Is PoE starting to suffer mechanics bloat?

GGG only integrates this features if they are happy with the result from those league.
While it is probably one of the best way to, I am also scared that strongboxes becomes part of PoE core game. That would be the biggest mistake. Strongbox are NOT ok. I don't want some crazy easy loot system.
Maybe if they were as rare as golden chest used to be and toned down the loot rates, than that would be ok. But in the current, I would be devastated and probably stop playing PoE ever again.

I doubt Invasion boss will be added in core game - while I love it, it would make the game way too hard for most players.

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Thotor wrote:

GGG only integrates this features if they are happy with the result from those league.
While it is probably one of the best way to, I am also scared that strongboxes becomes part of PoE core game. That would be the biggest mistake. Strongbox are NOT ok. I don't want some crazy easy loot system.
Maybe if they were as rare as golden chest used to be and toned down the loot rates, than that would be ok. But in the current, I would be devastated and probably stop playing PoE ever again.

I doubt Invasion boss will be added in core game - while I love it, it would make the game way too hard for most players.

Clearly you aren't considering the strongbox change to be absolutely needed with the removal of all IIQ on rare items and it being nerfed to the point of not being useful on uniques. Easy loot? Strongboxes can instantly kill you if you aren't aware of what you're doing. Strongboxes are a fun and random thing to run into, especially when you're casually playing with friends over teamspeak. You're basically saying all increased rarity should be removed as well, since it basically gives out "crazy easy unique drops". I can't deny that the item quantity and rarity combination was broken due to I myself having old gear from my rarity character. Back when sporkers were an awesome farming option, I'd see a unique atleast every 3 instances I ran through. Accounting the rarity and quantity I had on that character it would total upto 1000% give or take a bit. The strongboxes are encouraging for players to progress and look out for fun things instead of rushing through just to get to the point of being able to do maps. There is absolutely no need for the spawn occurrence of them to be toned down.

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Thotor wrote:

GGG only integrates this features if they are happy with the result

Can they by 'happy' if the majority of the players isnt? ^^
And: what if they "only" see each feature as a separate "thing", but adding more and more of them causes issues of interferences/interaction between them, happening all-at-once? An Exile or a Loot Box with the rarity of an Exalt is pointless like these for the biggest part of the community, and useless features will always be exactly this: useless.

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Thotor wrote:

I am also scared that strongboxes becomes part of PoE core game.

These boxes 'replace' the legacy item quantity modifiers, they are a neccessary to supply SOME useful loot (or, at least to give the chance for it). Their drops are NOT like "crazy" (you can have some luck, but thats "part of the whole game"), and: they can easily be avoided/skipped.

Additionally, compared to mechanics like IIQ and the general drop rates, this boxes give much better and more detailed options to balance the loot system (more than its actually the case, where even a near-max rarity affix (2k%) not show a significant difference on the ground...)

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Thotor wrote:

I doubt Invasion boss will be added in core game - while I love it, it would make the game way too hard for most players.

I hope so. They had to become that much weakened (to not be an uncalculateable 'issue') that it would not make them worth to call 'Bosses'; and having a bossfight in every zone would be a total mess, not alone for progressing.

I was thinking the same thing OP, just found trouble finding the words.

I almost agree with the OP but with one caveat. New leagues are meant for testing, this I understand but I honestly believed that nemesis mods and shrines will be much better in their final iteration. Both are great concepts but executed unevenly. I fear now that the same thing will happen to the ambush boxes, some of them (chemist for example) are utterly useless. I'd like to see them less often but with a tad more loot power if the IIQ is to be removed.

Same goes for rogue exiles - awesome idea but there's just not enough of them in terms of variety.

I think that the OP also means that the new mechanics are fun in general but being implemented in their "uh that's good enough, next" state.

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JohnGrammaticus wrote:

I think that the OP also means that the new mechanics are fun in general but being implemented in their "uh that's good enough, next" state.

To some extent. GGG clearly picks and chooses which parts of the mechanics they keep and toss, since not every Nemesis mod got added and some shrines got rebalanced, but it would definitely be to their benefit to take a more critical look at how well every type of every mechanic is doing its duty.

However I also fear that GGG is hesitant to outright remove mechanics out of fear of disappointing players. With all this talk about the leagues being testing grounds, and everyone having fun in those leagues, players would automatically call every league successful and expect its mechanics to be implemented, even if the end result wouldn't benefit the game at all in the long run. But the developer knows better than the average player, and GGG should be confident in that.


Level-gating some mechanics would be a helpful change. It'd be easiest to just gate them on difficulty, making rogue exiles Cruel and onward, Nemesis mods Merciless and onward, etc. That would also help solidify the identity of the difficulties.

For those who dont like new shit i would suggest that GGG makes a legacy league specifically for them. What is all this talk of 'bloat' going to accomplish? Reduction in new features. This is not what i desire.
Someone early said that there are apple ppl. And i think he hit the nail on the head. There are ppl who like things simple. Which is around 99.99% of the games out there. All marketed for 'the everyone' demographic. Well im not someone who enjoys such utter garbage. Im NOT an apple person, i prefer the power and complexity of customization. Which is why im HERE. PoE is in my mind a place with as few restrictions as possible, and with the maximum possible number of options available to the player. It is a complex place, and i dont want it dumbed down to 'the everyone' demographic.

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SkyCore wrote:

Someone early said that there are apple ppl. And i think he hit the nail on the head. There are ppl who like things simple. Which is around 99.99% of the games out there. All marketed for 'the everyone' demographic. Well im not someone who enjoys such utter garbage. Im NOT an apple person, i prefer the power customization. Which is why im HERE. PoE is in my mind a place with as few restrictions as possible, and with the maximum possible number of options available to the player. It is a complex place, and i dont want it dumbed down to 'the everyone' demographic.

That's a bit of a bull, if PoE players wanted a Mac they would be playing D3 right now. But that doesn't mean they are happy with linux that GGG is offering, linux is great but there's a reason it's free - it's too 'messy' to sell.

PoE players probably want a game equivalent of a windows PC, more capable and feature-packed than a Mac, reasonably customizeable for those that have a minimum of knowledge, but at the same time more streamlined and user-friendly than a linux PC.

As a long time Standard player who's just moved into Invasion, I find the sudden (and to me simultaneous) addition of guest monsters, corrupted areas, nemesis mods, invasion bosses and shrines amazing and have found a fresh appreciation for the game.

They also up the general difficulty/complexity in a good way, which particularly in the early game has always been a problem. I say this having yet to encounter any invasion boss capable of massive damage from off-screen as I've seen others complain about - so as long as we aren't encouraging one-shot mechanics and unbeatable situations, more variety in challenges is a definite improvement.

Yes, there is a potential cap when this will stop being true, but right now normal and cruel in particular are WAY under this cap, which is why so many players consider maps the only "real" part of the game - cruel could still have random map/race mods on every instance and still not be bloated enough imo.

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raics wrote:

But that doesn't mean they are happy with linux that GGG is offering, linux is great but there's a reason it's free - it's too 'messy' to sell.

So you are suggesting that noone here is happy with the complexity... and yet day after day how many tens of thousands log on to play something they are unhappy with...
And you call what i say bull.