XP penalty and likely 1 portal is NOT going anywhere

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PaintMaster#2396 wrote:

Imagine GGG remove xp penalty, and give us 6 portals, what would it mean?

1. Literally 0 reason investing into defense at all or above bare minimum.
2. It doesn't matter if you die or not, you still have more portals anyway.
3. This encourage more and more people play exactly same fastest range builds.
4. This encourage people play builds that clear screens with half of gear being rarity and 0 defenses.
5. It just deletes build diversity, when most of players play same build.

Not denying that some stuff there in maps do hit hard. And it hit harder if you don't care about mods on your waystones that can make easy map into deadly map.

If you die in maps on your 1500 life build, its not game problem, its your problem.
If you die in maps because you didn't bother investing into defenses, its not game problem, its your problem.

Game will change a lot and not once during Early Access. Work around to make your character good, instead of complaining about "game problem" that is your build problem in reality.

Some tips that might help you:

- On builds that naturally don't have high life, you should definitely go into hybrid life/es, or life/es/evasion, its good, its worth it.

- You might know that armor is bad, work around it, get a bit of armor against smaller hits, just stack more life against bigger hits instead of going hard into armor, since currently there's just nothing in the game that hit for more than 4k phys damage, so for example 4k life character with 5k armor will tank higher hit than 3k life character with 15k armor.

- Most of stuff that kill you in maps is elemental but not phys. So max resists and higher life/es is the way to make melee character tanky. Very few mobs that you find in maps can hit hard with phys damage, but almost all if not all of those mobs are very slow and easy to avoid.

Edit: changed some points because some people take every single word literally.

- 1 Portal, 10% XP Loss
My Build is a glass cannon with the intent of killing things before I see them.

- 6 Portals, no XP Loss
My Build is a glass cannon with the intent of killing things before I see them.

There would be literally zero difference in how people play. It would just make the game more fun and less annoying.

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TorhanSacras#2751 wrote:

- 1 Portal, 10% XP Loss
My Build is a glass cannon with the intent of killing things before I see them.

- 6 Portals, no XP Loss
My Build is a glass cannon with the intent of killing things before I see them.

There would be literally zero difference in how people play. It would just make the game more fun and less annoying.

Refusing to learn the game is not playing the game, its skipping it. People who desire the ability to not look at the screen while playing the game don't know what they want from a game. They want instant gratification and once they get it, they whine that the game is too boring.

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cowmoo275#3095 wrote:

Yes, 1 portal is one of them. 1 map is meaningless in the grand scheme of the game, and well-balanced players absolutely know that.

So why do you care if players get 2,3 or 6 attempts at a map if it's ultimately meaningless?

You can still quit your own map after one death because you haven't git-gudded enough.

If the rest of us are so bad we will just die 2,3 or 6 times anyways and you'll still be a god gamer never ever dying ever cuz ur a god gamer.

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Z3RoNightMare#7140 wrote:

If every time something goes wrong, you just say 'It’s your fault,' you’re ignoring the broader issue of game design. Some players might not mind the high stakes, but for others, it’s a frustrating experience that could easily be addressed by tweaking how failure impacts the player’s progression.

It's not about 'blaming' players for not being perfect; it’s about creating an environment where failure is a learning opportunity, not just a setback that makes people feel like they're being punished for every minor mistake. So, when you say 'It’s your fault,' it’s almost like you're shifting the blame onto the player, without recognizing that the design itself can sometimes create a cycle of frustration rather than growth.

4th time: 1 waystone isn't the game. You play hundreds or thousands of them. You will not be perfect on all of them. You aren't meant to be. The 1-portal punishment neither confirms nor denies this. This is WHY people choose to NOT play Hardcore.

Again this post you just wrote assumes players are total idiots. There is no "blame" here, unless you stupidly and repeatedly attempt content thats too hard and die over and over again...without changing anything.

Death is inevitable in this game, unless you are "perfect" hardcore players. I'll say it a 5th time: 1 waystone isn't the game.


Your whole argument is based on this notion that a player is dying over and over and over again. With literally no progress in between deaths. If that is your personal level of play....I am officially blaming you for your deaths and frustration. Because it certainly has nothing to do with the game, nor the 1-portal punishment.

Personally, I like to think about why I died rather than rush in blind again for the 10th/20th/100th time. 6 portals, or ANY portals, reinforces the "no think, repeat" style of gameplay.

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cowmoo275#3095 wrote:

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This idea that you're 'blaming' players for their deaths because they don't adapt fast enough or 'rush in blind' is a bit of a strawman. Not every player dies repeatedly because they refuse to learn from their mistakes. Sometimes the system itself is the issue, not the player's inability to change. There’s a difference between pushing yourself too hard without reflection and being in a game system where every death is so costly that it discourages experimentation or risk-taking.

You keep framing it as if it's just about adapting, but what you're ignoring is how the structure of the game can turn failures into discouragement rather than learning. Your stance that 'it’s all on the player' misses the role of game design in shaping that experience. If the game were structured differently, it could allow players to make mistakes, learn from them, and still feel like they’re moving forward, without feeling like they're stuck in an endless cycle of punishment.

