The PoE Paradox

Truth to be told: I think that Path of Exile is one of the best games I've ever laid my hands on. I also think that GGG is gernerally doing a great job. Sure, there are some issues to be resolved but I'm certain that capable people are doning their best to fix those issues. After all I strongly believe that GGG wants us to have the best experience they can deliver.

I started playing PoE as a closed beta tester and although I havn't been active all the time I still checked the announcements and patch notes pretty regularly. I really enjoyed all the new content and skills to fool around with and the changes to the passive tree.

However, what I really want to talk about is what I call 'The PoE Paradox'.
I just can't motivate myself to play the game. I really like to read into all the build on the forums and I enjoy theorycrafting and planning new builds. But when it comes to actually playing I'm simply bored after a couple of minutes. What can I say - I really hate me for not loving the game. But playing PoE doesn't feel rewarding at all. What do you guys think about that?

Your highest level character is 62.

I don't know why you don't enjoy the game. I'm not judging, it's not for everyone.

Maybe you should try to identify what you like about the game and what you find frustrating about it.

It's normal, the theorycrafting and prework are fun, but then you get ingame and the experience doesn't match. POE is a great concept with dreadful execution.
But this has been discussed quite a lot of times, it's why player retention is so horrible. People want to play the game, but can't because nobody likes to be punished while playing a game.
We're not into bdsm.

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Hyskoa wrote:

It's normal, the theorycrafting and prework are fun, but then you get ingame and the experience doesn't match.

Yeah that usually happens when you play a crappy build.

Sounds like you're missing something when making your builds aka your builds aren't viable aka what elitedesolator said :^) If you could be more specific we could maybe solve this paradox!

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elitedesolator wrote:

Your highest level character is 62.

I don't know why you don't enjoy the game. I'm not judging, it's not for everyone.

Maybe you should try to identify what you like about the game and what you find frustrating about it.

I've got a level 80 summoner on another account. But I get your point. I guess progress in this game is just to slow for me.

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Hyskoa wrote:

It's normal, the theorycrafting and prework are fun, but then you get ingame and the experience doesn't match. POE is a great concept with dreadful execution.
But this has been discussed quite a lot of times, it's why player retention is so horrible. People want to play the game, but can't because nobody likes to be punished while playing a game.
We're not into bdsm.

If I'm not mistaken your point basically is that we are not leveling fast enough. And leveling to the point where your planned build would finally work out is somehow a punishment.

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Xavderion wrote:

Sounds like you're missing something when making your builds aka your builds aren't viable aka what elitedesolator said :^) If you could be more specific we could maybe solve this paradox!

Don't get me wrong. I've played a few pretty viable builds and I have been (semi) successful in lower level maps.

^^ i disagree. i think the game is beautifully executed. the problem lies in the ARPG genre. i used to be exactly the same as you OP, I would theorycraft up a beautiful character. i'd do the maths, find uniques that my build would love but i would get up to lvl 60 and quit. then it got worse, i would get to lvl 40 and give in, then maybe a few days on a new character. at one point i liked a character build, started the game and played for about 20 mins and got bored and never played him again. in many ways i think it was because of a lack of end-game PVP, how can i prove my character if i'm never against anyone? and this is coming from someone who is top 4 in brood war for australia so 1v1 pvp action is important to me.

anyway, i dont know what broke or what fixed, but recently i've had a great resurgence of love for actually playing poe and i cannot wait for the new leagues. i think it was when i got a taste of a truly powerful build, and how fun it is to play when you feel like if there is a threat, you will have time to respond. all my resists were capped at least 91% and my lightning coil prevented a lot of phys dmg. my attack speed was brutal fast and i dunno but it was really really fun to just play the game.

after posting this i realise now that the devs should definitely make a race where you start at like level 85 in merciless and access to some random good gear you can choose from. a lot of new players or players who are losing their will to play would definitely find a new sense of enjoyment in the game.

cant motivate himself to play a game -> blames the game!

I don't think that the ARPG genre is a problem. In fact, it's the genre I really enjoy the most. You still made an interesting statement tho. Truth to be told, I don't really like what SoTV brought and I did enjoy the past leagues way more then ambush/invasion.
However I can simply ignore the SoTV features and I just hope that the upcoming leagues will catch me again.
Considering what you said I yet need to find a build that I really enjoy playing. I guess my problem is that I always think that a build needs a special twist that makes it unique. Maybe I should just keep it simple for my next run.

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OleOlof wrote:

cant motivate himself to play a game -> blames the game!

You're trying to make a point without really thinking about it imho. A computer game is all about joy of use and (long term) motivation. Furthermore, I've clearly stated that 'I hate myself for not loving the game'. So whom am I blaming here?

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kahzin wrote:

I've got a level 80 summoner on another account. But I get your point. I guess progress in this game is just to slow for me.

Define progress.

I usually get a character into low level maps in 3 days tops. To get to 75+ maps takes quite a while, maybe a few weeks on and off playing. That progress I feel is reasonable. Then again note that I'm usually playing tried-and-true, fast clearing or high MF builds that are easy to take to end game.

And if that isn't fast for you, consider that Pulp got to Level 98 in the 2 week charity race.

So I feel this answer you gave is closer to a non-answer.