The potential of Path of Exile's dynamic content -- End-Game? What End-Game?**

"Wraeclast is an ancient continent of nearly endless intrigue and mystery." -- http://www.pathofexile.com/areas/

There has been some discussion about end-game Path of Exile and the recycling of areas. I wanted to isolate what I think is a tantalising vision for the future of the game: a dynamic end-game that moves further and further away from the origin with each addition of content, and therefore is itself redefined.

Right now, end-game is undeniably Maelstrom of Chaos -- an ad-hoc barrage of very powerful iterations of existing monsters. Well and good, fun for some, not really interesting to me. But if indeed that is not really interesting to me, then I must make an unfortunate confession: neither is the idea of recycling entire acts or even the game at a higher difficulty level just to obtain relatively better gear. People wonder why I rarely wander into Cruel and beyond. I like to joke it's because I suck and chat waaaay too much, but when I do play, I can move at a pace comparable to most other experienced ARPG players. I pushed my Duelist into Cruel just before the latest patch and wipe, tried Cruel for a bit and just wasn't that into it. The repetition brought back too many unpleasant memories of ThatOtherGameSeries.

Now we all know that Act 3 is coming, and with it, the removal of an entire difficulty level (at the top end). This naturally states that act 3 at the 3rd tier is comparable to act 2 at the 4th, while act 3 in normal is somewhat comparable to act 1 cruel. Okay, we shall see. I'm not going to debate the veracity of this, merely the implications.

And the most exciting of these is that GGG are willing to work quite hard to implement new content (act3 at the 3rd tier) that effectively replaces old (act 2 at the 4th). It has also been stated that both acts 1 and 2 will be changed to fit the implementation of act 3. Our current vision of end-game is going to change.

As I have implied in other posts, PoE treads some interesting lines between ARPG and MMO in my opinion. Certainly it plays like an ARPG but it has certain social and financial trappings of the free-to-play MMO. In observing how end-game can become dynamic and relative, I think we can also see that Path of Exile shares with the MMO the lack of permanence when it comes to a definite end-game.

Path of Exile has a development model not unlike those seen in free-to-play MMOs: an elongated closed beta with several significant patches stretched over a year which anyone with half a mind to do so can join and test. The next goal is an open beta which also serves the function of a soft release, thereby not actually 'locking' the game into a state of 'full release.' In other words, content patches can come at any point, rather than in the form of packaged expansions.

I thus view Path of Exile as extremely dynamic (and this forms part of the argument of why it should be online-only and certain games, shouldn't) and constantly growing. Certainly there are stagnant periods, but typically only after a dynamic change -- we're in one such period now. Barely a week or two after the dramatic 0.9.9 changes and people are already calling for the next big change.

If Path of Exile is therefore dynamic, then I can imagine it will eventually escape the recycling of levels as more and more content is added. GGG have stated they have a ten-year plan. I cannot conceive such a plan without at least some aspiration towards a more expanded environment. Again, if not MMO-like, then certainly GW1-ish. I firmly believe that they have created Wraeclast as a continent (with Oriath as a tiny island hovering on its intimidating edge) precisely to allow indefinite expansion.

Central to this is the idea of a more MMO-like story, which they've certainly done so far. The protagonist is but one of many, no promises have been made that anything we do will really change or save the world, and we learn about the world through our characters. There's no need for the act 3 boss to be any sort of game-changer let alone game-ender. He, she or it can just be a particularly significant obstruction between us and the next step in our journey. Why even have a be-all-and-end-all boss anyway? That is the domain of the story-driven game for me, the single player epic experience. The Path of Exile need never actually end -- what is its destination anyway? Home? What's that? I think we'll always be somehow alien and unwelcome in Wraeclast, just as Wraeclast will always have some new danger waiting just past the next monster, around the next corner...

Like I said, this is long-term thinking. It's making a lot of assumptions, with the biggest one being the ongoing financial viability of the game itself. The difficulty in balancing would be not inconsiderable -- what if the next added 'act' and its boss(es) make existing builds unviable? GGG won't face that problem with Open Beta and act 3 because it's well-known we're all getting wiped anyway. And you can't wipe every time you put a new act in play; indeed, wipes post Open-beta should not even be discussed. As an aside, I can't imagine the skilldrasil in a locked form -- would further content ignore it altogether? Or would each significant content addition result in 1 voluntary complete respec?

These issues aside, I think the fact that GGG are dropping a difficulty-recycle tier with the coming of real new content is very much indicative of just how possible the eventual removal of difficulty-recycling entirely is for a dynamic, constantly-changing game. With that removal comes the equally exciting possibility of an end-game that isn't really an end-game at all, just the current greatest challenge. We might master that challenge, but that need not be a guarantee that we've 'finished the game'.

In short, my ultimate vision of Path of Exile is as a game you simply can't finish until the game itself is finished. End-game becomes a temporary term not in hindsight (as with most MMOs as they add The Latest Set of Raids And Bosses) but in the present, reinforcing the perils of ever becoming comfortable in Wraeclast.

** Acknowledgments and thanks to ualac for inspiring this post in another topic, particularly the idea of 'one long story arc.'

Congratulations. There are only a handful of posters that I would bother to read so many of their words at once.

I think you're getting way far ahead of GGG. What you're talking about would need several years to even begin to realize. No one knows where PoE will be at that point. I doubt even GGG has a firm grasp of where they would like to go.

