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Caribou_Louz#0599 wrote:

Says a guy that has only played one league in PoE1.

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Leonemeaeus#0087 wrote:

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Arakki#6986 wrote:

That's a long preface, where are the specific things that are wrong with the game?

Would you really like me to go into this, or are you simply being facetious? I feel like a lot of these issues are being discussed and highlighted in quite a lot of detail in other threads. Since you seem to be forum surfing and leaving your oh so valuable feedback, I assume you have read many of them and are simply trying to stir the kool-aid. For what reason, I don't think anybody really knows.

While, as I previously stated, I am happy to delve into some of the inherent design flaws that are present in both POE1 and POE2, which I have already thoroughly done through many video streams and redddit posts, I feel like we may be beating a dead horse, as the only resolution to this matter, is for GGG to take the measures necessary in order to change or fix them.

If you wish to turn a blind eye, play the shill and white-knight, or simply stand by and contribute nothing to the matter, acting blissfully unaware of the very apparent problems, then I am not sure what you are doing in the feedback forums.

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Leonemeaeus#0087 wrote:

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Pl4t1numX#4325 wrote:

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Leonemeaeus#0087 wrote:

as GGG has already demonstrated the ability to design and balance tight, punishing campaigns in POE2's first three acts. These acts were tuned to create challenging experiences and pacing that rewarded players who understood or could tough through the game’s mechanics.

i can tell you how they managed to do this in acts. by gating and restricting nearly everything. its kinda easy to balance the acts if players only have access to low level gear, only a few skills to chose from, that have about 1 or 2 supports that are gated too. skill levels are gated on acts, you cannot get a level higher if youre not progressing into the next act where its gated again.
while you possibly could level a gem to lvl 20 in act 1 of poe1, in poe2 its not allowed. to reduce possible power gains even more, talent tree nodes are weaker.
acts are a controlled environment without freedom youre railroaded through, thats why it feels "balanced".
the moment you leave act 3, the balance railroad starts to brick cause of missing acts and more skills being available. thats why act 4 to 6 feeling like a joke. and after that, all hell breaks lose.

thats disappointing in every way. the biggest strenght of poe1 is that i can build what i want the way i want. i can run the map i want with the content i want. i have freedom in every way possible, the freedom to build insane stuff, and also the freedom to fail. in poe2 it feels like the freedom is gone for the sake of nothing.

This may be true, and you bring up some valid points, however, they did manage to scale initial first character progression to match these numbers, although, once you are making a second character and using any amount of low level uniques or twinking gear, you do notice a stark difference and the game becomes almost a joke due to your "limitations" as you say being removed.

I believe this can be included as part of the "vision" issue everyone is concerned with and hotly discussing. It is further complicated as you have mentioned by that progression towards freedom into the end game and later character development stages, as at this time, there are still immense limitations and pigeon-holing happening across the available archetypes due to numbers not being completely in place.

I believe this is one of the things Jonathan, albeit in passing, did mention in the recent interview, which to me sounded like a step in the right direction, as he mentioned now that they have some of these numbers more readily available, that they can make changes to bring them in line with what they are aiming for as far aw power levels go.

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BK2710#6123 wrote:

GGG is simply unaware of consumer demand, the game is falling off a cliff and they cannot fathom not everyone seeing it the same way as a 10k hour playtime d2 player.

The interview was the final nail, completely clueless about the game issues and unwillingness to change and take drastic measures in a time of development when it is accepted to do so. The game will become niche and once again lose against the perceived worse competitor.

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Leonemeaeus#0087 wrote:

I was optimistic. I saw POE2 as an opportunity for Grinding Gear Games to expand Path of Exile’s reach, address the issues that plagued its predecessor, and explore new ways to scale the game's progression, all while staying true to POE1’s foundational principles and designs.

However, after playing the game (a lot) and following community feedback, it’s become increasingly clear that while GGG has succeeded in some areas, many core issues remain unresolved.

"It’s EA, Let GGG Cook" seems to be the common positive response among the POE2 community. “They need more data.” While these comments are true and reflect the general optimism and patience typical in EA environments, in my opinion, they fail to address the deeper concerns at hand. The real issues aren’t just early access growing pains, but rather fundamental problems in design, mechanics, and overall vision.

Talking with veteran players, those with mathematical expertise, and individuals who deeply understand game design philosophies, it’s clear that POE2 is facing significant challenges. Without GGG acknowledging these issues and taking proactive steps to fix them, there’s a real risk of POE2 becoming a long-term (or even short-term) "failure". These concerns are further compounded by the game’s gatekeeping elements, much of which feels intentionally designed, a still very much rigged and RMT heavy economy that mirrors the broken state of POE1 and the greed of inner or third parties, complex and often opaque systems, and severe class imbalances that ruin the gameplay experience for many. This is especially concerning for the new players they intend to reach and, I can only assume(?), retain.

POE2 had a wealth of data from POE1 to work with, which I feel guided development in the wrong direction. The years of player behavior, balancing data, and scaling metrics that should have been invaluable in designing a new and refreshing sequel, with the opportunity of re-envisioning ways to present the same systems, but this data was not used appropriately, which leads me to question their team.

