Poe 2 further away from the ''Broader Audience'' goal

I need to vent a bit because, honestly, I'm confused about the direction of this game.

We were told for years that PoE 2 would be the game to fix the "barriers to entry" of PoE 1. We all know PoE 1 is niche; it requires a PhD in spreadsheets to understand fully, and that scares away new players. PoE 2 was supposed to be the answer—a game with better combat, cleaner mechanics, and a more welcoming experience for the "casual" or broader audience, while keeping the depth for us veterans.

So why does GGG keep adding layers of unnecessary frustration and complexity?

Look at the current Fate of the Vaal mechanics. Why do I need a degree in architecture just to run a temple? Why is the system designed so that if I make one wrong connection or create a loop, my entire progress "destabilizes" and gets deleted? This isn't "hardcore" or "challenging"; it's just tedious. Instead of making the game fun and accessible, they are doubling down on convoluted systems that punish you for not knowing obscure mechanics. If the goal was to bring in new players, scaring them away with a temple mechanic that bricks itself is definitely not the way to do it.

It feels like every patch adds more "friction" instead of fun. Here is a breakdown of why the community (and myself) is losing patience;

1. Druid: The "Bear" Trap
Everyone was hyped for the Druid. It was supposed to be the heavy hitter. But the reality? It feels clunky.
We wanted to smash things as a Bear. instead, we realized that shapeshifting animations are too slow and lock you in place. Most "optimal" Druid builds right now are just staying in Human form and casting spells like a wizard because it’s 10x smoother.

The class highlights the ongoing issue where being in melee range is a death sentence compared to ranged.
It’s mid-February and we still have bugged interactions with Herald of Ash/Ice and Spirit Gems on certain forms.

2. The "Fate of the Vaal" Disappointment
This league mechanic is arguably one of the worst in terms of respect for player time.
Why spend 4-6 maps carefully planning and building a Temple of Atziri, risking a "destabilization" that deletes rooms, when I can just run a random Ritual or Abyss and get better loot in 5 minutes?
As I mentioned, the mechanic is needlessly complex. It kills the flow of the game. It doesn't feel like a modern ARPG mechanic; it feels like a puzzle game where the punishment for losing is wasting an hour of your life.

3. Endgame is Still Missing in Action
We are more than a year into Early Access, and the "Endgame Rework" promised back in 0.2 is still a ghost.
The map layouts are still plagued with dead ends and backtracking. Feels like a running simulator.
The drop rates for currency in T1-T10 maps are abysmal. You can’t craft because you don’t have the mats. Running 50 maps to find 1 Exalted Orb isn't a "grind," it's a job.

4. Technical State & The "Ghost Town" Effect
The retention numbers for Patch 0.4 are alarming. Historically Low.
We are seeing drop-off rates worse than some of the worst PoE 1 leagues. People are quitting not because they are "done," but because they are frustrated/bored.
Crashes are still frequent, especially for controller players or when interacting with the cosmetics panel. It’s 2026; these should be ironed out by now.

5. The Fear of "Soon™" (Patch 0.5 & 1.0)
With Jonathan confirming that the 0.5 showcase isn't until late April, we are looking at another 2+ months of this stale meta.
The constant pushing back of features (Act 5, Endgame rework) makes us worry that the 1.0 Full Release won't actually happen in 2026.
What are we supposed to do until May? The current content isn't enough to hold the player base, and the "Vision" seems to be getting blurrier with each update.

I love this franchise, but GGG needs to stop confusing "tedious complexity" with "depth." We need the fun back.

POE has never been a game for a broad audience

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Mashgesture#2912 a écrit :

POE has never been a game for a broad audience

Claiming Poe never targeted a 'broader audience' is factually wrong, and the numbers prove it.

PoE 2 hit an all-time peak of 459,263 concurrent players on Steam at launch. Compare that to PoE 1's all-time peak of 229,337. PoE 2 literally doubled the franchise's record on day one. That IS a broad audience. The mass market showed up.

The fact that the player count dropped by over 90% shortly after launch proves exactly what the OP is saying: The game attracted the masses (successful marketing/hype) but failed to retain them due to design friction.

