Is the primary purpose of PoE supposed to be a "slot machine"?
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"Neither builds nor combat are the primary focus of the game. The game is a slot machine.
Cool builds are rewards for the slot machine. Currencies are rewards for the slot machine." This is a comment I saw in another post here and it's quite interesting... because this would definitely explain a lot of the weird behavior and desires of a lot of players, specifically a lot of the PoE1 veterans but not only. If you think about it, there's literally no other game where people ask for the combat to be diminished as much as possible to the point where you don't need to press anything, if possible. Or have 0 skill involved or anything remotely close to reactive gameplay. What could possibly be fun about not having engaging combat, right? At the same time, some people might argue that build creation is what drives them... but I'm quite sure that's a small portion of the community as stats proved again and again that a large majority of the player base copy their builds from popular content creators... Moreover, most people don't constantly try different builds either and play at most 2-3 builds in a league. So that's not it either... And then we have that comment there... which ties everything together rather well.... Out of curiosity, I asked AI about this to find more info. My question was "What do you think about the fact that some people play the game because they are addicted to drops in a way that slot machines work?" And what I found out was... Games with randomized loot systems trigger the brain’s reward circuitry in a way that’s eerily similar to gambling. You kill a monster, and maybe it drops something amazing — or maybe it doesn’t. That unpredictability keeps players coming back, chasing that next “jackpot.” It’s called a variable-ratio reinforcement schedule, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to hook behavior. 🧠 Why It Works Uncertainty heightens excitement: Not knowing what you’ll get makes each drop feel more thrilling. Occasional big wins: When you do get something rare, it feels euphoric — reinforcing the grind. Social proof: Seeing others get amazing loot can intensify the desire to keep playing. ⚠️ The Flip Side For some, this loop becomes compulsive. They’re not playing for fun or mastery anymore — they’re chasing that next dopamine hit. It can lead to burnout, neglect of other responsibilities, or even financial strain if microtransactions are involved. But here’s the nuance: not everyone who enjoys loot-based games is addicted. Some people genuinely love the strategy, the community, the art, the lore. The key difference is whether the game is enhancing life or quietly consuming it. I just want you to notice that one line there I highlighted if nothing else. It yet again ties in perfectly with player behavior and demands. So then, those of you that don't care about how good combat is, should seriously and sincerely ask yourselves why you're playing, exactly? ---------------------------------------- Now this next part is less important for me, personally, but I was still curious about it... so then I searched "How does this tie into possible RMT issues ?" "Great question — and it gets to the heart of how game design, psychology, and real-world economics collide. 💰 RMT (Real Money Trading) thrives in environments where players are emotionally invested in loot — especially when that loot is rare, randomized, and grind-intensive. Here's how the addiction-like drop mechanics you mentioned feed into RMT: 🎲 Loot Addiction → Demand for Shortcuts Players hooked on the thrill of drops may hit a wall: the grind becomes exhausting, but the desire for rare items remains. This creates a market for shortcuts — enter RMT, where players pay real money to skip the grind and buy the loot directly. 🛒 Supply Side: Incentivizing Farmers The addictive nature of loot means there's consistent demand. This incentivizes third-party sellers or bot farms to grind 24/7, extracting value from the game economy and selling it for profit. 🔄 Feedback Loop The more players engage in RMT, the more others feel pressured to keep up — either by grinding harder or buying in. This can distort the in-game economy, inflate item prices, and undermine the integrity of gameplay." That sounds rather familiar, doesn't it? It also explains why people are so desperate to screen clear and one-shot everything with one button press and move as fast as possible. ---------------------------------------- And as a follow-up to that I asked: "Between Last Epoch and PoE which one took more action against RMT?" "Between Last Epoch and Path of Exile, Last Epoch has taken more visible and proactive action against RMT (Real Money Trading) — especially in recent months. 🛡️ Last Epoch: Aggressive and Transparent Enforcement EHG (Eleventh Hour Games) has publicly committed to banning accounts involved in RMT, both buyers and sellers2. They've responded swiftly to exploits, including gold and item duplication, often deploying fixes within 24 hours. They’ve introduced mirrored item art to distinguish legitimate duplicates from exploit-based ones. Regular ban waves are actively removing illegitimate gold and items from the economy, with plans to implement further controls like a potential gold tax. 🕵️ Path of Exile: Quiet and Inconsistent Enforcement GGG (Grinding Gear Games) officially prohibits RMT, but enforcement is often opaque. Players frequently report RMT activity with little visible follow-up. While GGG may be banning accounts behind the scenes, they rarely communicate these actions publicly, leading to community frustration." Whether the answer to this last part is correct or not, I don't know, but I thought it was interesting to see either way. Especially that right after starting to watch a few videos of PoE again after a long while, I've been immediately shown PoE 2 RMT ADs on youtube... "Sigh" Last edited by IonSugeRau1#1069 on Aug 27, 2025, 6:24:31 PM Last bumped on Aug 29, 2025, 5:59:18 AM
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Imma be real with you chief.
