The Vision Problem: Why Jonathan Rogers’ Direction is Holding PoE2 Back
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The core issue plaguing Path of Exile 2 is a lack of clear vision and consistent direction, which ultimately falls on Game Director Jonathan Rogers' shoulders.
The game's development trajectory tells a concerning story. What began as "Path of Exile 1 with better graphics" shifted toward a souls-like ARPG with methodical combat, only to regress toward a PoE1 clone stripped of its crafting systems. This constant pivoting suggests the team never established a clear identity for what PoE2 should be. Instead of refining a coherent vision, they're racing to fill the game with content quantity over clarity. Rogers has repeatedly discussed mechanics and systems that seem poorly understood even by him. The team often struggles to implement new ideas, ultimately backtracking to default states when innovation proves difficult. This pattern of proposing concepts, failing to execute them properly, and reverting to safer ground has become a development hallmark. The campaign exemplifies both the game's potential and its squandered opportunities. It remains the strongest part of PoE2, yet even here, poor decisions undermine the experience. Rather than offering difficulty options, a harder campaign versus an accessible easy mode, the team made a blanket decision that left the content too easy for experienced players and anyone seeking a genuinely challenging experience. Since difficulty creates the need for gear, gear becomes irrelevant when the challenge is gone, and player focus disappears. This binary thinking appears throughout the game's design. The endgame loop suffers from fundamental structural problems. The path to boss encounters takes far too long, creating tedious pacing. Yet when you finally reach bosses, there's barely any fight; optimal builds simply delete them. What made campaign bosses engaging was the unlimited attempts; dying repeatedly was part of the fun and challenge. In contrast, the "hardmode" league doesn't create enjoyable difficulty; it just punishes death without adding meaningful challenge. The Inverted Formula: Why the Endgame Fails Challenge and fun aren't the same as punishment and difficulty. The campaign worked because failure had no permanent cost, encouraging players to learn mechanics and improve. The endgame inverts this formula, making failure costly while bosses themselves lack the mechanical depth to justify that risk. This fundamentally breaks the 'Time vs. Gear' balance. In the campaign, unlimited attempts allow player skill to bridge the gap; if your gear is weak, the fight just takes longer, but it’s still winnable and fun. The endgame destroys this: because the 'walk' to the boss is tedious and attempts are strictly limited, players are disincentivized from actually 'playing' the mechanics. You don't go into an endgame boss to learn; you wait until your build is strong enough to bypass the fight entirely. By removing the safety net of the campaign, they’ve accidentally deleted the mechanical engagement they worked so hard to build. Jonathan Rogers makes decisions on virtually every important matter, and this concentration of authority has become the game's greatest liability. If Path of Exile 2 launches in anything close to its current state, the responsibility lies squarely with his leadership or lack thereof. A game needs a strong, clear vision executed consistently. PoE2 has had neither, and Rogers' fingerprints are on every pivot, every backtrack, and every half-implemented system. I am sharing this critique because I want Path of Exile 2 to succeed. This isn't about being negative for the sake of it; it’s about a genuine concern that without a unified vision and a more flexible approach to difficulty and progression, the game will fail to reach its true potential. I hope this feedback is taken in the spirit of making the best ARPG possible. Last edited by Burn4#0434 on Apr 17, 2026, 3:13:36 PM Last bumped on Apr 19, 2026, 3:04:02 PM
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Dude, you have no idea what they are talking about 'behind the scenes' on a day to day basis.
You may watch some interviews, read some article, hear other people's opinion. And based on that you form your own opinion of literately one person. And just using their name in your thread's title, and try pulling it through the dirt like so many others, should probably get you banned. But lucky for you, it most likely won't. I know very little about Jonathan, but I do know that he is in the game and by that I mean in the business for years and years. Let me ask you a question, the people around you, the people that know you, are they happy with every decision you make over the years? I really doubt that. And if they are happy instead with all you say and do, then I challenge you to question your whole life and all the people around you. Cause that's not really how any progress in life on any subject come to be. If you don't see a progress to this game that has happened over the course of the past few leagues, then I question your eye-sight, or ability to judge at all. I don't know your background, but you mention path of exile 1, so I guess you're familiar with it. And I don't know if you are more leaning towards path of exile 1 is a good game or not, nor if you want path of exile 2 to be a game you can actually enjoy or not. But I guess at the end of the day, neither of the two games can be for everybody. And I see people spread so much hate on the forums all the time. I wonder, where they miss in their real life. I bet they don't have their shit together at all, yet are complaining about other people and talking about what those people do wrong all the time. Check yourself. That is my advice for everyone of the likes, who can't help but see the mistakes in other people but not in their own actions, words and behaviour. -- 0.5 better be good..
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Where the heck does this “Souls like” keep coming from?
This game is nothing like Souls and is in no way souls like. Also he has never stated that it should be more Souls Like. He has said they want combat to be more meaningful (which doesn’t mean souls like). So show me quotes in context where GGG has said they want this to be more Souls Like |
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i dont mind that. just update 0.5 fast pls
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Honestly I don't mind the souls-like combat. It adds a lot of depth to the game and sets it apart from POE1. What I don't like is them half-hearting the approach. The endgame is currently built around poe1 style mob spam and a lot of the campaign relies on you being swarmed by dozens of mobs at a time rather and it doesn't encourage you to use smart combos or strategy. THe bosses are likewise very difficult at first and seem to want you to combo properly. Game is being pulled around in different directions.
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Fundamentally i'd rather they made the game they want to make, even if I don't like it, than try to appease people who will disappear instantly when they actually get what they think they want.
Design is messy and they are iterating. I don't agree with everything they do but its their project and I still am plenty entertained for my cost of entry. |
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I disagree.
Can't wait for god-tier endgame content and balancing when stuff is ready for it. In the meantime i have fun exploring different builds and techniques. I made 3 insane builds this league, each different from another. None is meta nor youtube stuff. Got to level 100 with one character. Now, it just takes a bit too long waiting for the new patch... Combat Balance > Feelings Last edited by Evergrey#7535 on Apr 18, 2026, 2:26:07 PM
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" What ascendancies and skills did you use on each of them? |
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" Pro tip, the bolded lines are the deadest giveaway that this was Chat-GPT or AI written and should be immediately dismissed. |
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" main - Chonk, Shattering Palm / Falling Thunder https://poe.ninja/poe2/builds/vaal/character/Evergrey-7535/Chonkest?i=0&search=class%3DAcolyte%2Bof%2BChayula%26name%3Dchonk&timemachine=week-15 second Chonk build - Reap with Darkness, remnants focused And Shaman on which I am focusing on defenses mostly, learning new ways. I plan to try an Infernalist in 0.5! Combat Balance > Feelings Last edited by Evergrey#7535 on Apr 18, 2026, 7:44:47 PM
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