Five Weeks into 0.2.0, POE2 is Down 93.2% Players All Time & 83.9% from Patch Launch

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

"

Rabarbar_Lichy#7553 wrote:

Because half or more of it is just opinion, and preference of certain gameplay type over other, not some gospel to be followed just because it happens to echo your sentiments. Example crafting, just because the guy wants it to be deterministic, doesn't mean everybody does, or that there is no logical reason for it to be rng as is now. Etc etc

It’s not just about “opinion” or “preferences.” Not at all. I can clearly distinguish between personal taste and what’s fundamentally broken.

Having 80% of affixes on gear be useless clutter, spawning completely at random — and then expecting players to fix it using rarely dropped orbs that randomly slot affixes, hoping to hit the desired 20% — is a completely trash system.

Even a casino is more deterministic and fair than POE 2 crafting right now.

This isn’t about wanting deterministic crafting because “I prefer it” — it’s about recognizing when RNG stops being engaging and starts becoming pure frustration, with no agency or control.

Artificial stretching is also painfully obvious — just like in Ubisoft games with their endless collectibles and copy-pasted outposts.

POE 2 follows the same pattern: massive empty zones filled with nothing but dead ends. And worst of all — movement speed was literally cut in half compared to pre-EA gameplay.
Yes, before Early Access in December, characters moved twice as fast, as shown in the demo. But for some reason, GGG decided to slow it down... without making any adjustments to the size or density of the zones.

It feels like they want the game to seem longer — not through meaningful content, but by simply slowing you down and wasting your time. That’s not depth — that’s a time tax.
At times, it honestly feels like I’m playing Death Stranding but without content.

I like the speed of the game, amount of terrain and size of the maps, what now.

I'm sorry the maps are not empty flat squares to zoom through and leave asap, which might be your preference.

Also gear doesn't have to be OCD perfect, and noone expects you to fix everything with a rain of orbs and billion whites - I'd actually say, seems the opposite is the message, obviously have to be balanced with drops, but hey early access, term nobody around seems to understand.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

You can be endlessly stubborn, showering GGG with praise — but you won’t fool the community with empty flattery.
You either haven’t actually played this game, or you’re just a die-hard fan of games with no gameplay whatsoever.

Ah yes, it's me the outlier vs the "community", ofc impersonated by you and your bs opinions.

I enjoy games with no gameplay whatsoever, that coming from a crafting bench raider one click mob delete zoomer, irony overload.

Was almost a good post until this pathetic quote. I just like the game and enjoy having 2 different ones. If 2 wasn't named PoE and didn't have the watch TV while grinding entitled crowd imported from 1, would be showered in praise for depth, gameplay and functioning endgame day 0 of early access, which other arpg have that? Yet you try to make it look weird that someone likes it, also phrasing your misguided bs to sound like gospel again.

I also like 1 and play it a lot even now, unlike the depth and endless complexity crowd who don't touch it unless can buy their way and have a new gimmick. And no, 2 is not perfect, it's why it's called early access. I'm sorry for your impending sense of doom, and that your hysteria doesn't allow you to wait a bit and see what happens, but stop projecting your imaginary diehards on me - I play like 10 games atm in rotation and many different arpgs in general, but going back to PoE 2 feels great each time.

"

Rabarbar_Lichy#7553 wrote:

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

"

Rabarbar_Lichy#7553 wrote:

Because half or more of it is just opinion, and preference of certain gameplay type over other, not some gospel to be followed just because it happens to echo your sentiments. Example crafting, just because the guy wants it to be deterministic, doesn't mean everybody does, or that there is no logical reason for it to be rng as is now. Etc etc

It’s not just about “opinion” or “preferences.” Not at all. I can clearly distinguish between personal taste and what’s fundamentally broken.

Having 80% of affixes on gear be useless clutter, spawning completely at random — and then expecting players to fix it using rarely dropped orbs that randomly slot affixes, hoping to hit the desired 20% — is a completely trash system.

Even a casino is more deterministic and fair than POE 2 crafting right now.

This isn’t about wanting deterministic crafting because “I prefer it” — it’s about recognizing when RNG stops being engaging and starts becoming pure frustration, with no agency or control.

Artificial stretching is also painfully obvious — just like in Ubisoft games with their endless collectibles and copy-pasted outposts.

POE 2 follows the same pattern: massive empty zones filled with nothing but dead ends. And worst of all — movement speed was literally cut in half compared to pre-EA gameplay.
Yes, before Early Access in December, characters moved twice as fast, as shown in the demo. But for some reason, GGG decided to slow it down... without making any adjustments to the size or density of the zones.

