0.5 DISAPPOINTMENT

I never thought I’d say this, but lately Diablo 4 started to feel more attractive to me than Path of Exile 2.

Not because D4 suddenly became the deeper game. It didn’t.
But because PoE2 keeps stacking more and more systems, currencies, crafting layers, mechanics, league interactions, fragments, omens, passive combinations, and knowledge checks on top of each other every update.

At some point complexity stops being depth and starts becoming exhaustion.

I don’t want to feel like I need a PhD in crafting spreadsheets just to enjoy an ARPG after work.

One of the biggest examples is crafting. Instead of endlessly adding new crafting mechanics every league, why not simplify the foundation? Why not finally add something as straightforward and satisfying as a crafting bench with targeted affixes and meaningful progression?

A lot of players originally criticized Diablo 4 for being too shallow. And that criticism was fair. But now PoE2 risks going too far in the opposite direction:

- too many overlapping mechanics
- too much required external knowledge
- too much reliance on guides
- too much friction to experiment

I’m reaching the point where D4’s slower but clearer progression feels more respectful of my time. I can log in for an evening, make progress, have fun, and log off.

Meanwhile PoE2 increasingly feels like homework before gameplay.

Another thing I genuinely think PoE2 should reconsider: classes and ascendancies.

At this point, why even lock ascendancies behind permanent class choices?

The most exciting evolution for PoE2 would be:

- full character creator
- one base character
- all ascendancies available
- swap ascendancies freely or through progression systems

Let players build identities through gameplay, not through rerolling another character because they picked the “wrong” starting fantasy months ago.

PoE became legendary because of freedom and experimentation. Ironically, modern PoE2 sometimes feels more restrictive than ever because the systems became so bloated that experimentation is punished unless you already know everything.

I still love the game and want it to succeed.
But I really think GGG should ask themselves an important question:

Are we adding meaningful depth… or just adding more layers?

Cool man, pay another 40 bucks for an endgame expansion

poe2 wins

we need more content and more types and more possibilities

"

Erexonvayne#3455 wrote:

Cool man, pay another 40 bucks for an endgame expansion

get used to the idea that you need to pay in this life to get something. Im not D4 fan but paying 40$ every 2 year to get full access to the game sounds better than paying 20-35$ for inventory/stash tabs 3-4 times per a year.

Buy a calculater, you might need it

"

Erexonvayne#3455 wrote:

Cool man, pay another 40 bucks for an endgame expansion

hey man everyone's financial situation is different.
$40 might be a lot for you and that's ok, but it isn't for plenty of us.

this is a good post with constructive feedback, not sure why it has made you so emotional.
i don't agree with all of it but at least its not just childish screeching.

i hate to say it diablo 4 good now, they just have straight forward direction & identity now. with path of exile 2 its having identity crisis what it wants to be with fake lame content creators [Removed by Support] that fake weak beta energy should tell you everything wrong with poe 2.

Wow you have a nerve talking about D4 in POE forum. It'slike throwing yourself bleeding into a pool full of sharks. So your opinion is invalid. Kappa

I played 45 hours of D4 this season (never played it before) Paragon 170 Paladin on Torment 7. Yeah the game feels very good. Agency most of the time is there. You can pick up trash from the ground and there is mild chance that you can fix it. Horadric Cube, Codex of Power, Tempering, Masterworking. No need to jungle 1000 currencies slamming the here and there like throwing a coins into slot machine.
Rest of the time there is a clear goals and you just keep blasting. At the same time yeah I can feel why might get tired faster.

I was afraid that POE2 will keep introducing more bloat to the game and it is exactly what happening. Almost nobody liked runes? To bad for you. Here is 100 more runes. Rune that can change rune socket into jewel socket seems fun idea other that everyone going to insert the same 10 runes and rest will be a useless trash again. What are we doing here? Everything is quantity over quality to force you buy specific stash tabs

I guess we reaching to bloat of poe1 at much faster rate than we expected. If there scarabs or divination cards will be added its officially over.

"

default_mp3#9394 wrote:

Wow you have a nerve talking about D4 in POE forum. It'slike throwing yourself bleeding into a pool full of sharks. So your opinion is invalid. Kappa

I played 45 hours of D4 this season (never played it before) Paragon 170 Paladin on Torment 7. Yeah the game feels very good. Agency most of the time is there. You can pick up trash from the ground and there is mild chance that you can fix it. Horadric Cube, Codex of Power, Tempering, Masterworking. No need to jungle 1000 currencies slamming the here and there like throwing a coins into slot machine.
Rest of the time there is a clear goals and you just keep blasting. At the same time yeah I can feel why might get tired faster.

I was afraid that POE2 will keep introducing more bloat to the game and it is exactly what happening. Almost nobody liked runes? To bad for you. Here is 100 more runes. Rune that can change rune socket into jewel socket seems fun idea other that everyone going to insert the same 10 runes and rest will be a useless trash again. What are we doing here? Everything is quantity over quality to force you buy specific stash tabs

I guess we reaching to bloat of poe1 at much faster rate than we expected. If there scarabs or divination cards will be added its officially over.

40$ for a map part, the cube and some runes...
No thanks

"

UnskillableTV#2203 wrote:

40$ for a map part, the cube and some runes...
No thanks

I was new so I bought the entire Age of Hatred Collection, so it should be more than that (50 or so in my region) xD
I am planning to play more later then come back in season 14 so it kinda worth the money

The feedback is not constructive, it's just saying how it wants one game to be like another that he likes, that already exists. Also it's clear the devs have an idea of who the character classes are as people in the world, instead of a nameless, weirdo looking character that is ''the chosen one'' like in Diablo. Very weak thematically considering it uses language like ''Angels'' and ''Demons'', the story was always flat in the Diablo series.

GGG sell stash tabs to make their money and they have sales once a month, you want to hold more items, you pay for the tabs, difference is, you the customer make that choice. D4 model and the previous titles are not a choice, it's the expansion, the equivelant of the 0.5 update in 40+ bucks, on top of the bucks you already paid for previous expansions and the base game.
One purchase is entry fee, the other is made after the fact you've played through the content.

I said one line and get called emotional, guy who doesn't get that people want to value their cash and don't just throw any amount because, "I can spare it", plenty of games cost less that are more worthwhile than a game expansion that fixes issues that should have been addressed for free and simple add more content to the game, acting like a paid patch note.


So people who say they want the game more like D4 also means they want the game to have entry fees for a league as far as I'm concerned. Bloat? You mean things on the ground you can ignore and not pick up? Oh you're behind the economy, forgot, Diablo 4 doesn't even have an economy, it's all just FIAT gold that endlessly inflates.

You have your game, you have your fun, in Diablo 4, why do you want other games to be just like it when you are already satisfied? Because you see that PoE2 has a better future, it will get more support on a steady schedule after 1.0 release, it will not sit and wither only for 2 years later to get a paid expansion, it looks better, runs better, will run better as the Devs are using their own engine and will fine tune it as more things come, balance patches that will come, for free, will iron out any issues and item bloat will not be bloat, it will be the tools that create those weird builds you see in PoE also that you can never hope to replicate in any other game, ARPG or otherwise.


Feedback that doesn't respect the devs perspective even if opposing, ie thinking it should be easier to respect ascendancies, is no feedback at all, it's just a pain in everyone else's ears that wants the game to be different, than both the first game and the rest of titles in the market.