How it should have been. Food for thought.

I'm reposting this from http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/904553/page/121#p8258299 as I think it deserves its own thread.

This isn't a suggestion as I think the boat has been missed.

It is feedback and a hypothetical scenario.

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TheAnuhart wrote:
The more I think about it, the more GGG missed the boat, fucked up the whole design and are victims of their own stubborn policy. Their insistence that any form of binding is bad, their focus on trade, competition and reroll leagues completely contradicts itself in design.

Every new league players begin fresh, this is what GGG want people to do, they push for league activity and they want economy isolation. But players amass wealth, leagues end and everything goes to parent leagues. For a league ladder player this wealth is of no use, if they obey the rules.

So a league ends and Joe's characters go to HC/Std. All the gear, the exalts, the mirrors, the mirror service crafts, all in HC/Std. Joe either writes it off, or tries to profit. Joe isn't interested in HC/Std. There's a new league ladder.

There's 2 ways Joe can profit. He can accept RMT or he can try to cross league into the new ladder league. FG makes the latter quite easy.

What GGG should have done was have parent leagues be completely bound, from the get go, parent leagues should have been pseudo SFLs, crafting leagues and dump leagues without economy. Leagues where one can play SF or where one can carry on playing characters after ladder leagues. Characters landing in parent leagues with wealth from ladders can craft with the orbs they bring and use items but not trade them. The ladder reset leagues are where the trading happens, from fresh, new economies, every 4 (or 3) months, in fact, under this design, players might even have preferred 6 month leagues as opposed to complaining that 4 month is too long.

I know this isn't what many would want, people like trading in permanent leagues just as I like SF in permanent leagues, and I can't see it happening, now. But had it been the design from the start, it wouldn't have been an issue.

But, like I said opening, GGG's refusal to entertain binding of any sort from day one, meant they started off on a footing that was always doomed to clash with their vision of integrity, economy and fair competition.

Yup, I'm actually convinced, had this been the model GGG started with, so many problems this game has and yet will have, would have never been.

Sure, you'd have people trying to RMT their ex ladder account in parent leagues, but when I think back to closed beta when Chris's response to how were they going to handle RMT was something like 'Oh we have that covered'; had that 'covered' been 'we've largely limited it to ex ladder accounts being sold' I'd have had a lot more faith than what 'covered' turned out to be, as I'm still for the life of me trying to figure out what 'covered' remotely ever even was, because it failed, it had to, the design itself said it always was going to.


I'd like to add to this^ that we would also see FG liquidating within/towards the end of leagues, in order to bring that wealth into new leagues. But I think that is far less of an issue than the current long term free to liquidate at any time afterwards model that we have now.

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Xavderion wrote:


This is actually an awesome idea, but now it's too late. So what do? Wiping Standard/HC and making it new parent leagues with your proposed features would be an option, but I don't think GGG would ever do this, they would piss of a lot of people. For that reason they don't even remove legacy items, let alone a whole league :/


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TheAnuhart wrote:

It totally won't happen, but it is what should have happened. It fits the game as it is and GGG's vision, like a glove (other than, ofc, the zero-binding policy, but as said, that's where their vision went tits up).


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Nubatron wrote:
It would do more than piss a lot of people off. It would cause a large exodus. I played domination and I won't be doing that again. Hitting the reset button every few months is not for me. I also believe boa has no place in an online multiplayer environment(just my opinion, don't go all batshit sf crazy on me). I don't have the luxury of no-lifing so the permanent leagues let me experience the game at a slower pace (same duration but longer period)

People like these ideas mostly because it effects a community that they are not a part of and gives them what they want.

It would have been good if they did that from the start, because then I would not have tried the game. I hope you are right that I is too late because I truly enjoy the game.


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TheAnuhart wrote:
I agree, it would piss people off, would it do more harm than good? Possibly, possibly not.
But any way, it won't happen now. Stubborn.

However, if it was the original design, I don't for one minute think you wouldn't have tried the game. I think, I'm almost sure, that you and everyone else who tried the game, would have done so all the same under the acceptance that this is how it was. I am pretty sure we would have had far more retention, too.


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Nubatron wrote:
Can't agree or disagree for others obviously. All subjective. But I can speak for me. I left D3 the day they announced soul bound. I came to poe specifically because their vision sounded very stubborn in this area, like they would not suddenly shift like d3 did. I promise you, I never would have tried it. That's just me though by no means do I have some proxy to say 'we' or speak for anyone else.


I've played boa in the past. I've even played the less restrictive bind on equip. I hated both of them with a passion. I did try to struggle through it for nearly a year in Warhammer Age of Reckoning. Fun game. Eq binding made me eventually give up. Online gaming is appealing to me because of the interaction with family, friends, and to a lesser extent strangers (stranger danger!). The ability to help friends and family is non-negotiable when it comes to gaming for me. Otherwise I would disconnect my modem and enjoy the latency free and performant environment of an offline game.

