Early Access Feedback - How to turn POE2 into a game w 5 million+ players. 2 Difficulty settings - Forum

I think the majority of the players of Poe2 are happy(83% Steam positive review). The vocal minority are the ones complaining in these forums. If you don’t like the game, no one is forcing you to play. There is no need to also expect everyone to cater to your needs. Last edited by Orionstar#4752 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:30:01 AM	Posted by Orionstar#4752 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:28:44 AM Quote this Post
Balancing one game two (or three) different ways is not something you can do overnight. It's very close to making two (or three) different games.	Posted by just_dont#6539 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:29:09 AM Quote this Post
" Harefiend#1576 wrote: I only have two mentions on this matter: 1. There is already an easier version, it's called Path of Exile (the first one). Considering that they warned us publicly aeons ago, before beta testing even, no sugar-coating, they said it would be brutal, as it is. Streamers tested it before EA, and made content telling you how hard it will be. If one decides to buy the game one should take the advertised product as it is, IMO, respectfully, of course. 2. Ever since the first game launched GGG is known and praised for making difficult games with intricate builds and enormous skill trees. You don't see FromSoftware bend over backwards to make the game easier when people complain how difficult Elden Ring is, why should you ask GGG to make such huge changes that will bring more work-load for the devs on balancing separately? Bottom line easier mode would be 100% atypical for what PoE stands for to begin with. Am I a sweaty, hardcore gamer? Not by far. I only have around 1k hours, and I still don't know/understand a lot of things. It takes me ages to finish the campaign, and there were times I never dared thinking I would be able to beat any endgame boss.But with each league, I learned more and pushed a little further until I managed to beat all bosses except the Ubers. The core aspect of this game is to challenge you to become a better gamer, maybe a stronger person too. I meant no offence, I have like 1-2 missions til the endgame (since day 1), it was hard af but beyond the frustrations and bad RNG, Sanctum and crazy bosses, I'm loving every minute of it. I love you all and I know your pain, but the easier path is not the way to understand (and like) the (this) game. "Wisdom is the offspring of suffering and time." Stay sane exiles! xo I appreciate your point of view, but I don't agree. First of all, staying with POE 1 is not really a good option. Let's face it, the game is old and bloated, and looks like an ugly duckling compared to POE2 (which is stunning). I personally consider POE 1 vastly superior system's and depth wise, and I prefer the tuning there, but I like the gameplay improvements in POE2, and at some point it will develop enough to provide more build depth (crafting for example is very shallow atm, POE1's might be too complex, but imo with minimal time investment to learn a few things it becomes enjoyable). Long story short : I want to play and enjoy POE 2 :) My issue with it right now is not so much the difficulty as the tedium. I'm ok with bosses presenting a challenge (some stuff may need some tuning still but overall I find some enjoyment in learnig a fight and beating it with some skill, even though I'm not a "souls like" enjoyer at all. I refunded Elden Ring :D). I have more issue with regular mobs in maps. Even white mobs are annoying and can kill you. That's not difficulty, even less enjoyable difficulty, by any stretch of the imagination. It's just annoyoing and frustrating. And having them respawn on death (say you die to a boss or dangerous rare mid map...), by Kitava whoever made that decision needs to be publicly shamed. Some people may like that, I really don't understand it, but hey, whatever floats their boat :) Anyway, if some people would really hate some tweaks to make the experience more palatable to others, I guess having two "difficulty settings" can be a solution... if implemented properly.	Posted by Maldosam#3663 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:31:00 AM Quote this Post
" Morghus#4174 wrote: I think a real issue in the future few are talking about is that the game is structured so far more like a long form traditional action rpg with big huge areas and lots of loot grind and character investment plus tough bosses, yet it presumably expects us to also play the league/season game of starting from scratch every few months just like POE 1, while like a lot of things, the fact it is POE 2 and structurally different can't just have that mechanic reused as-is imo without burning people out much faster than POE 1. Exactly.	Posted by Maldosam#3663 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:36:06 AM Quote this Post
" Glyff3083#1641 wrote: I'm more in favor of 3 settings. The knobs and switches are already built into the game. Casual - Normal - Hardcore Yeah, it should be 2 different realms. Easy and Normal. Or Normal and Hard.	Posted by gvozdikov#6593 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:36:21 AM Quote this Post
" alhazred70#2994 wrote: says the guy with not a single SSF or HC let alone HCSSF character. the trade SC donny kranglers always think highly of themselves, the cult of PoM. While I take zero interest in this dispute between you 2, I do however want to add, that SSF does not provide more "challenge", but just adds to the grinding time. HC and SC are obviously entirely different games, but SSF only adds prolonged character development. The goal for both SSFHC and HC player is still the same, other guy just takes infinitely longer based on RNG to hit the same goalposts, which is achieved by spending unnecessary long periods of times grinding easy content. The main reason for SSF players is to compete with other solo players in leaderboards, not that it makes the game "harder" and the player more "skilled". It just removes group players and people backed by guilds and rmt etc from the leaderboard experience.	Posted by Delythyx#5706 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:47:13 AM Quote this Post
" Urza_Mechwalker#7393 wrote: Economy becomes a problem. If you want to have 2 difficulty you will need 2 set of servers and 2 economies. That start to create a lot of other problems. One need to think on solutions for that before demanding such a huge change. The tech is already there. There are different economies for HC and Ruthless in POE 1 And the OP is not "demanding" he's voicing his feedback, which you don't have to agree with. And it's not on the player to design a solution to what they feel is a problem, it the game designer's job. Please, stop.	Posted by Maldosam#3663 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:47:52 AM Quote this Post
" gvozdikov#6593 wrote: Yeah, it should be 2 different realms. Easy and Normal. Or Normal and Hard. Easy and Normal would be better, so it encourages people to remove training wheels in future. If it was Normal and Hard then Hard would just be treated as Nerd difficulty lol.	Posted by Delythyx#5706 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:48:26 AM Quote this Post
" just_dont#6539 wrote: Balancing one game two (or three) different ways is not something you can do overnight. It's very close to making two (or three) different games. Having an easy mode where enemy hp+dmg is simply cut in half is not difficult to make. Or even easier: The player has a permanent buff.	Posted by drallcom3#6603 on Dec 14, 2024, 5:54:08 AM Quote this Post
I was thinking about posting something like this as well - call the Easy difficulty: Tutorial Mode Reason: More people will try Normal first, and this also feeds into the meme of being stuck in the Tutorial - No XP penalty - No Über/Pinnacle Bosses and their loot - Player Power stays the same, Loot drops stay the same - Difference between the two: Boss Difficulty and truncated end game We already have 3 difficulties in PoE 1 Normal, Ruthless, Hardcore __________________________ I like cozy games Last edited by Celyanae#5454 on Dec 14, 2024, 6:11:24 AM	Posted by Celyanae#5454 on Dec 14, 2024, 6:07:37 AM Quote this Post