Vendor Recipes Would Fix Campaign Growing Pains

After the interview, it's clear that Jonathan's hang-ups in regards to many PoE1 systems and potential systems in PoE2 are directly tied to new players. He mentioned this in regards to runes, but also off-handedly mentioned vendor recipes as well. His stance was that runes can't be too powerful on the off-chance that new players don't have the knowledge to use them and as a result have characters that aren't as powerful as players that do have this knowledge. There's a discussion about balance to be had there, sure, but to me it seems more like one of poor communication between the game and the new player. If lack of knowledge is the issue, then why are we nerfing systems instead of buffing knowledge?

Jonathan is spot on in that not knowing something like vendor recipes is an absolute game changer for PoE1. It's honestly a massive detriment as you won't know you can craft movement speed boots, weapons, or whatever else you're hurting for during the campaign. So, why is the solution to not having this knowledge scrapping the entire system instead of making it palatable to a new player? Give it it's own clean easy to understand UI with the available recipes visible and add a quick 10 second quest to have them make something. If you want to go further, have them upgrade an item with currency and then craft it into something of higher rarity. Attach it to popular vendors they frequently look at throughout the campaign so that they have a reminder that it's always an option. Maybe do it a bit after the initial tutorial so that they aren't overwhelmed and are more likely to retain the information. Bam. Done. We did it, team.

I don't get why they're fighting an uphill battle to control RNG and huge swings in variance when the tried and true solution is to just let the player minimize it. It sucks to check vendors for movement speed boots or get stuck with the same weapon for 2+ acts. The recipes can use more common currencies, or new ones all together if that makes it easier, as to not exasperate the current or future problems players have with drop rates. They also don't have to target every slot as to not eliminate the need and excitement of upgrades from RNGesus. It doesn't step on the campaign's toes while allowing players to continue progression at a pace they feel comfortable with rather than one hindered by poor drops.