A lot of people have asked me recently where most of the pros have gone from PoE. Turns out the giant skill web DOES get tedious, and with tediousness comes a lack of caring. All the builds are burnt out. No, pros like myself aren't coming back just because of a new map or a new cartographer's chisel augment. We aren't coming back just because there's a new corrupted mod system. We aren't coming back just because there's a unique hideout setup. Even altering the frequency of mirror drops won't change these facts.
It's already painstakingly easy for even a casual to grind up cards and actually attempt to compete with gamers like myself during races. And that's just not how a game should EVER be. A casual should be able to have fun, and do pretty well, but there should be some type of wall preventing a casual from reaching the same level as a high-apm pro like myself. And no, I'm just saying I have high apm. I've been a grandmaster at Starcraft, and I'm also a current guild leader in WoW and even a sub for one of the top PvP clans (I only sub when I have time since I also have a job). I'm not going to waste more of my time speaking about my credentials, my statements are far more important to even other pros. And my statement is that most pros like myself are gone. And likely never playing again, unless there's some goofy race setup we feel like arranging on discord. Drops rates in PoE are so skewed that that Solo Self Found leagues are more like 'lucky drop' leagues. You either get the lucky drop and skyrocket, or you don't. Doesn't matter if you are a lower apm casual who can't read their name off the back of their hand, or the complete opposite, a rehearsed elite.
Now for the why. Why is Lost Ark taking over completely and nobody is batting an eye:
Customization! You can beat a guardian raid rift and then do an emote with an electric guitar and mount away on a giant beetle. In Poe... you can sit in a dusty act 2 town and hope that one of the NPC's has a 6 link or 6 socket item. Exciting, eh? Oh, I forgot how exciting it is to face bosses that can kill you off screen and tiny windows that briefly show you are missing all your resists. Brilliant, Potter. 50 Points to GripeandBore.
Combat! Need I say more. As a Wow Pro, combat is important to me. Moreso than other pros, even. This game has it all and then some. Dashing into a giant mob and pressing your ulti ability actually feels powerful in this game. And you don't have to 6 link it with faster projectiles and increased duration and a bunch of BS to actually have it be fun. Enough said here.
I could list all the other things that are 'luring' pros like myself to the Lost Ark community, but it would honestly take all day. I'm only making this post to allow people to know where pros like myself have gone, and why we won't be seen coming back anytime soon.
