Looking back at D2, why every boss that is worth doing is gated?

"

鬼殺し wrote:

...And that's why for the longest time I viewed Maps in PoE as 'post-game' content rather than 'end-game'... most arbitrary 'end-game' treadmill I've ever seen in a game.

^--- This.

There is a "story" there, sorta. But, by the time we get to this point in the game, we're already clicking through NPC dialogue boxes, ignoring whatever their current complaints are just to get to the "Action."

There are no traditional Cutscenes in Poe.

The best we get are scripted bits in-game, with no special emphasis placed on presenting the player with a new story element. However, to be fair, PoE's scripted in-game elements are pretty nice and the voice-acting is superb. The voice-acting in PoE is one of it's most endearing features.

Except for those rambling poems in Lab runs that nobody has the time to listen to... or care about.

So, when we're finally confronted with the Atlas, we're sort of lost. "YAY, I ONE THE GAME" we say to ourselves, then we're given access to this big wheel thing and some woman who wants us to go risk our lives for... something.

And, then there's this Shaper dude who's doing stuff and we're supposed to figure out why he's doing it, but there's not a lot of drama surrounding whatever it is. And, then there's this Elder thing and the Atlas starts getting blobs of stuff on it and weirdness and... Why, exactly?

Compare that to Diablo, which has/had some of the best cutscenes in the market. Those were the hallmark pieces of the story, helping to propel the player through the game with story-related activities, all linked together to form a sort of seamless "whole." And, in D3, the expansions don't expand "the story." (Mostly) They're focused on embellishing it with new abilities/encounters/classes/phat lewtz. (That's sort of a weakness of their model, but the game is in the ladder, anyway, so nobody cares about the story anymore and they don't need it for running Rifts.)

IOW - The lack of emphasis on the story after the main campaign means that players aren't as drawn into end-game activities. They see them as their own, separate, goal rather than part of "the overall game."

"

... access to these Maps remains a game of luck or mercantile aptitude.

It's obviously a "grind" element that many players get frustrated with. The "uber players" that speak up and defend it or tell people to "git gud" are often chastised, but they're not always wrong.

There are a ton of ways to improve one's Map sustain. The problem is that it requires some subtle manipulation, and often expensive, of game mechanics to master. It is not easy and it's not "press button to kill monster and get loot." It's friggin' hard, to be honest. But, that is exactly what GGG intends it to be - Hard. It's their end-game "grind element" and these are found in many RPG games that have a sort of self-directed, open-world, or multiplayer/competitive element.

"

...And that's why I proposed, somewhere earlier in this thread or another thread, doesn't matter really, a system where the keys work indefinitely on the same door but are much harder to get. This would enable the cost-free repetition of favourable content we seem to be missing without losing some form of gating to prevent content being too quickly cleared.

Well, the thing is that it diminishes the value of the key, even if it is very rare.

The "loot explosion" mechanic in PoE is intrinsic for player satisfaction. Every loot explosion means that "anything could happen and look at the awesome reward chance I'm about to get! I'm so excited!" Uh... Well, maybe. Who knows? :)

So, when every Map drops, it means that the player has been rewarded for their effort with the opportunity to experience that map. It may be for the first time or the hundred'th time.

If you end up with fifty map drops for one tier, let's say, that's fifty "reward experiences" you've been given for playing the game. If it's fifty map drops for one Map, it's still fifty reward experiences you've been given.

But, if you only got one "key" for each Map, that's only one reward experience you've been given for the effort and expense the developers went to in creating that map and that map drop...

And, as one looks at their map drops in the Map Stash page, one is rewarded when one sees double-digit numbers for accumulated maps in each Tier, too. It's a sign of achievement. Yes, you could do that with "unlocked zones" but then the game would likely have a bit less positive reinforcement. Sure, that once instance where you finally get that Tier 12 Map Key you've been trying to get is very rewarding. But, you'll never get that rewarding feeling for gaining access to that Tier 12 Map again. Never.

GGG has, somewhat, created a game like a Zynga studio - Everything in the game is tweaked to give maximum feedback and the feeling of "achievement" to the player in order to keep them playing the game. The difference between this and some Facebook game is that GGG has melded it into a model that combines classic ARPG elements and tones down the "developer greed" impression by limiting purchased real-money items to non-game elements.

"

But that's the old D2 player in me speaking. The PoE player? Maps be maps. Probably set in stone now.

True. But, GGG also recycles developed content and reuses it, so I don't think it's set in stone. The Atlas content is pretty complex and I'm sure they don't want to make the mistake of trivializing it, since it is their end-game grind element. But, I would not be surprised to see them create a League that makes a lot of use of the Atlas. They just have to figure out how to do that so that the player can fully experience that new League content without actually having to complete all of the end-game grind in 90 days. :)

But, for the regular game, as it stands, they will not make the Atlas easier until they have another end-game grind element to replace or supplement it. So, I agree - Maps are Maps and they'll likely stay that way for a long time.

It's really not if you trade. One league all I ran was uber like 300x in a row. Just sold the finds and bought the mortal frags. I actually found a perfect disfavour sold for 75ex.

But yeah SSF its a bitch. Everything is massively gated and feels bad. Even getting to sustain red maps sometimes feels bad if you get a bad RNG streak going.

The reason is because GGG wants you playing to maybe buy stuff like MTX and stash tabs. Infesting everything with massive RNG is way they do it. Another way they do it is with all the stuff you have to pick up. Lots of essenses, maps, fossils, cards, T1 elder/shaper items and so on so you buy more tabs. I mean I have one tab right now just of frags. One tab of cards. 4 tabs of fossils. etc. Probably have 40 tabs full off this league and only played one toon.

GGG is very smart FTP game. They suck with nerfs but know how to make money like a casino.

BTW those hard ass overboard nerfs we deride are also to keep you coming back for more. It's like you won't "beat" me I'll overcome or find something else to wreck game.

So thats clever too.