It feels like they want the game to seem longer — not through meaningful content, but by simply slowing you down and wasting your time. That’s not depth — that’s a time tax.
At times, it honestly feels like I’m playing Death Stranding but without content.

I like the speed of the game, amount of terrain and size of the maps, what now.

I'm sorry the maps are not empty flat squares to zoom through and leave asap, which might be your preference.

Also gear doesn't have to be OCD perfect, and noone expects you to fix everything with a rain of orbs and billion whites - I'd actually say, seems the opposite is the message, obviously have to be balanced with drops, but hey early access, term nobody around seems to understand.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

You can be endlessly stubborn, showering GGG with praise — but you won’t fool the community with empty flattery.
You either haven’t actually played this game, or you’re just a die-hard fan of games with no gameplay whatsoever.

Ah yes, it's me the outlier vs the "community", ofc impersonated by you and your bs opinions.

I enjoy games with no gameplay whatsoever, that coming from a crafting bench raider one click mob delete zoomer, irony overload.

Was almost a good post until this pathetic quote. I just like the game and enjoy having 2 different ones. If 2 wasn't named PoE and didn't have the watch TV while grinding entitled crowd imported from 1, would be showered in praise for depth, gameplay and functioning endgame day 0 of early access, which other arpg have that? Yet you try to make it look weird that someone likes it, also phrasing your misguided bs to sound like gospel again.

I also like 1 and play it a lot even now, unlike the depth and endless complexity crowd who don't touch it unless can buy their way and have a new gimmick. And no, 2 is not perfect, it's why it's called early access. I'm sorry for your impending sense of doom, and that your hysteria doesn't allow you to wait a bit and see what happens, but stop projecting your imaginary diehards on me - I play like 10 games atm in rotation and many different arpgs in general, but going back to PoE 2 feels great each time.

I genuinely chuckle every time someone calls me a “one-click zoomer.”
Man, I feel bad for you if out of 10 games this is your top pick. Seriously, branch out. Try something that was actually designed with gameplay in mind. Play Expedition 33. Or V Rising — I’m playing it right now, and it’s a breath of fresh air. That’s how thoughtful gameplay looks like.

And just so we’re clear: I’ve spent 1,100 hours in POE 2. I’ve cleared everything. 10 characters with 90+ level (max is 97) and well geared. I’ve played Hardcore and SSF. I’m the kind of player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of.
I’m not some casual weekend clicker — Sekiro is my comfort food. And no, i’ve never played poe 1 because i find it a bit casual and don’t like mouse movement. It’s just my opinion.

And yet… POE 2? It’s not tactical. It’s not thoughtful. It’s just POE 1’s worst habits, duct-taped together, with nerfed numbers and janky mechanics.
The game had barely any content to begin with, and after 0.2 it became twice
less.

But hey — if your thing is recycled grind and pretending it’s “hardcore,” I won’t judge.
Some people are into trash.
Some people are into necrophilia.
Just… maybe don’t be so loud about it in public, yeah?

As a person who finds poe1 crafting "complex":
I dislike only that the "meta" information about crafting can only be found in 3rd party sites/tools/wikis and whatnot. POE2 actually improved by adding contextual info ingame, too bad crafting itself in POE2 kinda sucks.

POE1 crafting isnt complex, its just obfuscated. Imagine Diablo2 runes without any information anywhere about what rune combinations exist and you have poe1 crafting. Once you have a wiki or two about the combinations, its not really complex, its just intentionally obtuse.

Oh and the whole "craft only once you have budget" meaning you have played 200 hours. Thats fucking lame. Last Epoch crafting starts 30 minutes into the game AND NEVER STOPS.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

I genuinely chuckle every time someone calls me a “one-click zoomer.”
Man, I feel bad for you if out of 10 games this is your top pick. Seriously, branch out. Try something that was actually designed with gameplay in mind. Play Expedition 33. Or V Rising — I’m playing it right now, and it’s a breath of fresh air. That’s how thoughtful gameplay looks like.

And just so we’re clear: I’ve spent 1,100 hours in POE 2. I’ve cleared everything. 10 characters with 90+ level (max is 97) and well geared. I’ve played Hardcore and SSF. I’m the kind of player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of.
I’m not some casual weekend clicker — Sekiro is my comfort food. And no, i’ve never played poe 1 because i find it a bit casual and don’t like mouse movement. It’s just my opinion.

And yet… POE 2? It’s not tactical. It’s not thoughtful. It’s just POE 1’s worst habits, duct-taped together, with nerfed numbers and janky mechanics.
The game had barely any content to begin with, and after 0.2 it became twice
less.

