Crafting and other feedback

I had high hopes for PoE 2. Now let me start by saying that I understand this is Early Access and things will change and get better over time, but I have been pretty disappointed by a good portion of PoE 2. It feels like a hollowed-out version of PoE 1.

I like the graphics and some of the changes such as sockets being tied to skills instead of gear. I like the overall feel of combat as well. With that being said, I will list my cons.

Cons:

1. Stripped down version of PoE 1 mechanics, namely crafting. There is not a single sense of crafting in this game. Basically use orb on base item and hope for the best. Thats not crafting, that's gambling or complete RNG. WHERE IS THE CRAFTING TABLE!!! You can claim its early access and that is why its not in the game, but the system is already built for it in PoE 1. They have a great blue print to go off of. Over all the loots drops in the game are pretty terrible, and it sucks having to rely on the below par drops and "checking the vendor" ever few levels. If you want the vendors to be a major way to get better gear, then have the vendors contain more rare items.

2. GGG has spent more time nerfing builds than fixing some of the main problems with the game. I'm tired of this philosophy of nerfing fun before fixing problems.

3. Maps are unbelievably boring this time around. Run around and kill "x" number of rares to complete the map. PoE 1 had far more "seasonal" mechanics in the maps and each map had an actual map boss to kill to complete the maps. Maps also had bonus objectives, even if it was simple ones like "beat tier on rare quality."

4. With the current skill/socket system, builds seem a little more restrictive. "Play how WE want you to play, and build how WE want you to build." Only allowing one of a given support gem to be equipped on ALL of your skills combined feel a bit ridiculous. Why restrict me from putting "decreased mana cost" to just one skill???

5. I enjoyed the new campaign as it was something different from PoE 1 for the 1,000th time. I know GGG put a lot of work and effort into the campaign and I really hate to criticize this, but towards the end of the campaign (Act 3) it really starts to feel like a major slogfest. Some of the campaign maps feel like they need to be reduced in size by about 25% or give us higher base movement speed.

6. No implementation of an Auction House in game. The bones/blueprint is there. Why do I have to go to a website to look for items? The website has great filters and pulls all the information from the game stash tabs so why cant an AH just be put in the game?

7. Trials feel terrible even with the honor changes. I spend more time failing trials than I do completing them. (And stop with the "Git gud" remarks.) Not everyone has 24 hours a day to play this game. Its not always player skill level that cause one to fail. Lag plays a part at times. Do you want this game to be targeted only to the elitest hardcore PoE players, or do you want to reach a broader and more casual audience too?

Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the game to a degree, but please spend more time fixing the problems and adding newer mechanics to the game instead of first tackling the nerfs.

1.Ya I agree, POE 2 needs a way to add a deterministic mod to a rare item. Which crafting bench did. Maybe they can just remove some of the "meta" craft mods from POE 1 (which I think they don't want in POE 2).
2.Wholeheartedly agree. Like for example, auto-targetting ruins so many builds and/or makes gameplay so much worse. And it would be such a simple matter for them to give us a toggle for this in settings.
3. Agreed. But I feel the reason for this is they don't have enough bosses yet to make it not feel repetative too. I'm sure this will change with time.
4. I also think this will change for the better with time, as we are missing a large amount of skills that haven't been implemented yet. Once they do, the 1 per gem won't be as big an issue.
5. Agreed. There are some way too huge maps in both act 2 & 3. I haven't played since the waypoint patch. Maybe this has helped. But prob size should be reduced too
6.People have been clamouring for this forever in POE1. I'm assuming it must be harder to implement that we imagine. Though Last Epoch managed to do so with a smaller team in a short time frame.
7.Yeah there definitely still are things to balance in trials for sure. First thing comes to mind is Bahlak who is so much harder than the other bosses. The tornado kills almost instantly.