A SSF mode that isn't mean to be difficult? Please GGG

Because trade automatically makes items more available = the game easier, GGG has to tune the game around it.

SFF is a super interesting concept especially for POE. Making/getting every item yourself means you're forced to learn about every different aspect of the game (past leagues, crafting, etc...). It deserves to be experienced by all players, not just those wanting a brutal experience.

Current SSF is made more difficult because its drop rates DO NOT reflect the lack of trade. It's meant to be hard, making it a mode enjoyable only by a tiny % of players.

I was wondering if GGG could consider making a SSF mode which is just as difficult as the main game. And since SSF lacks trade, that would mean increasing drop rates (a certain amount) to compensate.

But... why?

You can play trade league and still engage with all the different types of content/mechanics & learn about crafting. Basically DIY everything in trade league, making it a self-imposed ssf. And occasionally you can buy a thing or two if you absolutely can't get it or craft it yourself.

Also making a ssf mode that is 'just as difficult as the main game' and also increasing drop rates are contradictory to each other. This game is balanced around items and making good items easier to access will in turn trivialize a lot of the difficulty.

btw ssf is not the 'brutal experience' you think it is lol, maybe ssfhc but def not softcore ssf. If you play a league long enough, you'll get almost everything in ssf that you'd be able to get in trade. It just takes much longer and this is the only charm of ssf for a lot of people (myself included) - it extends the playtime quite a bit, which is what a lot of people like because they play this game too much. Taking this away by making more stuff drop will put an end to that.

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stalkingjackal wrote:

This game is balanced around items and making good items easier to access will in turn trivialize a lot of the difficulty.

But GGG have said that the game is balanced around trade, so this isn't really true. The threshold isn't just "easier to acquire than in SSF currently", it's "easier than it would be via trading".

SSF IS harder because no trade. I am coming from the point of view of a player who loves the idea of SSF, but doesn't want the extra difficulty.

Here are a couple of important points:
1) the drop rates of many items in POE are tuned around the idea that most players should never drop one. I have played 550 hours and the closest I got to a HH outside of trade was 1 patient card. I'm not saying make UBER items common, that would be bad. I'm just saying that the game is not balanced properly around the idea of no trade, and that some things need better drop rates.

2) I agree I could 'self impose' a SSF, but that also defeats the point of what I'm trying to say. I want the experience of gathering up a bunch of patient cards, or finding an augment/annul in harvest. That's where the variety of the game comes from - all the different things you need to do to get items. I want a mode where I can experience everything the game has to offer. Trade in softcore imposes that many things are incredibly rare, so I can't experience them myself. I want a mode where I can experience them, so the easiest thing to do would be to remove trade and compensate with better rates.

Honestly, ssf with better drop rates could be profitable for GGG. Hoarders will hoard everything and pay for stash tabs. I know, i'm one.

You can migrate SSF characters into their parent trade leagues, so this will never ever happen.

This mode can be separate from classic SSF, and in this mode, GGG could simply have you not able to migrate stuff, so no abuse of loot systems or anything.

At the end of the day... All I want is to experience what the game has to offer. And it's unfortunate that the game needs to naturally be RNG-gated because of trade, and that GGG don't have a viable non-trade option.

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GulpShitto wrote:

SSF IS harder because no trade. I am coming from the point of view of a player who loves the idea of SSF, but doesn't want the extra difficulty.

Here are a couple of important points:
1) the drop rates of many items in POE are tuned around the idea that most players should never drop one. I have played 550 hours and the closest I got to a HH outside of trade was 1 patient card. I'm not saying make UBER items common, that would be bad. I'm just saying that the game is not balanced properly around the idea of no trade, and that some things need better drop rates.

I think that's the wrong attitude for PoE SSF. U r right, many items in PoE aren't meant for anyone to ever drop. The chances are that low, but the thing is... u don't need those items to do all content in PoE at all.
They might enable certain builds or they might make u godlike but they are in no way neccesary.
If u just want to play the game and experience all content, thats totally doable in SSF.
If u want to play special builds or be the most powerful self u can ever get, well that's reserved for trade.
And it's still possible to get good drops in SSF. I found 3 doctor cards and alot of T1 uniques throughout the last 3-4 leagues. Will I ever get a HH? unlikely unless I'm extremely lucky... I don't care tho.

If they'd ever introduce such an SSF mode, trade would basically die, bcz no1 will want to deal with ppl if they can find everything themselves.

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GulpShitto wrote:

At the end of the day... All I want is to experience what the game has to offer. And it's unfortunate that the game needs to naturally be RNG-gated because of trade

That is not gonna happen. The entire design is centered around players always looking for that next item upgrade.

If everything would be easily obtainable in the SSF mode you suggest, the majority will play this mode, do all content, get all the items they desire and then they'll just quit permanently.

You guys bring up some good points, but I think the main misunderstanding here is that I don't think that all items should be obtainable within, say, one league. I don't want to be able to get a HH in 3 months in this 'easier SFF mode'.

I also agree that we maybe don't want to completely 'make up' for the advantage that trade gives, because that would mean that no one plays trade.

However, I still believe that a certain balance can be found where someone who invests, say, 1000 hours into this 'easier SSF' over a year should be able to access pretty much everything the game has to offer.

If this is already the case, great! But I know I feel intimidated to start my SSF journey because I know that the game RNG-gates many items in ways that intentionally will make me never reach them.

Abd perhaps these items aren't strictly necessary for clearing. But it's just a turn off to start a game knowing that I just flat out won't ever be able to get certain items.