The Damage is Done

For me, this Early Acess should be a Playingfield to test out the possibilitys of Builds and help the Devs Out to Balance these Stuff.

But the main Problem is, that onle 1 - 3 Builds are actually are able to do Content , where u drop the Stuff, that u need to buy stuff - because nothing is dropping.
U got no Crafting Options or Systems that are Gamble relatet an not really helping to progress.

For Example - Essence are Useless without Omen Crafting afterwards. Also this is very very very Expensive and Luck dependend. ( somewhat ).

.............................


Actually , u play a new Char - Get to Lvl 65 and get out of the Campaign.

If u are not Ressistance Cap - The First map T1 Destroys u and u die over and over and over.
So u need the Trade market.
But Rings, Weapons and Amulet, that can help u out for a bit, are at 10 Ex - 30Ex
a piece.

If u whisper person , with items from 1 - 5 ex, they dont answer and make a higher Price ( Some of the Streamers also talked about it, that the Market behaviour shiftet since poe2 in a very very disrespectful way ) .
Only Hardcore Zoomer, that ran into Maps and t15 Content, was able to buy things for cheap.

Everything that is cheap now is Price fixed and with LiveSearches , players buying items, craft them for profit ( Open Prefix with 1ex, and hope for a better Item )
Asian Bots, and Farmer are destroying the market with their Items, also Controlling the Market. They buying most of the High End items, and controlling the Price of it.

When u get lvl 75 or above, u need better gear. U cant Gamble it yourself.
Because it is not worth it, to engage with any of the systems.
U can get 10 Blue items with nearly perfect suffix and Prefix. And 8 out of 10 , the Regal destroys the Item. Than the Ex Gamble is like the same, when u are lucky with a regal. And i am talking about , that 20% Cold Ressistance is a good outcome. I am talking about that Thorns Damage shit or 3 Physical Damage to Attack on a lvl 75 base.

So u better off, saving ur Ex and buying a Item for 20-30ex.

But at the Moment , u can play for 8h , and just make 10-20ex in low tier maps.
So your progression is like a full time job.

Only in End game with 2 - 3 Towers and 2-3 Tablets each tower, u can talk about 3-4ex per map.

Before that u must suffer. Big Time.

--------------------

So back to the Topic.
How do u ever test builds?
When normal Rings like

50life
30Mana
2 Resistance ( like 30% Each )
An some Stats like 20 Intelligance

Always is priced with 1 Divine.

......................

How can u test a build, when u must compete with the market.
When u only play to lvl 80 and than starve, u cant progress -
Yeah u can test a new build - But u will never be able to compete with the prices at the market.

Another Example

U need a +3 Minion All Skill Scepter.

Day1 to Day4 : 20Ex

End Week1 : 40Ex

Week2 : 2Div

If u are not concentrate to fully run into Endgame , and Farm, Farm , Farm, Farm for 8h a day - U cant buy a +3 Minion skill Sceptre, because it gets more and more expansive.

Otherwise u have to livesearch for it, and 150 Times in a Raw, other PriceFixers are faster than u or people rearange the Prices.

.................................


So all in all, it all comes to 1 Conclusion.
The Lootdrops are so Bad. So Hardcore Bad - that u are forced into a External Markettool - That are Controlled bei 2% of the Playerbase and Asian Bot Farmers.
That all in an ARPG; where Loot does matter and progression must be found Ingame. Not Elsewhere.
That there is no Internal AuctionHouse, like the Currency Tradmarket - Tells everything.

I am Not sure - but more and more, i come to the Conclusion, that GGG Wants this External Market to exist, because they are closer to China, than ever before.
They tell us, the want this game to feel harder than poe1, and that it is not so easy to get items.
But man, there are mostly no Items -

I Store Items in many Stash tabs. Do the 3-1 - When they are bad. I Use expediton. Alva Gamble.
Trading in the Guild with other Players.

But after 70h this Leauge alone - There is no Fealing of Progression or any Sense to test any Builds.

I want to test maybe a Smith with Totems - Hmm okay i need 10div, for normal low tier items, because everything is so Big overpriced.

Playing this Character needs 20h alone, to only find 1 Item, that can fit into the build.

Crafting does not exist. - Maybe when the Recombinator, got higher chances and is so strong like it got introduced in poe1

or Essences would rerole Blue items.

Or we go 8 Times more Currency for Crafting. Yeah than maybe this could be also engageing.
But atm it only feels like a walking simulator , where u Chase against Time - because the market will now explode, because more and more Players will leave.



I do not know, if anything can happen this 0.2.0
The Problems are not, the Balance changes. This is EA , this can happen.
The Problem is, its no longer an Typical ARPG
where u play because of items, chase Items, and Progress.

it just only feals like a Economy Simulator , with some Gacha elemets. And the Gacha elements and FOMO Elements getting bigger and bigger.
The Direction GGG is taking, is really Concearning.

Maybe in 1 or 2 Leauges we get items for real money, that raises our Courrencydrops fpr 500% for 20h. Only 9.99
I Promise it. It will come.

I said it after Settlers Leauge, where they test Handygame stuff, like the city with FOMO Elements. Where u need to come back and send ur ships.
Now they starve us out, and this all is not unintended. Trust me