Changes to the Labyrinth

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VigilanteCat wrote:

I'm happy to see that so many people who share my hatred of the lab are stepping up and voicing their displeasure

Been ongoing since Ascendancy, nothing new. lol

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VigilanteCat wrote:

On the other hand I'm also sad to see that (in an otherwise very friendly and helpful community) many of the people who do enjoy the lab also seem to be incredibly toxic human beings, and call people "noob" and "scrub" and say things like "git gud", when in fact most of us are neither "noobs" nor "scrubs" and have been playing the game for a long time and are plenty skilled.

Well, to be fair, in a lot of those cases it's really a l2p issue. If you're coming to the forums to rage post "fuck the lab, izaro 1 shot me" then you probably need to "git gud". :P

Also, your existing skills are irrelevant if you're tackling new content that has mechanics that you don't understand. And some have shown they are unwilling to learn or even try.

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VigilanteCat wrote:

What if the shoe was on the other foot and the only way to gain ascendancy was to [insert your most hated game aspect here]? How would you feel then? I digress...

I'd man-up and beat that shit. Or I'd go play something else if it was too big of an issue to move past. But I wouldn't linger here for any extended period of time trying to change a game I no longer play.

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VigilanteCat wrote:

All those people who are saying "remove lab" don't actually mean they want it removed from the game outright (that will never happen, so all the lab lovers can rest easy), what they want is to not be forced to do something they despise as an integral part to the building of their characters, and saying "remove it" is just an easy way to express their unhappiness with the system.

I think we already were "resting easy" on this one, this was the best chance for a major change to the laby system. But that didn't happen.

Shorter norm laby and less trials are fucking fantastic though!

I should add that I ran uber lab many, many times on my main character last league (trying for a good helm enchant on my Abyssus, HUGE waste of time LOL). I also got through it on my main this league as well with no real issues, so in my case at least, it's definitely not a l2p issue. The main problem I have with it (though there are a lot of issues with it, to be sure) is that some characters are simply not viable in uber lab, yet ascendancy is a major part of character progression.

For example, my Herald Autobomber (who is incredibly fun to play, and the Gloom Herald of Ice MTX is beautiful to behold), is simply not capable of killing uber Izaro on his own. No problem with traps due to Phase Run and Adrenaline Quicksilvers, but without the availability of Vaal RF as a boss nuke, uber will simply not be possible without a carry. On the other hand, my Sprinkler Berserker can facetank anything and melts every boss he has faced but has a problem with traps due to his relatively low HP pool and poor mobility. He could run it if I put in the effort but as I mentioned, I hate lab and he's ok enough without the last 2 points so I just shelved him and made a new character.

As a bit of a perfectionist though, it really irks me to have characters on my roster at endgame who feel incomplete, and oftentimes when all that's left for my build is uber lab, the thought of running it again for the umpteenth time just makes me log out and play something else or just go to bed. That just seems like poor game design to me when someone would rather log out of the game than actually finish their character.

Thanks to Shovelcut for responding to my post though, I agree with your sentiment for the most part and I honestly appreciate the feedback!

Why can't you make a questline for ascendancys and remove them from lab? I belive this whole lab only exists to make a few players rich because most players just hate it...

Just remove the lab please. Making it shorter will alleviate some frustration, but far from eliminate it.

The lab is the reason I don't play any of the new leagues anymore.

Ok great, but what is gonna happen to existing characters in standard and hardcore?
What if i have unlocked all labs but i didn't complete them?

Two more to make a round number, 100 new account names added to the list from just this one thread for a total list length of 874. Over 320 threads discussing labyrinth problems with over 870 posters in support

Thank you to all 100 for voicing your opinion on the disliked labyrinth. As the list grows longer our voice grows stronger.

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Misterskill wrote:

The lab is the reason I don't play any of the new leagues anymore.

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SppokyVega wrote:

Why can't you make a questline for ascendancys and remove them from lab? I belive this whole lab only exists to make a few players rich because most players just hate it...

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Shovelcut wrote:

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VigilanteCat wrote:

What if the shoe was on the other foot and the only way to gain ascendancy was to [insert your most hated game aspect here]? How would you feel then? I digress...

I'd man-up and beat that shit. Or I'd go play something else if it was too big of an issue to move past. But I wouldn't linger here for any extended period of time trying to change a game I no longer play.

I'm pleased that we can agree on Labyrinth being shit. (Although I'm not adding your name to the list unless you explicitly request it.)

I now play D3 instead of PoE but still come to these forums because PoE was a great game. It appears to be getting better with the 3.0 announcement! Unfortunately, D3 is more fun for me to play right now because of the Labyrinth. I hope that voicing my opinion will help GGG to significantly improve the game for those of us that don't like the Labyrinth style game play that differs from the great game play in the rest of PoE. When I tire of the relative lack of depth in D3, I hope that Labyrinth will be made optional or improved enough that my favorite game of all time will be great again!

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Turtledove wrote:

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Shovelcut wrote:

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VigilanteCat wrote:

What if the shoe was on the other foot and the only way to gain ascendancy was to [insert your most hated game aspect here]? How would you feel then? I digress...

I'd man-up and beat that shit. Or I'd go play something else if it was too big of an issue to move past. But I wouldn't linger here for any extended period of time trying to change a game I no longer play.

I'm pleased that we can agree on Labyrinth being shit. (Although I'm not adding your name to the list unless you explicitly request it.)

