POE2 currently misses the right balance...

....between consistency and RNG.

Currently the game feels like a big slot machine with very very ....veeeery low odds to win.

Esp. if you play SSF you can feel this inconveniences very clearly and it makes the game rly frustrating atm.

I've played some kind of SSF together with 5 newbie friends to introduce them into POE2 and with my 4k hours experiance in POE1 I've teached them prety much every aspect of the game.

And we didn't only pick up rares & uniques, we litterly picked up EVERY decent white and even blue base to self craft our gear (We've all set up the same lootfilter to help out each other with crafting bases).

Together we surely crafted (or better said "gambled") over 25.000+ white & blue bases with augment/regal, Alch Orbs, Exalts, Chaos Orbs and even Essences (we took advantage of every affordable currency the game currently has to offer)....out of the 25k crafts we got only 13-15 items with OKish results.

13-15 not even good gear pieces out of 25.000 "crafts"...sry but this is not good game design and leads to frustration rather than motivation to keep grinding.

Don't get me wrong, I play ARPGs for almost 3 decades now on a daily base and know that RNG is an essential part in this genre but in POE2 it's currently to much RNG without any possibility to have some kind of consisten craft if the odds are against you.

The result is that all my 5 friends left the game, simply because it's not fun for them to farm for 100ts of hours without any return, the game simply doesen't respect theyr time....and no, using trading is not the solution here because this makes the game very trivial to fast and takes away all the fun to find stuff on our own.

Suggestion 1: Last Epoch has a nice system where you can chose between 2 faction.

One faction suports those who want trading, the other supporets those who rather like to go the SSF route or only want to trade with friends.

I hope to see a similar system in POE2 one day....Or at least a little bit more consistency with a crafting bench, Harvest crafting, Beast crafting, etc... like in POE1.

Suggestion 2: "GREATER EXALTED ORBS"

After unlocking Alva for the first time she also offers you an option to sacrifice 50 Exalted Orbs f.e. for 1 "Greater Exalted Orb".

GEOs have the same function as a normal Exalted Orb (add 1 additional stat to a rare item) but with the difference that you can chose between 4 random Affix/Suffix when using it (2 affix and 2 suffix....or only 3 affix/suffix if one or the other is full).

It's still RNG but this way you have a little bit better odds to find the stat you need on the gear.

Same for Chaos Orbs with "Greater Chaos Orbs".

This would solve the current problem with the inconsistency as well as the devalue of Exalted Orbs at the same time.

I hope to see more consistency in POE2 with the next big patch...Thank you. :)

There is no crafting in this game, it's all RNG. I spent so much time to craft and reforge items when I realized it was no different than picking things off the ground. If you want to craft, you actually need omens and most of them are out of reach for most players because of the cost.

The loot in this game is some of the worst I've ever seen and is entirely unsatisfactory. All of my items are from finding ex/chaos/div on the ground and trading them for the gear. Literally like in real life where I have to pay for everything. I haven't had a single decent drop.

Now that we are at the end of the patch, trading is almost dead, most high-end items are super expensive so I feel bad for new players who can't upgrade or do anything. The loot and craft in this game needs a major overhaul.

You will have far better odds gambling with real money in a Las Vegas casino and winning than you will getting loot with good rolls to drop, or crafting high end gear successfully in both POE1 and POE2.

The loot and crafting are the 2 main reasons I quit playing. Until those are changed, I wont be playing it again. I know that matters to no one. I wouldn't expect it to. Just giving my opinion.

Today while playing POE2, I realized that the game is not designed for me.

What do I mean? I mean the twitch reflexes expected in this game are not something most people above the age of 30 have in copious amounts, and the hand and wrist pain I get from playing extended sessions, has led me to believe the game was designed for zoomers, not older people.

I know it isn't an airport, so I'm not announcing a departure, but I really wish they would rethink how the game is set up for those of us who grew up in the 80's and 90's and would like to play, too.

The crafting I'm ambivalent about. SSF so it doesn't mean a great deal of difference, other than I don't save exalteds and divines to trade.

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Leucius#6801 a écrit :

Today while playing POE2, I realized that the game is not designed for me.

What do I mean? I mean the twitch reflexes expected in this game are not something most people above the age of 30 have in copious amounts, and the hand and wrist pain I get from playing extended sessions, has led me to believe the game was designed for zoomers, not older people.

I am in no way trying to diminish or dismiss your issues as an older player, so keep that in mind.

But I'm 53 and if anything I wish the game were faster. I'd love POE1 levels of zoominess as it was one of the things I loved about POE 1.