To each their own.


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TheAnuhart wrote:
Well, of the different play styles that PoE attracts, the one negatively affected by this if it hypothetically occurred (which it won't), those least attracted should it have been the original design and those least likely to be retained are indeed players, such as yourself, that being;

A player who enjoys the pyramid economy system, doesn't like binding or self-found and prefers permanent leagues, does NOT like the reroll leagues.

Every other play style is pretty much catered to in the hypothetical scenario I mentioned.

Now, I'm not one to say fuck your play style, sacrifice you for others and the good of the game. But, it's glaringly obvious to me that this play style actually can't sustain long term in the current model.

The key problem is, it requires a pyramid, but the model has the bottom and middle of the pyramid in the temporary leagues any way and more and more this will be the case.

The hypothetical suggestion suits all play styles bar one, a play style that the current model doesn't suit, any way, long term.


Please continue the conversation/debate ITT.
Please be objective and constructive (something I agree I can lack).
Consider the many different play styles PoE attracts, each made of different sub-styles.
Consider how these styles could coexist in the hypothetical scenario and how they coexist in the current model.
Consider longevity.
Consider how the evolved and ever evolving PoE clashes with the current model.
Consider and debate the many problems PoE has and how they would be in the hypothetical scenario.
Consider power creep, legacy, RMT, FG, mirroring, eternals, fair play, competition.

In short, I don't think the current model lends well to ANY of the various play styles at all if played legitimately and I don't think it has longevity. I think it contradicts itself, causes and/or greatly emphasises problems and will be its own downfall. But when I look at the hypothetical suggestion how it could have been...

Thanks.
Casually casual.

Last edited by TheAnuhart on Jul 18, 2014, 11:33:33 AM
This thread has been automatically archived. Replies are disabled.
I think that making Std BOA is an elegant solution for a number of problems (as mentioned) and opens some new possibilities. Also deals with a good portion of RMT quite nicely. Players that play PoE competitivelly, play in challenge leagues anyway. Newcomers are invited to start playing in challenge leagues too. I play everywhere (or at least have up until now) and even though I traded in some leagues quite a lot (Onslaught), I can count on one hand the times I've traded in Std. I wouldn't miss trading at all.

It could be even done retro-actively, without wiping anything, just freeze Std/Std HC and make some balancing to droprates. It would piss some people, yes, but so did the decison to keep legacys. Piss off this group or the other group. I think the concept of "continue playing your ladder char as BOA or shelve it" would fit Std league perfectly, and the whole game in fact.

That said, I think GGG will never ever do anything that harms The Economy and their vision of trade-centric ARPG. And removing the economy is quite harmful for the economy :P

(I also think GGG doesnt give a crap about dumpster Std, RMT and the whole Std mess, because the focus is on ladder resets, so for them "there is no problem that needs solving")
When night falls
She cloaks the world
In impenetrable darkness
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morbo wrote:
(I also think GGG doesnt give a crap about dumpster Std, RMT and the whole Std mess, because the focus is on ladder resets, so for them "there is no problem that needs solving")


Well that's just it, though, morbo.

The temporary leagues are and always will be a sham as long as it is possible, probable, inevitable that FG trades take Std/HC wealth into new economies.

They, GGG, have a contradictory design which can never be what they want it to be, if indeed what they say they want, is what they want. That decision/accusation isn't for me to make, I'd probably more go with; they are genuine, but just too stubborn to realise or admit how they contradict themselves and how their design contradicts their vision.


But how could such otherwise great aRPG developers not foresee this?
How could they let one single stance 'we are against any form of binding' have such a dramatic influence on their 10 year plan?
Casually casual.

Last edited by TheAnuhart on Jul 18, 2014, 11:22:31 AM
I believe the title should read, How it could have been.Food for thought.

Only GGG gets the luxury of saying how POE *should* have been because it's their game.

To be more on topic,POE isn't what it is by chance,it was crafted into its current form and I don't believe it will ever see any changes that will be a substantial redirection.

=)
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That said, I think GGG will never ever do anything that harms The Economy and their vision of trade-centric ARPG. And removing the economy is quite harmful for the economy :P


Some people actually enjoy being able to trade. I think these topics are too focused on things the average player simply doesn't care about such as legacy gear and minor RMT issues(compared to D2).

There is many standard only players, what happens to them? Will droprates remain the same? PoE relies on being able to test builds which is not achievable unless the game vastly changes many of its systems.

Standard is also the base game one can play permanently without worrying about any change. Your vision forces everyone to just play leagues and for standard to be this entirely different mode.

