[2024 - still unsolved] PoE should allow to choose what version you want to play.

Yes I'm very supportive of this concept - though it really has zero chance of becoming a reality solely because it's not the vision that GG has for the game. PoE is now a slot machine simulator with trading at the core of all decisions for the game, with streamers advertising what is possible for the 0.1%, and that is what draws in players.

To have a stand alone client they would have to re-engineer the game which would be added cost. More alarmingly, they would have to share all the game code with everyone which means not only would people be able to dig into the code regarding drops, but that anyone who wanted to mod the game could do so and I think that would scare GG more than anything else - that someone would be able to produce a far more enjoyable version of their own game.

Imagine a version of the game with mods that actually allow the average person to drop top level gear, or with an improved crafting system that removes the need for trading or interacting with the TFT cabal. GG's design is to keep that carrot out of reach, to have as many people as possible engaging with trade because without the common people providing materials, the top level players can't keep crafting and dominating the trade economy. It's an ugly system and I loath it.

A version selector could only ever work as SSF because it would have to be disconnected from the live game server. I don't think it would totally fracture the game community though. For every loud mouth like myself that would love this, there's probably a thousand others that couldn't care less about it as an option.

So, as much as I would love it, I can't ever see it becoming a reality. The next closest thing is for a new independent company to do to PoE what GG did to D2. I think there's a genuine chance that something like that could occur.

Hey, i really can't do anything about it since i don't moderate the topic, but this kind of passive-aggressive behavior isn't generally appreciated, no offence but since you pointed out that you are

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very supportive of this concept

you should understand that if any staff member actually takes interest at some point and reads something like

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someone would be able to produce a far more enjoyable version of their own game

they would unlikely finish reading/return here, and if we really want them to do something about it, then them checking this all out is what we want so we need to keep it clean..

Also, what do you mean by

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they would have to share all the game code with everyone

? I'm sorry but i fail to see the correlation between older patches being available in the client and what you said.

the topic isn't closed

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Ulsarek wrote:

Technically you could use old clients for reverse engineering and then develop an emulator that comes close enough to have a functioning old patch running.

Technically you can string together random bits to create a non-existent future version with a non-zero probability. Developing an emulator that perfectly replicates an old patch based on reverse-engineered server-side code is like trying to teach a cat to speak fluent Mandarin.

As for the topic, if the ability to play older versions were implemented in the game by GGG, it would imo be the greatest feature ever introduced, even if it was a paid feature.

I would like someone from staff to contradict this rather then keep ignoring, this problem isn't new and it doesn't affect just a small part of community.

Why in the world don't you allow old leagues?

Why can't we at least get to make private leagues with patch of choice where characters are deleted in the end of it?

If you liked any of the older leagues you play them if no you play the current..
This is all very simple and clear, why ignore what your players want?


• this wouldn't require any maintenance
• considerable part of all players will name you at least one league they would rather over the current one
• there's no way in which this can reduce player base, only increase is
• more players means more money from mtx, reintroducing things that are already created is very little work

There are no cons, no person can claim to have triple digit iq and argue here..

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forHordeforeverandalways wrote:

There are no cons, no person can claim to have triple digit iq and argue here..

Is this an alt account of the widescreen guy or something? The kinds of argument being employed here are suspiciously similar.

Stating that no problems could possibly exist just because you don't want to understand them isn't exactly an enlightened approach to life. I suggest you look into the term "arguing in bad faith" if you want to know what NOT to do so that people will take you seriously in the future.

Here are a few obvious issues with your idea, just off the top of my head:

1 - Enabling old versions means introducing old bugs, exploits, and crashes which were already fixed.

2 - Giving players unrestricted access to the source code - even older versions - makes it significantly easier for them to find exploits in the current version of the game.

3 - You're asking for GGG to do a LOT of work: making sure that ALL versions of ALL MTX are fully backwards compatible with ALL of this game's patches is not exactly something one guy could do in an afternoon.

4 - If you go back in time far enough you're going to start running into issues where players have to rollback their graphics card drivers to run the game because the tech is incompatible. Unless of course you're talking about keeping the modern game engine but with old patches' game balance and mechanics, but now we're back to point 3: that's a TON of work for zero benefit to GGG.

Now, you can say "it's still worth it and GGG should do it." That's a discussion we can have, as rational adults. But pretending that no reason could possibly exist for you to not have the thing you want and launching pre-emptive ad hominem attacks at any dissenting views is extremely immature and probably disqualified this thread instantly from being anything GGG would ever look at twice.

And that's a shame because I don't even disagree with it: if I had the option, I would happily play on a "sentinel league forever" private server.

Hey, glad to have someone else agree with what i was not the first one to suggest there and also see some real engagement in the discussion and not just "not happening, get lost" dismissive jab again.

