Time to nerf the EXP penalty on death ?

Why are you dying in the first place?

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MrTremere wrote:

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FG_Glory56 wrote:

Why are you dying in the first place?

How is this relevant in any way to this discussion?
Whether it's due to the game crashing, to some mobs dealing way too much damage, to some small mistake, or to us being braindead, it doesn't change the immense issues that the current iteration creates.

It is very relevant if you die to stupid shit you deserve to lose exp.

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I_NO wrote:

Spoiler

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MrTremere wrote:

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FG_Glory56 wrote:

Why are you dying in the first place?

How is this relevant in any way to this discussion?
Whether it's due to the game crashing, to some mobs dealing way too much damage, to some small mistake, or to us being braindead, it doesn't change the immense issues that the current iteration creates.

It is very relevant if you die to stupid shit you deserve to lose exp.

Heh, we're not discussing your regular "git gud" cases, where either build, items or skillplay should be improved, and not everyone wants to "break the game" with an "immortal" character 99% of the time, either via heavy defenses or obliterating offensive capabilities.

PoE can be played even when you let content "fight back", and a decent build, with decent items with decent skillplay will manage to finish content even with a disproportionate self imposed "nerf" like using a single target namelocking REAL dual wielding RT melee (yours friendly casual n00b hoarder already manages this), it will just warrant above average skillplay and a few deaths for those end game scenarios. It can be done and it's still a lot easier than beating Uber Elder/Atziri with 1 HP.

So let's try and be fair, as the sandbox version of the game - the "ultra popular" Standard league - does need an improvement to make players at least "feel" they aren't penalized except when they actually need to "git gud"...

Even an almighty T-Rex like yourself should think that there are at least "modest" improvements to be undertaken, regarding the death & gain EXP penalties...

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NemoJr wrote:

Spoiler

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sofocle10000 wrote:

I would enjoy the current system a lot more, IF I would be limited by my number of map portals (and I could adjust said limit at will), and based on that number I would have a chance at receiving in full the map EXP (for 6 portals, 1 portal would be 16.6%, for 5 portals, 1 would be 20%, ..., for 3 portals, 1 would equal 33.3%, ..., and for 1 portal, you would get up to 100% of the map EXP). And of course the said EXP is dependent on the enemies killed when you were playing the content.

I love the "spirit" of this suggestion, but I think it would work better if implemented as "Bonus XP for every unused portal" or something similar.

It's great because:

a) It somewhat balances slow, careful play vs. careless "clear-speed" zerging in terms of XP gain

b) It's a great "framing" tactic that makes the players feel they were rewarded for overcoming an additional challenge, instead of feeling penalized for failing it.

"b" is the kind of thing they'd teach in "Game Design 101". It's also the reason why certain games have some kind of "daily login reward" rather than "fuck you because you haven't played for a week penalty". :)

Of course, none of it really matters as long as the XP loss is still in place...

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About the 'ladder' thing I mentioned earlier: Aren't they based on total XP gained, rather than character level (and how fast you get there)? If that's the case, then why is letting players get to level 100 without an absurd grind is such an issue? How is it even relevant?

Am I missing something here?

Initially I thought about the forfeiting of portals to maps to target an additional EXP gain, like a small increased pack size of 1-2% per portal, but the current proposed system is a lot better. It modifies the death EXP penalty to be way more harsh and always makes you conscious of the number of deaths vs the number of portals. It stops advancing in a more "elegant" way, as an "once in a blue moon" death due to various reasons will not be as penalizing like now, but as soon as you try to "zerg" your way, you're faced with STAGNATION and/or progression at a "snail pace", that places a lot more focus on "git gud or stay stuck" than currently.

Up until level 95, a death feels like a "slap on the wrist" with the current system, and at 99 feels simply disheartening, meanwhile with the newly proposed one, it will still feel like a "slap on the wrist", but a fairer variation, and it will scale nicely even at 99, as it forces people to think, pay more attention, but will also encourage the tackling of harsh/end game content (even if no further improvements like an additional penalty to continuous deaths aren't implemented).

Content should be played, and overcome. Disregarding the "rarity" of attempts while leveling from 99 - 100 via end game content, why not encourage players to choose at will if they will further advance toward the level 100 goal, or tax themselves versus the harshest content the game can throw at them? Not to mention that the EXP provided by the said "harsh" content is subpar from a danger/reward ratio perspective, as I am sure I could advance both faster AND safer via T11-14 maps, and an eldered T16 of choice, versus most T15-16, which either have the new phased bosses or very "rippy" content if not both, even at level 99...

A change is long overdue, and hopefully all things considered, TencentGGG will actually improve our leveling experience even for those last few "walled" levels...