Early Access: Standard League

Long story short, I’m part of the player base that enjoys putting in the hours to reach a meta build, despite a busy life—falling into the "dad-gamer/busy job" category. Even with limited time, I still want to push my characters to their limits in POE2. Recently, I’ve noticed growing concerns on the official forums and Reddit about the future of players like us in upcoming seasons.

GGG has stated that EA characters will be moved to an EA-specific standard league, but would it be possible to integrate them into the standard league instead? I’m not sure how this would impact league players, but post-EA, the standard league will still naturally favor early adopters.

In Diablo 4, for example, a significant portion of the player base prefers a stable endgame environment where they can continue refining characters or testing new meta builds without constantly starting over. However, recent seasons have ignored these players, with continuous item changes forcing them to repeatedly farm the same gear in their version of standard league. Some of those players are now playing POE2. A similar approach in POE2—one that prioritizes long-term progression—could benefit those of us who want to experiment, improve, and fully optimize our builds without starting from scratch every time.

I understand that balance changes are necessary and that sometimes we need to rebuild our characters to adapt to new game mechanics—I don’t oppose these changes. However, having to repeatedly farm the same items and go through the same quests doesn’t align with the idea of long-term optimization for some players. For those of us who enjoy fine-tuning builds over time, a system that allows for continuity in progression would be far more appealing.

Please give this often-overlooked player base a lasting home! We tend to optimize our characters long after league-based players have moved on. I have great respect for season-based players, and while my main focus is on the standard league, I’m open to creating new characters in fresh leagues as well. Additionally, please consider merging the EA standard league into the general Standard league pool as a way to reward us early adopters as we continue to support this game and provide feedback in the intervening months.