We need to accept GGG targets poe 1 players/zoomers/casuals

This game still has the exact same identity crisis it had since 0.1. It wants to somehow cater to both old PoE1 players and new players by giving a slow and methodical game that gives godlike power fantasy. This just doesn't work.

I wish they would just pick a direction and go with that. If they just decided to fully go with the slow and meaningful approach, I could at least confidently say it's not for me and no longer bother with it, but since there is that hint of PoE1 in there, it feels like there might be something I can love if they rework all the slow and frustrating things. Which in turn just pisses off everyone else that wants a slower game.

There is no winning here for anyone.

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rrogan17#2926 wrote:

Just wanted to point out though that while you may think it's similar, it's actually not as much as you think and is trying to bring in a new audience if anything. If they wanted to attract the same one they could have stuck with PoE1, as it was growing league over league numbers wise. They went a different direction though, so this tells you that's not their goal.

Maybe they wanted to try that initially... but the streamers they had testing the early version of the game many years back made sure to make their loud voices heard and propagated it to the PoE1 gambling addicted masses too. Tons and tons of pushback since then has affected the direction of the game before we even got to test it out ourselves. An absolute catastrophe.

I also feel the need to single out Zizaran as one of the most obnoxious ones out of the bunch. Using disabilities as an excuse for his goals was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen.

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rrogan17#2926 wrote:

People want a game to have fun with and relax, not sit on the edge of their seat the entire time. For most that's not wanted and retention speaks to this.

Besides the fact that you generalize what people want as if you represent everyone, which is silly... the fact that anyone seeks a relaxing time from an Action Role-Playing Game is beyond stupid.

Look, I like and play chill games too! I really love Transport Fever for example... can't wait for TF3 that comes out this year. That's my chill and relaxing game to play. And there are many other games like that. I'm obviously never going to seek action from a game like that.

But the very notion that someone seeks to relax in an Action RPG, to me, is beyond foolish.

As for retention.. it's funny that you bring that up because if you look at the charts, it clearly shows how fast most people drop the game compared to many other successful games... the exact same trend as in PoE1... and the reason it even manages to retain what it does still... is mostly because of external issues.

Namely... lack of a serious competitor and the state of online gaming in general. The MMORPG people, for example, have been on dry land for ages... which I suspect is a big part of the PoE playerbase.

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Snooke#4557 wrote:

It was originaly promoted as a expansion to PoE1.
I stopped after 0.3 as I concluded it was not for me in its current state so I stick to PoE1.

I haven't touched POE1 since 2018 but I might have to accept that if I still want to play an ARPG in 2026, POE1 might be the only game left on the market where your movement speed is not completely crippled when you play a game that is potentially fun.

If they add WASD in POE1 ill never come back to POE2 (2125 hours in) and I will try it again.

The reason is simple, even though the vast majority told them the maps were too big and the game too slow, they made extremely big maps in act 4 and in 0.4 they bricked movement speed. But you see people still complaining that the game is too fast. Not only that, OP is even saying 0.4 is much faster than 0.3.

GGG can't please both player base and it's mind boggling that they are somehow catering to the slow pacers even if they represent a small minority but here we are discussing in a thread where OP thinks the game is aimed at addicts and some people interacting with him are using the same language.

I find it difficult to be challenged in this game even in SSF after interacting with the crafting mechanics. We outpace 99% of mobs with movement speed already and the rares that do move fast are swiftly killed. Stun out of sprint presents no issue since we can cancel out of it with an attack or a dodge roll. We can also cancel out of any attack. The game speed should absolutely not be designed around players who one-shot everything and want to complete maps faster. If we want to continue having an endgame without any challenge, then make movement speed have ridiculous requirements so that it's impossible for someone who just entered T15 maps to have it.