Patch 0.9.12qq includes a Legacy Migration

Legacy migrations are performed occasionally during Path of Exile's Closed Beta in order to move old/unbalanced items out of the default league so that we can get good quality feedback from players' activity. The last one was five months ago, when we deployed 0.9.9. Recently we've been running one-week hardcore events to get balance feedback, but other users have expressed interest in new (especially non-hardcore) leagues to play in.

The new default and hardcore leagues will probably last until the start of Open Beta. It is possible that we will do another migration before then, but that's looking unlikely at this point. The new leagues will have prizes, which will be announced before the leagues start on Tuesday.

In addition, it's worth mentioning that once we add PvP arenas in the 0.9.13 patch, there will be a level 28 PvP tier (as well as the obvious unrestricted category). This means that you could start planning and making your level 28 PvP characters in advance in these new leagues if you're interested in that type of PvP mode. Please note that there will probably be a restriction that means that only characters who have never entered Cruel difficulty are eligible for the level 28 PvP tier. This is to prevent people feeling that they have to rush their character through all the higher difficulties to get the full set of skill point and bandit request rewards. Eventually we'll be adding other PvP tiers, but this is the first one that we're sure of.

It is still our plan to enter Open Beta during 2012. Once the game is in Open Beta and we have done our final wipe, we won't be doing legacy migrations any more. The default leagues will exist forever, but we'll be running special event leagues of various durations (from a few hours to a few months). Once those leagues end, their characters move back to the default leagues.

I understand that while people have been clamouring for a fresh start, many players are going to be disrupted by Tuesday's legacy migration. You're welcome to continue playing your old characters in the legacy league (and can maybe trade for some old overpowered items to have fun with). It's important that we do this week's migration during Closed Beta, so that we can get vital balance feedback before entering Open Beta.

Best of luck with the new ladders. I'll be playing.

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Xendran wrote:

Will these legacy leagues stay intact during open beta?

Nope. When we enter open beta, all characters will be reduced to level 1 (to reserve names). Demigod's Presences (prize rewards from tournaments) will be kept.

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Aezurr wrote:

You guys really shouldn't throw around words like

"The last wipe before open beta"

If you don't plan on actually following through with those words.

The only Closed Beta wipe was in 2011 I believe (I haven't checked the patch notes to confirm this, but it was a super long time ago).

Legacy migrations aren't wipes, they're just like making a new medium-term competition league but less messy.

I'm not trying to make excuses though, I understand that a migration like this is frustrating if you weren't expecting it. Our policy once we're in Open Beta (of never disturbing Default, but having short-medium term leagues open up for variety that feed into default) is very clear and will stand.

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Foot_Soldier wrote:

Alright, yes this sucks, but it's what we're here for. We're beta testers, not players of a fully developed game. With that said, how about a passive tree reset for our current characters when they get sent to legacy? This way, we can build up our current build which we love in the new leagues and try other builds with our legacy characters. I feel this would help cushion the legacy migration.

The next passive skill tree reset is probably 0.9.13. Note that the new resistance passives are at relatively easy-to-obtain locations.

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Ceykey wrote:

Anyway i have 4 lvl 70 above chars and couple of lowbies after tuesday those all will be removed through the ghost server which no one will ever wanna play and ll be stay at 9.12patch(which is a wipe before OB wipe).Im prepared for the OB wipe and would like pvp with my end game chars so i made bunch of them and i was trusting their word for it.

The characters are not removed on Tuesday. They join the pool of 200,000+ characters that are in the Legacy leagues. You can continue to play them, because those leagues still get updated just like every other league as we release patches. The only difference is that you aren't taking part in the new special competition league that happens to be called "Default".

You can still PvP in the legacy leagues in 0.9.13. Many people will.

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JohnNamikaze wrote:

Though, I do have a question. Will the character be moved back to default league when the character wipe happen in OB patch? Just curious, since I want to at least keep those names of my characters intact.

Yeah, the names will all be kept, though what league they're in doesn't really matter (probably Default) as you'll have to delete/remake the characters anyway if you want a different class.

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Betterthand3 wrote:

Does anyone know what the lvl 28 PvP will be arena or cut-throat based?

Arena

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takisse wrote:

Now, these are the questions
1. In order to play in the new Default (or Harcore) league with a character called Pinky, should I delete Pinky in the legacy league?
2. In order to be able to play with the name Pinky in the league that will start with Open Beta, I have to reserve the name "Pinky" in the legacy legue or in the new Legue that will start on Tuesday?

1. Yes.
2. Having that character in any league when we do the Open Beta wipe is good enough.

All demigods will be kept, even if they're on legacy. They'll all be in the new default (or hc) after the Open Beta wipe later this year.

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jiussa wrote:

A few questions:

• All future balance changes and patches will be applied to legacy leagues, right?
• Including the new resistance penalties?
• So this migration is purely to provide a clean slate, item wise, in the default league?

Haven't gone through a migration before, so a bit confused about what the goal of all this is.

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes

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nateedubs wrote:

Wait. I don't understand.

I know with OB we're getting an entire character wipe.

But with this migration, what do I lose? All my items, levels, and gear?

You lose nothing, but the character isn't in Default any more.

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piotras wrote:

So when on Tuesday? Midnight NZ time?

Not sure yet - will post an update once we know. Probably during the NZ work day. Patches are typically 11am-2pm NZ time, but that's no promise.