How to fix endgame mapping & towers

This is my suggestion for how to fix the endgame and, spoiler alert, the answer is going to basically be "use the system you already have in place".

PREAMBLE

Also, despite GGG saying they were comfortable with experimentation, that does not seem to be the case. They're good with adding stuff in, but I see little evidence they are ok with taking stuff out. Also, the current philosophy at GGG seems to be "just add more stuff", which is correct in the sense that yes, we need more stuff, but if the foundation is not good, adding more stuff won't fix it.

The fundamental system feels inherently bad for the majority of the players. It honestly feels like you're in the Groundhog Day movie and you're just stuck in an endless loop of doing maps. There is no sense of progression, exploration, or choice. And adding more stuff isn't going to fix that. It's a distraction, but it's not a system that makes for a good game or a large player base that will stick with you.

Anyways, on to it. This method uses the structure currently used in the campaign but adds the visuals and basic experience of the endgame, and also meets the goals of both GGG and players.

What are the goals

* gives a sense of progression (quick add on, using an infinite map gives the EXACT OPPOSITE feeling of progression. Progression implies movement towards a goal, that is, you progress TOWARDS something. If the map is infinite, you're not really progressing towards anything. It just feels like rinse and repeat on autopilot forever).

* gives the player agency

* gives variety

And here is how it works...

1. Make the map finite and give it discrete locations you travel between just like you do in the campaign. Locations are not repeated and you travel between biomes. On a basic level, you're essentially taking the entirety of the campaign and putting in onto one map, with the maps inspired by the maps you played in the campaign. It's not like repeating Acts 1-3, however. The maps are different, and you add on new maps as well.

Ideally, you could even hint at these areas in the campaign as sectioned off areas you get to play when you finish to help build suspense and intrigue. So yeah, like a good movie sequel, you take the existing structure and familiarity of what people liked and then add onto it, tweak it, and improve it so it's familiar bus also fresh.

Is that just PoE1? No. In overall structure, sure, it's essentially PoE1, but PoE1 was just a bunch of random dots on a white screen. This is an actual world you traverse, similar to the endgame now, but not a bunch of random locations repeated over and over infinitely in no particular order.

2. Once you beat an area, you've beat it, and can replay it as many times as you want. This gives agency to the people who just want to grind the same map over and over again.

Incentive to progress is done by making the maps harder as you go along the atlas, but also more rewarding (more xp, more monseters, more drops, more space for more content)

3. You choose the map tier for the given map like you do now.

4. Keep the fog of war as is and use towers so you can see further. Again, this is not just PoE1 again. Unlike PoE1, where everything is laid out in front of you from the start, there is still a feeling of progression and choices as you navigate through a real world. You still have to explore the map and there is no guarantee the thing you want is in the direction you're going, but you know there is SOMETHING, and you're not just stuck in a Groundhog Day scenario of endless maps you don't want to do.

But the endgame now does not feel like a real world. It's just PoE1 but you've duplicated the maps and made it infinite. That is not immersive, it's just boring.

5. Juicing maps with extra content should be a separate mechanic. Just like we add modifiers with exalts, you add breaches with dropped currency. I know GGG and many players don't just want endless amounts of currency, but in this case, this currency isn't really currency. It only does this 1 specific thing.

Main issue addresed...

6. I know the main issue GGG would have with is they will say "well if people get to the pinnacle bosses, then it means they can just replay them over and over and it will cheapen the boss"...to which my answer is...

THAT IS WHY YOU BALANCE YOUR GAME!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not hard. Yes, it means people can grind away over and over on a pinnacle boss, but the difficulty of the boss is tied to the tier of the map, so it's not a problem if you just balance your game.

Oh, you beat the pinnacle boss with a tier 1, then you get a good rare item and some exalts. You beat the pinnacle boss with tier 15, then you get divines and a premium unique.

Oh, you beat him in 20 seconds on tier 1, well that's ok. You put in different mechanics the longer the fight goes on, which is what should be happening on a tier 15 and if you're balancing your game properly (ie...you don't give your boss mechanics that can 1 shot a character in the first 10 seconds of a fight).

Or, you just set a minimum tier level for the pinnacle bosses ( or any other map for that matter).

It's not that hard...basically anything other than what you have now.

Summary

So yeah, that is my suggestion. It's a system that builds off of the campaign maps, adds new stuff, uses a progression system similar to PoE1 atlas, but places it in an actual world that you have to traverse and make choices in, complete with a fog of war and towers.

* it gives a little bit of of what GGG wants and a little bit of what the player wants
* gives a feeling of progression, exploration and choice
* gives room to add on new maps in the future
* gives the player a feeling of agency
* uses an existing structure (just use the progression system you use in the campaign but build on it and make it look like what the current endgame looks like so people feel like they are travelling in a real world.)