GGG - I don't want Act 4 spoiled by EZ-mode Normal

What's worse than being forced to play through all four Acts three times over?

Seeing your first experience of Act 4 spoiled by EZ-mode Normal.

At the end of Act 3 Normal, your build is nowhere close to fruition, you're just plowing through the flack with some convenient low-level OP gem combos. Is this how you want to experience your first showdown with the long-awaited Act 4? Hell no! I don't want to see Act 4 until the end of Merciless.

Here's how the three POE difficulties should be played out:

Normal: Acts 1 - 2
Cruel: Acts 1 - 2 - 3
Merciless: Acts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

This progression through the three difficulties would be far more satisfying than repeating the same damn thing three times over. The final showdown of Act 4 should be reserved for Merciless, not squandered in Normal.

Want another compelling reason to support this idea? Charan hates it:

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Charan wrote:

I completely disagree and will fight tooth and nail to see that never happen.

This is a stupid idea, for so many reasons that i find it it amazing that it's being presented at all.

I'd rather we just make normal mode challenging.

This is a terrible idea and I logged in just to say I hope this never happens because it is stupid

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CliveHowlitzer wrote:

I'd rather we just make normal mode challenging.

+1

@OP: With your suggestion you have a much shorter cycle of repetitiveness. Act 1 & 2, then act 1 & 2 again plus act 3 as a 'reward', then the whole thing all over again. Sounds terrible. Story-wise, gameplay-wise, sorry but that would be just terrible.

It also ignores everyone who only likes to play normal. They would have only half-a-game.

OR......... Im dont see any reason why i can not be trimmed down to 2 difficulties!
Maybe work SOME of the stuff taken back in or something!
This would solve normal being too easy and us having to run the game 3 times!
Just a suggestion im not sure how well it would accually work in practice but its looks good enough on paper to try out and we are in the middle of a beta test!

As it stands, the leveling is actually very very smooth right now. I don't see them eliminating another difficulty til A5.

But guys, charan hates it x.x?

I mean there is only so much convincing i can take...

Peace,

-Boem-

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Cergic wrote:

This is a stupid idea, for so many reasons that...

...for some reason, are nowhere to be seen. Have we lost so many players from the original Closed Beta that virtually no one, save the currently feted Alpha Members, remembers what the game was like back in the day? Acts 1 & 2 were followed by not three, but four difficulty levels. By the time Act 3 was released with the launch of Open Beta, the number of repetitive difficulty levels was trimmed down to three.

With that precedent, I don't see how reordering difficulty levels with the release of a new Act is such a bad idea. In this case, it would echo the evolution of the game through its extended Beta periods. Normal, featuring the two Act format of Closed Beta, followed by Cruel with the three Acts of Open Beta/Beta 1.0, and finally Merciless, with the four acts of the upcoming Beta 2.0.

I completely disagree. Making certain acts appear only in higher difficulties makes the experience awkward.