I enjoy the trading system, economy is FINE (NOT A TRADER), I enjoy the crafting system

Here's how Path of Exile economy works. Should be obvious, strangely isn't.



The center of the graph shows the average level of gear progression for the league. As a league ages, the average level of gear progression increases in absolute terms, but in relative terms, the overall population still conforms to a bell curve like this one.

Now if you're all the way to the right, you're considered rich. You have extremely good gear, and you're pretty happy with the economy. You don't get gear upgrades from drops or trades very often, but when you do happen to get an upgrade, you have a very good hand-me-down to trade away... and there is a massive horde of people who want it. So you get top dollar in currency, and then you can use your mountains of currency to craft even more ridiculous items, possibly getting an upgrade in the process. When it comes to receiving currency in exchange for gear, you feel amazingly badass. Life is good.

If you're all the way to the left, you're considered poor, but you're still pretty darn happy with the economy. You might not have much, but there is an entire mountain of people trying to sell gear which is considered an upgrade for you. Because there's so damn much of it, it's all considered junk, regardless of how rarely it actually drops in absolute terms. You're able to snag it almost for free, if not literally for free, and you're able to progress very rapidly using trade in this way, quickly catching up with the majority. When it comes to receiving gear in exchange for currency, you feel amazingly badass. Life is good.

The problem is in the middle. Generally speaking, people don't want to buy your items (there are too few buyers), and people don't want to sell you the items you desire (there are too few sellers). There are basically two ways things can work out for people in that group:
1. You can be a renegade. Instead of copying what the popular builds are, you can make your own builds which make a very specific point of using a different set of items than those which are conventionally desired. By seeking different items from everyone else, you can avoid intense competition over limited resources. However, this is very challenging, because it requires a certain degree of true originality, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other players who are also out there, trying to think original thoughts and create original builds, and if you're not careful you'll end up competing with them, too. Plus, if you're too creative the people who do find the items you want will just vendor them because they believe they are "worthless." You have a chance, but most likely you will fail and have a bad time. And you will blame it on yourself.
2. You can be a copycat. You can be one of a giant herd who are all trying to trade for the exact same gear as everyone else, by trading away the exact same gear as everyone else. The things this horde wants to buy, the next step on their gear progression, will always be insanely overcosted, due to the intense demand; the stuff this horde wants to sell will always be ridiculously undercosted, due to the intense supply. Without deviating from the apparent path of least resistance, you doom yourself to get lost in a sea of thousands of other players seeking the exact same goals as you. You do not have a chance, you will fail, and you will have a bad time. And you will blame it on others.

The people who QQ about Path of Exile's economy are those in the Middle 2 group who lack self-awareness. Which means: almost all of them.

This topic lacks discussion. OP shares his opinion on the economy and the trading aspect of the game. He doesn't want to start a discussion or hear different opinions by the so called "vocal minority".

Please, move this to FEEDBACK as this is what is.

+1 to OP.

The mechanics and systems that these (usually casual, instant-gratification type of) players are pointing out as "flaws" of the game, are exactly the reasons why I love this game so much and why I supported GGG (and continue to do so) in the first place.

GGG, again, do not lose your vision! :)

If it makes you feel any better, Master, I don't think people who QQ about the economy part of a vocal minority. I think they're part of a foolish majority.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

If it makes you feel any better, Master, I don't think people who QQ about the economy part of a vocal minority. I think they're part of a foolish majority.

Thumbs up.

"

mushioov wrote:

+1 to OP.

The mechanics and systems that these (usually casual, instant-gratification type of) players are pointing out as "flaws" of the game, are exactly the reasons why I love this game so much and why I supported GGG (and continue to do so) in the first place.

GGG, again, do not lose your vision! :)

LOL. So trading for best items is no casual and instant-gratification but grinding for them and crafting them is.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

If it makes you feel any better, Master, I don't think people who QQ about the economy part of a vocal minority. I think they're part of a foolish majority.

Thanks, I feel better now.

Thanks for the support Scroti and Mushi. This is what I want - I want the voice the players that enjoy the game and actually play the game to be heard.


People tend to believe that the ONLY way to obtain end game items is by trading -- which is not true. Granted grinding alone is actually really hard, and even though you still can (by continually doing high level maps etc) save up for a koams, IMO the current easiest way to obtain end game gear is to join a guild. Join a guild get a high dps group, and a dedicated MFer, and bang out 30 high level maps, and the money will flow in.

