POE2 disrespecting our time (Post-0.4.0)
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Zones have too few monsters?
I think a lot of zones have too many. I just made a rant post about Drowned City again for starters. Much of the game forces you to fight swarms in choke points and you can't walk forward until you clear. If you're trying to play relatively casual, do things around the house, and do side content along the way, this game takes 40+ hours to get through the campaign. You're absolutely right though that it does not respect your time. |
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" You are mathematically correct about the Revenue, but you are missing one critical piece: The Ecosystem. Yes, the "Whales" (top 1-2%) pay the server bills. But the Whales need the "Krill/Plankton" (the other 98% of us) to survive. The Supply Chain: Whales don't farm their own Bubblegum Currency (Alts, Chromes) or base crafting materials. They buy them from the masses. If the 500k "casuals" quit because of unfair one-shots, the Trade Economy collapses. The Whales have nobody to buy materials from, and nobody to sell their failed crafts to. The "Audience" Factor: Why buy a $500 Supporter Pack if there is nobody in town to see it? Whales pay for the privilege of standing out. If the server is empty, their investment feels worthless. They need a populated world to feel "Elite." So, GGG might care about the Whales' wallets, but they must care about our retention. We are the content. We are the farmers. We are the NPCs that make the Whales feel powerful. If they drive us away with cheap one-shot mechanics, the Whales will eventually leave too, because a dead ocean isn't fun for the biggest fish either. |
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" Actually, we are both right. It sounds contradictory, but it is a Pacing Issue. The "Too Few" Problem: In large, open areas (like deserts or fields), you can often run for 20-30 seconds without seeing a pack. That is the "Walking Simulator" part. The "Too Many" Problem: As you said (Drowned City is a perfect example), the game loves to stack 50 mobs in a tiny doorway or bridge. This isn't "Good Density"; this is "Body Blocking." They are using monsters as Roadblocks to force you to stop, rather than spreading them out for fun combat flow. It creates a frustrating rhythm: Walk in empty space -> Get stuck in a choke point -> Walk in empty space. And regarding the 40+ Hours Campaign: That proves the "Disrespecting Time" point perfectly. For a genre based on Seasons/Leagues (restarting every 3 months), a 40-hour "Tutorial" is insane. If playing casually takes a full work week just to reach the actual game (Maps), the progression curve is broken. |
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" That is true, if they piss off the majority of players, eventually whales move on and find a new title so ya true that |
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I have to agree 100% about the time sink. I played in .1 loved the game and got to lvl97 on a barb, but then I quit and never looked back. Seems things have gotten worse in the 2 main problems I have:
- campaign is even longer now and has to repeated every time/season. 40+ hours to get it done for me is too much - more iMportantly economy inflation is just turbo discouraging. you are non stop fighting this from season start and 99% of players (similar to RL) lose that battle and fall behind. you play trade league to get BiS and trade. with inflation so hard it becomes impossible to get the gear to do best content to get the currency. throughout a league the design should be that BiS becomes cheaper and easier to get the closer the season comes to end and not the opposite. until these are fixed i don’t see myslef in the game spending 200+ hours just to barely be relevant. |
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I never understood why the "NEXT GEN live service arpg" didn't try to solve the problem with a linear campaign/story
I feel like if the devs wants you to play the campaign over and over again the campaign itself shouldn't be so linear and repetitive, all the scripted bits are fun for the first time but not after hundreds of hours, and in this case i'm in favor of a campaign skip after completing it once per league (if you want to) bcs maps in campaign are waaay too big, when i reach endgame i'm already exhausted Also "I shouldn't be forced into Trade League just to make a build viable." I 100% agree. Zuletzt bearbeitet von Vyend#2601 um 12.02.2026, 21:32:54
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" Yeah. No. The reason why I buy supporter packs is because I look at my char all the time and I want to look on something that looks good. I don't care about flexing. Also I play SSF so I don't trade with others. I will play this game as long as I see it as fun even I'll be the only player on the server. Zuletzt bearbeitet von Sakanabi#6664 um 13.02.2026, 01:46:34
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I've long felt that GGG don't respect players time. It's a little too frosty for my taste, if you get my meaning. (player metrics, etc)
Temple is far too complicated to setup and CoC bloodmage stayed too broken the entire druid league. Only a handful of builds can actually stand up to the busted OP mechanics at "end-game" maps and if they think casual players are going to stick around for this they are going to have a rude awakening. |
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" "Similar to RL (Real Life), 99% lose that battle." That hits hard because it is true. We play games for Escapism. We want to feel powerful and rewarded for our time. But PoE currently feels like a "Poverty Simulator." You described the "Inflation vs. Income" trap perfectly: I farm X currency per hour. But the item I want increases in price by 2X per hour. Result: The more I play, the further behind I fall. In a healthy game economy, gear should depreciate over time (get cheaper) as more supply enters the market. In PoE, the wealth gap widens so fast that if you aren't in the top 1% by Day 3, you are essentially playing a different game than they are. Spending 200+ hours just to feel "barely relevant" is exactly why people burn out. |
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" "Next Gen" implies innovation, not just better graphics. You are absolutely right. If a game markets itself as the "Future of ARPGs," why is it stuck with a Campaign structure from 2000? Scripted Events: Cool the first time. A tedious unskippable cutscene the 50th time. Linearity: Doing the exact same fetch quests in the exact same order every single league isn't "Content"; it's a chore. If they want us to replay the Campaign, it needs Roguelike elements or Dynamic paths. But since they insist on a static, linear story, the Campaign Skip (Adventure Mode) becomes a necessity, not a luxury. We are tired of "Next Gen" visuals with "Last Gen" mechanics. And yes, regarding Trade: Forcing players into a player-driven economy just to make a build function is bad design. Solo play should always be viable. |
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