Path of Exile 2 Is Not Path of Exile 1 — And That’s Exactly the Point

I last seriously played Path of Exile 1 in 2015, during the Warbands / Tempest League and was one of the first to complete 20/20 receiving the limited edition T-shirt. I’ve come back for Atlas 3.26. With that wide gap in perspective and having played Path of Exile 2, one thing has become absolutely clear:

Path of Exile 2 and Path of Exile 1 are two completely different games.

While they may share a name and some mechanics, their pacing, design philosophy, and overall feel are fundamentally different — and that’s a good thing. But I’m genuinely concerned that the development of Path of Exile 2 is being shaped too heavily by the expectations of long-time PoE1 players.

And that’s a problem.

PoE1 was released in October 2013. Since then, it has grown into a massive, intricate game — one that’s incredibly deep, but also deeply layered, bloated, and increasingly unapproachable to new players. Much of that complexity came from years of trying to satisfy the most dedicated players, league after league. And now those same players are pushing PoE2 to meet their comfort zones — even if those comfort zones are exactly what caused PoE1 to lose its clarity and identity.

After playing both Atlas 3.26 and PoE2, the contrast is striking. PoE2 feels balanced, impactful, and deliberate (excluding obvious issues where things are not balanced due to being in alpha). There’s real satisfaction in each encounter. PoE1, by contrast, has become a speedrun — a rush to the endgame — because that’s the culture that formed around it. And that culture is already trying and to influence PoE2.

But Path of Exile 2 should not be designed for players who miss what they had in PoE1. That’s what PoE1 is still there for.

If PoE2 is built around feedback from players who can no longer find comfort in PoE1, and the dev team tries to recreate what those players are nostalgic for, then we’re headed right back to the same path — the same overloaded systems, the same power creep, the same overwhelming meta layers — and ultimately the same player fatigue.

PoE2 needs to break away. It needs to stand on its own, evolve on its own, and serve a broader and more balanced audience — not just the PoE1 elite.

I’m posting this in hope that someone at GGG — a lead, a decision-maker, someone who still sees the long-term vision — reads this and considers the direction PoE2 is heading by being influenced by PoE1 established elite players.

Let PoE1 remain for those who want the rush.

Let PoE2 be something more.

Because if PoE2 just becomes PoE1 with better graphics, it will eventually suffer the same fate.

I hope POE2 will go as far away from POE1 as possible.

But my Zoomies! If I can't get to the end game within 30 minutes, then the game is wasting my time. When I go to the movies, I want to see the end credits as fast as possible.

Yep ...In fact, just as Diablo 2 players destroyed the development of Diablo 3, these same players exiled on PoE 1 are destroying PoE 2...

There is only one axis of evaluation for ARPG.
It is whether it is close to POE1 or not.

I feel absolutely the same here. I played poe1 in openbeta, 1.0, 3.0 and heavily in 2.0, and then when ruthless came out. I also tried the normal gameplay of poe1 crucible league and it felt like a totally different game from what i remembered from 2.0.

I love the pacing of poe2, and indeed, the game has its own flaws right now, but the way forward is clear to me: to be as different as possible around the zoomies. Let poe1 zoomers play poe1 every 4 month and let poe2 slow paced and great, i love each encounter - especially the campaign. I'm just thrilled to play the 6 act campaign with every build possible, and then try to reach the endgame.

Maybe not the hottest take but - naming the PO2 was huge part of the problem.

Sure, franchising a longstanding (almost) genre defining title is a simple $ move, but it already:
- divided PO2 playerbase in two camps (I'm in the OP camp, the other camp is 200k players currently playing POE1)
- made POE1 streamers too influential on how devs approach PO2, making the game lose "fresh" eyes
- made the devs focus on polishing and adding way too early in the EA, impossibly trying to match the amount of mostly endgame content of POE1 (instead of building POE2 from ground up in EA, and maybe taking a new approach on some core ARPG systems that could differentiate it from POE1 further, and bring that new-gen ARPG about)

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Boozbaz#3713 wrote:

But my Zoomies! If I can't get to the end game within 30 minutes, then the game is wasting my time. When I go to the movies, I want to see the end credits as fast as possible.

It always seemed crazy to me these players are convinced they are the majority and if GGG doesn't listen to them the game will die. The guys are in fact the loud minority. No casual or new player will ever have this mindset, ever.

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Noxxius74#6782 wrote:

Yep ...In fact, just as Diablo 2 players destroyed the development of Diablo 3, these same players exiled on PoE 1 are destroying PoE 2...

Diablo 2 players did not destroy D3. Blizzard did. They destroyed the franchise when Blizzard North left the building.

Same goes for starwars main movies, when Lucas sold it to Disney, it's Disney that destroyed it.

I hope this clears things up.

I agree! I like PoE1 and I'm glad it exists, but I really love PoE2 and I hope it retains its own style and pace.

I like to see monsters and respond to what they're doing. Screen-deleting lightshows get boring to me pretty quickly.