PoE is a game with a lot of potential. It's dangerous to start making assumptions about that potential because in life potential is rarely realized. Everyone has their own little vision of how PoE will morph into their perfect game. People who had been here a long time have moved on when their little bubble of a vision was burst by how the game has developed.

I try not to force my own vision of the game onto PoE's potential because that will only lead to disappointment down the road.

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tpapp157 wrote:

Congratulations. There are only a handful of posters that I would bother to read so many of their words at once.

I think you're getting way far ahead of GGG. What you're talking about would need several years to even begin to realize. No one knows where PoE will be at that point. I doubt even GGG has a firm grasp of where they would like to go.

PoE is a game with a lot of potential. It's dangerous to start making assumptions about that potential because in life potential is rarely realized. Everyone has their own little vision of how PoE will morph into their perfect game. People who had been here a long time have moved on when their little bubble of a vision was burst by how the game has developed.

I try not to force my own vision of the game onto PoE's potential because that will only lead to disappointment down the road.

Thank you for the feedback, tpapp, and I completely acknowledge the sheer loftiness of what I've said. I'm a dreamer by nature, one of those annoyingly naive people to whom a blank screen seems infinite -- even when other faculties tell me it's only 26" at its greatest measurement. By the same token, I've certainly been involved in enough collaborative projects to understand the pains and pleasures of limitation -- this is reflected, game-wise, in my love of creating weird and wonderful alts, I think.

Even if PoE remains as it is, with difficulty-recycling and monster iteration, I'm here for the long haul and I don't play anywhere near as much as I'd like. I hope I'm not so much imposing my vision of PoE/GGG onto the existing model as merely sharing one of many possibilities. :)

GGG have said in the past they plan to have at least 5 acts eventually. Whether or not the extra acts will replace one or more of the difficulty tiers is less clear. If I had to guess I would say there will always be three difficulties but who knows what might happen down the road.

You are right to discard the notion of a "finished product". PoE will be something that has continual evolution over time, being free to play there is no need to save up updates into an expansion pack for sale. Things will keep getting better slowly over time for as long as the game remains financially viable.

A wonderful post, one that I hope Chris will get to read.

I share your idealism, especially because I have high hopes for this game. Being a dreamer myself, the thought of enjoying 5 acts of this is tantalizing to say the least.

I think having an extra difficulty or two is great because some people (like myself) like to push ourselves to the max.

If GGG adds 5 acts, then the 3 difficulty levels can still be a part of the game! 5 x 3 = 15. I would love that ::- D.

Level cap should be risen to 150 and that's it. The Skilldrasil is HUGE and not even 300 levels are enough to cover half of it. A Level 150 character would be something to behold.

You raise a brilliant point, Axonn. Where any other game would have to add more to go above the initial level limit, bumping PoE's to 150 or even 200 wouldn't be hard at all. There's so much left to play with on the skilldrasil. I think one mod said there's...2500 nodes? Certainly well over a thousand.

Very good point.

I am more realistic about the end goal content-wise. Having been around for a long time (testing for nearly a year) there has not been a lot of act content added. Sure there have been 5 or 6 areas added but nothing major like another act. That I not to say that GGG are slow, far from it, just that their main manpower has gone towards new skills, enemies, balancing etc.

I think the goal of adding another act per year is realistic and if they hire more devs based on their imminent success then two per year is attainable.

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Covert wrote:

I am more realistic about the end goal content-wise. Having been around for a long time (testing for nearly a year) there has not been a lot of act content added. Sure there have been 5 or 6 areas added but nothing major like another act. That I not to say that GGG are slow, far from it, just that their main manpower has gone towards new skills, enemies, balancing etc.

I think the goal of adding another act per year is realistic and if they hire more devs based on their imminent success then two per year is attainable.

It's always great to get feedback and the opinion of a true veteran. :)

One or two acts a year is still well within this ten-year plan to start eradicating the repetition of acts altogether, I think. I mean, to be perfectly crude, If you can glean 15-20 levels from an act (and I think that's possible with the right balancing), that's 5 acts to 100. The problem with this, of course, is you'll probably have to 'grind' the higher acts due to the typically exponential increase in required experience between high-end levels.

...Still, I'm thinking of PoE as an MMO in this respect, not an ARPG. And you do hunt the same zone in an MMO quite a bit before moving on. I wonder why that's acceptable but doing the same area in an ARPG multiple times is generally considered a waste of time unless it's end-game...

I'd say 1 act per 1-2 years tops... although it depends on the art and media assets required.

I imagine if they get a good revenue stream, they will push for a 4th act fairly quickly to entice players... I'd expect 1-1.5 years tops. Once that is out then they have some room to breathe, because now there is substantial content for players to play while they wait another 2 years.

Also, once you hit about 80th level, the game will have to expand horizontally instead of vertically... this will relieve some pressure to push the xp limits higher and higher... that is, unless they just raise the cap... which is very possible.

In either case, horizontal expansion can be tough, particularly in this genre... but I think it's worthwhile if done right, and done at the upper end where progress is slow anyway. The key there is to introduce 'interesting' new options, that don't make the previous ones obsolete.

And let's not discount mini-updates: nothing is stopping them from expanding/modifying existing acts, as this last patch and the next will definitely prove.