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Z3RoNightMare#7140 wrote:

If the game were structured differently, it could allow players to make mistakes, learn from them, and still feel like they’re moving forward, without feeling like they're stuck in an endless cycle of punishment.

You're not stuck in an "endless cycle of punishment" if you would just stop dying repeatedly. If you're dying once per hour then the game bugs are just a silly excuse. Your playstyle or your build is the problem, not the game.

Post reported. troll.

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Z3RoNightMare#7140 wrote:

You keep framing it as if it's just about adapting, but what you're ignoring is how the structure of the game can turn failures into discouragement rather than learning. Your stance that 'it’s all on the player' misses the role of game design in shaping that experience. If the game were structured differently, it could allow players to make mistakes, learn from them, and still feel like they’re moving forward, without feeling like they're stuck in an endless cycle of punishment.

Structure of the Game: its not 1 waystone and done. There's your structure of the game.

You tell me I'm ignoring things, and you keep ignoring that one tiny little fact....

"Feel like they are moving forward": You are at the endgame. There is no linear moving forward. You WILL hit walls. You WILL have to grind. You WILL have to adjust. You WILL have to step down. Even with 6 portals, this was true.


Turn failure into discouragement: yet another PERSONAL issue, not a game issue. Where you see discouragement, I (and plenty others) see motivation to grind and improve. You are assuming the absolute worst, lowest about other players. Thankfully, GGG knows better.

I've used this analogy before: plenty of people try to learn musical instruments. Many give up because they couldn't put in the effort, or progress was going too slow, or any number of reasons. None of which are because "the instrument induces failure which leads to discouragement in EVERYONE".

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cowmoo275#3095 wrote:

Personally, I like to think about why I died rather than rush in blind again for the 10th/20th/100th time. 6 portals, or ANY portals, reinforces the "no think, repeat" style of gameplay.

Hyperbole inception keeps going deeper.

And you know what helps thinking about why you died & learn from it...having another attempt at what just killed you.

Without that who knows how much time could pass before a similar situation arises. Was it a map mod that did the damage? Was it some aoe I didn't see? Was it a combination of both?

If you truly cared about the player being able to learn you wouldn't fight so intensely to keep 1 attempts. It seems more like gatekeeping content from those you deem less than...

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1453R#7804 wrote:

they can. if they're the right kind of punitive. XP loss and taking away your already-achieved progress is not the right kind of punitive. Saying "you tried this map, you bricked it, better luck next node" is a much better kind of punitive. If 'punitive' is the word you wish to use.

Is losing mechanics and loot not a form of progression loss? I would certainly strongly oppose removing all death penalties in softcore, but the idea is that it needs to find the right balance. There is good reason to argue that exp loss needs a rethink in how it is handled to feel less "punitive", just as there is good reason to say the same about one-attempt maps. At least in the case of exp loss, PoE2 still has a much better rate of gear progression, and more chances to clear maps and earn mechanic rewards becomes a stronger and more prominent form of progression than a dozen or so more passive points, especially considering how many of those passives tend to be travel nodes.

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Categorically incorrect. There is no effective difference between six portals and infinite portals in the overwhelming majority of cases. Six portals is enough to zero out almost any XP bar if someone decides to smashface against the map. And people absolutely push harder than they can sustain or clear. Why do you think the forums are constantly filled with endless whingeing about how haaaard the game is? Hell, even you are unwilling to admit that most of your deaths are your own fault; to quote:

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CPTBRUMBL3Z#3146 wrote:

I have more fingers on one hand than times I can honestly say it was my fault I died or a clear example of being under geared since entering maps.

The number of times I've seen people say "I'm a GOD at [Path of Exile/Elden Ring/Armored Core/Soul Calibur/whatever-other-game-one-pleases-here], I CAN'T fail! If I die it's the GAME'S fault!" is...well. Vastly higher than the number of fingers on any hand you care to name.

No, you just seem to be, and I genuinely mean this, obectively wrong. There is no difference between 6 and infinite because most players don't need all 6. Most players will clear in just 1, and the punitive aspect of one-attempts comes in where one bad moment of luck means you die. This game as well as its predecessor is FILLED to the absolute brim with bullshit deaths even for the most skilled players, many of which are those streamers you hate so much. If GGG is trying to reduce heads bashing walls, then there are surely better ways to do it than significantly damaging the enjoyment of the game by the majority who tend to respect their limits. And I genuinely mean that about my deaths since mapping. Approaching 9 times out of 10 it was something I literally did not see, straight up enemies dead or out of range of any and from full or recovering to near full I just die. Plenty of others were just the dumbest of bad luck, like an unexpected freeze from no enemy of consequence (and not the shades, and I freely accept some deaths they caused when still learning how to deal with them) despite the countless cold attacks I've straight up barreled through. Still more--and tons of close calls--I was straight up barreling through without too much issue only for one random rare to smash 3k health by so much as pointing at me (and for the literal same kind of rare in the same map to tickle hardly more than 150 health per hit in one instance).

