An Update from Chris

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Shagsbeard wrote:

Good response to Synthesis. It does need more time. Maybe later. Maybe not. The "design space" is getting full, so you really should look at what you include in it.

On the other side of that... don't let the shitposters ruin your game. There will always be that side and they'll always be very visible. Take that kind of feedback carefully. You can't ignore it, but you also can't cave to it.

I'll still recommend you consider alternating new leagues with legacy. Legacy was really enjoyable, and it would give you more time to really make the new leagues shine.

I am pretty sure that alternating new leagues with legacy leagues(even if u make new leagues for 4 months and legacy leagues for 2 months so people doesn't get tired of it so fast) would give you more time for your developers to work things out w/out overwork.

All great!

Keep up the good work GGG. I've been playing this game since open beta because I love it, and I just want to say that I've never experienced a "bad" league. I can't wait to see what's in store for the future.

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Universalis wrote:

Congratulations for Synthesis league: Content is even more gated to super specialized players, the ones spending most of their time in trade, it will be nearly impossible to someone playing normally to get the best base. Complexity is now ridiculously high for a newcomer.

This was my biggest issue with the league as well if I had to sum it up, that being said I actually had the time to farm the content but it felt so far away and unrewarding that I simply wasn't motivated to do so.

There was a SIMPLY solution to this problem and it could have SAVED synthesis league altogether which would have been the previous league. How you ask? Well the betrayal mechanic LOWERED the bar for the content by a DESPERATELY needed amount. Which makes even more sense if you're adding new content to the game EVERY 3 months right. At some point (which we've passed a looooong time ago) there will simply be too much content to do for the amount of time available meaning we need to lower the time it requires to get there which was BETRAYAL league in so many ways. So GGG actually created the perfect solution to their problem and then they chucked their perfect solution in the bin... Dunno how that works internally maybe they weren't aware of the issue and randomly happen to run into the perfect solution without realizing it or they misjudged how high they can put the bar for content being out of reach so I'm REALLY HOPING this expansion was a wake up call to GGG and chris.

It's time to make the game MORE ACCESSIBLE, not to make the game more easy but simply because of the rate at which we're getting new content doesn't match up with the available time the average person spends playing this game. The accessibility of the game during the Betrayal league was close to perfect imo and I'd love to see it back at that level which kinda means we need a betrayal encounter in every zone (or some comparable amount in a different way), anything less and it will not work kinda like how betrayal wasn't there enough to fix the current league (which it could and WOULD have done IF we had access to it in the same manner we did in Betrayal).

3.6 wasn't for me....but I respect GGG for not bowing down to the almighty crunch...and staying away from selling power for money.


Every company has a dud sometimes...for me...I feel like Synthesis is one of such duds.

Just do better next time...you have my credit card info, get yourself a cookie.

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alezipp wrote:

No pressure, im just happy this thing wont go core. Keep up the work.

+1

Try to make a better game in june. TY.

Every game runs into problems at some point, its how you guys bounce back and listen to feedback that keeps a lot of people, myself included, around. Looking forward to 3.7.0!

Wouldn't it be better to not release a new league each 3 months? It could be 4, 5 or even 6 months for each league. I would prefer longer leagues with better balancing and less bleeding-edge alpha code like the last leagues were. Especially Synthesis, but also Syndicate stuff was no fun -- at least for me, and following the forums I'm not alone with that option. Better concentrate on good leagues, even if it takes a while longer.

Chris, I am one of the complainers. I flirted with quitting POE out of frustration, and did step aside for a week (I know that doesnt sound like long lol, but it is for me :P)

I have played standard for most of Synthesis.

I lost a lot of faith with this league.

But this post reminds me about what is so great about GGG. Thanks for being so transparent, and having the courage to talk to your audience like adults, and admitting mistakes.

I look forward to the 3.7 announcement and buying more supporter packs.

You and this company really are an example of how a business should operate.

I'm obviously part of the reason why this post was made and cannot help but feel bad. It was nice to get a closer look into the behind-the-scenes as this is oftentimes what people forget about when they start complaining, I experienced this very commonly in the community of the previous online game I played the everloving crap out of, yet back then the developers didn't even attempt to build up a good relationship with their community, the thing that keeps them alive. Later on it turned out their company was sold long ago to some other money-milking pile of garbage, which certainly explained the ex-devs' behaviour throughout the progression of the game, yet this luckily doesn't seem to be the case for Path of Exile, and I sure hope that that won't ever happen and it shouldn't as they clearly care.. or atleast make a damn good job at pretending as if they did.

Also I'm glad that the people at GGG care for each other and that the boss of the house actually acknowledges the workers status and cares for their health, surely we wouldn't want (or atleast I don't) GGG to burn out completely just for the sake of having a "fully functional" game for a few months just for it to be taken down later because nobody can afford to keep working on it, be it due to threatening health situations due to lack of sleep or low budget due to paying tons of overtime. A friendly work atmosphere and a good work/life balance is incredibly important... I wish everyone at my work knew that...
I'll make sure to keep supporting the game where I can, for aslong as I can to keep the game F2P for others since PoE is one of the only games I've seen in ages that actually stays true to the meaning of that, whereas the previously mentioned online game I played seemed to have a different definition of "Free2Play" as clearly the only free thing about that game was to install and uninstall it again.. and even that cost some space on your harddrive.

Looking forward to see what you have to say at the QnA and especially looking forward to 3.7.0, may the heavens open up and release another banger like Betrayal and Delve because by god, those leagues were perfection in their purest form.


GGG deserves the praise they've been getting increasingly over the years, and I said it in my initial complaint and I'll say it again, "things" like synthesis happen, but we're here to learn from our "mistakes" and in this case I'm certain GGG learned a bit more about time management from this which should help the company grow and improve, only this way the game may survive the upcoming battle of RPGs. Let's hope things don't stack up as much as they did prior to Synthesis and that the devs get some time working on fewer things more intensly... or not as intense to keep the work/life balance healthy.

Last things last, I don't think apologizing here is as necessary as it might seem, giving a context as to what's happening behind our backs should be enough to open our eyes as to how the "issues", that we may or may not have with the current league, came to be. So thanks, Chris, that's all I really needed.