respecing.

I didn't say players would play no more then X characters, but thank you for shoving words in my mouth.

I asked, why it was required to replay X characters.

You know, you say, and quite ironically I might add, that I specify an X amount of characters I think players will play.

Yet with the idea of this game, you force me to play an X amount of characters I may or may not want to play.

Your system requires me to play X characters, to get the character I desire.

My idea, allows for you to be able to replay for your, "Journey" If you will whenever you desire. But allows me to not play by your system requiring me to replay an X number of characters to meet what you consider a goal of the game.

Truly, don't educate me about what I'm saying when you can't see what you are saying within the confines of your own thoughts.

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Ultreos wrote:

I didn't say players would play no more then X characters, but thank you for shoving words in my mouth.

Well, that is the implication when you say that playing high-level characters just for the loot is "necessary" for long-term enjoyment of a game in the genre (especially when you talk about "the" character you desire), but my point is more that for any given amount of time invested, the person who enjoys building new characters will have more characters than the person who prefers exclusively high-level play.

My point about high-level fights not being the only valid reason to play a game long-term stands.

And under the present system, you do have an alternative to starting a new character: hunting or trading for orbs of regret.

The argument against cheap - or free - respecialization isn't that it makes creating new characters impossible. It's that it removes most of the reasons why making new characters is fun: you get fewer challenging decisions, no way to trade future power for more immediate power (or vice versa), and much less sense of anticipation, originality, or long-term planning.

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kaniz wrote:

Maybe add an option to 'Retire' a character, and start a new character at a higher level. Say the 'Mentor' - starts at 30% of the level of your max-level character, but if you retire a character - the next one you create starts at 70% of the level of the character you retire. So if you had a lvl 100 character - you could retire him, and start a new one at lvl 70 - but give up your retired one in the process.

I like this idea - you can also incorporate some form of continuity like a son/prodigy. It creates a RPG-like element to it.

Different people play the game for different reasons. I guess the developers have to make the stand on what kind of game PoE wants to be and the vision they have on the gameplay and experience they want to achieve. If they can achieve a balance that can satisfy most people, that would be the ideal end scenario.

Power gamers aren't the majority of the gaming population.(although I will like to believe that). Life gets in the way of being one - time to play it, other games to sink your teeth into. Most people just don't have the time to do it.

Prob been mentioned in this thread, but I don't see why a rare orb near the exalted or possibly mirror rarity would be an issue for a reset.

The solution is simple to me. Make Orbs of Regret slightly less rare and lower on the currency tree for the Open Beta or final release. There are respec points in the game already and they should follow that system.

Diablo 3 let you swap skills whenever you want, even during fights. Personally, I love that system and think the whole 'limited respec' thing is outdated and should remain in the past. What's the point in playing 20 hours on a character, realizing you've made a mistake with your skills and having to start from scratch? Not saying you can't do that here, but we got Leagues for that. We could simply have a No Respec-league and a Free Respect-league. That way everyone will be happy. In theory. Except this is computer-land, so no one will ever be happy.

I hate diablo 3s system. I have no connection to my character.

I also dont see how you could make a big enough mistake on a character that couldnt be fixed by the free respec points or orbs of regret. If that character is that far off from what you want then I see nothing wrong with making a new character and having to experience leveling it up. Especially in a hardcore league where having free respecs means you just choose the best build for the the situation.

I like POEs system and I think it is a good enough compromise between no respecs and being able to fix minor issues with your build.

I see a couple of issues with the current logic.

1) The approach was designed to discourage "cookie cutter" builds (i.e. simply copying builds off the Internet) - actually, I think this will have exactly the opposite result, in that people will be afraid to experiment. Why do I want to replay a character I am expected to replay four times to "finish" the game?

2) The passive skill tree is huge, but GGG wants you to just have fun and play - players that are intimidated by the tree are just going to be more so knowing a mistake will be very hard to fix once they are farther down a passive tree. Again, they are going to turn to the Internet to avoid mistakes and end up with a common/safe build.

From my perspective, now having rolled all classes and having four of them in the late 20's (a Ranger in to Cruel difficulty), there are just too many choices that are vague. For example, Spell Damage on a Shadow? What counts as Spell Damage? I read there are specific Spell Damage from Weapon buffs as well. How is this clear?

Another Shadow example (because this class has been the trickiest of the lot to build for me) it took me forever to find out CI stood for Chaos Inoculation, and then I didn't fully understand the mechanics of the interplay with Energy Shield. Now I am basically waiting for the wipe to fix my Shadow (I don't want multiple Shadows, thanks I want one working one) and playing my other characters.

I understand the concept of character engagement/investment. There needs to be some options along the way though to truly allow experimentation without forcing a player to replay a game they are expected to replay multiple times already.

i dont like total respec. makes me feel like my character is just numbers. i lose the feel of uniqueness once complete respec comes in.

i hope it never does. i like the respec system exactly how they have it right now. dont ever change it.

This certainly does not need to be an either/or, black/white, binary discussion of options regarding the Passive Skill Tree (PST).

My point is that the expectations for a player to replay the same class to "fix" a class, or farm/trade for individual refund tokens may not be the most appropriate solution. Especially with a rich, well thought out feature like the PST.

How about continuing the "tree" analogy and granting the ability to "prune" from certain key points along the tree? This might not be a working solution either, but there are a world of options between no respec and full respec. Beta is where these sorts of things play out.