Is there a full respec option yet?

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Saela wrote:

Why do people always assume that desire for a full respec option equals desire for a full respec option that can be done all the time without repercussions?

Because some people on Global have been wanting exactly that, unfortunately. They get so weird on the fact that they have to think strategically about where to spec, and just want a sort of "reset button."

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An ARPG with full at-will respec is a terrible idea.

So we at least agree for the most part. Now, as for the rest:

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Nevertheless, the skill tree is ridiculously daunting and it's incredibly easy to make choices you regret later. Having to restart your character every time you realize that no, maybe those 15 points to unlock blood magic were a mistake, just encourages mass produced cookie-cutter builds. Why take a chance on experimenting when the penalty for failure is having to start all over?

Well, because that's actually the fun and intrigue. Of course, a person's first few character builds probably won't be of the risky variety, but the fact that you have to start a new character in order to try the more dangerous ones is kind of enticing.

Now ... this isn't to say that I completely disagree with your point, but I wanted to address that.

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I think a respec option that is limited to 1x/month or costs a substantial amount of XP (but not 100% of your xp as in having to restart) makes perfect sense.

I don't know if I like the experience idea or not (too easy), but the once a month thing? Sure, why not. I can see where you're coming from with that. If somebody **really** wants a respec, they'll wait that long, and it won't screw up the spirit of the semi-permanent tree because of the fact that it's so long.

However, by that much time they're bound to have found plenty of orbs or have built a whole new character to the same point. But that's not to say it's a bad idea; in fact, because of those things it might actually be a really good solution to the problems you present. It offers a way, if you really, really want it, but does not offer the ability to easily try out builds without risk. You'd be risking a solid MONTH on that build. It could work.

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Honestly, having a skill tree with 1000+ nodes then telling people that bad choices are for life is just...not a great idea. Giving people choice is awesome, giving them choice then telling them that if they choose wrong they're screwed is not-awesome.

But there are those orbs (which SHOULD be rare but maybe they're a little too rare) ... and there is the option to reset the whole character. Depending on how you look at it, that isn't really "for life." But I'm still cool with the idea of a once-per-month respec option.

The thing is ... the people who whine about wanting a respec ... I don't think that would do it for them one bit. See, you at least understand the idea of why respeccing isn't, and shouldn't be, easy. A lot of people, I believe, want it to be relatively easy, and that would be a horrible eventuality in my opinion.



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EDIT to fix a quoting problem, and to say that I might have to take back my support for this idea because of something I've thought of, and made the subject of my post near the top of page 3 in this thread.
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Saela wrote:

Frankly, I like that PoE is less approachable than Blizzard games. This is going too far though. We want to a challenging game that requires thought. What we have is a game that 99% of gamers are going to look at and say "Screw this." At least once they realize they've blundered into a trap and that they need to give up their character to fix it.

A respec every month or two that costs XP. It's not going to break much, it's just going to reduce the number of rage-quits that will happen when OB hits.

Indeed, this does make sense.

Just throwing an idea out there... ancestoring a character (erases that character) to boost the progression rate of a new character.

You still have to do a normal progression, but doing so is accelerated alleviating some of the strain of starting over.

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VideoGeemer wrote:

There should never be a full at-will respec option.


I know that some people want to be able to change their build around, but to be able to easily respec (even for GGGold, as the more financially capable would then have an advantage over the rest of us) would mean that players would spec their characters for a given situation, and would therefore no longer have to think strategically about where they place their points with all things considered.

What I mean is this: If you want to fight Merveil, you respec for that battle. Then, when you're in the forest, you respec for monkeys.

Each character class would have "best" builds for different situations, and the creatively different builds would no longer have any risk/reward factor. Not only would the game's inherent replayability be extremely diminished by this practice, but whatever current level of laziness that exists would be multiplied exponentially as people just copied suggested "best" builds for each different miniboss they were about to encounter.

What would be REALLY annoying, though, as if all that weren't enough already, would be when the n00bs come around on the chat, asking why they have to go through all the work to respec each time, and why the game doesn't just do it for them automatically.


With all this, I encourage everyone to solidly vote "No" on any at-will full respec measure to come across your desks. ;)

so cause you dont like respec option there should be none? your word is god? screw you non respec guys. there should be one final

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zeto wrote:

Just throwing an idea out there... ancestoring a character (erases that character) to boost the progression rate of a new character.

You still have to do a normal progression, but doing so is accelerated alleviating some of the strain of starting over.

I don't know about this. Faster leveling of a new character by killing an existing one?

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cheeseheads wrote:

so cause you dont like respec option there should be none? your word is god? screw you non respec guys. there should be one final

Dude ... I hate to ask this, but are you re---

No, I won't. Thank you for your opinion.

Doesn't need a respect option. Building characters is part of the game, spend more time on character creation and you won't have a problem with it later on, and if you do just start over. :)

I think the problem here is that people are viewing 'having to start over' as some sort of horrific punishment. Several game systems in PoE are *designed* to encourage you to keep rolling new characters rather than playing the same one endlessly at max level.

That said, I can see the point with scaring off new players. It's generally good game design to let people jump in and start playing, and to make sure they can't end up gimping themselves before they know what's going on. If you've been playing PoE for a couple weeks or so, have one pretty high level character you've been playing with friends, and start to realize your build is terrible from the beginning and you need to respec... You're not gonna have access to enough Orbs of Regret and respec points, and abandoning your first character not because the event ended or the HC toon died, but because you made mistakes before you really knew what was going on, is gonna feel pretty shitty to most players, no matter how much us experienced elitists think they should suck it up and reroll.

To keep it short, here are my thoughts on implementing some sort of 'full respec' option:

* Obviously, it should not be a free, repeatable, respec on demand button. Respeccing should be an occasional way to correct major mistakes if it exists at all, not something you do on a regular basis.

* Any new full respec option should be DEFAULT ONLY. It would severely damage the hardcore metagame if people could so painlessly respec a high level character. If you expect to do well in a timed event, you should figure out your build in advance.

* It should be very limited - something like once every few months, perhaps. If you screw up your build that often, then A) FFS d00d, learn2play, and B) you aren't losing that much time by starting over.

* Using the respec should display a very clear warning that you don't get unlimited respecs and that you should plan your build in advance.

You can respec easily. It's called rerolling.

The gear you have is yours. So, all you need to do just level up a new character. You can stick all that nice gear you farmed with your other character on it and be on your merry way. Not a big deal. Sure grinding can take a while, but it keeps the game balanced and fair.

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anubite wrote:

You can respec easily. It's called rerolling.

The gear you have is yours. So, all you need to do just level up a new character. You can stick all that nice gear you farmed with your other character on it and be on your merry way. Not a big deal. Sure grinding can take a while, but it keeps the game balanced and fair.

How does leveling another character or respecing the character you have effect balance at all? I would think it would improve balance if you see a heavy respec trend to a certain build.