Why we need 'Circle of Fortune' from Last Epoch in POE 2 /or/ Auction House

With POE 2 shaping up to be a massive step forward for the franchise, I think it's time we seriously talk about trading. More specifically—why we desperately need a "Circle of Fortune"-style mechanic (like Last Epoch) or even a proper Auction House system.

Let’s be real: trading in POE 1 was painful unless you were a seasoned vet with macros, trade sites, and a second monitor. Most casual or even semi-hardcore players just gave up and played SSF by default—not because they wanted to, but because it was easier than navigating the trade labyrinth.

So what’s the problem?
Too much time wasted whispering dozens of AFK players.

Clunky 3rd-party trade tools.

Zero in-game integration for buying/selling.

Market manipulation and price-fixing is rampant.

In contrast, Last Epoch introduced the "Circle of Fortune" for players who don't want to engage in trading, and a bazaar-style system for those who do. It’s elegant, clean, and respects your time.

What could POE 2 do?
A Circle of Fortune system would allow players to opt out of trading but enjoy increased rewards or smart loot drops.

An Auction House (even limited) would make gear hunting and build creation way more accessible.

Or at the very least, in-game trade boards that streamline the buying/selling process without third-party nonsense.

I get that GGG wants to preserve the economy and the thrill of the hunt. But let’s not confuse tedium with depth. The current system scares off new players and frustrates the existing ones.

My dream scenario?
Give us both:

An SSF-enhanced path with better loot for non-traders.

An in-game auction or bazaar system for those who want to engage with the economy in a more modern way.

Let us play the way we want, without feeling punished for not wanting to use a spreadsheet.

A lot of good points made above.

What makes the current trading such a pain is having to arrange to meet up with another, maybe AFK, player in order to swap currency for an item.

Surely all that is really needed is for GGG to implement an instant buy out and delivery mechanism. There is no need for a sophisticated bidding type AH as buy out is how trading works today, albeit implemented with an archaic and painful system.

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Grikanna#2569 wrote:

A lot of good points made above.

What makes the current trading such a pain is having to arrange to meet up with another, maybe AFK, player in order to swap currency for an item.

Surely all that is really needed is for GGG to implement an instant buy out and delivery mechanism. There is no need for a sophisticated bidding type AH as buy out is how trading works today, albeit implemented with an archaic and painful system.

When do you think something like this system will come? Tbh i would like to have to but i'm not sure that such a system will ever come. I have with that doubts.

agree with all this, last epoch's system should be imitated

Missed todays livestream, did they mention any changes to SSF??

+1

For me alt-tabbing all the time to a website just sucks. Breaks immersion. Thematic transaction based AH would be such amazing QoL I'd use my gold for that. Keep the archaic website method to keep flippers happy. I like trade, it's a different way to play but come on, it puts console users at a huge disadvantage.

i really really dont want either of those things in the game personally.

i want to be able to play with my friends and share loot without having to trade in the wider economy or play a game mode with massively restricted drops that presumes im trading in the economy while im actually playing with 95% self found drops. the self found drops mode means i cant play with my friends and share our loot which destroys the fun of playing together and sharing the experience.

its bad, and what i saw of last epochs trade system was really bad too. if i wanted to trade there is no way i want the trade system last epoch has, its awful. poe1s trade system is miles better than LEs, D2s, D4s or D3s auction house. its the best trade system in any arpg.


the systems poe has has are straight up better than both options last epoch has.

self found is the best way to play the game with sharing loot between friends if you have friends and maybe an occasional trade. last epochs systems dont allow for that, you either are in the trade environment with shit drops that force you to trade in their awful trade system or you are forced to play with ssf bound items to get drops tuned for people who are not trade whores. its so bad, it forces one of 2 styles of play neither of which are the most rewarding way to play an arpg and im gonna argue neither of which are the way most regular playing people probably play poe historically.



just balance the drops and mechanics so that self found feels good and that fixes all issues imo. self found players need to recognise a specific t0 unique is probably beyond something they should expect to get on this character and trade players should appreciate the 5 minutes it takes them to trade for items it takes 50 hours to self find are not a punishment but actually a really cheap price to pay for significant power acquisition.


thats my take.







im not against bringing the browser search experience in the game and making it look and feel like part of the game world. i think that would be a good thing im not 100% buying it when ggg say a web browser is better for it. you can do everything a web browser can do in game menus.

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Snorkle_uk#0761 wrote:

i want to be able to play with my friends and share loot without having to trade in the wider economy or play a game mode with massively restricted drops that presumes im trading in the economy while im actually playing with 95% self found drops. the self found drops mode means i cant play with my friends and share our loot which destroys the fun of playing together and sharing the experience.

I'm not sure if u ever played Last Epoch and tried the Circle of Fortune, but it does exactly what u're asking here. U're able to play in an SSF environment while being able to play with ur friends (with increased drop rates) and u can even trade items with them. It is restricted however, in that u can trade the items for free if the people where in the party and zone when they dropped. Otherwise u'll drop specialized currency when u play with certain people in party for a while that lets u send them any item u dropped urself. It's a consumable tho, so u can't just endlessly send solo dropped items to ur friends.

So in essence,
- u can play with ur friends whenever u want to
- u'll still have improved drop rates from CoF
- ur friends don't need to be in CoF
- u can exchange items with ur friends, although limited
- u can't share items with ur friends without ever actually playing with them

Imo it's a way better system than PoEs non existing one. I can't speak for LEs trade system, because I never engaged with it. I'd argue LEs trade league is basically the same in terms of drops like PoEs base system. So imo u could choose to still do the same as u ever did, while not using CoF, or u could improve ur SSF experience by alot and have some restrictions on item exchange with ur friends.

I really don't see a downside there.

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Sadaukar#2191 wrote:

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Snorkle_uk#0761 wrote:

i want to be able to play with my friends and share loot without having to trade in the wider economy or play a game mode with massively restricted drops that presumes im trading in the economy while im actually playing with 95% self found drops. the self found drops mode means i cant play with my friends and share our loot which destroys the fun of playing together and sharing the experience.

I'm not sure if u ever played Last Epoch and tried the Circle of Fortune, but it does exactly what u're asking here. U're able to play in an SSF environment while being able to play with ur friends (with increased drop rates) and u can even trade items with them. It is restricted however, in that u can trade the items for free if the people where in the party and zone when they dropped. Otherwise u'll drop specialized currency when u play with certain people in party for a while that lets u send them any item u dropped urself. It's a consumable tho, so u can't just endlessly send solo dropped items to ur friends.

So in essence,
- u can play with ur friends whenever u want to
- u'll still have improved drop rates from CoF
- ur friends don't need to be in CoF
- u can exchange items with ur friends, although limited
- u can't share items with ur friends without ever actually playing with them

Imo it's a way better system than PoEs non existing one. I can't speak for LEs trade system, because I never engaged with it. I'd argue LEs trade league is basically the same in terms of drops like PoEs base system. So imo u could choose to still do the same as u ever did, while not using CoF, or u could improve ur SSF experience by alot and have some restrictions on item exchange with ur friends.

I really don't see a downside there.

THIS!

and previous comment is like wtf?...