So 0.4.0 Released yesterday. Already bored. Game play pacing is way off.

Game is great, take a break if it's not scratching that itch for you. No shame in that.

The game is not in a fun state at this point, but I trust they will figure it out. GGG has been listening to serious complaints that all players agree upon - they added sprinting, made (some) areas smaller, increased currency drops.

I think other mass-grievances will get attention in time, such as removing the honor system in the Act 2 trial, fixing visual clutter in combat (*some* progress was made here), reimagining the endgame content.

I am hopeful, but yeah, right now it's not in a state where I'm excited to play a new league. These types of games really need to allow for considerable shortcutting of the campaign, for the returning players. Especially for your second or third class, but even for your first class on a new league, there should be more "come back later" type content, like later when I have a movement skill and 40% run speed... right now every little side quest is essentially mandatory because most characters are weak as shit and I need that extra 2 passives or skill/support gem etc.

Agree with the above. The zones are FAR FAR to long. Don't think I have not noticed that you DOUBLED the length of many areas just to keep us in the campaign longer. I have taken to running past 80% of the mobs to save myself sanity and I WILL be burned out by the time I get to maps.

It is WORSE THAN BEFORE not better. Thanks for treating us like we are stupid and our time deserves to be wasted.
Also this is the wrong thread but the temple is like we have incursion at home.

"

rhorains#6760 wrote:

I am hopeful, but yeah, right now it's not in a state where I'm excited to play a new league. These types of games really need to allow for considerable shortcutting of the campaign, for the returning players

I want to add a little extra here - I understand Jonathan believes in "making the campaign fun if people aren't enjoying it"... but I don't think that's a realistic vision for an ARPG.

Making the campaign more "fun" is a challenge akin to making an entry-level job more rewarding. Short of paying the worker the salary of a CEO, it's not going to be more rewarding, other than what sacrifices of desire the worker volunteers for their own sake.

For example, a player can make the campaign more "enjoyable" for themselves by playing solo-self found or hardcore (volunteered sacrifice, more risk for more reward), but for standard play, the real rewards always wait at the end, where the most valuable loot is to be found.

You can't simply create a campaign that delivers more rewarding gameplay than the endgame unless you make the campaign provide endgame rewards.. which is obviously not how a good ARPG operates.

I believe the only way to make an ARPG campaign more enjoyable is by granting the ability to "get to the end game faster" by means of skill and knowledge. The campaign play becomes rewarding when it is a "solvable obstacle", when there is a way of progressing much faster if one knows the ropes so to speak.

This is why the Diablo 2 campaign was still fun for 20+ years (still is) on a new ladder reset, because skill and knowledge can get you to endgame in 8-12 hours instead of 40+. In fact, each playthrough felt like progress on it's on merit because you learn new ways to speed it up. However, the new player will take the 40+ hours and enjoy the scenery and story (just as all of us did with the first league of PoE 2).

Game is great but the early access bit is definitely felt.

--

I skipped 0.2 after making the mistake of rolling a Huntress. This time I almost made the same mistake, but stuck to what I knew I enjoyed and seemed reasonably good/easy to gear.

I didn't spend much time with guides, checked what was popular to help understand the market, but otherwise did the same thing as 0.4.

For newbies, I do recommend reading guides as a way to start building a good knowledge base. There's a ton to learn to optimize even a single ascendancy, as someone who didn't play PoE1. Veterans of PoE1, I can't relate, it's a shame I never gave it a real try.

All that said, if I roll a Druid, I'm going with a spell caster of some sort.

--

IMHO the roadmap is extremely ambitious. The GAME is ambitious. Unfortunately I think GGG skips a great deal of testing to push this much content (commiserate with me here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3887928/page/1).

Basically.. we are the testers. I keep showing up while I have fun and the game can only get better.

--

If you want to see a bad EA experience, watch some vides of Titan Quest 2.

I admit I paid+played it and had fun, but the story was so corny and cliche that I had to mute it. It will never be in the same league.

I can only recommend TQ2 right now if you have both cash and time to burn.

rhorains#6760, I'm inclined to agree WRT the campaign.

I think increasing the availability of skill/support gems and links would make the campaign feel more like what it should be: time to gradually experiment with what works and what doesn't based on the gear you find.

Why shouldn't I have at least one 5 link by the end of the campaign - is it too much to ask?

People who plan everything ahead are probably the minority. I don't know the game well enough and while I use guides to learn, I don't prefer to follow them verbatim.

Ah yes, again people which play 6 hours per week have expectation to be on the same level as people which play 16 hours a day..

Quite realistic expectation, almost the same as someone who works 1 hour per day to get a 200 hours working month salary.

No, i dont play this league but i see a lot of tbh dumb expectations.

haha, so true... I have GGG to credit for getting a fair bit of work done this weekend.

I'm not sure its a glowing endorsement for any game though when you spend its release weekend choosing to do optional RL mundane tasks.

I hate having to agree with this and I hate that I do.

It is always a slog. Every time. Every release i've become less and less interested in playing and that terrifies me because I actively still love and look forward to PoE1 leagues. I guess they really are different games and this isn't for me, but I hate this realization.

And I can pinpoint exactly why it's a slog: movement speed and not enough free early power relative to monsters, combined with the fact that all bosses MUST be cleared to and then defeated all in one go which means when you are undergeared everything requires intense focus.

PoE1 campaign is a total RAMP where you're just constantly picking up speed and power. Your build probably comes online after first or second lab and 4-links.

PoE2 campaign is a series of fairly difficult exams that you have to take and pass in order to play the game. And the hardest exams are the first ones. It's draining.

I hate writing such a negative post because I so desperately want to love this game but man everytime I spend more than 20 minutes now i just feel like I'll go do something else. And yet I played 3.27 poe1 for several weeks and got 36/40 and enjoyed every minute.

"

ReligiousFanatic#8347 wrote:

Ah yes, again people which play 6 hours per week have expectation to be on the same level as people which play 16 hours a day..

Quite realistic expectation, almost the same as someone who works 1 hour per day to get a 200 hours working month salary.

No, i dont play this league but i see a lot of tbh dumb expectations.

No dude, we just want to have fun. I have enough chores, gaming should not be another chore.