Wondering why Bloom isn't optional? Think about it.
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So there's been plenty of threads both here and on Reddit complaining about bloom (Reddit and the forums agreeing on something, whod've thunk it?). But ever wondered why such an obvious middle ground - just making it optional - seemingly hasn't struck them? To preface, please take a moment to understand the difference between an explanation and a justification, cos they aren't the same thing. At all. Anyhoo...
I suspect this setting is forced at the moment so they can collect data on how well it works, instead of just letting everyone switch it off and so learning nothing about how to improve it. The good thing about that rather optimistic view of the situation is that that means that we might get the option to switch it off later, once they're done with all their testing. And no, it doesn't do them much good to only get info from those for whom it's working, so making it optional and so losing info from everyone for whom it doesn't work well, doesn't work. And surveys can't substitute for analytics. Some have even made commercial argument that it dissuades them from buying mtx, GGG likely has an alternate perspective - a long term one. They're big on controlling how people experience their game, because that's also how they get new players. People who turn down the settings now may never turn them up again later, even after it's fixed up. And then some people see the game on their friend's system or via a streamer and not be impressed because the game looks like it's something out of the 90s (or new players may just uncritically turn if off early on if they follow some old performance guide, even if it would never have caused them problems in the first place, and then be underwhelmed). So not only did all that artistic and coding work go to waste, but you lost a potential customer who you shouldn't have (sure they might be losing a few right now cos of the bugs and complaints, but remember - think long term, like PoE 2 long term). They probably hate the fact that so many people play with sounds disabled, for instance. And no, they can't simply look at the experiences of other games either. That'd make sense if this game was coded in Unreal or some other standard game engine, but PoE uses its own custom engine, so it has its own custom problems. Looking at the history of bloom can only tell them so much. Anyway, to conclude I'll just repeat the disclaimer I mentioned to begin with - an explanation is not the same thing as a justification. Don't even start. Last edited by Exile009#1139 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:02:04 PM Last bumped on Jul 17, 2020, 4:07:59 PM
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Few will argue that there are no possible explanations for what the are doing. The problem is that there are no good explanations.
The "look good on stream" argument is garbage because on countless people's machines, the game looks better WITHOUT bloom, not with. The biggest problem of all, however, is GGG's complete and utter acknowledgment that this is an issue. People are quitting because the game looks like crap, people are getting headaches/migraines because the game is so blurry, and GGG has said nothing. You know why they have said nothing? Because the justification for forced bloom is idiotic, and they know they will get massacred if they provide the real reason. IGN Weebletz, Mirana_Callidus Last edited by Timmy101#2409 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:05:45 PM
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A stubborn GGG employee or an idiotic Tencent demand. That would be why.
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" Bloom will never be "fixed". Even if it was "fixed", people will still disable it. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. "Path of Exile's engine is currently modern, lean and fast." - Chris Wilson, September 19th, 2019 "It looks like we broke something with 3.10.0. We don't know what it is yet." - Bex, March 16th, 2020 Last edited by girng#7675 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:01:42 PM
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The questions that keep me awake at night:
1. Why was Dr Disrespect banned from Twitch? 2. Why did GGG remove the bloom toggle? Ninja. Last edited by la_blue_girl#0819 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:08:37 PM
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" Tencent demanding the creation of more stash tabs or the salvage box makes sense. Tencent insisting on the game having bloom? Nope. Why would Tencent care about bloom? Their main interest in the game should be regarding its monetization model, not some irrational attachment to a game setting. And I doubt a stubborn GGG employee could force the company to do this either. Their customer base is always gonna take precedence over a single employee. Think for a bit... Last edited by Exile009#1139 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:08:44 PM
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Both of these reasons are comical conspiracy theories.
Vulcan is optional and they're improving on it. So there goes the "making optional won't progress it" reason. Forcing an opinionated way to play the game is a good way to lose customers. A game can look like it's from the 90s and still be huge. Half the reason WoW is still big is because of the massive ui customization the game offers to players, all despite the game itself looking like it came straight out of 1995. But hey let's not use common sense or anything like that, let's make our game look highly polished at the sacrifice of performance and requiring more and more advanced pc specs because obviously the average joe is using a pc with gaming specs (they don't). |
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I dont have much issue even with bloom on normal mode. Are there certain builds or mtx where its unbearable?
Unrelated but poe is looking better than ever and performance is so good without delirium triple beyond as the goal post. IGN: Arlianth Check out my LA build: 1782214 Last edited by Nephalim#2731 on Jul 16, 2020, 10:11:04 PM
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" Problem there is that you're reasoning based on its current implementation, not whatever they envision its final state to be. And sure you may say that in your opinion bloom never looks good, but GGG and other game companies evidently disagree else they'd never bother with it in the first place. Also, relevant SMBC comic - https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2013-04-07 |
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" Even if everything you are saying is accurate, ruining the game for a significant portion of the playerbase is a terrible way to go about collecting data on something. IGN Weebletz, Mirana_Callidus
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