Diablo 2 (2000) had identify all. Titan Quest (2006) had area loot.

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Toforto wrote:

Go play hc ssf ruthless lol

Neither hc, ssf, ruthless or all combined makes the game really harder.
The only difficulty is to endure the tedious fake difficulty aka being limited to a very small handful of builds as the game is not balanced around ssf nor hc and even less around ruthless. Sure some find joy to play the same mandatory meta build for the 12th time to complete the entire content in hc, ssf or whatever. But a lot of people like to mess around with the large range of skills and possible diversity PoE has to offer. Heck that's what makes the game feel so great compared to the other arpgs on the market. Something that's not possible in ssf due to the lack of items and also not possible in hc or ruthless thanks to the non existent player base to make use of the main feature aka trading, cause once again the game is balanced around trading and a large economy, and not Andy player Nr28 ssf adventure.

If you think that not having access to a crafting bench / currency / gem vendors and all the other restrictions and limitations Ruthless has don't make the game harder then I don't know what the hell to tell you Pashid

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ArtCrusade wrote:

If you think that not having access to a crafting bench / currency / gem vendors and all the other restrictions and limitations Ruthless has don't make the game harder then I don't know what the hell to tell you Pashid

slower in progression and more build restricting but not harder by any meaning.
A slower game pace doesn't equal harder and that counts for both ruthless and hc.

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Pashid wrote:

slower in progression and more build restricting but not harder by any meaning.
A slower game pace doesn't equal harder and that counts for both ruthless and hc.

That is such a narrow perspective on a mode that is so restrictive and limited. You conveniently do not acknowledge that the average item power is pathetically low in Ruthless when compared to the regular game, what with lack of crafting currency, item drops, influenced gear, crafting bench, meta mods and whatnot.

I can tell you never played the mode or you wouldn't argue this point. It's typical for an outsider perspective to lack some understanding here and there, but man you gotta brush up on that stuff.

And that is before we get into talking about what effect having no movement skills and nerfed ascendancies have on the overall balance, the mapping experience and tackling pinnacle bosses.

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Nomancs wrote:

I want to play core mode and I want it to be as difficult as it was over 6y ago. What is wrong with asking for it? It will make PoE great and difficult again.

Because HC and Ruthless having single-digit percentage of the number of people playing that core does, shows that the majority doesn't want those being "core" anymore.

That's how they check, and you lost the battle.

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ArtCrusade wrote:

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Pashid wrote:

slower in progression and more build restricting but not harder by any meaning.
A slower game pace doesn't equal harder and that counts for both ruthless and hc.

That is such a narrow perspective on a mode that is so restrictive and limited. You conveniently do not acknowledge that the average item power is pathetically low in Ruthless when compared to the regular game, what with lack of crafting currency, item drops, influenced gear, crafting bench, meta mods and whatnot.

I can tell you never played the mode or you wouldn't argue this point. It's typical for an outsider perspective to lack some understanding here and there, but man you gotta brush up on that stuff.

And that is before we get into talking about what effect having no movement skills and nerfed ascendancies have on the overall balance, the mapping experience and tackling pinnacle bosses.

I agree with this response. There are multiple things that go into making a game "easy" or "hard":
1) item power and availability
2) monster damage, health, and pack size
3) character and skill power

Change ANY of these things and it ABSOLUTELY affects game difficulty. Having lower powered items for longer IS more difficulty. Having less passive power IS more difficulty. It is NOT just "harder monsters = harder game".

Wasn't it Ben_ that had a video of him beating one of the endgame bosses with a white item and nothing else equipped? THAT is absolutely a feat of DIFFICULTY (lack of items, defenses, power, etc.) even if the boss itself is unadjusted.

Now....if you are the type of player that will take 3x longer to go the same distance with 3x LESS item power, then sure it kind of isn't any "harder" at any point. But that is NOT how people who play Ruthless are thinking or doing. What the mode involves is players trying to reach the SAME endpoint in the SAME timeframe with less. And they do it. It's almost the "opposite" of Hardcore Challenge: in HC you are afraid of dying so you take things slower on purpose to make sure you are well prepared and overpowered for encounters. THAT is a type of difficulty. In Ruthless, you are ALWAYS underprepared but still reaching towards the higher and higher content. That is ANOTHER type of difficulty.

I am extremely curious to see what difficulty ACTUALLY means to you....I can bet its going to be monster-centered. But that is only one tiny slice of what can make a game harder or easier.

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Paradoxoglanis wrote:

There is no good reason to not have these kinds of features in a modern arpg. Seriously, i get GGG is obsessed with friction but this is ridiculous. No company, game studio or otherwise, should intentionally withhold QoL and ease of use feature for the singular reason of "friction" and not wanting the game to be too "easy". Its absurd, it causes RSI in your customers, it causes burnout, it creates resentment and mistrust. If you think PoE doesnt need these kinds of features because its a "hardcore game made by hardcore devs" you need to get over yourself. Hire 1 person that understands what ergonomics means if you have to.

That's because GGG has no idea how to make a currency system. I mean, there's a reason they're finally adding Gold in PoE2. Someone figured out that having a bunch of literally worthless crap that gives nothing just takes memory as most people will leave it all on the ground.

Bumping this thread until GGG acknowledges that RSI is an actual issue and they take some responsibility.

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Paradoxoglanis wrote:

Bumping this thread until GGG acknowledges that RSI is an actual issue and they take some responsibility.

they said in a recent interview that poe2 will have both less items dropping and an identify all npc so we wont need to use scrolls on everything. i presume if an identify npc is a feature in poe2 that they obviously like the idea and we will probably see it in poe1 at some point.

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Snorkle_uk wrote:

they said in a recent interview that poe2 will have both less items dropping and an identify all npc so we wont need to use scrolls on everything. i presume if an identify npc is a feature in poe2 that they obviously like the idea and we will probably see it in poe1 at some point.

My understanding is that the identify all NPC in PoE 1 was never actually disliked by GGG, but was always considered to be more complicated than it was worth given PoE's unique currency system and the occasional benefits of unidentified items, to say nothing of other decisions that would need to be made like whether it's an NPC, a button on stash tabs, maybe a menu toggle? The raw quantity of UI development that's happened over time in PoE might even help it happen now since there might be some leftover UI elements from past leagues that can be adapted to one purpose or another.