Trying to make everyone happy ends up making nobody happy

The state of the game is becoming ever so weird. You are supposed to have combos and meaningful combat, but then nerf the wolves and bosses and everything. You can just sprint out of the way of the bosses and don't get punished for being greedy. In the later games you get swarmed and it's kill or die. The campaign gets watered down by "subtle" bat's flying over your head and showing the way for players that weirdly hate the campaign but tolerated the abomination of a POE 1 campaign where the second half is just copy pasted. I guess this is yet another rant post but I would prefer to pick a lane and stick to it. Nobody says you shouldn't listen to feedback. But this game becomes a weird mix of pleasing no one really.

You're making a good point overall, although I disagree that the "bats flying over your head" and the other clues they're adding in the campaign is watering it down.

When Jonathan gets pressed about this topic in interviews he usually responds something like "When youre starting fresh, combos/combat etc.. should matter but eventually with good gear youre still supposed to become a god". The issue is that the point at which that first principle stops mattering comes so fast (probably towards end of campaign/interludes) for a lot of builds.
So for the people who like that style of gameplay it increasingly feels like the game treats it like an afterthought and for the people who dont like it + hate the campaign and just want to farm currency in endgame, it still feels too long and annoying. Both end up being somewhat dissatisfied.
Personally, I hope that they nerf player power a lot so that the point at which the game breaks and the "wheels come off" is much later and actually requires very good gear, so that combo gameplay feels nesessary and rewarding.

"

Argonlo#6237 wrote:

"When youre starting fresh, combos/combat etc.. should matter but eventually with good gear youre still supposed to become a god".

Being god is boring. That's why I always stop playing the game when I reach that stage.

"

Lobo#4398 wrote:

Being god is boring. That's why I always stop playing the game when I reach that stage.

I agree, but instead of trying to make it another game, just add the god-tier content that's actually challenging.

"

Evergrey#7535 wrote:

"

Lobo#4398 wrote:

Being god is boring. That's why I always stop playing the game when I reach that stage.

I agree, but instead of trying to make it another game, just add the god-tier content that's actually challenging.

exactly. They already watered down end game bosses since launch because people were having a hard time. I guess they need the easier gameplay for the ones struggling and harder content ontop of that for the ones who want continued challenge, so hopefully 0.5 brings that

"

Evergrey#7535 wrote:

"

Lobo#4398 wrote:

Being god is boring. That's why I always stop playing the game when I reach that stage.

I agree, but instead of trying to make it another game, just add the god-tier content that's actually challenging.

how about making challenging content from the start, not for god-tiers? And make it scale up bit by bit instead of powercreep

Hi, I'm Nobody. I will be very happy if they replicate the smooth progression and but ton of content that PoE1 has, while keeping the meaningful combat where appropriate, and to scale based on level and campaign/endgame progression.

"

x__Holy_One__x#9005 wrote:

The campaign gets watered down by "subtle" bat's flying over your head and showing the way for players that weirdly hate the campaign but tolerated the abomination of a POE 1 campaign where the second half is just copy pasted.

I can get through the entire POE1 campaign in the time it takes to get through a single godawful POE2 act. Even playing A1-A4 3 times over back in the day was quicker than getting through any of the POE2 acts. It's also not copy pasted; while there's a lot of reuse of assets and layouts in revisited areas (which is how they were able to add 6 acts to POE1 in less time than it took to go from POE2 0.4 to POE2 0.5), there are also significant differences between A1-A5 and A6-10.

"

Lobo#4398 wrote:

Being god is boring. That's why I always stop playing the game when I reach that stage.

And what you want? Feeling being miserable even with 3 million divine worth of gear? That is not fun either.

"

yosheee89#3525 wrote:

exactly. They already watered down end game bosses since launch because people were having a hard time. I guess they need the easier gameplay for the ones struggling and harder content ontop of that for the ones who want continued challenge, so hopefully 0.5 brings that

You have it completely backwards. You are confusing a stat check with an actual mechanical challenge.

You look at content that requires better gear as challenging and content that doesn't as for those that struggle. But a stat check is not a challenge. Challenge is when a fight requires actual mechanical skill and execution. The reality is that all content in this game becomes easy once you get the gear. It's entirely about the grind, not the gameplay, and adding higher tiers doesn't change that.