Except I didn't say it's my top pick. I said it feels great to return to it. I play more tb now like Xenonauts and sims like DCS, arpgs D2R, Martyr and modded T2.

You said you want more speed and less hp on mobs, sounds like click to kill zoomer dreams. I like to zoom btw from time to time, just that I already have a game for that, PoE 1, much recommended.

You cleared, got well geared and who cares.

Wow vrising, now you're truly preaching, no way smb else but you played that. Thanks for opening my eyes to the possibilities out there. Very comparable too with where it is on rpg scale.

And you play Sekiro, now you're not a preacher, you're a god.

Ah you're a player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of, now I understand the gospel tone. What you miss is that describes most of PC players, and you're just amusingly full of yourself.

Rest is opinion, opinion, opinion, stated as fact. You don't seem capable of recognizing the difference though.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

But hey — if your thing is recycled grind and pretending it’s “hardcore,” I won’t judge.
Some people are into trash.
Some people are into necrophilia.
Just… maybe don’t be so loud about it in public, yeah?

Again this rubbish, though 10x worse, you're truly a scholar and a gentleman.

If liking PoE 2 is like liking necrophilia to you, maybe just go away? It won't get that much better to really dig itself out, pun intended, of that particular hole.

"

commonsensei#0217 wrote:

Please stop with with this numbers nonsense. You might find it surprising that as far as player count is concerned 0.2 is one of the best patches GGG has ever had in its entire life span. Jonathan said so himself in an interview. So bend it however you like it but the fact is it is going more solid than ever.

Reading this next to "common sense" included in your nickname made me spit my coffee. Damn I wasn't ready for this level or irony...

"

Rabarbar_Lichy#7553 wrote:

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

I genuinely chuckle every time someone calls me a “one-click zoomer.”
Man, I feel bad for you if out of 10 games this is your top pick. Seriously, branch out. Try something that was actually designed with gameplay in mind. Play Expedition 33. Or V Rising — I’m playing it right now, and it’s a breath of fresh air. That’s how thoughtful gameplay looks like.

And just so we’re clear: I’ve spent 1,100 hours in POE 2. I’ve cleared everything. 10 characters with 90+ level (max is 97) and well geared. I’ve played Hardcore and SSF. I’m the kind of player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of.
I’m not some casual weekend clicker — Sekiro is my comfort food. And no, i’ve never played poe 1 because i find it a bit casual and don’t like mouse movement. It’s just my opinion.

And yet… POE 2? It’s not tactical. It’s not thoughtful. It’s just POE 1’s worst habits, duct-taped together, with nerfed numbers and janky mechanics.
The game had barely any content to begin with, and after 0.2 it became twice
less.

Except I didn't say it's my top pick. I said it feels great to return to it. I play more tb now like Xenonauts and sims like DCS, arpgs D2R, Martyr and modded T2.

You said you want more speed and less hp on mobs, sounds like click to kill zoomer dreams. I like to zoom btw from time to time, just that I already have a game for that, PoE 1, much recommended.

You cleared, got well geared and who cares.

Wow vrising, now you're truly preaching, no way smb else but you played that. Thanks for opening my eyes to the possibilities out there. Very comparable too with where it is on rpg scale.

And you play Sekiro, now you're not a preacher, you're a god.

Ah you're a player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of, now I understand the gospel tone. What you miss is that describes most of PC players, and you're just amusingly full of yourself.

Rest is opinion, opinion, opinion, stated as fact. You don't seem capable of recognizing the difference though.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

But hey — if your thing is recycled grind and pretending it’s “hardcore,” I won’t judge.
Some people are into trash.
Some people are into necrophilia.
Just… maybe don’t be so loud about it in public, yeah?

Again this rubbish, though 10x worse, you're truly a scholar and a gentleman.

If liking PoE 2 is like liking necrophilia to you, maybe just go away? It won't get that much better to really dig itself out, pun intended, of that particular hole.

Ah, the classic “it’s all just your opinion” deflection — always a favorite when there’s nothing left to say. You skim through every point and act like I just woke up one day and started preaching “the gospel.”

So tell me — why do you keep coming back to this game? Is it because you actually enjoy it? Or are you just another masochist who keeps crawling back to their ex?

Xenonauts and sims like DCS, ARPGs like D2R, Martyr, and modded T2.

Now I get why POE 2 feels like a top-tier game to you — you haven’t seen what modern games actually look like. You’re stuck in 2002.
Come on, it’s 2025. The industry moved on. There are fresh, polished, thoughtfully designed games everywhere. Maybe open your eyes and stop clinging to aging trash.

You said you want more speed and less HP on mobs.