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making sure that ALL versions of ALL MTX are fully backwards compatible with ALL of this game's patches

Sorry if what i wrote at some point earlier looked offensive, but actually since i really can't know as i'm not a programmer i said that i would happily take it on whatever terms they might set(like that it's gonna be paid feature or maybe without mtx or possibly ssf only or that we can only have it in private league for restricted period of time)

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Unless of course you're talking about keeping the modern game engine but with old patches

doesn't have to be, or at least i myself would grab it in whatever shape they give it to me, would they care to just maybe think about possible at some point looking into it..

I don't want to be presumptuous, but i'm prone to believe that isn't my own problem and some significant percentage of people would migrate to the previous patches could the do so, not sure how relevant this and my thinking that they should give it a closed look is.

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Giving players unrestricted access to the source code

Where does this come from every time such discussions occur? If older patches being available in the client means everyone has access to the code of each respective one does the fact that i now have path of exile necropolis on my pc and can launch it from the client mean that i have access to it's code too? I must be really thick but i can't see how this follows from one another.

Oh, and also it shouldn't add the old bugs to the current game since you can either make and informed decision to play another league taking it's quirks along or play necropolis if say you started playing poe in 2020 and don't know any better.



Care to continue debating?

back to the top

i actually agree with op +1 but -1 for other reasons.


How i support OP but with huge caveats

1. snapshot of the game means everything that exists in the game during that time, interactions etc will remain existing, but anything that does not exist during that time should logically NOT exist too. this means if you play far back enough you wont have access to ascendancies or even atlas passives. you will be locked out of new leagues.

2. as many pointed out, this will take a lot of work for GGG to implement THUS, it should also come with a PREMIUM subscription. this would definitely not be a cheap thing.

3. being separate from current POE means that you dont even have access to STD league characters/gears. you have to start from scratch. you cannot use regular trading sites nor have access to trade. your characters and gear exist only within your snapshot.

4. no balances/bugfixes will be made. but that said GGG could limit the versions of POE that you get to play. for example you can just choose a snapshot based on a temp league of GGG's choice, such as a mid league perandus version to represent perandus league.


Counterpoints:

1. ggg MIGHT NOT have a copy of the older versions or they work significantly different that they no longer are workable.

2. the amount of work required to make this offering available could be so great that GGG could reason that players wont want to spend enough to make it a worthwhile effort.

3. GGG might not even want to give this option as there could be some game breaking bugs that have already been solved but may be reintroduced. for example a skill being unoptimized which could lead to server lag, which translates to unhappy exiles who paid a premium. it would be a huge headache.

summary, if it was an option given to players, i would say its a good for the players, but realistically it would take too much effort that could take away precious manhours working on improving the current POE.

you can take it as a +1 from me coz i'm always supportive of suggestions that can improve player experience. the technicality and whether the devs actually want to implement it is up to the devs whether they want to allocate resources to actually do it or not.

i highly doubt that they would and i definitely would prefer them to focus on other things.

Hi, thanks for the vouch, you're not likely coming back but if you do i wanted to clarify,

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...anything that does not exist during that time should logically NOT exist too. this means if you play far back enough you wont have access to ascendancies or even atlas passives. you will be locked out of new leagues...

believe it or not but i enjoyed Navali and Zana in the game more then atlas passives and spell suppression, but i'm hugely conservative, doesnt apply to anyone. I'm not sure but if this was a warning from you to me then im well aware and willing to wave a lot of things goodbye would devs really allow old leagues.

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a lot of work for GGG,...it should come with a PREMIUM subscription

whatever they price it

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...no access to std, not trade site, you'll have to start from scratch...

we talked a bit with other guys about this and what we settled on for now is that it's likely gonna be ssf if anything at all (i can see how this isn't beneficial to put a lot of work into it because most guys don't even know what PoE used to look like 5 years ago or further back and won't want it)

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no balances/bugfixes will be made. but that said GGG could limit the versions of POE that you get to play. for example you can just choose a snapshot based on a temp league of GGG's choice, such as a mid league perandus version to represent perandus league

No fixes yes. And no several versions of each patch, prolly 1 of each something more or less like this.

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ggg MIGHT NOT have a copy of the older versions or they work significantly different that they no longer are workable

Hard to believe that they don't store so much of potentially money-making material all for less then 1000gb, also a know of at least 5 pre-current versions which can be downloaded across the web(just not launched in the client Yet)((mentioned in the first post of this thread)).

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GGG might not even want to give this option as there could be some game breaking bugs that have already been solved but may be reintroduced. for example a skill being unoptimized which could lead to server lag, which translates to unhappy exiles who paid a premium

If you'd really want it you'd probably know which league your exact skill got FiXEd and when it was good/laggy(doesn't make sense to go into details on this but this isn't an actual problem)