The Campaign Is Going to Be a Bit of A Problem Every League

While I did enjoy the campaign quite alot, I'd likely be one to pass on most leagues unless the mechanic is really enticing. The idea of having to spend 40+ hours slogging thru it each time isn't something I personally wana do as often as they do resets.

That being said I really don't think they're even going to entertain the thought of it being skippable, not for a few years at the very least, but likely never. It seems its a very deliberate design to lead you upto the endgame, with all the quest rewards and permenant buffs. Not to mention the amount of work they put into it.. It wouldn't make sense for them to let you skip all that.

With any luck they'll trim some areas in A2, and especially in A3 to start. Getting familiar with the problematic areas still doesn't really solve the fact they are overly massive and characters in the game move pretty slow and can't teleport over dead ends or obstacles. Acts 4-6 may also be alot shorter and more tolerable which may really help to solve the problem.

I hear you though, maybe it's time they really take some player ideas, gather some data over the coming years and implement a sensible way to appease people who want to play it each time, and those who don't. Aside from choosing not to partake and just stay in standard league, cause that's likely gona be the only option for people who can't tolerate the campaign in future resets.

On the contrary, it might be the only fun part of the game every league if they keep going down this path.

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Tpike92#5857 wrote:

While I did enjoy the campaign quite alot, I'd likely be one to pass on most leagues unless the mechanic is really enticing. The idea of having to spend 40+ hours slogging thru it each time isn't something I personally wana do as often as they do resets.

That being said I really don't think they're even going to entertain the thought of it being skippable, not for a few years at the very least, but likely never. It seems its a very deliberate design to lead you upto the endgame, with all the quest rewards and permenant buffs. Not to mention the amount of work they put into it.. It wouldn't make sense for them to let you skip all that.

I hear you though, maybe it's time they really take some player ideas, gather some data over the coming years and implement a sensible way to appease people who want to play it each time, and those who don't. Aside from choosing not to partake and just stay in standard league, cause that's likely gona be the only option for people who can't tolerate the campaign in future resets.

I don't think it should be skipable, and I actually like the methodical gameplay of the campaign more than the zoom zoom that high tier maps devolves into. But it needs to be a bit more engaging and less tedious than it is now. Perhaps some alternate completion pathways to make each character feel different would add a bit of variety to avoid the campaign from getting stale.

On my third play through (which is really like my sixth play through, as acts 4-6 are repeats). It's miserable. Even with leveling gear (uniques) it's too slow. Act 1 is okay, you can pretty much run straight thru once you free Sin. Act 3 with those canal levels and the Apex of Filth map is horrible, but my least favorite is Act 2. Having to go back and forth to multiple locations. I don't think POE 2 is going to hold up as well as POE 1 did. I wanted to do a third alt but this is it for me. If I keep playing now, there is no way I'll come back for the actual release.

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AstroShade#7322 wrote:

So, I didn't hate the campaign the first time through. It was mostly enjoyable and the slower more methodical gameplay compared to PoE1 was a nice change of pace. But it had just enough tediousness, particularly in Act 3, and then having to repeat everything again in cruel, that I can't see myself ever really wanting to do that again. I made a second character and basically quit immediatly upon entering Act 3, and haven't touched that character since.

I'm not sure what can be changed about it, but I can't be the only one who basically has no interest in doing the campaign more than one time. Which is going to be a bit of a problem when we start doing leagues and redo the campaign every 3-4 months. Maybe getting the real acts 4-6 and trimming down some of the insane zones in Act 3 will make everything better... but if it doesn't, I struggle to see how I'd keep coming back to this game every league.

My best guess it will be similar to POE1 where an extra legue layer mechanic, if not straight integrated mechanic will be added.

For a new poe1 player the game is hella confusing. I haven't played poe1 since ages, but you just walk, suddenly syndicate mechanic triggered, an odd mine appeared, escort mission from nowhere each of them with their own map, currencies etc...
I quit poe1 because once I finished the campaign I had absolutely no idea where to go...
Then leagues came that I skipped, just watched trailers, so my guess was:
"now I can replay the campaign with some delirium mechanic"
Graveyard mechanic this time, etc...

So I don't think it will be as repetitive as you think it will be...

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Can i ask what you want the alternative to be?

Something I imagine being possible would be something similar to Diablo 3's Adventure mode. Unlocked after completing the campaign once, you can choose to start in a seperate area with some vendors selling skill and support gems at varying levels for varying prices, aswell as an entrance to an endless delve or similar mechanic.

Then you can either explore the various areas for random encounters and bosses, or go into the endless delve-style dungeon, where at certain points you meet and fight various campaign bosses, which, when defeated, rewards you with passives normally aquired during the campaign.

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b_ko#7756 wrote:

On the contrary, it might be the only fun part of the game every league if they keep going down this path.

Truth... mapping is absolutely awful.

The campaign actually utilizes the features they promoted with the game... dodging, active blocking, combo'ing skills together, etc.

The endgame just turns into a zoomer-looter mess of mashing one button and blowing up the entire screen instantly, and if you don't, you die instantly.

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Direfell#7544 wrote:

Can i ask what you want the alternative to be?

What im imagining is a player creates a new level 1 character and is given a tier negative 65 waystone and then only ever does maps.

Easy.

Have new waystones that will scale the map to the players level up to level 65.