I never said that. Please go back and re-read what I actually wrote. It was a breakdown of POE 2’s identity crisis.
The core issue is this: POE 2 doesn’t know what it wants to be. Jonathan wants to make a “soulslike,” but his team only knows how to build zoom-zoom gameplay.
They grabbed POE 1’s engine and systems and are now awkwardly trying to Frankenstein it into a tactical experience. That’s dead by design.

I don’t even like one-button builds or pure zoom-zoom mechanics. I like challenge — real challenge.
But POE 2 doesn’t offer that either. It’s just speed-clearing waves of braindead mobs running at you in straight lines.
Play any soulslike for an hour and you’ll immediately see how far off POE 2 is from actual tactical gameplay.

That’s why I said: either rebuild the game from scratch and align the mechanics with the “vision,” or just stop pretending and make a proper remaster.
Enough with the identity crisis.

“Rest is opinion, opinion, opinion, stated as fact.”

You sound like an angry little kid stomping your foot.
Now compare the quality of your posts to mine — just read them again. I lay out arguments, structure, and context. You whine and deflect. Grow up already.

There’s 30k players left — 20k of them are probably Chinese bots.
You can keep praying to GGG and making excuses like “it’s just early access,” but maybe — just maybe — it’s time to open your eyes, my boy.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

"

Rabarbar_Lichy#7553 wrote:

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

I genuinely chuckle every time someone calls me a “one-click zoomer.”
Man, I feel bad for you if out of 10 games this is your top pick. Seriously, branch out. Try something that was actually designed with gameplay in mind. Play Expedition 33. Or V Rising — I’m playing it right now, and it’s a breath of fresh air. That’s how thoughtful gameplay looks like.

And just so we’re clear: I’ve spent 1,100 hours in POE 2. I’ve cleared everything. 10 characters with 90+ level (max is 97) and well geared. I’ve played Hardcore and SSF. I’m the kind of player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of.
I’m not some casual weekend clicker — Sekiro is my comfort food. And no, i’ve never played poe 1 because i find it a bit casual and don’t like mouse movement. It’s just my opinion.

And yet… POE 2? It’s not tactical. It’s not thoughtful. It’s just POE 1’s worst habits, duct-taped together, with nerfed numbers and janky mechanics.
The game had barely any content to begin with, and after 0.2 it became twice
less.

Except I didn't say it's my top pick. I said it feels great to return to it. I play more tb now like Xenonauts and sims like DCS, arpgs D2R, Martyr and modded T2.

You said you want more speed and less hp on mobs, sounds like click to kill zoomer dreams. I like to zoom btw from time to time, just that I already have a game for that, PoE 1, much recommended.

You cleared, got well geared and who cares.

Wow vrising, now you're truly preaching, no way smb else but you played that. Thanks for opening my eyes to the possibilities out there. Very comparable too with where it is on rpg scale.

And you play Sekiro, now you're not a preacher, you're a god.

Ah you're a player who loves digging into mechanics and understanding what the game is really made of, now I understand the gospel tone. What you miss is that describes most of PC players, and you're just amusingly full of yourself.

Rest is opinion, opinion, opinion, stated as fact. You don't seem capable of recognizing the difference though.

"

ShaDarkLord#6528 wrote:

But hey — if your thing is recycled grind and pretending it’s “hardcore,” I won’t judge.
Some people are into trash.
Some people are into necrophilia.
Just… maybe don’t be so loud about it in public, yeah?

Again this rubbish, though 10x worse, you're truly a scholar and a gentleman.

If liking PoE 2 is like liking necrophilia to you, maybe just go away? It won't get that much better to really dig itself out, pun intended, of that particular hole.

Ah, the classic “it’s all just your opinion” deflection — always a favorite when there’s nothing left to say. You skim through every point and act like I just woke up one day and started preaching “the gospel.”

So tell me — why do you keep coming back to this game? Is it because you actually enjoy it? Or are you just another masochist who keeps crawling back to their ex?

Xenonauts and sims like DCS, ARPGs like D2R, Martyr, and modded T2.

Now I get why POE 2 feels like a top-tier game to you — you haven’t seen what modern games actually look like. You’re stuck in 2002.
Come on, it’s 2025. The industry moved on. There are fresh, polished, thoughtfully designed games everywhere. Maybe open your eyes and stop clinging to aging trash.

You said you want more speed and less HP on mobs.

I never said that. Please go back and re-read what I actually wrote. It was a breakdown of POE 2’s identity crisis.
The core issue is this: POE 2 doesn’t know what it wants to be. Jonathan wants to make a “soulslike,” but his team only knows how to build zoom-zoom gameplay.
They grabbed POE 1’s engine and systems and are now awkwardly trying to Frankenstein it into a tactical experience. That’s dead by design.