Instead, it appears they relied on the same design philosophies but did not learn from past mistakes. This seems odd to me, as GGG has already demonstrated the ability to design and balance tight, punishing campaigns in POE2's first three acts. These acts were tuned to create challenging experiences and pacing that rewarded players who understood or could tough through the game’s mechanics. Given this conflicting design, there’s no clear reason why POE2 was released in its current state.

One could argue that the pressure to meet Tencent’s release demands played a part, but that still doesn’t excuse the state of the game. If GGG had truly learned from POE1, they would have known better than to release a game with so many unresolved or poorly designed mechanics and the same copy pasted systems from POE1 without refining how they interact with each other, or how they are implemented.

Simply put, POE2 is not the successor I, and I believe a large amount of the community hoped for, at least, not in its current iteration. After seeing the game’s state and analyzing its core issues, it’s clear to me that POE2 isn’t a genuine successor to POE1. Many others also note, it’s more of a copy-paste of a previous iteration.

The promise of a fresh start seems to have fallen flat, and I find it hard to believe that GGG will be able to deliver on the vision they’ve presented without an overhaul or scrapping of many of the designs they have already implemented, especially the endgame, class, crafting, trade systems, and item balancing. My hopes for a truly transformative sequel, which is still very much Path of Exile, is dwindling.

That said, I do want to acknowledge GGG’s successful marketing campaign. The initial launch drew in a large player base, despite the flood of bots and fake accounts. This alone can be seen as a testament to their ability to generate hype and excitement. However, once you dig into the community feedback and observe the broader sentiment, it’s clear that GGG’s disconnect from the players is growing, or at the least, they are missing on key topics which would show they are paying attention, instead it appears, or comes across as, that they are following the marketing and sales strategies of other "successfully failed" industry titans. They appear to be seeking to make initial profits off a successful launch without plans to retain their player base. The entry cost of early access should have been a red flag in this regard.

After closely following the POE2 community and analyzing the feedback, it’s evident that GGG is out of touch with the players needs. The first patch preview and Jonathan’s responses in the DarthMTX/Ghazzy interview further confirmed this disconnect. GGG seems unaware of, or unwilling to address, the real issues the community is facing, or, at the least, I am hoping, refusing to acknowledge them, presumably to maintain face and give them time to fix these short-comings.

While I understand that POE2 is still in early access, it’s difficult to defend GGG when the game is riddled with issues that simply shouldn’t exist at this stage, or should never have made it to a sequel. I firmly believe (and I know this may sound cocky) that I could walk into GGG’s office with a list of fundamental changes, and the game would immediately improve tenfold, even without the benefit of their data or internal numbers, because those changes, would be systems based. There are just too many obvious areas of improvement that need to be addressed which are the reasons players don't play the first game. I can understand from a marketing perspective why they would not want to go into these issues with an audience watching, but unfortunately, in an early access game, we need to see the vision if we are to put our faith and money into its development. I am going to cross my fingers, that by the time the economy reset and "new EA league" begins, that there is serious changes to this game which lean a bit more towards the vision Jonathan has repeatedly emphasized.

However, I can't hold my breath any longer- There are numerous areas where the team has clearly gone astray, and it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of addressing these mistakes. As a fan of the series, I want to be wrong. I want to see GGG rise to the challenge, refine the game, and fix the numbers, broken mechanics, and imbalanced systems. I want them to take the time to logically assess every design choice, from passive skills to unique items, and determine what’s working and what isn’t. I want them to look at the way the game plays, how it scales, the crafting, the accessibility, and the design philosophies that make the game Path of Exile, and refine it. At this time, it’s far too much POE1 and not enough POE2. I think they are stuck in what was, and not what can be. Without fresh blood on the team, or a think tank or game development strategist challenging them or, at the very least, helping them to rethink how their systems function, I don’t see this game becoming a sequel so much as an extra chapter to POE1.

Based on POE1’s decline over the years, I fear that GGG will repeat the same mistakes that led to that game’s stagnation. Despite having a fresh start with a new and wider community, the team seems committed to following the same path that has led to POE1’s current state: a game dominated by whales and real-money traders, with a dwindling player base and increasing frustration within the community.

Unless GGG pulls up their boots and gets to work on the numbers ans way systems are integrated, it seems likely that POE2 will follow the same trajectory, becoming a short-lived "premium supporter" subscription-based game that attracts a small, niche community. While this model may generate revenue for Tencent, it would mark the death of GGG’s reputation and any trust in their ability to deliver on their visions.

POE2 does have the potential to be a groundbreaking sequel that addresses the issues of its predecessor and evolves the Path of Exile formula. Unfortunately, the game’s current state suggests that GGG has missed that mark and isn't even sure what would be a safe way to go about finding it, although to the community, it seems very apparent. Without substantial changes and a genuine commitment to listening to that community, I am certain POE2 risks becoming just another iteration of POE1’s shortcomings, which would be a massive missed opportunity for both the studio and its player base.