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(I also think GGG doesnt give a crap about dumpster Std, RMT and the whole Std mess, because the focus is on ladder resets, so for them "there is no problem that needs solving")


I don't see the issue with this honestly. The solution actually is ladder resets. Standard was never meant to be balanced economically or even in a way where the game is enjoyable. I actually see absolutely no point surpassing a certain degree of gear since with half that gear the game is already a faceroll.

Standard pretty much is for two groups of players which are people who want to achieve level 100/mirror gear over a long period of time or people who are continuing to enjoy their temporary league characters.

If anyone cares to play PoE competitively then they should be playing leagues. Do not expect standard to ever be "balanced" since the whole point of leagues is to deal with the bloated economy and the many legacy items that are left behind.

With enough wealth the game ceases to be fun on a gameplay level. It becomes a pure grinding and trading simulator to reach that next level of gear. It kills creativity since it's not fun struggling in endgame with a new build that's 10 times less effective. It's also not fun when any character will be equipped with completely overpowered gear due to the bloated economy. Game is simply not balanced on how good gear gets after such a long time(nor should it be so it being too easy is fine). New leagues solve all that.
Last edited by kasub on Jul 18, 2014, 11:41:20 AM
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kasub wrote:
If anyone cares to play PoE competitively then they should be playing leagues. Do not expect standard to ever be "balanced" since the whole point of leagues is to deal with the bloated economy and the many legacy items that are left behind.


Yet, it is the existence of parent leagues as we know them that cause these competitive leagues to be the sham they are.

Please try not to look at this as a suggested change, but rather as a hypothetical original.

I made it quite clear, they missed the boat.
Casually casual.

Last edited by TheAnuhart on Jul 18, 2014, 11:39:35 AM
"

Yet, it is the existence of parent leagues as we know them that cause these competitive leagues to be the sham they are.


In the end it's cheating if they're RMTing or cross league trading. I don't think it's realistic to ever stop RMTers(as a free game) but at least GGG has curbed spambots that PM and does regularly ban bots. They have been quite against RMT since closed beta so it's obvious they're doing what they can with their resources. Can they improve? Always.

Your hypothetical situation is interesting though.
Last edited by kasub on Jul 18, 2014, 11:48:19 AM
So you basically want to force everybody to play self found if they don't play in a challenge league? I don't know about you, but I like to try a lot of builds. If I couldn't trade for items needed for builds, then I just wouldn't be able to play them. Doesn't sound like it would solve anything except make me not want to play this game at all. If I want to play self found and be stuck playing only builds that I find gear for, I'll go play D3.

Or did I misunderstand what you wanted to do?
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my hope always was that ggg introducing paid leagues with the option to make them self found would silence these 20-30 very active forum posters demanding some of the current leagues being changed to self found.

dunno how it's going at ggg regarding paid leagues. either they lack the desire for the extra buck or they came to the conclusion development efforts are not worth it now that the only guy they expected to purchase them left the game.



edit:
imho the real problem of players which want to play self found is the missing gratification. yes, they can play self found in the current game already, crippling their gaming experience but people don't recognize it.

what if ggg provided the option to flag your current account to permanently self found? it would include a item wipe and show your new status to other players somehow so they know you're playing the game on a much harder level. and there could be different ladders for self found players?
age and treachery will triumph over youth and skill!
Last edited by vio on Jul 18, 2014, 12:08:51 PM
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mark1030 wrote:
So you basically want to force everybody to play self found if they don't play in a challenge league? I don't know about you, but I like to try a lot of builds. If I couldn't trade for items needed for builds, then I just wouldn't be able to play them. Doesn't sound like it would solve anything except make me not want to play this game at all. If I want to play self found and be stuck playing only builds that I find gear for, I'll go play D3.

Or did I misunderstand what you wanted to do?


You did misunderstand, yes.

I'm asking to imagine that this current model didn't exist, it never existed.
And that instead, the design from the start was as stated in the OP.

While it isn't easy to see the benefits because you are in fact imagining something that simply doesn't have an element that you do enjoy, that being long term league with trading, in the hypothetical scenario, you would never have had that to start with. Trading, as you know it, would have been temporary leagues.

I must point out, again.
Considering two of the many play styles..
Long term permanent trading leagues.
Short term temporary competitive leagues.


The first type is at the moment highly dependant on a pyramid economy.
The first is contradicted by GGG pushing for the bottom and middle pyramid to play the temporary leagues.

I don't believe this play style is long term sustainable with the current model, any way.


The second type is dependent on a fresh untainted economy, fair play, competition.
The second is contradicted by the existence of parent leagues as they are and the ease of transferring wealth from previous leagues, via parent leagues, via FG or RMT, into each fresh league.
Casually casual.

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