I don’t even like one-button builds or pure zoom-zoom mechanics. I like challenge — real challenge.
But POE 2 doesn’t offer that either. It’s just speed-clearing waves of braindead mobs running at you in straight lines.
Play any soulslike for an hour and you’ll immediately see how far off POE 2 is from actual tactical gameplay.

That’s why I said: either rebuild the game from scratch and align the mechanics with the “vision,” or just stop pretending and make a proper remaster.
Enough with the identity crisis.

“Rest is opinion, opinion, opinion, stated as fact.”

You sound like an angry little kid stomping your foot.
Now compare the quality of your posts to mine — just read them again. I lay out arguments, structure, and context. You whine and deflect. Grow up already.

There’s 30k players left — 20k of them are probably Chinese bots.
You can keep praying to GGG and making excuses like “it’s just early access,” but maybe — just maybe — it’s time to open your eyes, my boy.

But you are doing the same thing, I don't know if you are doing it intentionally just to troll, or actually don't realize it.

He is right though, you do frame your opinions as facts, why would you deny it?

And I don't see your point in comparing Path of Exile 1 to Path of Exile 2, you said you didn't play it. You base all your arguments to "watched" gameplay? Seems a bit weird, at least to me.

PoE2 is not pure souls like, comparing it to Sekiro is pointless, it will lead to nothing. Sure, there is room to very specifics things, but is not really a comparison because the fundamentals are different.

He said he enjoys PoE2 and you doubt it, or worse: you make it look bad for doing so, like some kind of crime for enjoying a thing. Why are you here, may I know?

Now, to adhere to your way of speaking: do you feel good from your tight circle that you are living in, to lash on others?

You 2 should get a room!

"

Baldrick47#7952 wrote:

You 2 should get a room!

I think I’m done responding to empty jabs — especially when it’s clear the guy is just trolling, throwing sarcasm with zero arguments or context.

At this point, I’ve already written a few solid posts (in my opinion) outlining the actual problems in POE 2 and suggesting ways to fix them.
I haven’t logged into the game in over a month now, and I honestly don’t feel any desire to return. Every minor patch is just a band-aid trying to fix the mess they themselves created with patch 0.2.

GGG probably has two, maybe three more chances left. And about a year until GTA 6 drops. After that, this game will quietly fade into the background — maybe not completely dead, but shelved until 2030 (with such lazy programming)
By then, when (or if) it finally “releases” at this pace, a few curious players might come back to check it out. But the train with a large, engaged playerbase is long gone. GGG buried that hope with lazy development and the complete lack of proper testing.

Now I’m just a bored office worker who checks the forums once in a while, secretly holding out hope that one day I’ll see a big patch announcement. One that rolls back the 0.2 changes, reworks the broken mechanics, fixes defenses, and ports the crafting system from POE1.

Until then, we wait for 0.3 and in the meantime, we keep writing these endless breakdowns repeating the same three words like a mantra:
tedious, broken, murdered.


I was genuinely excited about the release of POE 2.
It had been a long time since I truly enjoyed a grind-heavy ARPG like D2 or D3 — especially one with a decent level of challenge.
What really drew me in was the idea of diving into the mechanics, figuring out how things worked, and breaking the game in creative ways to become that “bored god” archetype.

But the deeper I went, the more I realized how shallow and hollow most of the mechanics really were.
Just take thresholds, for example — you could completely break the game by stacking 101% threshold, because the formula simply summed the values.
Or remove mana entirely and cast spells for free. Stack enough recoup life and
all damage became irrelevant — only one-shots could kill you. And so on.

And then came patch 0.2.

They didn’t just nerf the broken stuff — they killed all build variety and broke what little was working:

classes

thresholds

endgame loot

drop rates

And don’t even get me started on the new crafting system — it’s a slap in the face.
It doesn’t let you make real gear, it’s clearly designed for midgame… but guess what? You can’t even use it in the midgame because you don’t have the resources for it.

What a shame.

300h and all content done in 0.1 and about 50 in 0.2 here. Gotta agree with op on pretty much everything. For me, personally, game is really bad. 0.1 had problems but 0.2 is unplayable (for me).

You feel weak all the time. Everything is underpowered both offensively and defensively. Nothing is ever dropping. Everything must be bought in trade. Everything comes down to the frustrating loop of repeating maps hoping to drop currency - and nothing else matters because actual items never drop - which isn't really dropping either. It's miserable.

The direction the game is going really sucks. The "Vision" sucks. I jump in every now and then and every time it sucks.