i'm sorry but there is no stopping POE.

As an original Diablo player, Diablo 4 is a bust. Graphics alone can't revive the best ARPG of my time. POE is the benchmark right now and I can't find a game that would interest me more in terms of "grinding per progression" game.
But that's just me. Diablo is dead, let's see what POE 2 brings, then we'll talk about what's the best ARPG in 2023 and beyond. Peace!

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dagul23 wrote:

let's see what POE 2 brings

poe2 is a new campaign, aka what people spend 4-6 hours running through as fast as they can to get out of it.

beyond that, theres some changes like every item can be 6 linked, which tbh is still not going to make people use multiple primary skills. will just be aura links, movement, cwdt, defensive totem, etc.

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oldmunchi wrote:

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dagul23 wrote:

let's see what POE 2 brings

poe2 is a new campaign, aka what people spend 4-6 hours running through as fast as they can to get out of it.

beyond that, theres some changes like every item can be 6 linked, which tbh is still not going to make people use multiple primary skills. will just be aura links, movement, cwdt, defensive totem, etc.

i think you're slightly wrong on that. gear cannot be 6 linked anymore, instead active skill gems can be 6 linked. i believe certain support gems will also be allowed to be 6 linked.

gear will have permanent fixed sockets. 4 sockets on 2 handers and 2 sockets on the rest, totalling 10 active skills.

it is believed either jewellers OR fusings will cease to have any function as gems that are rolled will always have their sockets fully linked.

as for having multiple primary skills. at the very least players will now be incentivized to use at least 2 primary skills. i myself am currently running flicker AND viperstrike, for clearing and bossing respectively.

my current setup is:

Flicker strike
Viper strike
Molten shell
Dash
Blood rage
Determination
Herald of Agony
Precision

total 8 active skills. and many are sharing links so they're not as strong as they can be.

having the ability to have all of them 6linkable is gonna be huge. awaken/empower/enlighten are gonna much more higher in demand.

having 10 fixed active skill slots allow me to even consider adding vengeance/trigger gems into my build and i could even consider adding vigilant strike to tap for fortify.

Removing 6 link gambling is good, and just having 6 linked skill in progression is better in my opinion. POE 2 will be, in a sense of a word more mature. For an ARPG to be good, graphics has little bearing. Story wise, good voice acting and continuous progression is more important, for me that is. As a veteran POE player, I can equip at a minimum 4 characters to finish end game and farm red maps easily... well maybe 6 if i don't get bored. The truth is POE has become easier to play.

Like most games that are near the top of their field, they dont get beaten by rivals, they just get old and not maintained by a fairly bored or disinterested staff. (Which is fair, people like to innovate, not maintain.)

In PoE 2, aside from some new starting zones and animations, you are (1) still going to maps, nothing more interesting or varied (2) same passive tree with updates.


If PoE wants to stay relevant, I think we need more than gamble-crafting and just spamming maps as fast as you can being the most relevant endgame strategies.

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trixxar wrote:

If PoE wants to stay relevant, I think we need more than gamble-crafting and just spamming maps as fast as you can being the most relevant endgame strategies.

Both were quite innovative when introduced. Have you any suggestions on what they should do next to maintain your interest? =^[.]^=

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Raycheetah wrote:

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trixxar wrote:

If PoE wants to stay relevant, I think we need more than gamble-crafting and just spamming maps as fast as you can being the most relevant endgame strategies.

Both were quite innovative when introduced. Have you any suggestions on what they should do next to maintain your interest? =^[.]^=

Yeah I agree, Im not putting them down. But new ideas are needed to stay fresh.

I can throw ideas out there, I am not pretending to have a perfect one.

The chained-memory maps focusing on a type of content are pretty cool, and could be expanded. Instead of hitting them rarely and randomly, what if (as endgame content) you chained them in quick succession for increased rewards (high end rare items).? But it can't be a random small reward, it has to be the main sequence progression to replace just doing maps.

Or perhaps post T16 maps, you go into a series of gauntlet encounters with bosses that reward depending on how far you get. Again, its key this is not a random or rare reward, but the natural progression from running maps.

Really the idea doesnt even have to be perfect, it can be based on existing leagues, it just has to be something different than JUST doing more maps

Diablo 4 will be really popular far longer than D3, since it looks to be a live service game.

People have a bit of a revisionist history when they think about D3. They compare the D3 of today to the D3 of 2012-2014, during Vanilla and RoS releases. It was insanely popular back then. Massively more popular than PoE.

But it was one and done with no updates. A tortoise and the hair scenario. PoE's constant leagues, updates, and new content just slowly but surely surpassed Diablo.

If Diablo can actually supply a similar content schedule to PoE, its going to be pretty stiff competition.


Which is a good thing, IMO.

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Destructodave wrote:

If Diablo can actually supply a similar content schedule to PoE, its going to be pretty stiff competition.

That's a pretty big if for blizzard, unfortunately, assuming they're planning for a breakneck update schedule in the first place. What PoE does isn't for everyone, so it wold be great to have more strong players in the genre.

If they do plan longterm support, they will have to decide on one of two models to financially support it, either ingame purchases like PoE does, or paid DLCs like Destiny for example. Well, it's modern blizzard, so...

It doesnt have to be a breakneck speed. Releasing more frequent expansions or content like a Destiny, would be fine.

Diablo 3's biggest issue is it ran dry. People meme on the game, but it was fun until it wasnt, and thats because it was shallow and ran out of content. End of Vanilla D3 was pretty decent, and RoS was actually fun. D3 did have strengths, too.

But that content effectively lasted a few months to a year, and then PoE ran past them with their constant updates.

That content ended about 7-8 years ago. It simply cannot compete.

But a Diablo with a live service treatment, ala PoE/Lost Ark/etc, or Destiny, can very much be a real competitor to PoE.

We could even argue a D3 expansion at any point in the last 4-5 years would have done wonders for the game.