As a veteran D2 player, should I join PoE on December 7?

Try poe, you are likely to not leave, like me, i have joined 2 years ago, knew poe from its beginning but i thought this sux and will die soon, i was wrong, glad i've came back some years later.

as a veteran d2 player i went to try poe when i found it in google and i cant leave it like 5 years now :D

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DarthLeader wrote:

Hey guys,

I played Diablo 2 for many years and hundreds of hours, however it seems like we won’t get Diablo 2 remastered for a long time and I did not like Diablo 3 when it came out, so I thought: should I try Path of Exile (PoE)?

Could you comment on some of my questions?

1) Do you believe PoE is worse, equal or better than D2? Why?

Do you believe it’s a good RPG in general?
Do you find it a good ARPG?
Is it fun in the first 50 hours?

Is it still fun after 300 hours? In other words, do you enjoy endgame PvE content and endgame PvP?

Should I join on the ladder reset of December 7th for the new content and the fresh experience?

2) Late-game PvP is important for me because of the way I play: I build a few PvE characters able to provide everything that my PvP character needs so that my PvP character can focus on duels (after reaching the endgame content in PvE).

How does PoE’s PvP compares to D2’s PvP? Do you find it better?

Is PvP fun in PoE?

Is PvP fair and balanced?

Is there some kind of rated 1v1 PvP?

Are there problems like hacks/desync charge hammerdin?

3) How many active PoE players are there? How many of them on PC?

Steam says around 21 000 to 96 000 players actively play PoE on a weekly basis (varies a lot through the last 12 months).

However, I hear that there are other platforms that people play PoE on PC so that they are not counted in Steam total? Where are they?

Are there sufficient PC players in the eastern USA/Canada time zone to be fun?

4) How would you rate the PoE community? Is it as friendly as the D2 community? I have heard PoE has wide open arms for all ex-Blizzard fans following the Diablo Immortal disaster?

5) I have seen some comments around the web that PoE is a fast patching / fast changing game and that your preferred build may be nerfed so hard that it may become useless. Is that an exaggeration or it is close to reality? How do you handle that without having to spend 50+ hours adjusting your characters to be playable again after each patch?

I look forward to reading you,

DarthLeader

no. while running around and killing stuff is fun in this game, every other aspect of it is horrible. you only end up wasting your time and burned out eventually (there is NO way around this as there is NO permanent mode worth playing, and temp leagues require you to start from ZERO again and again and again)

diablo 2 had great atmosphere (though not as great as d1), this game's story is an incredible clusterfuck (really one of the worst I've ever seen. after act 3 everything is just a confused mess without any rhyme or reason) and the setting has zero credibility. so obv not worth playing for that aspect

and yes, the devs think this is a competitive game now for some reason (when it's actually just a single-player game with tacked-on multiplayer features) and change the meta just for the sake of changing it.

community is one of the most toxic and hostile I've ever experienced. just read any thread with a constructive criticism suggestion. it will inevabitably be shouted down. I've not met one single pleasant person in this game (maybe 1 on the forum, but that's it!)

so in short, avoid this game at all costs cause it only will drain you of time and money you can invest oh so much better in other products (unless it absolutely HAS to be a hack and slash for some reason, then I can't help you there as I never played any other recent one)

I was addicted to this game for a long time, un- and reinstalling over 25 times, but by now my frustration with the inane stupidity of the developers has outweighed any desire to give the game another shot forever

PS: to cut a long story short: 10% xp penalty + unfair deaths galore. all you need to know

Tbh you shouldn't let other people decide if you should play a game or not. Try it out, if you don't like it move on. If you like it, keep playing. If you don't feel like trying it out, move on. Quite simple

Short answer (just my opinion of course):

Despite its flaws, PoE is so far the best ARPG ever made in human history and surpasses every old and current ARPG by far. Not playing it - and it doesn't matter if you play a league or standard - would be like missing out on something that has already written history.

Played D2 for over 15 years, will always be my favorite game. Tried to find something else to play over the years, guild wars and hellsgate London just to name a couple. Just let me say its more of solo grinding the content is challenging only thing to keep in mind don't let the passive tree overwhelm you, it hard to get used to but once you get it, its not hard

Play it yourself. Its the only way to know if PoE is for you.
(no matter what others will say)

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DarthLeader wrote:

Hey guys,

Could you comment on some of my questions?
[...]

I look forward to reading you,

DarthLeader

You've got a lot of questions that are basically asking the same thing, i'll generally answer them all:

1. PoE vs. Diablo 2

Path of Exile presently has a seemingly immeasurable amount of quality content (with the 3.5 expansion) to play around with compared to Diablo 2 or any other ARPG (Point n' Click, to be specific). Those 50 hours i suspect aren't only going to entertain you while you peel off the depths of the vast content the game throws at you, one layer at a time, but they will also teach you fundamental mechanics.

Diablo 2 has the better story, no question about it, all though quite subdued compared to the strong gothic - horror vibe the plot gave off in the original Diablo. PoE's story falls off a cliff after Act 4. Still, read the lore, the writing in Act 1 and 2 is great (Etchings on Wood I - IV in The Crossroads Act 2 is great, remember to read that).

2. PvE/PvP

Path of Exile's focus is on PvE, if you're expecting PvP, then don't; But, don't think of shoveling the game under your horizon of interest - The entire game is constantly evolving, changing and sometimes forcing people to adapt to these changes. 3.5 is just another expansion in a long line of expansions that have been released, and there is no sign that its release process is stopping. Three months or so from now, 3.6 is going to be released, and so on. They've already mentioned 4.0. You can enjoy this video game for thousands of hours, let alone 300 hours.

3. Community

It's a popular video game, don't worry about its popularity. If the organizational culture of the development team continues to be as it is (for which we have no evidence of it changing), it'll still be a popular game years from now. I've been playing for almost 4 years, for example; doesn't mean i don't take breaks, i don't play the game daily, but i usually jump back in after a relatively short period. Friends have been as hooked as i have been as well, as far as i know.

Path of Exile has a stand alone client, and there are people that play without Steam. We don't know how many. As for player base fluctuations, they're not going to affect your multiplayer experience. And speaking of fluctuations, whatever you may feel of the community is going to depend on what league you're on and who is online at the time you're online. Sometimes the community is shit, sometimes the community is the best i have ever seen in a online video game.

4. I have seen etc.

NEVER pay attention to that. No, it's not reality, it's reality only after you've digested the game and became obsessed enough of a fan to complain. As a new player, it's all bullshit best left in the anals of Reddit and the Forums. Take a glance from time to time after the first 300 hours.

Now, on what to actually pay attention are valuable guides that will aid you big time, but take them as a form of inspiration rather than copy pasting whatever the guide is telling you - For example, you pick a class you feel you may enjoy, then check a guide for a good skill tree on that class, keep an eye on what may work better than what you initially thought.

its free, give it a go

nothing to lose