A honest review from a new player

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DarthSki44 wrote:

Respect your opinions, but PoE takes much longer to understand and master, than rolling two builds in one league.

Crafting and use of the bench is critical.

Knowing how/what links and builds work, and maximizing those with the passive tree is vital.

Knowledge of area drops, with divination cards, helps with progression.

Trading, while helpful, isnt essential. People play and are very successful with SSF.

In summary, you cannot give PoE a good (or bad) review in this short of a gameplay window. I know that some people dont want to invest many 100's of hours, but imo that's required to give a more accurate review of the game mechanics and experience. Note that your opinions on sound, art, mtx, are separate from this and you can certainly have a valid opinion on those in short order.

I would posit that a game which cannot be fairly reviewed after bringing one character to 90, let alone two, is a game with issues of its own.

The idea that one can only offer a fair and balanced opinion of Path of Exile after the four-digit mark on your gameplay is not necessarily a good thing, and speaks extremely poorly to new player integration. If a reviewer with no especial experience with/attachment to ARPGs can't see enough of the game in Acts 1 through 10 and the initial mapping phase to give it a fair shake? Then Grinding Gear has problems.

Every other game gets reviewed after one playthrough, and/or about twenty hours' game time. Why should this one be any different?

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1453R wrote:

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DarthSki44 wrote:

Respect your opinions, but PoE takes much longer to understand and master, than rolling two builds in one league.

Crafting and use of the bench is critical.

Knowing how/what links and builds work, and maximizing those with the passive tree is vital.

Knowledge of area drops, with divination cards, helps with progression.

Trading, while helpful, isnt essential. People play and are very successful with SSF.

In summary, you cannot give PoE a good (or bad) review in this short of a gameplay window. I know that some people dont want to invest many 100's of hours, but imo that's required to give a more accurate review of the game mechanics and experience. Note that your opinions on sound, art, mtx, are separate from this and you can certainly have a valid opinion on those in short order.

I would posit that a game which cannot be fairly reviewed after bringing one character to 90, let alone two, is a game with issues of its own.

The idea that one can only offer a fair and balanced opinion of Path of Exile after the four-digit mark on your gameplay is not necessarily a good thing, and speaks extremely poorly to new player integration. If a reviewer with no especial experience with/attachment to ARPGs can't see enough of the game in Acts 1 through 10 and the initial mapping phase to give it a fair shake? Then Grinding Gear has problems.

Every other game gets reviewed after one playthrough, and/or about twenty hours' game time. Why should this one be any different?

Actually a number of games, especially the live service games, are getting review in progress stipulations. So to your point, types of games should indeed be reviewed differently. At least that's my opinion.

Now is this GGG's "fault" for focusing more on the back end, on endgame, min/max, and the loot grind? Idk maybe.

I guess the point is, that while the OP's review is genuine to their experience, I'm not sure it fully represents the game. Perhaps that doesn't matter in the end, but its intentional from development point of view with regards to playability, depth, and retention.

If we dont qualify a review with some sort of boundries or requirements, then what do they mean to the end reader? If we dont then there really is no such thing as a poor reviewer.

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TeoTheLeo wrote:

Leveling and endgame = from good to disappointing
I enjoyed leveling, was a really nice experience, I disliked the acts part, I can't understand why peoples cant stop copy Diablo over and over and come with original ideas.
From act 1 to act 10 game was very interesting for me.

After act 10 I found it a disaster. Even before reaching act 10 I need to trade items. ZERO items I could use dropped for my chars. Even after act 10, still zero items dropped for any of my chars. I got all items by trading with other peoples. I found this really disappointing.

Some of your review doesn't make much sense:
- you enjoyed leveling
- you disliked the acts (1-10)
- having acts/story is just copying Diablo (?)
- Act 1 to Act 10 was very interesting for you
- After Act 10 it was a disaster

...So you liked leveling, but you did not like the acts, but you also found the acts to be very interesting, even though the acts are just copying Diablo, which no one should do.

POE has lots of end game variety with farming methods, multiple league mechanics etc. Just play a bit more and realize trading and drops is something you learn and become experienced with, it's not atrocious it's actually the best of any ARPG.

But it seems all positive, so it should because there's no better Western ARPG atm. If you still enjoy it I suggest buying the $20 first blood start pack and you will be set from a casual stand point.

There are still lots of things that are annoying and have to be worked on but nothing can be perfect.

- For a game that based on crafting, GGG should make currency drop more often.
- The recipe unlocking mechanism is pathetic.
- There is plenty of content in the gameplay but information is way lacking.

For the OP, nice thoughtful review from a beginners perspective (I'm serious, not being patronizing). Hopefully others will follow your lead and take a moment to break down their opinion so carefully rather than the more common "the game does this one thing so I hate it and will sit on this forum and vomit game is dying unless you change this one thing" threads. Bravo.

And before anyone accuses me of being a hypocrite on this sentiment, here is my "newbie" feedback thread from a while ago which is similar to this other than I waited 12 months to give it. (I don't think 12 months is required to have an opinion)

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1145305

As for the discussions about how long someone should play before having an opinion; that's just stupid.

This game offers a lot to someone who stays a long time IMHO, and it should at least attempt to provide some level of intrigue for someone who does not. Certainly enough to be able to provide a 1 leagues worth of an opinion. There will absolutely be some L2P type things but even those comments provide value. If enough people leave because a certain thing is a little too obtuse for new players, it should at least be examined by the developer. If it is a core principle of the game, keep it and accept the attrition....if not, change it.

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iCon5piRe wrote:

I want to push my character as far as it can go.

Did you beat the Shaper and uber Elder?

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iCon5piRe wrote:

I'd like the bosses on maps to have specific end-game loot that drops rare.

All the final bosses do have specific unique drops. The Shaper and his Guardians, the Elder and his Guardians, and even some restricted to uber Elber. They're even guaranteed somewhat (within each of their selections, one will drop), thereby incentivizing making builds that can beat them.

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DarthSki44 wrote:

If we dont qualify a review with some sort of boundries or requirements, then what do they mean to the end reader? If we dont then there really is no such thing as a poor reviewer.

Lvl 93 is higher than any character I've ever made, and I've played this game since the first Open Beta in 2013. Sure I have more hours than him, and have messed around with this games' systems (such as crafting) more than him, but for my part I'm quite comfortable hearing a review from someone like that. I don't need to agree with all of it, merely to respect where it comes from. Having standards for reviewers is one thing - what me, and others here, are telling you is that your standards are unrealistically high.

This post really encapsulates the game.

The people arguing that trade needs to suck are gargling GGG's feces. That tired argument has never had any merit.

No, ya cant.