Can we stop pretending that Path of Exile is free to play?

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Xavderion wrote:

Even if I accept your premise, at some point you don't win more by buying more stash tabs. You reach this point after spending maybe 50 dollars on tabs. That's it. Spending more doesn't make you win more.

Have you ever played an actual p2w game? In gacha games for example, you have to spend the above mentioned 50 dollars like every two weeks just to stay competitive. And if you spend more, you win more. That's p2w :)

True, pay to have more fun then?

It's debatable about cosmetics, but they honestly don't make a game more fun.

I still say that there is significant more fun to be had with the game in the same amount of time if you buy the tabs. You'll spend less time stressing over which uniques to keep, which rares to hold onto...that kind of thing. Not to mention constantly using the trade system to sell lower end currency for chaos to free up space.

Honestly, it's nothing more than an interesting "at what point is it too much?" thought experiment. It's honestly worth talking about though, just because so many companies have been pushing the boundaries of P2W for so long...

I've played a couple true P2W games, and I'll admit the POE system doesn't even come close to as bad. Like I said, I'm not trying to demonize GGG for wanting to make money on a free game, but it's not even a debate that four regular tabs doesn't go as far as it used to with all the added currency and league items that have been added.

It's really personal preference and tolerance levels though I guess.

Truthfully, if someone tries the game and gets far enough to say, "I've got a few bucks to spare, I'd like to support this company now," POE's best option is to buy tabs, where lots of games are to buy cosmetics.

In that light, I guess it doesn't matter much - and I'll give credit that allowing more and more items to stack (fossils/resonators) is a QoL thing that GGG didn't have to do by any means.

PoE is free to play . If you want to invest on a game 10000 hours without paying nothing then gtfo sorry no hard feelings

It is f2p the only thing you have to pretend is that you need stash tabs, they are fantastic quality of life but you can and people do play the game without.

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quodlike wrote:

PoE is free to play . If you want to invest on a game 10000 hours without paying nothing then gtfo sorry no hard feelings

As I said before, plenty of games have done F2P with cosmetics only. No point trying to pretend that POE's model isn't more insidious than that without being full P2W. I like the "grey area" term used earlier. They live in a perfect grey area where no one can fully bash them for it, but where it's definitely some sort of advantage to pay money.

Also, most F2P games survive off whales. TONS of people play Apex or Fortnite (again, two F2P games I have experience with, not glorifying them) without spending money...but the people that DO spend often spend hundreds to thousands of dollars, making up the difference.

Telling those that can't pay to GTFO is the worst kind of elitist attitude I can think of. You're officially uninvited to the conversation. No hard feelings.

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Draegnarrr wrote:

It is f2p the only thing you have to pretend is that you need stash tabs, they are fantastic quality of life but you can and people do play the game without.

Agreed! Once again, where is the line drawn? Paid quality of life improvements isn't really a standard though. What if you couldn't use an item filter without paying? What if you had to pay $5 to be able to see advanced tooltips on items? $20 to see your character's offensive/defensive stats?

Those are all quality of life...but I guarantee if they charged for it, people would be up in arms IMMEDIATELY.

I'm just playing devil's advocate by the way. Most of the responses have been great, and perfectly valid thoughts on the system. I just find it odd that people constantly post about one-shots, wanting an auction house, and all the other things you'd expect...

...but I haven't seen a single post on the paid system in this game.

Hell, I think I'd be more willing to put MORE money into the game in the future (although I rarely care about cosmetics, and have too many tabs as is) if the system allowed more people to enjoy more of the game more easily without paying.

How is this even a discussion everything past 60$ on tabs is not nesessary. This is how much you pay for most games, but you can play it free for 10-20 hours before deciding if it is worth your money, you really cant come up with a more fair pay model.

You can use an item filter without paying, you aren't attempting to draw a line you are attempting to move it to validate a point.

Something has to be monetized, you can't run servers and pay staff for nothing which means something has to be given an incentive for you to purchase it.

In cosmetic games this is generally done in the form of battlepass bullshit where people buy the pass because of FOMO and imaginary value given to the contents within.

If you were making an argument that you should get a premium tab for free i'd probably agree, access to the trade API is arguably too important to gate however you can sell shit in trade chat and flip quite happily without ever actually selling anything if you are dedicated and actually interested in being a scumbag instead of playing the game.

Pay for wolcen and all future dlc is free. Nuff said.

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Aynix wrote:

It is free to play. Just because you think its impossible to play the game without all those things doesnt make it true.

Even though it is...Even my friend that is poor had to go out of his way and invest in at least map tab / currency tab.


With just the initial tabs to have maps / currency , not to mention items for trade and so on was just too much.


Playing the game is indeed free but playing the game without those QOL's is just torture.