Jonathan and GGG explicitly stated multiple times that their goal with PoE 2 was to expand beyond the niche hardcore crowd. They cited Elden Ring as their benchmark: a difficult game that still reached a massive, broad audience because of its quality. They wanted the masses. They got them. They just couldn't keep them."

There were more people on day 1 release because they were promised a different experience from 1.
Only for them to find out once they’ve reached endgame, it’s the same zoom and boom fecalfest as 1. Just with wasd movement and dodge roll.

So much hype, but GGG has to figure out soon where they want to go with it. Hopefully .5 they can show what they been cooking for endgame. Lots of potential but there's going to be a bunch of games coming out in 2026/2027 that they will have to compete with a lot soon.

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VaporTrail#6763 a écrit :

There were more people on day 1 release because they were promised a different experience from 1.
Only for them to find out once they’ve reached endgame, it’s the same zoom and boom fecalfest as 1. Just with wasd movement and dodge roll.

Exactly, and you are proving my point. By saying they were promised a different experience, you admit GGG’s intent was to lure in a broader audience that found PoE 1 too inaccessible.

The reason those 459k players (2x PoE 1’s record) didn't stay isn't just because it’s the same as 1 at endgame. It’s because the game failed to deliver on that tactical, modernized promise. They attracted the masses with the marketing of a new era, but the actual gameplay friction—like the clunky animation locks and the gold tax for basic respecs—pushed that broader audience right back out.

They baited the broad audience and then failed to retain them. That is exactly why I'm saying they are further away from their goal now.

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LadyValkyrie1#3750 a écrit :

So much hype, but GGG has to figure out soon where they want to go with it. Hopefully .5 they can show what they been cooking for endgame. Lots of potential but there's going to be a bunch of games coming out in 2026/2027 that they will have to compete with a lot soon.

Exactly. GGG is currently stuck in a design identity crisis. They used the 2026/2027 hype and the promise of a modern ARPG to pull in nearly half a million players, but the current state of the game feels like it's fighting against its own new audience.

The competition is going to be brutal. With games like Path of Exile 2 trying to bridge the gap between hardcore and casual, they can't afford to stay in this limbo. If the 0.5 update doesn't fix the core friction and provide a meaningful endgame that justifies the tactical combat they marketed, those players won't just wait around. They will migrate to the next big ARPG that actually respects their time and delivers on its promises. They had the biggest launch in the genre's history and lost the majority of it because the potential didn't match the reality of the grind.

Hate to break it to you, poe has never been for a broad audience


Built their entire first game on this premise.

Second one is even more so.

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Mashgesture#2912 a écrit :

Hate to break it to you, poe has never been for a broad audience


Built their entire first game on this premise.

Second one is even more so.

That is factually incorrect. Jonathan Rogers himself stated multiple times that their goal for PoE 2 is to move beyond the niche. He explicitly mentioned Elden Ring as a benchmark for how a hardcore game can reach a massive broad audience by removing unnecessary friction.

If they wanted to keep it for the same niche, they would not have spent years developing WASD movement, couch co-op for consoles, and a simplified socket system. These are massive resource investments specifically designed to lower the barrier of entry for new players.

The numbers prove the audience is there. PoE 2 hit a peak of 459,263 concurrent players on Steam, which is double the record of PoE 1. The masses showed up because GGG marketed a more accessible experience. The failure to retain them does not mean the goal was not there; it means the execution failed to bridge the gap between their marketing promises and the actual gameplay friction. You are arguing against the developers own stated business strategy.

fuck eldrin ring and get it the hell away from my diablo 2 successor

the problem with poe2 is it doesnt know wtf its doing for balance in the endgame

you have players 1 shotting screens of monsters with 1 button press and killing bosses in 3 seconds

but also getting 1 shot by bosses

for the most part defenses mean nothing and everything is glass cannon even if your not trying to be.

GGG just cranked up the number on player and bosses so high its absurd

the gameplay is there.. the combat is there.. the story is there.

the damage numbers in endgame are totally out of whack.

survivabilty for casters is better than what are supposed to be more tanky front liners who are supposed to take hits

the game has everything except the numbers down

damage, both incoming and outgoing, needs to be hit, HARD.