POE sure seems to be losing a lot of steam

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DaleWinters wrote:

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Alexdaemon wrote:

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cater to a small percentage of the population.

^That right there is what GGG had in mind when they made POE. So the so called steam loss not that big of a deal its mostly people that couldnt handle the game.

Yah bro they just need to keep on trucking and true fans will blaze their glory or some shit

Dale, your freaking ridiculous.

Releasing on Steam will give them a huge short term boost at least. I think they should wait until release to do that though.

I think they definitely went public too early. But they needed to sell a lot more store currency and so they probably had no choice. They do cater to a smaller market than D3 and TL2, but the market looking for a 3D Diablo 2 is still large.

A decent percentage of players that try a game and quit never try that game again. Going to open beta and taking peoples money on such an unready product is a problem.

I was pretty excited for open beta myself but I am losing interest in this game. Currently looking for something else to play. As far as the bookstore supermarker analogy, all the bookstores around here went out of business.

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-System requirements

Spoiler

(why I'm not playing right now) I can't get past level 50 on HC until I get my new computer. This really thins out the population, as only some PC gamers can stay up with the times.

Trend goes to hardware demanding f2p titles. Sad, good? Your part.

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-Desync

Spoiler

Its small, its almost stupid to complain about it seems, but when you lose a character that you have put weeks of effort into because of it, it sucks. Much less when it happens a second time.

Desync itself is bad. Knowing about it then complaining is your fault.

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-Learning Curve.

Spoiler

This game was not designed to hold your hand. From the very beginning you are thrown onto a beach spamming potions to stay alive while Hillock bashes your face in. Then you reach the fire Bitch and she murders you because you didn't avoid the rain of death. Then you reach the island and get perma frozen and shattered into a million pieces by the ice bitch. This trend continues until you have learned what does what, and what to avoid. For some people, like me, it is amazing. For a majority of others its a waste of time.
Throw spec choices that don't fail until level 45ish in here, and you got yourself a pretty harsh game for a carebear player.

True. When you want maximizing your base of players you need to do everything to please the "casual". Here PoE lacks.

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-Lack of content

Spoiler

As much as we love this game. The fact is, there are only 3 short acts. That you play through over and over and over. And for those who reach endgame, you burn through maps over and over and over. It will burn people out quickly, and they will want something new.

Informed players know there are releases of new content every now and then. There is said that they´ll release 1 act every year + patches + possible character changes i don´t fucking know what you´re complaining about.

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-Groups

Spoiler

While I don't mind the cut-throat looting system(some do), I do hate that content becomes too easy in a group. Watch any streamer or join a group for any boss run. No one dies unless they get 1-2 shot. Mobs simply don't have an attention span, and constantly switch between tons of targets, making any non aoe or 1 shot danger negligible.
This leads to just running along, as fast as the group can aoe down packs. No thinking required, just spam your best attack. It's just incredibly boring imo.

Just true.

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-Pvp

Spoiler

As far as I know this is almost nonexistent. Maybe a few players who like to try and spec for it and blow people up now and then. But the majority of players seem to avoid it.
Cut-throat league may change all that.

True. Then again the real PvP awaits in cut throat leauge that´s coming. Also arena like pvp is just a fun time shredder in MY opinion.

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-Sense of accomplishment

Spoiler

Unless you are one of the top players on the ladder, or have 1 of the super rare items people want to copy, no one really knows or cares what gear you have. Being a grinding gear based game it would be nice to feel like you can show off some of your loot without linking it in forums.
Perhaps an inspect option, with a single instance city, would fix this. Or being able to click names on the forum and see equipped gear.
Its a small thing, but it really helps in a game like this. And I used to love looking at other peoples gear in other online games.

Well i don´t need a E-penis. If you that ungifted then use search function and join a thread in suggesion forum with char item comparison.

I checked out PoE through a site called Alexa, which I have come to trust more than Google Trends for tracking actual data. You can see my thread here. However, this is the conclusion I came to:

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me wrote:

CONCLUSION:
PoE has a long way to go before we can determine whether it has completely lost its "steam" or not. But, what we can determine is that PoE is in no way "dying", and looks like it will stabilize into a profitable game that will fill the niche that all of us happy players have been hoping would be filled. So if you're worried about buying GGGold because you don't know if the game will be around in a year, don't worry. PoE is here to stay.

I addressed this as well:

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FrodoFraggins wrote:

They do cater to a smaller market than D3 and TL2, but the market looking for a 3D Diablo 2 is still large.

Actually, TL2's launch didn't even come *close* to the launch of PoE, and website traffic for TL2 is insignificant in comparison to PoE. About half as many players went to TL2 at its launch as went to PoE, and PoE's trend is much more promising.

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LoliDesu wrote:

I don't think PoE losing steam is a bad thing. They are catering to a hardcore playerbase that will keep their game alive for a long time.

I don't see how...the endgame is a complete disaster.

Nothing like spending 4 chisels 1 alch and 2 chaos for the privilege of grinding out 3%, only to die for X reason and spend the next day working back the lost XP.

Not to mention the non-existant group/guild system, currency required to play higher maps, and everyone being on a different time schedule.

