Stop moaning and crying that "ThE gAmE iS tOo DiffICulT" - it's meant to be

There are a few key points we can be certain of:

- GGG's Intent for Coexistence: GGG plans for Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2 to coexist. Delivering the same gameplay experience in both would likely split the community or render PoE1 obsolete, as PoE2 would naturally become the superior choice due to its enhanced visuals, animations, and underlying code. Additionally, GGG would struggle to attract new players who’ve already had years to try PoE1 but either chose not to or stopped playing it.

- PoE2 as a Different Game: GGG has explicitly stated that PoE2 will differ significantly from PoE1, suggesting we should expect drastic gameplay variations. Using PoE1 as the benchmark for "good game design" may not be relevant here, as what is considered "good" is highly subjective. For instance, WASD controls may be a polarizing feature — some players may despise them, while others will appreciate the innovation. Ultimately, there’s no definitive "right" or "wrong" here, only personal preference. PoE2 is designed to cater to different tastes, some of which may overlap with the PoE1 player base, while others may not. Interestingly, many PoE1 players seem to enjoy PoE2 as well.

- Trust in GGG's Vision: It's not up to the players to decide what the "right" direction is for GGG. We don’t fully know what audience they are targeting beyond ARPG fans, a genre that is itself incredibly diverse. Innovations like PoE2 are crucial for moving genres forward, and it’s natural for some players to resist change. However, PoE2 represents GGG’s effort to try something new, which is essential for the evolution of the ARPG genre.

In the end, I trust GGG to refine PoE2 into an even better game than it already is. Player feedback and game metrics will undoubtedly shape their decisions, aligning with their vision while continuing to innovate. I’m excited to see how the game evolves leading up to its full release. That said, it's up to us players to keep the feedback "civilized". :)

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lunshea#1054 wrote:

It's the casuals that carry this burden by spending their well earned dollars in cosmetics and supporter packs :)

lol, casuals BY DEFINITION are people that will play POE a bit today and maybe tomorrow, uninstall it day after tomorrow to install something else. It's the hardcore, committed players that keep the lights on

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tr0#7063 wrote:

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lunshea#1054 wrote:

It's the casuals that carry this burden by spending their well earned dollars in cosmetics and supporter packs :)

lol, casual BY DEFINITION are people that will play POE a bit today and maybe tomorrow, uninstall it day after tomorrow to install something else. It's the hardcore, committed players that keep the lights on

You're wrong.

PoE makes most of its money on dolphins and minnows who come back at the start of every league, drop $60 on a supporter pack, play for a few weeks, and leave until the next league. That's how most live service games make their money, actually. MMOs do the same thing with fairweather subbers who come back and play for a few months at the start of every major patch.

Want to know where I heard this? GGG devs themselves when I interviewed them, at a media tour for Ascendancy's launch back in 2015 - straight from the horse's mouth.

So yes, casuals do matter.

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tr0#7063 wrote:

If you want an "ez game" - plenty of casual friendly, mindless clicking one button and pay to win games out there. Feel free to go there. This is Path of Souls, baby, we grind here and we welcome every death as a chance to improve ourselves.

Imagine thinking POE as "soul-game".

When I died in soul, it often happens because of a VERY clear mistake: misreading an enemy's attack, over-committing, or failing to adapt to the environment.

Here though... deaths (most of the time in mapping) feels random AF, Souls games usually telegraph their dangers, giving me the tools to overcome them.

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Gwonam#5505 wrote:

That's untrue.

PoE makes most of its money on dolphins and minnows who come back at the start of every league, drop $60 on a supporter pack, play for a few weeks, and leave. That's how most live service games make their money, actually. MMOs do the same thing with fairweather subbers who come back and play for a few months at the start of every major patch.

Want to know where I heard this? GGG devs themselves, at a media tour for Ascendancy's launch - straight from the horse's mouth.

So yes, casuals do matter.

no, like I already mentioned just above your reply - casuals are BY DEFINITION people that don't stick around, let alone pay any money.