Yes, it does not favor solo players (unless you have an ultra build). But then again teamwork>solo, as it SHOULD be. You can choose to play solo, but don't expect to get as much loot as a guild run group or to get to the high level mapping stage nearly as fast.

Well I will say this as a criticism of the Path of Exile economy:

At its core is the difference between currency and gear. By general ARPG design, gear flows down to the poor; by GGG design, Path of Exile's currency flows up to the rich. The thing is that the bell curve would have developed anyway, so it doesn't really make sense for currency to flow to the rich as much as it does; in designing currency the particular way that they did, the extreme poles are favored. The design heavily incentivizes currency to be used exclusively by the very rich, which takes the bell curve economy problem and exacerbates it for those in the middle (while improving things at the poles).

What would do Path of Exile a world of good is some kind of economic mechanic specifically designed to make things better for those in the middle. They are essentially left to fend for themselves, and I didn't lie and give them good news in their prognosis. It's important to understand that the bell curve itself isn't going anywhere; you can't fight that part. But this doesn't mean things need to be mercilessly competitive for those in the middle.

If I had to give a suggestion, it would be to encourage more viable variety in rare affixes for gear, especially chest pieces. As it stands now, with some gear there's very little room for creativity, which makes it extremely hard to be a renegade. I mean, outside of using a unique chest — which is already a risky proposition, because uniques are generally more scarce than rare affixes — how can you be a "renegade" in terms of chest itemization? Your options are pretty much Life and resists, or ES and resists; there's even a keystone to ensure that the two flavors of "Life and resists" are actually boiled down into a single flavor.

So what then? Go for flat regen? Or thorns? Bitch please.

I feel this is also the core error Diablo 3 made, at least pre-expansion. It was all about stacking your primary stat, crit, attack speed, vitality. That was it, for 99% of the builds out there. This meant gear really only came in 3 flavors: Str, Dex, Int. Monks and Demon Hunters used also exactly the same stuff.

How many gear slots in Path of Exile can you think of four or more distinct affix builds for? Because if it's 3 or less, it's the same Str/Dex/Int problem.

But to be honest, I'm not sure exactly what mechanic should be used. I'm just saying that you need tools for those in the middle, with scarcity to both the left and the right, to actually enjoy their economic experiences.

The main thing which makes the economic QQers a foolish minority is not that they're pissed off; if you objectively analyze their situation (easy when I provide a visual aid), they have good cause to be pissed off. It's that their awareness of their own problems is found lacking, and their suggestions for fixes are often laughable.

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How many gear slots in Path of Exile can you think of four or more distinct affix builds for?

All gearslots except chests/boots. While those two gearslots do tend to be boring there is a huge variety of uniques in those gearslots that offer very different bonuses. I feel like every other piece of gear has excellent diversity of stats, especially weapons.

Almost all mods that can be rolled are boring as fuck. who cares, its all about GG uniques and BIS rares, crafting? were? lol i play plenty of arpg's with crafting, random as fuck crafting, nothing close to unrewarding as this. this is gambling. toxicly boring to watch boring mods roll on the same basses over and over.

People who complain are people who:

-Don't experience what you experience and only find undesired items, this happens too much for one.
-Hate how prehistoric trading is, d2 had less boring trading and it was nothing, go in a game and trade with people, or look at game names/description. Poe trading just feels like a broken feature, you cant unstack while trading? minor but shows how they just dont care about the most important indispensable feat of Poe...the Need to trade, i daily go " fuck " and need to re-trade people, ahdh op, broken trade is also.
-Hate that "party" area is 100% used to trade instead of find people.
-Dont Want to trade, it can make them feel weak or just kill there fun does not mater they DONT want to trade other exiles, I respect that.
-Dont Like trading, again. some people would sell items 1/2 of the price just to NOT have to trade with other people.
-Don't mind trading but dont like the system in place(needing to use external website to find items is silly, but i guess it works for now)
-dont know how/about to use poe.xyz and only know how to trade using trade channels(teedeous and mostly a place were people who want to buy your shit cheap to flip OR people who want to spam ridiculous orb rates to screw with new players.

People who enjoy and dont complain:
-People who like the current system.


I can't think who of more maybe someone will think of something, as you can see there is more then enough reasons to change things, economy is not fine, but that's due to RMT. trading system is only appreciated by xx%, the rest would love something fresh and less tedious.