Every looter game is primarily a slot machine. PoE isn't special. It's the genre in it's entirety. |
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Videos like this is when this game being a slot machine clicked:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B3D888fG3Ok And this isn't one streamer who plays like this. Many of them do this. I almost NEVER use Vaal orbs. It seems like an absolute waste of my time. And yet many of the most dedicated players do this. Once I realized it was just a slot machine, it made me rethink how I approached the game. Now I only do stuff I find is fun, everything else I just ignore. I still haven't done arbiter. I've only done a few of the pinnacle bosses. I'm just not going to do anything that is gated behind some boring RNG system/mechanic. I'll leave that to other players. Like literally I would log into play on my galvanic shards Amazon. Open a random map and not pickup any items. Combat was fun. I would kill stuff for about 10 minutes then log off. And I don't have even close to the best gear. But crafting isn't fun so I ignored it. |
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Chat GPT ass post lol.
Welcome to every game with loot ever, I guess? |
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Area llm user discovers ARPGS
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" " " Is it though? Tell me at least one other game where loot is considered more important then the gameplay itself? What other games do you play? In those other games do you ask the devs to make everything faster, screen clears and one-button/zero-button gameplay? I've played a lot of other games that have a loot chase component in them but in none of those are people asking for less combat gameplay, quite the contrary. 3/4 out of 5 replies I got to this post essentially confirms that you guys have a gambling addiction issue, thankfully for you, not necessarily with real money (at least I hope so)... and you think the sole priority of this game should be loot which is absolutely insane to me. " Addicted to? Random reply for the sake of it... " Very good point out! Even though I haven't touched upon crafting specifically, that is also a big part of it. Crafting in PoE is almost like a double down on that gambling aspect. In most other games, crafting has an entirely different purpose... of giving players considerable agency as to what they can create. I'd even go as far as to argue that this is very similar to Korean games crafting/grinding ... especially if you add in the RMT aspect behind the scenes to close the "monetary incentive" gaps as well... And now that you mentioned streamers, another thing that I've noticed when watching some streamers as they play is how little fun they have while playing... most of the time you can tell just by looking at their faces that they are bored out of their minds and only when that dopamine hits (when a big loot drop happens) do you see them change expressions for a bit. "They’re not playing for fun or mastery anymore — they’re chasing that next dopamine hit." "The more players engage in RMT, the more others feel pressured to keep up — either by grinding harder or buying in. This can distort the in-game economy, inflate item prices, and undermine the integrity of gameplay." So of course, when people are addicted to loot drops, they will ask for as little friction as possible to get that loot faster, especially when they feel like it's required to grind harder from additional external pressure. And what does that "little friction as possible" end up doing? It forces people to ask for the elimination of anything that stands in the way of their dopamine hits... and one of those things is deliberate combat. Want another example? What ascendancy is considered the most overpowered one in PoE2 right now? Deadeye... do you know why? It's not because of it's actual power... but because of the movement speed it provides. And why is movement speed important? It makes farming mindlessly faster. Less friction. "Sigh" Last edited by IonSugeRau1#1069 on Aug 28, 2025, 1:49:47 AM
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dude arpgs are about loot so yeah arpgs are about "slot machine" its all about the next drop dopamine and thats why play them
u get cool loot u make a cool build this is what arpgs are |
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" You're proving my point like all the others. Yet again one of you makes the case that loot is or should be the core of the game and nothing else is as important. Which is exactly why we end up with people not wanting to engage with any type of meaningful combat in these games. In many other games out there loot is important, but it doesn't nullify everything else because of it's existence. When loot becomes the sole purpose of the game... so much as that you want to eliminate gameplay essentially, what are you left with of said game? "Sigh"
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" how does this elminates gameplay? we been playing d2 for decades for loot and same goes for poe 1 |
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