Current leveling curve / XP punishments detrimental to the experience?

I've been playing quite a bit of POE2 now.
I have decent gear on my level 97 monk and honestly I'm able to do the endgame I just beat arbiter at his highest level last weekend.
However I notice that with the current -10% XP punishment or 2%-3% if you've the omen activated that I'm starting to avoid taking risks or trying new things as dying is just too punishing the higher level I get.

I'm discarding about 15-20% of my maps that are buffed with things like +50% accuracy on mobs as my primary defense is evasion, or -10/15% max resistances. Because generally those maps are just death sentences.

The number of tier 16 maps I'm able to craft is relatively low. Usually after converting a full tab of tier 15 maps I'll have about 30 tier 16 maps by the end. And even those maps don't really feel acceptably rewarding at level 97 from an XP perspective, even when the map is maxed out with beyond mobs and the map is irradiated.

The reality is, my XP curve is flattening out completely and I'm able to get approximately 5-6 million XP per hour reliably. It's now become a really long grind to get to the next level with over 300 million XP that is required for level 97 to 98. It looks like I'll be playing through 60 hours of maps without dying. And personally I don't understand the philosophy behind the extreme flattening of the XP curve after level 95-96.

Those last 4-5 points you get aren't extremely altering or enabling to builds. So what gives? Why can't you make it so that these last levels still feel relatively attainable. And that dying doesn't feel so punishing that you can't risk doing content that is actually still challenging to your character and is also the most fun?

Currently all my gear upgrades come from buying them off the trade site. So really all I care about now when running maps is the XP and the amount of divine orbs I'm able to get. It feels like the life got sucked out of the game after level 93-94. And to me that feels odd, in my experience games should ramp up to the exciting part or be steadily just as exciting from start to finish. And with POE2 right now I don't get that feeling. Instead it feels like I'm supposed to reroll to another character and start over to get a little bit of that feeling back until I hit that same wall again. Where I'm just able to get upgrades through trade and currency and not my ability to clear the content faster and more efficiently.

I tried to get increased rarity on my items to maximize the odds of getting currency and better items but I notice such significant differences between when I'm playing solo or with friends. That playing without them almost feels worthless. I only get like 10 to 15% of the amount of currency drops compared to when playing together with one friend. And to me that's insane, because I'm the character who actually has the most rarity increments on his gear when we team up.

The problem I'm facing now when playing with friends is that they are around level 92-94 and they just die non stop in the content I'm doing which takes away the fun when playing together too...
In fact some of them already quit because of that, as they didn't get as lucky drops or enough better gear to keep up. And I'm still trying to get better so that gap keeps increasing.

So yeah I personally don't understand the philosophy behind the endgame squeeze. But maybe that's why I put this in the discussion part, do others think this game design feels right? Or do they understand the ideas behind it?

Endgame definitely needs overhauled. I think they maybe have too many cooks who have been in the kitchen for entirely too long. They probably have a way they see the endgame working out but it's simply not going that way and they're trying to make as small of adjustments as possible to get back to whatever their original process was without building an entirely new framework mechanics and layouts. But I think it's fair to say that players need a little bit more carrot and a little less stick if they want people to stick around long term and not just to pop in to see what the new update or patch is all about.

Drop rates of currency need boosted at least to keep the economy in check and do it doesn't balloon by like 9x in 3 months time. More end game build defining uniques that are actually obtainable through somewhat normal means of endgame play/farming. Astramentis and Temporalis but even at the highest level they are really not necessarily obtainable for very dedicated players. Adding some level of determinism in crafting and/or farming would also be a plus to a lot of players. I always was a fan of the D2 runewords system, deterministic but also a difficult thing to have to craft that required lots of play, but also the products were end game viable.

Xp loss has been a topic in this community like 10 years ago since then, everyone just stopped talking about it and accepted it as a part of the challenge and so should you and your friends.

It's good for the game. Fear of loosing xp keeps you from just body rushing in to everything without giving it any though.

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dmiric#7196 wrote:

Xp loss has been a topic in this community like 10 years ago since then, everyone just stopped talking about it and accepted it as a part of the challenge and so should you and your friends.

It's good for the game. Fear of loosing xp keeps you from just body rushing in to everything without giving it any though.

Really, then you need to wake up it's 2025. Player's mindset including newcomer's are different 10 years ago. Never compare the past, present, and future because they are different timelines. Broaden your mind . . .

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dmiric#7196 wrote:

Xp loss has been a topic in this community like 10 years ago since then, everyone just stopped talking about it and accepted it as a part of the challenge and so should you and your friends.

It's good for the game. Fear of loosing xp keeps you from just body rushing in to everything without giving it any though.

I agree, it should be discouraged to rush in without giving it any thought. But most of my deaths now come from really unfortunate circumstances, like a delirium boss spawning on top of a frost shrine with 20+ mobs surrounding it. So personally I think that if you are looking for the thrill of never dying, that's what hardcore mode is for.
To me I play games on weekends to relax and have fun because I'm working during the week. I put in about 10-14 hours in the weekends. Dying on a sunday when you've done 5% of a level the day before and losing 3-4% of that, feels terrible. It's completely demotivating to continue.

Personally I wouldn't be against some sort of punishment for dying, but make it avoidable. Include a dialog with "The Hooded One" and allow for a deal with him, your lost XP back for a -10%/-20% stacking XP debuff for 1 hour or your lost XP back at the cost of a divine orb.

I just think there are far better strategies to discourage dying.

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MarcoBezzecchi#3752 wrote:

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dmiric#7196 wrote:

Xp loss has been a topic in this community like 10 years ago since then, everyone just stopped talking about it and accepted it as a part of the challenge and so should you and your friends.

It's good for the game. Fear of loosing xp keeps you from just body rushing in to everything without giving it any though.

Really, then you need to wake up it's 2025. Player's mindset including newcomer's are different 10 years ago. Never compare the past, present, and future because they are different timelines. Broaden your mind . . .

Or you could "broaden your mind" and accept the 10% xp penalty in that new space you created.

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MVP#7623 wrote:

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dmiric#7196 wrote:

Xp loss has been a topic in this community like 10 years ago since then, everyone just stopped talking about it and accepted it as a part of the challenge and so should you and your friends.

It's good for the game. Fear of loosing xp keeps you from just body rushing in to everything without giving it any though.

I agree, it should be discouraged to rush in without giving it any thought. But most of my deaths now come from really unfortunate circumstances, like a delirium boss spawning on top of a frost shrine with 20+ mobs surrounding it. So personally I think that if you are looking for the thrill of never dying, that's what hardcore mode is for.
To me I play games on weekends to relax and have fun because I'm working during the week. I put in about 10-14 hours in the weekends. Dying on a sunday when you've done 5% of a level the day before and losing 3-4% of that, feels terrible. It's completely demotivating to continue.

Personally I wouldn't be against some sort of punishment for dying, but make it avoidable. Include a dialog with "The Hooded One" and allow for a deal with him, your lost XP back for a -10%/-20% stacking XP debuff for 1 hour or your lost XP back at the cost of a divine orb.

I just think there are far better strategies to discourage dying.

I think it's good for building character. Don't get me worng moment I lose xp and the map it feels terrible, however I think you can play your character perfectly fine on lvl 90+ you don't need to get to 100 and it's reserved for people who also can play without dying too many times. Im contrast to hardcore where you are rewarded for being able to play without dying at all ever which is 1 step up.

Huge +1 to OP! I subscribe to every word.
Evasion based deadeye.