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Herbeh#6842 wrote:

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This will be the fate of PoE2, if it only caters to the hardcore/ruthless segment. It's an important lesson even.
If the hardcore/ruthless segment (a tiny minority) wishes for a hard game, then they are absolutely in their right to have this, but it could be done in same way as PoE1, with a checkbox "do you wish to play ruthless/nolife/superleetnerdmode? Click here if yes"

Except WoW and mmos waste your time to make up for having braindead gameplay. Even right now with the unbalanced numbers we have a lot more ways to position our characters and interact with the content than wow. The reason that game struggled is because WoW players are literally room temp IQ soap eaters who spend 80% of their time in game erping with blue goats and 10% afk. The last bit might be playing... maybe

I'd love to see a study on this, but I doubt it would prove your hypothesis. I doubt the average "IQ" of WoW-gamers is lower than people playing other games, including Poe1/2. If you dislike the game being easy, there's plenty of ways to making it harder.

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cerberus20#3609 wrote:

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GregoryAdams#7051 wrote:

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cerberus20#3609 wrote:

If the hardcore/ruthless segment (a tiny minority) wishes for a hard game, then they are absolutely in their right to have this, but it could be done in same way as PoE1, with a checkbox "do you wish to play ruthless/nolife/superleetnerdmode? Click here if yes"

Just to expand on what you wrote, I've been playing PoE 1 in HCSSF almost exclusively, and I really dislike how PoE 2 handles "difficulty".

The divide here is really not along the SC/HC line of PoE 1. Plenty of people, who love HC in PoE 1 very much dislike how PoE 2 is right now.

Yes I'm not trying to take away from hardcore players here.
My point is simply, that making the game obscenely difficult for a majority, will simply make them quit and play one of the competitors games. And I'm fairly certain they are not gonna sit still and just let potential customers run away.

Which is also why I think the old solution would work better:
SC/HC + SSF option
Ruthless SC/HC + SSF option (for those who need it to be souls like challenging)

Yeah, I completely agree with you. 100%.

Good game mechanics, just too difficult and RNG on the bosses for me.

Cheers boiz enjoy your day.

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cerberus20#3609 wrote:

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Herbeh#6842 wrote:

"

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This will be the fate of PoE2, if it only caters to the hardcore/ruthless segment. It's an important lesson even.
If the hardcore/ruthless segment (a tiny minority) wishes for a hard game, then they are absolutely in their right to have this, but it could be done in same way as PoE1, with a checkbox "do you wish to play ruthless/nolife/superleetnerdmode? Click here if yes"

Except WoW and mmos waste your time to make up for having braindead gameplay. Even right now with the unbalanced numbers we have a lot more ways to position our characters and interact with the content than wow. The reason that game struggled is because WoW players are literally room temp IQ soap eaters who spend 80% of their time in game erping with blue goats and 10% afk. The last bit might be playing... maybe

ERRRRRRM SOURCE?!?!?!

Mmos have extremely low skill gameplay, this isn't really up for debate. Any fighting game, character action game, arpg, rts, etc have far more skill expression than mmos. They're only considered """"""hardcore"""""" because you have to schedule around raiding like it's a job

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tr0#7063 wrote:

get it into your head - POE2 is NOT a game for casuals. It's not for people who want to play it 2-3 hours on average a day. This is a game that requires commitment, knowledge and skill. And it's by design.

The passive tree is supposed to be overwhelming. Skills and supports are meant to be complicated and require knowledge, research and thinking. The game is meant to be about hundreds of hours of grind to get that chance to shine and show your SKILL and commitment and the will be push further. And yes, it is meant to be "one mistake = you're out of luck, try again". That's what's challenging about it and that's what people love.

If you want an "ez game" - plenty of casual friendly, mindless clicking one button and pay to win games out there. Feel free to go there. This is Path of Souls, baby, we grind here and we welcome every death as a chance to improve ourselves.

Op can't read with all this penises blocking his view.

Most people say the game is uninspired, watered down, boring and too easy.

Few people say the first 3 acts are too hard. And they are right when you compare it with cruel difficulty, it should be the other way around.

People don't like the game, they come on the forums and they talk. But why in the seven hell would someone enjoying the game go out of his way to try to ragebait forums? Just play and stfu.