Why I think Leagues die so fast

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ZaruenVoresu#5823 wrote:

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FalkenRaiding#1068 wrote:

I play 2-4 weeks based on a variety of factors, mainly what my IRL looks like at the time. I'm not interesting in going beyond that. Some of us play fast by intend, and stop when our PoE hunger has been satiated and/or when IRL demands our full attention again.

I get why some people would like us to play longer, so they economy can remain vibrant longer. But given the player activity patterns of almost all PoE leagues ever, there appears to be many like me, for whom that is not of interest, regardless of what initiatives you may propose. Sorry, but also, not sorry.

Happy holidays!

you think quite highly of yourself if you think me continuing to play the league is dependant on you..

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I will play the league until when I want, and I dont care if you do too or not...

go ahead and quit 1 day in the league, ill still play as long as I want regardless.

not sure why you think people care when you stop playing and will quit with you?

Happy Holidays, don't stroke your own ego too much.

Interesting reply.
I laid out a play pattern (mine) that counters the need to player retention beyond a certain point (to OPs point) while still acknowledging the downside of players like me (stale economy).

Then I proceeded to highlight that given player patterns throughout PoE's entire existence, there's probably many players such as myself, for whom long-term retention is not a beneficial strategy regardless.

Not sure where you get the whole ego thing from; your reply reads as if you're just looking for "trouble" on the forums.

Well, I guess they could add levels 101 to 200!!

**A new set of maps
**A re-jiggering of experience point earning
**New drops that can only be traded and used among level 100+ characters
**Cool badges for working your way past 100
**New boss fights
**New mini passive trees for specific goals

Probably more

Competing to get to 100 is pretty common now. I even have a level 100 guy. But 200? Hah, that will keep them grinding another few weeks.

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ChanBalam#4639 wrote:

Well, I guess they could add levels 101 to 200!!

**A new set of maps
**A re-jiggering of experience point earning
**New drops that can only be traded and used among level 100+ characters
**Cool badges for working your way past 100
**New boss fights
**New mini passive trees for specific goals

Probably more

Competing to get to 100 is pretty common now. I even have a level 100 guy. But 200? Hah, that will keep them grinding another few weeks.

Add level 120 (After 100 gated behind some sort of trial like ascendancy to unlock) and add T18 T19 T20 maps as aspirational content that requires multi-mirror builds to handle and league will live until 3rd month.

If anything, PoE1 league only dies because we have nothing left to achieve.

I would argue that it is not a simple thing at all, and "dying" is not an accurate way to describe what is happening. Each league has it's own challenges, and the population decline varies between leagues, some far more drastically than others.

I typically play for 2-3 months of a given league, some longer considering we have had leagues going on 6+ months in recent years. The fun factor of the current league mechanic and whatever balancing they do (or don't do) seems to have the largest effect on player retention over time.

Breach 2.0 has not been received well, which I understand but also find amusing considering how insanely rewarding it is. It poops out valuable Uniques, High quality armor bases, and currency, but the overwhelming sentiment is that it isn't fun or rewarding. It has a few things working against it in this regard:

1. In maps you don't get the dopamine hit from the drops, it is delayed until you have a full bar and inject it into the tree, which removes the excitement from doing them in maps

2. It favors doing maps incredibly quickly for womb juice accumulation, which is at odds with a large number of farming strats.

3. It isn't all that exciting, we have all done breach/blight type mechanics before, there's not much of a new exciting feel here.

Couple that with a small wand rework, and POE 2 launching a new class 1 month into the league you are going to murder the POE numbers.

Each league has it's own story like this, Necropolis was the most pain in the ass mechanic and it dropped of hard because of it. Mercenaries added a tremendous amount of build variety and it held strong for a long time.

I would also argue that none of these leagues "die" I jump on frequently months in to play around with the characters I make and find people still on and trading. The economy late into a league does change dramatically, if you aren't used to that it may feel like it's "dead."

lackluster challenge rewards

lackluster responses from the GGG team, yet poe 2 is on hotfix 6+.

lackluster kiracs vault (no creativity, just a single armour set spread out as rewards, it used to be a LOT more interesting with alternate art unique skins.)

lackluster drops

gauntlet launched only a week after actual launch

poe 2 launch interfering with the cycle, something they said they wouldn't do.

I really hope GGG steps it up!

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nagisanzeninzz#2697 wrote:

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ChanBalam#4639 wrote:

Well, I guess they could add levels 101 to 200!!

**A new set of maps
**A re-jiggering of experience point earning
**New drops that can only be traded and used among level 100+ characters
**Cool badges for working your way past 100
**New boss fights
**New mini passive trees for specific goals

Probably more

Competing to get to 100 is pretty common now. I even have a level 100 guy. But 200? Hah, that will keep them grinding another few weeks.

Add level 120 (After 100 gated behind some sort of trial like ascendancy to unlock) and add T18 T19 T20 maps as aspirational content that requires multi-mirror builds to handle and league will live until 3rd month.

If anything, PoE1 league only dies because we have nothing left to achieve.

Yup, that works too. Moving past 100 would be a smart move with lots of interesting options. But...they cannot include any Delving past 100 or Needforsteveunderground will find a way to reach depth 500,000 and make everyone look inadequate. ;)

In my case i just went to PoE2. Untill i have enought i probably wont back to PoE1 despite i still have things to do there.

i played a game called "knight online" many years ago and they have an interesting VERY grindy end game upgrading system.

your suggestion reminded me of it.

there is an anvil in the center of town and you place your equipment in it along with a scroll and click "upgrade". upon a successful upgrade, itll improve the overall stats of the item.

The anvil will either destroy your item or improve it to the next grade.

There are a total of 10 grades and once it gets to a certain grade, it even glows.

I think this system would work very well in a game like POE and would add a whole new layer into the itemization mechanics

this was something i was recently thinking about and your comment reminded me of it

PoE in general is pretty old. Most of the playerbase are here for a decade. If the league keeps them play for a week or two that is a good value.

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Ispita#4020 wrote:

PoE in general is pretty old. Most of the playerbase are here for a decade. If the league keeps them play for a week or two that is a good value.

Wrong, it is the lack of expansions and skill gem shake ups.

Take a look at affliction, it was a very well crafted league and even many veterans were blasting 2 months later. Phrecia and Mercenaries have been also very popular and liked by the community.

Leagues die when they are low effort like Keepers and Druid or when they are purely convulated crafting leagues like Synthesis, Necropolis or Harvest (in Ritual it was good).