Ever work with a good group for a week grinding 66s, then get sick for 3 days only to come back and find that you've been replaced and all the 67-72 maps were blown through while you were unable to play? Fun times *rolls eyes*

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Shippal wrote:

I checked out PoE through a site called Alexa, which I have come to trust more than Google Trends for tracking actual data. You can see my thread here. However, this is the conclusion I came to:

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me wrote:

CONCLUSION:
PoE has a long way to go before we can determine whether it has completely lost its "steam" or not. But, what we can determine is that PoE is in no way "dying", and looks like it will stabilize into a profitable game that will fill the niche that all of us happy players have been hoping would be filled. So if you're worried about buying GGGold because you don't know if the game will be around in a year, don't worry. PoE is here to stay.

I addressed this as well:

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FrodoFraggins wrote:

They do cater to a smaller market than D3 and TL2, but the market looking for a 3D Diablo 2 is still large.

Actually, TL2's launch didn't even come *close* to the launch of PoE, and website traffic for TL2 is insignificant in comparison to PoE. About half as many players went to TL2 at its launch as went to PoE, and PoE's trend is much more promising.

Runic got box sales for every copy of TL2. Until I see actual financial date, I have a hard time believing TL2 didn't dwarf POE in terms of gross revenue and profits.

I do think POEs future is more promising, but only if they fix a lot of issues and delay releasing the final product until they have a product that can actually entertain even the more casual players.

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Shippal wrote:

I checked out PoE through a site called Alexa, which I have come to trust more than Google Trends for tracking actual data. You can see my thread here. However, this is the conclusion I came to:

"

me wrote:

CONCLUSION:
PoE has a long way to go before we can determine whether it has completely lost its "steam" or not. But, what we can determine is that PoE is in no way "dying", and looks like it will stabilize into a profitable game that will fill the niche that all of us happy players have been hoping would be filled. So if you're worried about buying GGGold because you don't know if the game will be around in a year, don't worry. PoE is here to stay.

I addressed this as well:

"

FrodoFraggins wrote:

They do cater to a smaller market than D3 and TL2, but the market looking for a 3D Diablo 2 is still large.

Actually, TL2's launch didn't even come *close* to the launch of PoE, and website traffic for TL2 is insignificant in comparison to PoE. About half as many players went to TL2 at its launch as went to PoE, and PoE's trend is much more promising.

good thread and well said. A "small market" is a relative term. I was trying to explain that to Alexdaemon Small in this case, D2 fanbase/market share is larger then what most people think. Millions of people loved and grew fond of D2. If half or a third of them convert to PoE then you are still looking at a huge deal. Alexdaemon did not get that concept.

It was to be expected, in my eyes.

Being an indie team, it was obvious that they weren't going to have the oomph on OB launch that AAA companies are able to have (even if they waste that privilege sometimes). I think this is evident in content. The map system is a great concept but still seems somewhat lacking in depth; furthermore, once you get the hang of how things work, you can breeze through all three difficulties really quickly, which doesn't help. On this same line, the meta seems to be somewhat up in the air - PvP is kinda there but kinda not really, trading can turn into a pretty epic quest, grouping is not exactly encouraged, but neither is soloing, group looting is a weird hybrid between two extremes, and so forth.

The other problem I think has been killing a lot of the new players is a lack of balance throughout the game. As it stands, itemization plus the passive tree plus how (incoherently) difficulty scales in Act 3 in all difficulties just makes a lot of people get stuck and not be able to progress further. Some will reroll and try something else maybe having better luck with a new build, but eventually a lot of them just give up in face of constant frustration. I'm sure a lot of people would stick with the game if the general curve was smoother (not easier), which is bound to happen after some patches.

What was the alternative, though? It must have been a balancing act juggling supporters and momentum from CB and trying to come up with somewhat a polished product for OB. All things considered, it could've been much worse.

I don't know. I think people in general are either being too hermetic to the idea of changing some aspects of the game, too alarmist about where the game is headed or too demanding with what and when they ask of GGG.

It's still way early in the development history but, all in all, I think GGG is doing fine. I'm confident that PoE will age well, but it's a small company, so it'll take some time.

Yes, I don't think PoE will ever appeal to casual gamers. They are where the money is because there are soooooo many of them. It's a good thing that everything I know about GGG and have seen them do tells me they care more about their vision for this game than the mighty dollar.

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Gregz wrote:

Spoiler

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LoliDesu wrote:

I don't think PoE losing steam is a bad thing. They are catering to a hardcore playerbase that will keep their game alive for a long time.

I don't see how...the endgame is a complete disaster.

Nothing like spending 4 chisels 1 alch and 2 chaos for the privilege of grinding out 3%, only to die for X reason and spend the next day working back the lost XP.

Not to mention the non-existant group/guild system, currency required to play higher maps, and everyone being on a different time schedule.

Ever work with a good group for a week grinding 66s, then get sick for 3 days only to come back and find that you've been replaced and all the 67-72 maps were blown through while you were unable to play? Fun times *rolls eyes*

You are a different kind of hardcore player (if you identify as such). Playing is the fun part. Winning is a bonus.

Usually, at least for casuals, it's the other way around. Them having limited time makes playing at all a bonus, whereas, winning is the fun part for them, usually. This means they need easy games so they can "win" in the short time they have to play them. Which is why Angry Birds was so popular. A game that can be taken in bite sized chunks and feeds out victory a time or two within those chunks.

PoE is the opposite. You can spend an hour and almost get no where.

That's all from my experience though. Others might be different.