Some questions, single player, game length, etc.

Gaming budget is tight this month, and there are so many great new F2P games out there, so I'm just looking for some information before I decide if I should go ahead and jump in by supporting the devs.

I like what I'm seeing with POE, and I'm deciding which F2P game should get my support. I like the idea with POE, as opposed to other P2W games, that my money is supporting the devs and the game, instead of being required to support my player.

So before I purchase one of the support packages, I am curious about a couple of things.

1. How long is the game currently, and does anyone know how long it will be? I know people have been playing for months and still having fun, but is it just random wandering around the world? Or is there actual content that is keeping them busy? I know it's in beta, and more will be added. But if I were to treat this like a normal single player game, what am I looking at?

2. How hard is it to play POE by yourself? I know it's probably fun to join other players, but what if I just wanted a plain jane single player experience? Is it too hard or frustrating? Anything to compare it to besides Diablo?

I realize that these may seem like strange questions considering the nature of POE, but I'm old school in that I just haven't gotten used to the whole MMO thing yet. I've played a bit here and there of some games, but mostly, I play single player games and jump online to compete every so often(like with COD, for instance). So will I like POE?

Any thoughts to help me decide are welcome! Thanks!

Brent

Well, I, for one, would be thrilled to have another Exile fall overboard. The cannibals ashore would give you a warm welcome. They may even answer your questions, if you give them a small taste.

Fortunately, I'll be answering your questions instead, but only these two are free. To answer any more, you should support these developers, give $10, and try out the Closed Beta for yourself. ;)

1) Currently, the game only has 2 Acts. Those 2 Acts are *long*. I don't know if you've played D3, but if you have, a D3 Act is probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the length of a Path of Exile Act. Currently, on a play-through, it takes me about 8-ish hours to go through from beginning of an Act to the next difficulty, and that's going at a brisk pace. There will be 3 Acts this August, when Open Beta comes out. Next patch (which should be coming *quite* soon), the proposed End Game content, Maps, will come out, and Maps look as though they will offer a rich and long-lived End Game experience. Currently there are 4 difficulties, but they are only having the 4th difficulty until there are 3 Acts and then it will be a 3 Act, 3 Difficulty game. I have heard that more Acts will be added, perhaps on a 1 per year basis, but that one, I have no official word on.

2) You can certainly go through all of PoE's content by yourself. You can also go through with several friends. The experience changes exactly how you would expect it to either way, but the game is balanced such that a good build with respectable gear can tear through the entire game on Single Player, and it is certainly challenging, but not OMG I DIE IN ONE HIT FROM EVERY MOB! hard. It's playable, even on the hardest difficulty, but a poor player or a poor build can get brick-walled. I personally like to join a group whenever I can, only because it's more fun for me. But I do have single-player only characters, and they do just as well. Stash is shared between all characters, and as currency items drop the same generally on all difficulties, playing low-level characters to test out builds is certainly in your favor, as you'll still be acquiring useful items for your high-level characters, so try single-play to your heart's content! It will only help you.

I hope that helps. Now fall in, Exile.

The guy above pretty much nailed it on the head. I know you asked if there is anything else to compare it to other then Diablo. Perhaps Titan Quest? lol Which is the same as Diablo. All standard ARPG. However, this one is unlike Diablo 3 which isn't so much an ARPG as it is World of Warcraft in ARPG form.


I digress though, going off subject. Anywho, the dev (this is HUGE for me to say as I normally HATE F2p/P2w games) team seem honestly genuine and worthy of my 10$. I would have gave more, but life isn't being so kind to my wallet of late.

Haha, thanks for the detailed and entertaining reply! I really do like what I see so far. Unfortunately, these days I really get picky about how I spend my "fun" part of the budget, with a wife and kid and such. So even spending $10 requires some internal fighting with myself sometimes, ha!

Truth be told, I have enough games to play already. I don't NEED another game. The reason why POE jumped out at me is because I feel the desire to support a dev that isn't requiring me to do so for a benefit in return. Hence my interest.

I guess the decision now is whether to wait and experience the game during open beta and release, or to just jump in.

I'll probably play with others at times, but I asked about the single player stuff because often my gaming time is random and can end quickly due to a snotty nose or an inconveniently short nap(both of these from my son, not myself, lol). So being able to jump in and not have to worry about leaving a group hanging is a plus.

Gonna do some thinking and make a decision soon. If I like the game enough, I'll spend more money down the road as well.

And if by chance this runs on my not-the-greatest laptop(which isn't my gaming machine, but sometimes the fastest way to get to a game), that would be awesome! It's crappy though, Core i5, 4GB RAM, Intel HD super-powered-take-over-the-world-at-4-frames-a-second graphics card.......but it does run many games fine.

Anyways, just rambling. Thanks for the help so far. One way or another, I'll likely be around some more!

Brent

If it's a i5 core and 4gb ram, it should work, thought you might have to turn down the shadows option.

"

nzrock wrote:

If it's a i5 core and 4gb ram, it should work, thought you might have to turn down the shadows option.

This. When in doubt, reduce shadows. Works every time.

Assuming you're not on a single core integrated GPU rig from 2000 of course.

I had my 50 bucks' worth of fun in the first week or so - and we haven't even seen Act III yet. Path of Exile combines some of the best elements of several excellent ARPGs and ties that great action to a skill tree (or skill forest as you will) that makes the game extremely replayable. Factor in that we'll be seeing maps that open up "secret" areas (Secret Cow Level, anyone?) in an upcoming patch, and this looks like a game with plenty of long-term potential.

I'm a tough sell, and plenty cheap to boot....and I don't regret dropping 50 bucks one little bit. Might even upgrade someday soon.
Plunk down the sawbuck; if you like what you see add another 15 and get yourself a Kiwi - they're only selling them until the open beta starts in mid-August-ish.

Just a comment on the "secret cow level". No cows please. But the following would be fine :

Secret kiwi level! Where a horde of giant human-eating kiwis wants to get you.

"

Neikius wrote:

Secret kiwi level! Where a horde of giant human-eating kiwis wants to get you.

I second the option, though I do miss the "Mooo Moo MOooo" that was my favorite part of that level.

OP- It's worth the $10, I also have limited 'me' time (looking at my play time in D3 it's about 27hrs since May 15th ;) ) I have probably only played about 5hrs so far and it's already worth the $10, I'm actually asking friends of mine if they are interested so I can self justify upgrading my account.

"

Aurinax87 wrote:

"

nzrock wrote:

If it's a i5 core and 4gb ram, it should work, thought you might have to turn down the shadows option.

This. When in doubt, reduce shadows. Works every time.

Assuming you're not on a single core integrated GPU rig from 2000 of course.

Thanks. Yeah, it's less than two years old. It's new enough to have a second generation mobile i5 processor in it. It's considered the "newer" generation of Intel HD graphics, whatever that's worth.

My main machine is my desktop though, which has a GTX460, so I'm not worried that I can run it at all, but if I can play on the laptop, even better!

Which reminds me, are the game saves stored on the server? I assume they are, but I know some games save locally as well.

Brent