General Discussion - Read First, Summary of all Information (continues to be updated) - Forum

Note from Chris: This thread is maintained by innoruuk and is not maintained by GGG staff. If you see any mistakes, please contact him. Thanks! Last Update: 16.08.2011 Today i thought I´ll make a thread for the upcoming newcomers.. all of us know that there will be till release thousands of those;) hopefully hundreds of thousands. Therefore and because of redundant threads, excited newcomers (like me) ask several things which already debated in this forum, I decided to make this thread. So, where can I begin the story... Path of Exile is an online action rpg similar to the famous diablo series. It´s made by the awesome team of GGG. (late 2006 - 2011) (Grinding Gear Games) http://www.grindinggear.com/ The developers: -Chris Wilson -Jonathan Rogers -Erik Olofsson -Brian Weissman -Harry Monga -Rhys Abraham -Dylan Arnold -Saveun Man -Elliot Hayward -Duncan Robertson -------------------------------------------------------------- Generals: -The release is till now unannaunced (TBA 2011) -At the moment PoE (Path of Exile) is in the alpha phase and there are now a close beta phase too. (testing phase only for friends and family) -The closed beta is alive;) -Version Info of PoE: by Chris edit by me " 0.7.0: The first version of Milestone 7. This was the version that added the Witch to the Alpha realm. We set up a ladder for this version and watched our testers compete. 0.7.1: An update to Milestone 7 that occurred several days later to address bugs found in the initial release. 0.7.2: A subsequent update that fixed a number of balance issues. 0.8.0: Milestone 8, a major update that we’re worked on. It add Act Two, the Duelist and several months of improvements. We’re hoping to add a lot more community members to this series. 0.8.1 onwards: Updates to Milestone 8 that fix bugs/balance issues and add new features (10-12 updates planned). 0.9.0: Closed Beta (August 10, 2011) This is the current version 0.10.0: Open Beta 1.0.0: Initial Release 1.0.1: Bug fixes to released version 1.1.0: First major feature update to initial release. 2.0.0: Our first expansion -All members of the forum (who signed up) have a chance to get in the closed beta -After the closed beta there will be a open beta for all who wants to play and test PoE! -PoE won´t cost anything, its for free and you can download it here or somewhere else. " Path of Exile is 100% free to play, for everyone, forever. Our website will allow the purchase of many in-game perks and aesthetic upgrades, but all of these are completely optional, and players can have a complete, fulfilling gaming experience without spending a penny. There is no catch at all, once you download the client you are free to play for as long as you like, with no charge. The purchasable perks do not convey any gameplay benefit, but help you create a unique look for your character and its fighting style. -It will be financed via microtransfers -The dev diary´s are very informative! links--> 1. Development Diary 2. How we got a local LAN party to test our Action RPG 3. Tales of our Testers 4. Why we hate being called an MMORPG 5. Creating Tile-Based Texture Maps for Games 6. Forum Item Linking 7. Balancing Path of Exile 8. Rethinking Gold as a Currency 9. Guerrilla PR at PAX 2010 10. Path of Exile's Flask System 11. Endurance, Frenzy and Power Charges 12. Development of an Alpha Patch 13. Creating Low Poly Models from High Poly Assets 14. Path of Exile Alpha Update 15. Random Level Generation Presentation (Video) -Servers: Currently the servers are based in the States. But at release the GGG team want to make Europe and Oceania servers too. -PoE is using a own game engine, built with in-house technology. It supports some pretty modern technologies but should run on a good range of systems. -Here's a "stalk Chris" link, to check the latest posts, by our favourite GGG crew member (we love the others too of course). Thanks, Valaki8 Post History of Chris -------------------------------------------------------------- Game details: -There will be 6 character classes at the release of PoE (announced = Marauder, Ranger, Witch, Duelist) link-->Classes -The Skillsystem is very complex and innovative! There are active/passive skills. All character classes can use all active skills, read this here for more information links-->Skills and Skill Video -Endurance, Frenzy and Power Charges " an important combat mechanic in Path of Exile. These can be accumulated in combat, and are represented by glowing orbs that orbit the character until they are consumed or fizzle out. Each attribute has its own type of Charge, which grants a specific property while Charges of that type are active. Various skills and items help you accumulate Charges and gain additional benefits from them. -PoE dont use gold as a currency. link-->Dev-diary-Currency -The Level cap. in PoE is 100 -Loot (items), there are actual 10 equipmentslots; helmets, armors (body), gloves, boots, a belt, 2 rings, 1 amulett and 2 slots for weapons or shields. You will find´em in the following rarities: Normal, Magic, Rare, Unique (here is a unique->Fool´s Errand Boots). Also there will be a article about the whole itemsystem before/at release. Quote by PoE " The player can customize their character by equipping it with a wide range of items (there are over 500 different base types so far, and many more to come). Rather than creating skin colour or hair style variations that would just be covered by armour, we created a more diverse set of items that players can wear to customise their characters. -Item-drop-System: quote by Chris " We're using the monsters-can-drop-anything slot-machine system. It's a lot of fun. One thing I hate in action RPGs is when you know that there's no good drop possible from that monster. With this system, any monster could drop some perfect rare (even if it's low level) or a unique. -There are 3 acts in which you will play at the release (currently 1 act takes ~2~ hours of playtime if you rush it) a quote by chris " The alpha at the moment contains all of Act 1 (and 2). It takes around two hours to complete this act if you ignore side areas and know what you're doing. -Here are 4 previews of some lucky alpha testers out of this forum Gaza´s preview Oasisbhrnw´s preview Tpapp157´s preview Zidjian’s preview -In PoE you won´t buy hundreds of heal/mana potions like in other games. There will be a innovative refilling system if you´re killing monsters. link-->Path of Exile's Flask System -There are town portals for fast traveling -Leagues: they are a kind of "game modes". At first you have to choose a league in which you will play. For example the normal league "normal mode" here will play the most of the community. There is a "hardcore mode" too, if you die, your chars. are permanently dead (but dead hardcore characters revert to the parent non-hardcore league). Furthermore there will be several kinds of leagues, also custom paidleagues. link-->Leagues and Forum discussion, leagues -You have ingame a big stash 4 x 12 cells = 576 where you can put all your nice loot in. Its also shared for your other characters. Quote by Chris " We currently have 576 stash squares (4 pages of 12x12) enabled that is shared between the characters on the account. It's quite a lot... I haven't filled it yet. -PvP (Player vs Player) In addition to the PvE (Player vs Monsters) content, Path of Exile will contain many PvP elements, including random arenas, a ranking system, seasonal ladders and unique PvP item rewards. The game has a tremendously fun and rewarding PvP experience. -There will be guilds at a later stage of development. Quote by Chris " Definitely. We love guilds and will support them. It's just that we haven't announced how or when (is it at release, or in an early expansion?) -Indoor/outdoor areas are randomly generated. Here is something about the backstory of the area´s. link-->Area section -At release there will be online rankings and ladders for every game mode -There will be awesome weather effects for the dark atmosphere (rain, lightnings, fog and much more) -But there is not a day/night cycle so far (iam not sure its not announced) -Path of Exile has over 20 pieces of dark and haunting music by composer Adgio Hutchings. Each one was specifically created with an area of Wraeclast in mind. link-->Music -Beautiful flora and fauna effects ( birds, gras....) -There are tons of different Monsters with completely different behaviors including boss monsters -------------------------------------------------------------- Interviews and Media -Screenshots Gallery -Some interesting interviews and articls. link--> IncGamers IGN PC GAMER G4TV Coverage 9 minutes of gameplay Joystiq Mana Pool PC GAMER, Witch Big Download GamePro, Duelist Game Development in NZ - part 1 (gameplanet) -Here are some HD gameplay videos (720p.) Action Trailer PC GAMER Trailer INC GAMERS Trailer Skill System Demonstration Trailer Witch Trailer Duelist Trailer Templar Trailer -Short video clips February 8 PoE Clip of the Week February 15 PoE Clip of the Week 1 PoE Clip of the Week 2 PoE Clip of the Week 3 PoE Clip of the Week 4 PoE Clip of the Week 5 February 24 PoE Clip of the Week 1 PoE Clip of the Week 2 PoE Clip of the Week 3 PoE Clip of the Week 4 PoE Clip of the Week 5 PoE Clip of the Week 6 April 19 Path of Exile - Portals June 11 A Duelist fighting near Kraityn's bridge A Marauder exploring Oak's area A Ranger approaching Alira's camp -------------------------------------------------------------- This is it for the moment... from time to time I will update this thread. If anything is wrong or outdated, write something and i will correct it.. Path of Exile Wiki: http://pathofexile.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page Feel free if you have other questions. I hope the community will help me to complete the list of questions for the upcoming newcomers, thank you *I refer to the following sources: Path of Exile Homepage, Forum and Interviews etc.. Last edited by Chris on Sep 6, 2011, 9:30:13 PM Last bumped on Oct 3, 2011, 5:24:30 PM	Posted by innoruuk on Feb 15, 2011, 7:54:21 AM Alpha Member Quote this Post
sticky request Yes good sir, I enjoy slaying mythical creatures.	Posted by Zidjian on Feb 15, 2011, 10:35:20 AM Alpha Member Quote this Post
perhaps a blurb on pvp? that's a big deal to me, though not a deal-breaker, as it were, this looks too sweet for that. i'm really hoping we've got more than /duel and arena. battleground-style pvp and world pvp (and no, i'm not thinking wow, i'm actual thinking more ut2k4). oh, and if we're doing ut2k4-style pvp, having the guy with the british accent shout stuff as you kill people - priceless. but i digress! :) <3 GGG.	Posted by drakkos on Feb 15, 2011, 12:01:18 PM Quote this Post
You should add a link to the page explaining the Leagues system.	Posted by Baccaruse on Feb 15, 2011, 1:07:26 PM Quote this Post
Yes, sticky please. In since 0.8.0 Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/kungfooe	Posted by kungfooe on Feb 15, 2011, 4:14:35 PM Alpha Member Quote this Post
we just have to write "sticky plz" in defined intervalls to keep it on top of the list :)	Posted by Rhesos on Feb 15, 2011, 6:09:37 PM Quote this Post
hey thanks for putting all this info in one place it will be very helpful for people who stumble across the site :) good job innoruuk "turn based rpg's are for people who have sausage fingers" -me	Posted by Phouriuh on Feb 15, 2011, 6:23:43 PM Quote this Post
Why 31st april? First and foremost there is not 31st day in april and if you target Q1, it should be 31st march :) He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.	Posted by permaximum on Feb 15, 2011, 7:36:30 PM Alpha Member Quote this Post
Hey! Stickies are finally implemented! Forum Sheriff	Posted by tpapp157 on Feb 15, 2011, 10:36:30 PM Alpha Member Quote this Post
" tpapp157 wrote: Hey! Stickies are finally implemented! i jump implemented a sticky in my woman :P "turn based rpg's are for people who have sausage fingers" -me	Posted by Phouriuh on Feb 15, 2011, 11:31:10 PM Quote this Post