But I'm the type of gamer that plays games to test myself and to keep my reflexes sharp. If the game slows down to the point where I don't feel constantly pressed then I lose interest fast.

If I want a slower game where I can take time to make decisions then I tend to play turn based RPG's like BG3 or Wasteland 3.

The only "pain" I get is my left hand feeling a bit stiff after several hours of play using the WASD feature, but I've lessened that by setting up a hot key to swap between WASD and P&C so I can give my WASD a rest when moving through empty areas.

"

Leucius#6801 a écrit :

What do I mean? I mean the twitch reflexes expected in this game are not something most people above the age of 30 have in copious amounts, and the hand and wrist pain I get from playing extended sessions, has led me to believe the game was designed for zoomers, not older people.

Im a 80s kid by myself, 39 today and a gamer for 3 decades now.

I have to disagree here a bit because every human is different....I f.e. have no problems with "twitch reflexes", I play fast paced competitive games by myself on a regular base on high ranks with very high success (Apex, Marvel Rivals, LOL, etc...).

But that's just me and I'm surely different to most of the 39 years old out there....bcs I still go to Raves, game all night long, etc...forever young if you will. ^^

The problem in POE2 is that the game simply doesen't respect your time as described in the thread and the player age doesen't realy matter here (One friend is 18 and the other is 52, both feel the exact same).

One side note: if you have problem with your wrists I can highly recommend you "Silicone/gel Mouse Wrist Pads"....Because of my job and being a gamer at the same time I had serious problems with my hand wrists for many years but since I use those pads all my problems are gone.

You have to try them, hope they help you aswell. :)

There are several important aspects to this situation:
1. You can't make crafting completely predefined - it will kill the market
2. Players want a more manageable crafting experience
3. If there is no difference , why pay more?

The topic author's suggestion fulfills the first two conditions.

But it seems to me that such crafting will make economic sense only for top high-quality things. Otherwise, I'll just buy the right item on the market. And I'm at level 90. That is, it is not for most players.

Now to get an item of level 1 EX you need to spend probably 20 EX pieces? It will be the same here. I have 1 DO and can just throw it away in crafting or go and buy an item for 1 DO. And I will only choose crafting if I have a lot of DO's and all the items are purchased, but my DO's are not enough for the best items, and I'm trying to win them in the crafting lottery.

Continuing the topic:
As a result, the cost of such items will be set exactly at the price level of such an GEO, otherwise no one will buy them. And as a result, it will be easier to go to the market again. That is, as a means to bring down the prices of top items-yes, it will work. But in the end, almost no one will use crafting anyway.

"

Radonegsky#6656 a écrit :

But it seems to me that such crafting will make economic sense only for top high-quality things. Otherwise, I'll just buy the right item on the market.

I think you missed the part where I wrote:

"

and no, using trading is not the solution here because this makes the game very trivial to fast and takes away all the fun to find stuff on our own.

My first character in POE2 went full trade and I practicaly facerolled all content in the game with only 5 Divines investment in trading....that's how trivial POE2 currently is in endgame.

If the game becomes much harder in future I'm fine with trading because I love trading since Diablo 2.....but in the current POE2 state trading simply destroys the gaming experiance and makes the game super boring.

"

3. If there is no difference , why pay more?

If you play with trading ofc my suggestion won't matter to much to you but for SSF player or for those like me who only play and trade with a small friend group and dont use poe trade at all this matters a lot.

BEcause as such player you don't have that much options because you can't simply buy your perfect gear on poe.trade, my suggestion would only bring more option into the game for those who don't use poe.trade and rather want to craft all gear by themself. ;)

"Multiuple Options" is the keyword here....some can keep trading but there shoud also be more options for those who don't want to use por.trade and rather farm/craft theyr gear by themself.

Sadly in the current POE2 version crafting (or better said "gambling") good gear is nearly impossible and that's the whole point of this feedback thread, with some suggestion at the end how to fix the problem. :)

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If you play with trading ofc my suggestion won't matter to much to you but for SSF player or for those like me who only play and trade with a small friend group and dont use poe trade at all this matters a lot.

Now SSF is a mode where you build your own limits and then heroically overcome them.

It is not for nothing that I pointed out the first aspect about the death of the market. Not because I like it, but because the market is the base of the current state of the game. And since this is the base, I start from it.

I don't think it makes any sense to waste time trying to make some of the BDSM players have even more fun. On the other hand... maybe this is just the main part of the players, who knows? But if this is the case, then it makes sense to simply reconsider the approach to the game as a whole, but not through the introduction of such point measures as a special currency for SSF.

But as I said, the suggestion can also have an effect on the market. It may be considered sufficient, especially if you choose the correct GEO/EO course.