Personal feedback following the new 0.2G update. This is GOOD. What's next?

If you don;t want to read what I wrote, there is a TLDR section below.

Hello GGG and the entire POE community.
As the title says, I have a personal feedback after the successful launch of the "2nd 0.2G update rollout" (the 1st one resulted in a 5 hour maintenance downtime)

Personal struggles before the 0.2G update :
I unninstalled the game around 3-4 days ago when I was lvl 88 because I got frustrated with the lack of currency drops and mainly because of the EXP penalty.
I was running tier 15 juiced maps (4 modifiers because i only had regal orbs) and most of my maps where buffed by the 3 slots towers in which I placed tablets for Radiation, Delirium and Altars.
My plan was simple, farm teir 15 maps & corrupted zones with whatever was on them (Ritual Altairs, Delirium, Radiation for +1 lvl etc)
After that I went back to the "Cleansed" areas/maps and I did them again.

Well.. I stopped playing because of the poor currency & loot drops and because of the EXP penalty which after farming 10 maps & die twice to random stuffs & clutter ( poison,bleed, purple flowers, fire explosions,cold etc etc ) I got reset with the usual 10% exp. i got bothersome to the degree where I did not felt like I was getting rewarded for my time.
NOT to mention the server disconnects on the european servers.
SO I unninstalled the game.



Personal feedback and general vibe after the 0.2G update:

1) I reinstalled the game this morning (6 AM GMT +2) and I tested the "same" tier 15 "juiced" maps.
2) I was finally happy with the loot&currency drops. From only one tier 15 fully juiced map with Ritual Altairs, Delirium, Boss and Breach on the map, I got:
* 4 Exalts,
* 3 Regal Orbs,
* 1 Alchemy orb
* Enough splinters that got me close to an extra exalted orb
* 2 unique items (poor in value but still it's something)
* 11 Augmentation Orbs
* 9 orbs of transmutation
* Around 11 rare items that I dissenchanted and got extra splinters that got me an extra exalted orb and 50% more splinters for another one, which combined with the ones from above resulted in getting another one.
Therefore, the total exalts after the map run was 6

3) The above got me started and I now had the "power" to fully juice my maps
4) After 4 hours and 30 minutes of running these fully tier 15 juiced maps I was finnaly able to reach level 90 because I now had enough currency to buy Orbs of Amelioration which saved me 75% EXP when I died
5) I managed to craft a better spear which I ended up loosing because I tried to Recombine it :)) but hey, at least I had the currency now to craft something....


My honest thoughts about this 0.2g update is that this is finally the version of the 0.2 update that should've been launched on 4th of April or whenever the Dawn of the Hunt league/season/update dropped.
I am finally satisfied with the current state of the game.


What I would recommend next:


1) GGG please work a bit on the screen clutter caused by the ground effects, purple balls,purple flowers, poison,blood etc, especially in the Ritual Altairs because due to the congested space, it's really difficult to disttinguish something and you still die randomly to thigns that you don't see

2) This might be the most important thing in my honest openion:
Properly optimize the game performance, and make sure your servers are running fine and don't disconenct the players anymore.
Invest a bit into a better Web Application Friewall, better overall VPC security, protect yourself against DDoS attacks, just get better overall Infrastructure

When the point 2 gets solved, I'll be more than happy to buy supporter packs.



TLDR:
Before the update 0.2G i got frustrated and I uninstalled the game due to poor/low /none at all currency & loot, server disconects and especially due to EXP penalty on death.
I was lvl 88 when I uninstalled the game 3-4 days ago

I reinstalled the game today at 6 am GMT+2 to test the new update
I am finally satisfied with the amount of drops & loot which helped me craft better gear,buy items (especially Omens of Amelioration).
I finally got to lvl 90

What I wish GGG would focus on next
1) Eliminating the screen clutter caused by the ground effects & other effects( poison,blood spots, purple flowers, purple flying balls, blood balls etc etc).
Especially during the Altairs
2) Better game optimization and better server stability.

I feel like they should balance the items more now. Or maybe increase determinism a bit.

A lot of stuff drops, but it takes forever to find/craft an upgrade.

Trade should not be the only option.

"

gnojozrywek#2381 wrote:

I feel like they should balance the items more now. Or maybe increase determinism a bit.

A lot of stuff drops, but it takes forever to find/craft an upgrade.

Trade should not be the only option.

That!

If GGG just put a mechanic similar to currency exchange in SSF (a way to convert our currency around - ex. has too much exalt, trade it for regal or divines for a gold fee) I would never play league standard again.

Honestly I just hope when they drop 0.3 they are able to keep the progress they made from the start of 0.2 to now, and then actually move the game forward.

I am seriously concerned 0.3 will just be 0.2 launch day all over again.

It seems like all the changes they made post 0.2 launch they only made because the players held a metaphorical gun to their heads. Maybe I'm just reading too much into the attitudes held in the Ziz interview, I hope their overall attitude has changed since then.

Left to their own devices the game they wanted to make (with the 0.2 drop) is not the game players wanted to play.

0.3 will be a big moment to see if the changes post 0.2 were just made because they were "forced" to, or if they've actually learned a little about what makes their games fun to play and can keep that momentum going.

"

pattw555#0071 wrote:

0.3 will be a big moment to see if the changes post 0.2 were just made because they were "forced" to, or if they've actually learned a little about what makes their games fun to play and can keep that momentum going.

I get your point, and I hope that they'll keep the good work thay they showed since 0.2 up until 0.2g