I now play D3 instead of PoE but still come to these forums because PoE was a great game. It appears to be getting better with the 3.0 announcement! Unfortunately, D3 is more fun for me to play right now because of the Labyrinth. I hope that voicing my opinion will help GGG to significantly improve the game for those of us that don't like the Labyrinth style game play that differs from the great game play in the rest of PoE. When I tire of the relative lack of depth in D3, I hope that Labyrinth will be made optional or improved enough that my favorite game of all time will be great again!

You do realize that the Labyrinth is entirely optional, don't you

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Shovelcut wrote:

"

VigilanteCat wrote:

I'm happy to see that so many people who share my hatred of the lab are stepping up and voicing their displeasure

Been ongoing since Ascendancy, nothing new. lol

"

VigilanteCat wrote:

On the other hand I'm also sad to see that (in an otherwise very friendly and helpful community) many of the people who do enjoy the lab also seem to be incredibly toxic human beings, and call people "noob" and "scrub" and say things like "git gud", when in fact most of us are neither "noobs" nor "scrubs" and have been playing the game for a long time and are plenty skilled.

Well, to be fair, in a lot of those cases it's really a l2p issue. If you're coming to the forums to rage post "fuck the lab, izaro 1 shot me" then you probably need to "git gud". :P

Also, your existing skills are irrelevant if you're tackling new content that has mechanics that you don't understand. And some have shown they are unwilling to learn or even try.

"

VigilanteCat wrote:

What if the shoe was on the other foot and the only way to gain ascendancy was to [insert your most hated game aspect here]? How would you feel then? I digress...

I'd man-up and beat that shit. Or I'd go play something else if it was too big of an issue to move past. But I wouldn't linger here for any extended period of time trying to change a game I no longer play.

"

VigilanteCat wrote:

All those people who are saying "remove lab" don't actually mean they want it removed from the game outright (that will never happen, so all the lab lovers can rest easy), what they want is to not be forced to do something they despise as an integral part to the building of their characters, and saying "remove it" is just an easy way to express their unhappiness with the system.

I think we already were "resting easy" on this one, this was the best chance for a major change to the laby system. But that didn't happen.

Shorter norm laby and less trials are fucking fantastic though!

VigilanteCat did an exemplary job in explaining in a very constructive and friendly manner what the thought was the main problem (communication issues, community consensus norms and norms of community dialogue) while simultaneously making it (yet again) even clearer that there is a significant portion of this community who dislike the lab. He actually has an argument, which looks a bit like this:

Premise 1: Claim X: Those who dislike the lab do so only because they have poor skills
Premise 2: People with sufficient skills to complete the lab still dislike it
Conclusion: Claim X is false

Then you (Shovelcut) claim that his skills are irrelevant and that many people complain about the lab because they lack the time and patience to master it, and thus make recourse to Claim X. That's highly illogical.

His point (as is the point from others) is that PoE is a game, and as such should have some inherent quantum of fun in playing it. We have all completed the lab and earned our Ascendancies -- but many of us did not like it. This does not mean we cannot do it; our having done it is proof enough. It is "merely" not what we expect and wish to do in an isometric ARPG. What is wrong with that? Your claims are not only irrational, they smack of the absurd -- I am reminded of Monty Python's Spam sketch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
Why can't we just have bacon without the spam? We are already willing to purchase a meal at this restaurant, we just do not wish to have to consume this one particular foodstuff.

I will claim: You (as do a great deal of others) find some pleasure in running the lab. FINE. Enjoy. But I will claim that your pleasure is instrumental, not inherent: That is, you enjoy running the lab not for its own sake, but for the sake of the rewards. People enjoy running the lab because of the enchantments to items they can sell for large quantities of currency or because of the loot rewards for killing Izaro, Argus, or certain GCP-chests. My claim can be refuted by removing these aspects from the lab and determining whether anyone would still run them. Because of low mob density, where would the fun be? In dodging traps between otherwise empty rooms? Do you really enjoy doing that? If so, please do say so. That would be surprising but interesting evidence.

Otherwise, please consider the authenticity and veracity of some of the claims being made by your fellow exiles here. Here the executive summary of these, put into terms as simplistic as possible (Manifesto of the UnLab):
1. We like killing shit. We don't like running around not killing shit.
2. This (killing shit) is an inherent component of PoE. The Lab prevents us from engaging in our primary source of amusement (killing shit) by making us run around not killing shit.
3. We have the skills to not run around not killing shit; we just dislike it.
4. We like killing shit, because it is inherently pleasing (perhaps it allows us to feel powerful, perhaps it allows us to engage in the selfish delusion that our "build" is "gud")
5. We also like killing shit, because it is also instrumentally pleasing -- we get loot. Furthermore, this loot is gated behind RNG restrictions requiring us to kill more and more and/or increasingly challenging shit in order to get it.
6. We do not mind better loot being gated behind challenges only completable by demonstration of skill.
7. We are not against gated rewards. We only dislike rewards gated behind content that is displeasing.
8. We want the lab to be in the game for the benefit of those who are willing to run it. We wish them the best in running around not killing shit. But we don't want to have it be integral to our gaming experience.

That being said, I would like to add that my stake in this matter is relatively small. I am not arguing for personal or egoistic gains. As I said, I have the skill to complete the lab, I do so in order to gain my Ascendancy points and get done with it -- fine. (Yes, I do not like it, but I do it for the purely instrumental reward.) I find it dissapointing to admit that I like the rest of the content of PoE enough that I will spend a total of an hour or so (4 lab runs in total) performing a chore. I just want to make it clear that there are people here who utilize reasonable arguments and who are not whining; not everybody who utters constructive criticism is a whiner. This is a basic element of rational discourse. For the sake of progress in this game (having developers be able to recognize and utilize constructive feedback), the rational claims of those with whom you may disagree should not be vilified.