A simple YES or No to this question will do.

"

Amotokai#2266 wrote:

Mid Tier Items? Mid Tier Build? I don't see how it's anyone's problem if they don't understand the mechanics. I don't understand how it's anyone's problem that they are bad at the game. Mid Tier? The only reason items have a label is because it's the OPINION of the player base.

I guess that you won't be able to get or accept a simple Yes or No to your question.

However, pretty much every single devs' decision so far support this : You have to learn the game to progress further. Nothing is handed to you. There is no participation medal, no achievement for hiting level 20 or for equipping your first rare weapon (At least, I hope there isn't on any platform).

If someone is relatively bad at the game and understanding its core mechanics, and cannot complete the Campaign despite proper gear, then it would be my problem (and many other players') if GGG had to reduce the game difficulty to cater to these players : It would make the game too easy, to me. The game isn't rocket science and while some advanced mechanics can be harder to get your head around, it's usually as simple as "bigger numbers = better". Your first character will most probably initially be subpar as you're learning the mechanics, your second, less so, and so on.

And it's not only the player's opinion : Some items are objectively better (there are affixes tiers, in the game), some affixes aren't as great as others, and not every combination of passive and skills should work. It has to make sense. Should every skill be great and endgame-worthy? Yes! It currently isn't, but it should be. But should every skill and passive combination be good? No, quite impossible unless you drive the overall difficult down so much that you simply have to touch a mob for it to die while being immune to death yourself (i.e. Tourist mode).

I'm all in for giving more tools to achieve higher goals (e.g. a better crafting system/crafting bench), but it shouldn't come at the expense of the overall game/encounters difficulty. Still, there's some kinks to iron out, and the game is still in EA, so you cannot judge its overall campaign and early endgame content when there's half the classes and at least half the skills missing. We're missing a lot of tools, so some builds will feel kinda weak or downright unusable right now.

However, I might get some hate for that, but it's not elistic to say that the game isn't for everyone, and shouldn't try to cater to everyone. There's plenty of other games, many of them tailored towards a wider/larger audience.

"

Snorkle_uk#0761 wrote:

its not just about ego tho, its about good builds and good items mattering.


if you can beat everything in the game with mid items, a mid build and mid playing skill what is the point in anything being good? where is the incentive to improve?


its a game, you should have to be good at the game to beat everything in the game. that is important for players who can and players who cant. if you cant beat it then it should be there as something you aspire to beat when you stop being bad at the game and learn how to be good at it.

i think its important for most players to have items better than the ones they are using in the game and content harder than the stuff they can beat in order to fuel the gameplay loop of farming to upgrade, that loop shouldnt run out until you are a master of the game.

i do agree with you to a certain point. players DO need to have some skill. they DO need to have reasonable geard.

to that extent i agree with you that good builds and good items mattering. to me its more of players being able to clear the game with "mid tier items/mid tier builds". for me the gap between good builds/good items should not be too far from a weaker player.

currently players with good builds and good items literally 1 shot bosses.

while weaker players COULD kill the boss with mid items/build BUT it takes LITERAL MINUTES.

this to me is too huge of a difference.

currently poe2 is somewhat "more balanced" where players with good skill CAN clear difficult bosses with mid tier items/gear. i really like that. what i dont like is that the gap between them and good are too huge.

if a mid tier takes 5 minutes to clear a boss. a good builds should kill it at 3-4 minutes.

the way i see it, decent builds/gears should be the requirement while anything extra is a bonus to the player. if you have more defense, you are able to make more mistakes. if you have more dps, you are able to clear the encounter faster.

poe1 is in an unsavable state. good builds/gear are the bare minimum. if you dont hit them, you can forget t17/ubers.

poe2 good builds/gear still remain in the bonus category. its still not a requirement.

i will also call it out as it is. most people who are using good builds are not necessarily good players. most of them simply follow builds. most of them dont need skill as they destroy bosses before they become an issue. similarly they would destroy monsters from a safe distance away. i will not pretend that this is mastering the game. this simply is using dps to solve the game.

i will recognize not all elite players are like this. some really have the skill to play well. but for most people its just build followers.