The problem with brands, Arc, and similar skills.

I'll keep this brief, because the argument does not need to be complex.

When an auto-casting or auto-targeting skill competes with a similarly powered skill which is not similarly automatic, it will always win.

There is a reason that people are becoming more and more disgusted with totems and traps being safer than and superior to self-casted spells, and this is closely related to that, but the issue actually runs a little deeper than this, and it has to do with everyone's favorite word: "meta."

When you don't have to interact to play the game, to target the monster (arc), or even cast the spell again on a monster (brands), why bother with skills where you have to work for your power?

While it is fun to play overpowered builds (of course it is), look at the bigger picture. This development is NOT good for your game in the long run. And I say this as someone who freely admits to abusing the Storm Brand meta. Because why the fuck would I do otherwise? Gimp myself for a little bit of extra situational power?

And that there is your perennial (quite literally perennial) issue, GGG: You think that creating a moving meta adds to your game. It does not. It's only a temporary puzzle until people figure it out, and in the longer term a hindrance to build diversity, which in turn makes your game a much less interesting game. You care about that, right?

Players should be rewarded for knowledge, absolutely, I do acknowledge this. But they should be rewarded for their knowledge of gameplay mechanics and interactions, not for their knowledge of where did GGG drop the ball on balance this patch? Right now, and for the past few leagues, the latter has been far more applicable than the former.

This latest trend of automatic skills is just one more symptom of the runaway inflation you continue to add every league.

I know this can be very hard to do when you are intimately involved with a project, but try to take a step back and think of the long-term health of Path of Exile. Isn't your leader giving a speech in the near future on building a game that can be played forever?

LONG TERM HEALTH GAMES dyin for 1204000 years!

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LONG TERM HEALTH GAMES dyin for 1204000 years!

You're saying automatic skills are good for poe?

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LONG TERM HEALTH GAMES dyin for 1204000 years!

Brands are brand new, and Arc in its current incarnation is not far behind, so what was your point again?

Try and make a coherent post, I_NO, if you actually want to state something. Otherwise feel free to return to your flopping around as a dinosaur and similar antics in GD.

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gibbousmoon wrote:

"

LONG TERM HEALTH GAMES dyin for 1204000 years!

Brands are brand new, and Arc in its current incarnation is not far behind, so what was your point again?

Try and make a coherent post, I_NO, if you actually want to state something. Otherwise feel free to return to your flopping around as a dinosaur and similar antics in GD.

Can't hear you ''LONG TERM HEALTH'' over 10222 years now and it's ''going to die'' according to you CUZ OF THESE SKILLLLLLZZZZZZZZZZ

"

"

gibbousmoon wrote:

"

LONG TERM HEALTH GAMES dyin for 1204000 years!

Brands are brand new, and Arc in its current incarnation is not far behind, so what was your point again?

Try and make a coherent post, I_NO, if you actually want to state something. Otherwise feel free to return to your flopping around as a dinosaur and similar antics in GD.

Can't hear you ''LONG TERM HEALTH'' over 10222 years now and it's ''going to die'' according to you CUZ OF THESE SKILLLLLLZZZZZZZZZZ

And now you put words in my mouth. But maybe I'm not speaking the right language.

BACK TO FLOPPING, YOU GO! GRAHRZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Better?

:_; FINE MEANIE.

the agressive AI and auto targeting of brands and totems are nice for console versions of poe

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:_; FINE MEANIE.

I created the topic in the hopes of people having a discussion. You know, like people mutually understanding each other and talking about their disagreements and such? Interesting stuff, I find. And I particularly welcome people who disagree, because they often have the most interesting perspectives to add.

Now, it's clear that you disagree, but it's not so clear that you are willing and/or able to disagree in a productive manner, one that adds to the conversation in any sort of non-destructive way.

If calling you out on that makes me a "MEANIE," then so be it. Contribute productively or go away. I honestly don't care which you do. But please pick one or the other.

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elemental_oasis wrote:

the agressive AI and auto targeting of brands and totems are nice for console versions of poe

I don't doubt it.

And this in itself raises an interesting question: Is it better in the long run to lower the quality of the PC game in order to accommodate console players, in order to raise the overall player numbers?

(And GGG is a business, now more so than ever, so though this sounds like a cheeky rhetorical question, it actually isn't.)

"

gibbousmoon wrote:

"

:_; FINE MEANIE.

I created the topic in the hopes of people having a discussion. You know, like people mutually understanding each other and talking about their disagreements and such? Interesting stuff, I find. And I particularly welcome people who disagree, because they often have the most interesting perspectives to add.

Now, it's clear that you disagree, but it's not so clear that you are willing and/or able to disagree in a productive manner, one that adds to the conversation in any sort of non-destructive way.

If calling you out on that makes me a "MEANIE," then so be it. Contribute productively or go away. I honestly don't care which you do. But please pick one or the other.

"

elemental_oasis wrote:

the agressive AI and auto targeting of brands and totems are nice for console versions of poe

I don't doubt it.

And this in itself raises an interesting question: Is it better in the long run to lower the quality of the PC game in order to accommodate console players, in order to raise the overall player numbers?

(And GGG is a business, now more so than ever, so though this sounds like a cheeky rhetorical question, it actually isn't.)

The auto-casting & auto-targeting of brands and totems are also very helpful to us summoners being utility skills to direct our minions and generate frenzy charges. Example: We want to give our minions frenzy charges at the same time blind enemies but we dont want to lost the benefits of shield so we don't invest necromanctic aegis. We use the shield victario charity and flame totem+faster casting+blind because flame totem is a very fast hitting spell then it's a guarantee that frenzy charges will be generated and enemies will be blinded.