As for people claiming it's the game's fault, well, there's ample proof to suggest much of the time they're right; they certainly are not wrong given how much would kill even the highly skilled and well geared. The rest are people seemingly upset this game requires more of them than kiting mobs or just standing inside attacks. It is rather unique in the realm of Diablo-like ARPGs in how much more player skill it requires over raw game knowledge and patience to grind for best in slot gear. After Draven, I didn't die to a single act boss except for two screw ups in act 3 (partially because campaign at launch was stupid stingy on good gear upgrades) and Mektul because he's overtuned as fuck (which they really need to fix considering I nuked him into nothing come act 6, wasn't even an effort on my part he was that easy).

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If you eliminate every possible penalty for dying and failing, what's the point of playing? if it's actually factually impossible to lose a map because "losing a map to a stupid mistake or some Cryptid Bogeyman neverseeum rare that RKO'd me outta nowhere is dumb!", then what possible failure state could there be for the game?

It's the softcore league. Seriously, for what purpose could it possibly serve to frustrate so many players by being so punitive? Losing a map, its mechanics, the loot you earned, AND experience penalty, AND the time you spent feels terrible. Period. This is the undeniable experience of many players and you act so dismissively of them. While practically every death could be argued in the most cynical and contrarian positions that you should have just "played better" or "you needed better gear" regardless of the game's shitty state of balance (especially for certain classes), it doesn't change the fact that many players will experience map after map after map with relatively little serious threat and just out of completely no where just POP and they're dead having done nothing to genuinely increase their risk.

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Love how people always accuse me of hyperbole instead of y'know, actually arguing. Sure, I like to be colorful and creative instead of boring as a Path of Exile with absolutely no failure state and thus no success state. Does it actually change the essence of anything I'm saying?

And I love talking to brick walls that pretend to know my mind, pretend to know my experience, and act as if their opinion is the sole and objective reality and absolute truth that even a God would bow down to. If you want a serious conversation, especially a productive one, cut the hyperbole, cut the personal attacks, cut the accusatory tone, stop strawmanning, and honestly address the counter argument point by point. Simply gainsaying and retorting a complete and total fantasy of the opposition's actual position, actual experience, and actual point is a surefire way to prove you do not deserve their respect.

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Or, here's a thought - don't assblast your maps so fast you can't see what's happening on the screen. There's maybe three instances I can bring to mind in my PoE2 run so far where I legitimately don't know what killed me. Them's the breaks sometimes in a game featuring wild randomization, though. And frankly, those moments are so worth it for the rush of being thrown a real curveball by the system and figuring out how to work around it and scrape through victorious anyways. There's a reason Deadly Evolution is far and away my favorite node on the Atlas tree.

Except, I don't, and plenty others don't, either. The game is woefully inadequate regarding information you can get via at-a-glance assessment of the battlefield. You don't even reliably know when an enemy is a rare or magic mob, and just having a circle of flame or something around them isn't a guarantee of which kind it is, let alone does it say anything else about their other mods. The game's pacing is far too fast to be able to assess every threat at every frame and know what rare mob has what mods in an instant without taking your eyes off something else just to read what it has. Are you trying to suggest that other players' experiences are illegitimate because you don't share them?

I'm reminded of a story I've heard of a professional baseball player trying to teach others how to read each kind of throw from the pitcher. He had no earthly clue he had freak of nature eyes that could see the ball as more than a mere blur. If you are so blessed to be among the gaming elite of the elite such that you can see every action of every frame and respond just as quickly, congratulations. That doesn't mean the vast majority of players aren't having to deal with their mediocrity that can miss things despite their best efforts and despite high skill and game knowledge. That doesn't mean the vast majority of players have to be ok with so punitive a death penalty as we have right now in, once again, the god damned softcore league.

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Mob power is fine, with a few ugly exceptions one can easily keep an eye out for in most cases. And frankly, losing the occasional map is just par for the course in Softcore. Why it should be seen as some horrifying game-breaking deal-shattering Hyper Nightmare, I will never understand.

And no, it is not, which is a significant pain point regarding how one-attempt is too punitive. Much of the time, difficulty spikes and valleys more or less remain constrained within a range, with a couple outliers that spike higher than the average peak, especially when mixing in mechanics. And then, there are moments where literally no amount of skill is going to help against something you'd need top 0.1% gear to survive and can't avoid. General mobs are not mechanically deep and it is a genuine problem of the game's design that it has gone this far into a mechanically deep experience to still have such moments where all that really mattered was whether you were averaging 200 Life and 30 Strength per gear piece. Those kinds of spikes are all the more reason to get rid of one-attempt maps because they feel that much worse to die to. And even if they fixed how broken the mob damage equation seems to be, it won't change the fact that many players will feel one-attempt is simply far too punitive a punishment for one measly death.