Blizzard understands the difficulty curve better

I really did enjoy D4 for some hours. I think the the beginning of D4 is almost perfect.

(This post is not about D4 endgame, that is another matter)

This game is the opposite at the start. That is a big mistake.

IMHO the first task in any game should be trivial to complete.

Why? Cause you can lose so many players with no reason.

Just leave.

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jhnsmth#0260 wrote:

IMHO the first task in any game should be trivial to complete.

Yeah, Diablo IV definitely felt trivial, that's for sure. It didn't inspire to keep playing, or to buy the game after trying its free trial version; I was so bored by level 20 that I passed on D4 entirely. I think I'll take a few difficulty spikes in order to have a meatier game. That's why I'm playing PoE, and not D4.

Also, PoE2 is an early access game -- they're still tuning the difficulty. If their telemetry shows enough people boarding the struggle bus too soon, they'll tone things down. Just let them finish putting out the server bonfire first.

Now, if you want to know the secret to taming the early game's difficulty, I can let you in on the secret:

That's it. That's the secret. Give it a try, and see if that difficulty doesn't smooth out a bit for you. I promise the game is worth it.

Good luck, and may tomorrow be more fun for you.

Ruthless is more fun.

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xjjanie#4242 wrote:

Ruthless is more fun.

Is it? I hated ruthless; I'm loving PoE2 because I'm finding it way less oppressive. Maybe it's because I'm playing the monk; Jonathan did say that monk players had marginally higher levels of satisfaction with the game during earlier play tests.

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NicknamesOfGod#1810 wrote:

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xjjanie#4242 wrote:

Ruthless is more fun.

Is it? I hated ruthless; I'm loving PoE2 because I'm finding it way less oppressive. Maybe it's because I'm playing the monk; Jonathan did say that monk players had marginally higher levels of satisfaction with the game during earlier play tests.

I started off with the Monk, but I just cannot get the hang of controlling him with mouse. Can't use WASD. Maybe I'm just too old for this.

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xjjanie#4242 wrote:

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NicknamesOfGod#1810 wrote:

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xjjanie#4242 wrote:

Ruthless is more fun.

Is it? I hated ruthless; I'm loving PoE2 because I'm finding it way less oppressive. Maybe it's because I'm playing the monk; Jonathan did say that monk players had marginally higher levels of satisfaction with the game during earlier play tests.

I started off with the Monk, but I just cannot get the hang of controlling him with mouse. Can't use WASD. Maybe I'm just too old for this.

Yeah, I reverted to click-to-move pretty quickly. I've just been playing ARPGs too long to change control schemes. Apart from the bell, which I haven't properly figured out yet, click-to-move Monk is feeling pretty good so far.

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xjjanie#4242 wrote:

Ruthless is more fun.

Sure for some, but not for everyone.

They (GGG) wants to reach more/new players. The beginning of the game is
too hard. This is not the proper way to do difficulty.

Even Elden Ring is so much easier than the older Souls games.
At least at the start of the game.

If From Software can do it, GGG could do it also.

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jhnsmth#0260 wrote:

I really did enjoy D4 for some hours. I think the the beginning of D4 is almost perfect.

(This post is not about D4 endgame, that is another matter)

This game is the opposite at the start. That is a big mistake.

IMHO the first task in any game should be trivial to complete.

Why? Cause you can lose so many players with no reason.

to be fair Diablo 4 has a "scaling" system that essentially means there's no actual progression in the game at all. The game scales with you and that IMO feels like trash and is the primary reason I can't stand playing it, even more than it being shallow as a puddle.

Not saying GGG hit the mark, its early access for a reason but using D4 as an example is really bad.

Ruthless? If you compare the amount of loots especially the currency, its actually just the same or just a bit behind POE 1 in terms of rare drop but most definitely the currency drops makes up for it. Crafting a bit goes a long way in act 1.