Question regarding equitable gameplay and POE2

In POE 1 the idea of equitable outcomes was not a factor. People got good because they invested time and in all honesty maybe had some lucky RNG. I remember playing for the first time and seeing people with six links, had off color chromatics, had badass weapons and cool rolls on gear. It gave me something to aspire to and at the same time made me realize you’ll have unequal outcomes with players and THATS OK. With POE2 I’m afraid that equitable outcomes may be sneaking into the game and ALL players will be reaching god status with relative ease compared to POE 1. What new barriers will there be that will separate normal players to dedicated players. I’m afraid that if equal outcomes are easier to obtain then the prestige of reaching god state will quickly lose its luster. Thoughts?

your post reeks of elitism, but I'll try to answer as if thats not your intent.

allowing a GAME to be accessible to a large audience means that you, as a company, have more revenue. instead, the prestige for the better players, comes in other ways, or by means less impactful to content access.

IE instead of gatekeeping gameplay like an asshat, you do layered content, like hard modes, ubers, etc, and let everyone get access to the content and "see everything". then allow your elitist jerks to access the harder content versions that drop more/better loot that isnt necessary to see the content but does allow you to show off.

PoE 1 made the decision to gate-keep content, rather than follow a more successful pattern of having various levels of content. but then toward the end, you see things like maven, eater/exarch having accessible starter fights. IE average or even below average players could at least see the god damn content and try it. low and behold. people enjoyed that.

PoE 2 looks to be learning that.. 20 years after WoW. Accessibility pays the bills. shiney toys keeps the chest thumpers happy. hard modes for the try hards.

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HurkWurk#6196 wrote:

your post reeks of elitism

I don't really think it does.

While the lead developer and director of PoE 2 has directly said that the "aim" is for elite players to be around a thousand time stronger than a casual player, both the OP and he understand that the feeling of "always having something to strive for" (or having something to) may be way more powerful than "everyone can achieve everything".

I think you will be surprised about the gap between dedicated players and casual players in PoE 2, and I don't think it will be particularly smaller than PoE 1. Hell, even the "one try on bosses" and "one try on maps" will hold A LOT of casual players from progressing, at least in a nice tempo.

I think PoE 2 will have a MUCH better and easier level of entry than PoE 1 had, but I think it will require as much (or even more) to reach the pinnacle state, at least when fully released. PoE 1 or 2 will never be games where a casual player can just walk through.

Yeah was not trying to be arrogant or elitist. My point was I have not played the game and I am HOPING that they are able to create a level of separation from the casual POE 2 gamer vs. the dedicated sweat. Take D4 for instance. That is the epitome of equitable gaming. ANYONE can hop in and more or less get a couple unique and beat the end game fairly easy (equal outcomes everyone wins!). I hope there is a barrier in the later game that will require SOME sort of excellence in gaming to achieve so that people like me will always have that carrot to chase. Nothing destroys a game more for me than when EVERYONE is running around with the same gear that was obtained with relative ease and stomping all over the game. I will lose interest very quickly.

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gallaghd#0300 wrote:

Yeah was not trying to be arrogant or elitist.

Don't worry, your initial question is none of those things. PoE is one of the few remaining games that have an intact progression leading to items with stories to tell and players with journeys to share. This will be just as present in PoE 2 if not more as it is one of the best things for game longevity as well as word of mouth marketing.

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gallaghd#0300 wrote:

Yeah was not trying to be arrogant or elitist. My point was I have not played the game and I am HOPING that they are able to create a level of separation from the casual POE 2 gamer vs. the dedicated sweat. Take D4 for instance. That is the epitome of equitable gaming. ANYONE can hop in and more or less get a couple unique and beat the end game fairly easy (equal outcomes everyone wins!). I hope there is a barrier in the later game that will require SOME sort of excellence in gaming to achieve so that people like me will always have that carrot to chase. Nothing destroys a game more for me than when EVERYONE is running around with the same gear that was obtained with relative ease and stomping all over the game. I will lose interest very quickly.

I'm more of a D4 player than a PoE1 player. I'm hoping PoE2 would at least make that 50/50 or more (whichever becomes more interesting in the long run).

What you described here is what I dislike about D4 but the casual majority of D4 players like it. It feels like the one that dedicates the most time really doesn't get much compared to a casual D4 player who just gets carried and groups with some folks. Unexpected exploits and bugs (which is fairly common every season) makes any content easy for any casual player. All it takes is copy the next meta streamer build. Add the dupes and exploits.

As a more dedicated player, probably the best I have over casuals, is I have more things to rant on and argue with than casual players. That's about it.

I'm curious to know what is the reward for being a dedicated player in PoE2? Or can a casual just copy-paste the next meta build and slap the majority of the content?

I don't really care if this sounds like elitism or not. I just want answers

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If Poe2 becomes drop everything and no dedication matters, then expect it to go the way of D3 and D4.
If Poe2 demands dedication, expect it to stay and live a good life.

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We won't know for sure until the EA drops, but it looks to me like there's a bit more emphasis on enemy and encounter knowledge instead of pumping the highest gear numbers. There'll probably still be room for strange gear like we see in PoE1, and I don't doubt that some encounters will be dps/survivability gear checks, but knowing how to use that gear against a specific boss or encounter looks like it'll be more important this time around.