuff the devs are putting into PoE1 and base our perception of the game's success on Steam on PLAYER PEAKS. I'm sorry Baumi, but I will never tire of explaining as many times as necessary how irrelevant of a statistic that is. You are not the first, you are not the last, but you are the latest person to use that stat as if it means anything when you discuss a franchise's overall success.

By that stupid metric Necropolis was a better league than Affliction because the player peak on Friday says so.

The disingenuousness..