3.16 was GGG's biggest debacle. Giving them one more league to right the ship.

Now, I get that my title will immediately trigger those minority of players who prefer to rip on other players rather than objectively look at what happened. And I also know that GGG has all but said that they don't care about their business model and that they are just developing for them, their vision, and those players who would rip on other players who desire more flexibility within the systems.

But objectively speaking, 3.16 was such a debacle that Chris Wilson had to go on essentially a PR campaign and answer tough questions no more than 3 days after lunch which has to be a new record for damage control. No White Knight can argue that this didn't happen. Which means enough damage was done that they felt they had to do this, even as they reinforced verbally that they don't care about their own business model or about trying to appeal to a wide audience, but rather instead have their own vision, and really only care to cater to those who share their vision, even if it were say a thousand people rather than the many who play path of Exile.

That is not me making assumptions. Go back and rewatch The podcasts they did and in so many words they told us that straight to our faces.


Having said that, I picked up path of Exile back in prophecy League. I was looking for something different after spending 6 years in an MMO. At the time that MMO was operating somewhat similarly to GGG in that they had their own vision and players be damned.

As an old school Diablo II fan, I did find path of Exile pretty amazing, enough that I dropped my MMO title and have been playing path of Exile ever since, without burnout because there were plenty of builds to discover.

I can also say at the time it was not widely known by many who joined around that time that Chris Wilson had such a strict vision of endgame where he intentionally was trying to prevent people from completing it unless they simply had no life.

And the no lifers are the ones who absolutely drive path of Exile. After 3.16, this point isn't even a debate.

Casual to semi casual players such as myself don't matter. Doesn't matter how much money we spend on MTX or supporter packs- we don't matter in ggg's overall vision, in their words.

Now, I'm not going to lie - I understand the need to address power creep, and I understand the philosophy of making it so that players feel like there's always something more to upgrade in order to keep them playing. I also enjoyed the rework of act 1 - the mana and flask changes which is something they have already addressed and will address further apparently in the next League.

But is someone who really enjoyed the hell out as the game, I hate the feeling of being gated from harder content unless I somehow grind out 50 ex or more to be able to afford the equipment needed to do the harder content, which for a no life player may take a week but for a casual player may take the entire league if they're even lucky enough, feels incredibly steep, and the way GGG has artificially slowed down progress by further restricting drops such as with delirium league and other areas, has caused that inflation to only get worse.

None of it feels natural and all of it feels forced, to the point where the game has stopped being fun. I am not alone in this as GGG lost major streamers over 3.16 and even those that stuck around were complaining about how it isn't fun anymore and were questioning whether or not they would continue.

I don't mind taking my time to get to the higher levels of the end game as a casual player. I wouldn't mind if it took a casual player like me most of the league to get there and that the timeline would roughly be the last month of the league when I finally had the equipment to challenge things like uber atziri, Uber elder, maven, simulacrum, and the like.

I've followed guides, learned to build my own characters, took all the early lumps and figured the game inside and out.

And at the end of the day, if you don't devote your life to grinding currency, All you can count on is extreme luck, and maybe you might end up with a build that may or may not challenge the top one on every 4 to 6 weeks as a casual player. And anyone saying different is lying about being a casual player.

So yeah, I'll give GGG another chance. One more League.

But it's interesting. The MMO that I left has a new executive producer. They are making some significant changes coming December which is right when 3.17 ends or thereabouts. And for them, this new thing that they are doing is player focused and player driven, and about making it fun for as many players as possible.

It's the antithesis of what GGG does, has been doing, and what their core vision is.

Path of Exile is a game made for the developers by the developers and anyone else who happens to enjoy it is just there to be along for the ride. Anyone who spent time listening to all those podcasts knows that this is exactly correct.

So let's see what GGG can do. Different genres but I may end up going back to my old game. I'd encourage others to consider going off to different games as well if GGG doesn't start learning the value of all their players, not just the ones who agree with their hard mode vision and are along for that ride.

Besides, variety is the spice of life. Is GGG telling me they are too inflexible or too stupid to figure out a way to satisfy both types of players?

If so that's on them and always will be.

Whilst I'm not too happy with what they did to ignite and a few other archetypes, you can still do nearly all content on nearly all skills for 20ex or below. Pretty doable for casual play over a month or two.

Thanks for coming back from the future to let us know. They haven't even named 3.16 yet.

"

at the end of the day, if you don't devote your life to grinding currency, All you can count on is extreme luck, and maybe you might end up with a build that may or may not challenge the top one on every 4 to 6 weeks as a casual player. And anyone saying different is lying about being a casual player.

~1 Ex Build DESTROYS 90%+ Quant Feared (Like... Actually)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5_uj4OdpA

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"

Besides, variety is the spice of life. Is GGG telling me they are too inflexible or too stupid to figure out a way to satisfy both types of players?

They already do (try a lower map tier than whatever you're trying), it's not their fault players who don't have the time or the mechanical skill to take on the uppermost bounds of end game continue to use those who do as their measuring stick for fun and success.

the biggest debacle was in the post title

Hint - 3.16 hasnt released yet

3.15?

the main things they need to do or stop doing:

1. Revert awakened gems. It's okay to admit a mistake and revert something. They were cool and worth grinding for, now they are not.

2. Stop nerfing standard items, let standard have their stuff.

3. Stop nerfing popular builds because then you see less build options for the next league until there are only a few options and that's lame.

4. Stop nerfing or removing chase uniques. That's a big reason to keep playing. Add more to the game, it's good for the game to have more than just a headhunter.

5. Come out with cool new ways to build, like how it was in delirium with the cluster jewels. That makes people excited and wanting to keep playing.


Don't be afraid to admit a mistake and revert something. It's ok.

Well. That’s for preparing me that the worst is to come.

GGG is doubling down on their idea that people love RNG progression instead of, you know, grinding it out and slowly making steady progress.

Which is weird, because no one I know uses chaos orbs to craft, or uses ex to slam, or gets excited about ground drops which have that RNG chance to be god items, or likes the expedition NPC that is totally random RNG Gwynnen or whatever.

Everyone use THE most deterministic method they can, nothing else.

But somehow we all hate determinism and it is not fun.... what???



I agree with the OP, if they continue down the current road they are on, then it will not be a game for me (and players like me).

Nothing wrong with that, Ill thank them for the fun times and move on.