What the Hell Happened to Gamers?

The main issue with the OP/argument is that it overlooks the core concern of many players, which is the lack of satisfying 'balance' and 'progression' in the game at this stage.

While the OP advocates for a challenging, 'hardcore' experience in PoE 2, you fail to address the frustration that arises when core gameplay systems and builds are drastically altered in a short timeframe, especially during Early Access.

The idea that 'Early Access means major changes' is fair, but when players are forced to continually adapt to untested or unpredictable changes, it can alienate the very community that has been dedicated to the game for years.

The argument also dismisses the valid desire for a sense of progression and rewards that resonate with players on a personal level beyond just 'theorycrafting' or loot collection.

Not everyone enjoys Path of Exile for its difficulty alone; many appreciate its intricate balance between challenge and gratification!

Simply put, being 'hardcore' does not automatically make the game 'good' and... disregarding player concerns as mere 'whining' will only limit the opportunity to refine PoE 2 into something truly 'enjoyable' for a wide range of players.

"

Stryfer#0953 wrote:

I agree with a lot of what OP said. It's similar to what I alluded to in my thread about comparing this to Diablo 2, though I leaned more into illustrating how the genre changed and suggested players think about what they really want from it today.

The fact is, we are in a place where ARPGs have split across two different design philosophies: loot farming dopamine versus overcoming a challenge dopamine. It's remarkable just how polarizing these two sides are in the community.

I don't even think it's down to that. There's a crowd of people just asking for both games to respect their time more. Nothing about dopamine. The other group is saying everything is fine the way it is, nothing needs to be changed.

Part of that is about dopamine yes, but there's much more to it.

"

Lebigcheez#8190 wrote:

A game like Dark Souls comes out, obliterates a million people for months, and is heralded as one of the greatest Action games of all time...

It baffles me that people cant seem to grasp the basic difference between a game like Dark Souls and poe 2. You cannot just slap slow and methodical combat on a game and its suddenly "souls like" and therefore a good game. The clear and obvious difference being the looting/gearing system that defines a game like poe 1 and also poe 2. These systems demand massive amounts of time grinding to achieve gearing milestones. At some point bosses do become a dps check. Slow and methodical combat is antagonistic to the grind required in poe 2. If GGG wants to revamp the gearing system, then great, they can have their souls like. If they do not, the game will feel unrewarding and flat out exhausting to play as it currently is.

If you had to beat Radahn 100+ times to get enough equipment to continue you might rethink your opinion on how great of a game Elden Ring is.

Also framing yourself as some God gamer, debasing other legitimate gamers reducing them to dopamine addicts, and then attempting to gatekeep them from having an opinion, is more self aggrandizing narcissism than criticism.

Gamers have started a family, have become smarter and are no longer ready to spend the whole day on games. People value time, poe takes all your time. Easy

This is not an ARPG.

People that love POE1 and ARPG's wanted an updated and new ARPG.

This is not it.
ARPG's biggest sell is the power fantasy -make a character, and gradually make it more powerful.

Here the entire campaign is a slow slog unless you manage to make one of the extremely few viable builds AND get some good drops.

ARPG's has loot.
This game has no loot.

If this is your dream game, great for you.
But stop gaslighting people because they do not share your values of fun.

We are simply different.
I really disliked 0.1 and quit mid december.
Had hopes they'd fix it in 0.2 but they made it worse.

About 0.5 % of POE1 players did ruthless.
POE2 is very similar to ruthless POE1.
IF GGG are looking for that 1% of players, well done, you did a good job.
If they wanted to make a game for ARPG players, they miss so badly it has to go down in history as one of the biggest blunders I've seen.

Remember the Smite build in Diablo II? There were a whole bunch of builds designed specifically to handle Uber Tristram. It would be utterly insane to use one of those builds at the start of a new ladder.

That being said, people who are complaining aren't using some obscure niche endgame build; they are using the latest Huntress build that was promoted as the face of this launch, and it seems to be coming out flat. These problems should definitely be brought forward to GGG and addressed.

The frustrating thing to witness as someone who likes this game is to see the culture of negativity and so many people basically just having their opinions created for them by streamers, then attacking the developers in a completely rude and unproductive manner. We're not getting anywhere with the vast majority of the feedback that people are giving here.

"

Glowie_Zigger#5018 wrote:

We're not getting anywhere with the vast majority of the feedback that people are giving here.

You gotta learn to Filter out stuff when you're reading lol. ;)

I am a "gamer" through and through, for 30+ years now since regular Gameboy. Playing a game just because it exists and taking it as it is with no complaints isn't what makes someone a "gamer" though. If the game feels slow, boring, and unrewarding all at the same time, I am going to say I don't like the game. That doesn't make me not a "gamer". It makes me honest and not wasting my time on something that doesn't feel fun.

Also doesn't make me a doomer, whiner, or ungrateful to GGG. I love PoE 1 and want to love PoE 2 and don't expect to be the same as PoE 1. I just don't find PoE 2 to be an enjoyable game for myriad reasons. None of them being that I don't like a challenge, slower gameplay than PoE 1, or an early access experience. Game feels overall unenjoyable to me with many seemingly bewildering decisions being made in the production.

That is allowed and I can still be a "gamer".

I dont want Dark Souls in Arpg. Thats all :) And lot of people dont want this. It's only few persons from GGG vision. They have some delusional-obsesive mission, but the fact is that people DONT WANT THAT. Its like in corporate when one CEO have ,,vision". Okay, we can do that but market will verify that. Simple case.

"

loudpinks2000#5182 wrote:

That doesn't make me not a "gamer". It makes me honest and not wasting my time on something that doesn't feel fun.

Why can't you see it the other way around for us too?

i.e. That's why we chose not to play PoE1 man.