Development Stories: Path of Exile 2 Narrative Design Philosophies

I'd love to see what has become of our familiar act towns, what happened to Grigor, if Neassa becomes the next Merveil, what becomes of the Trio; Shavronne, Doedre, and Maligaro. Because those three pop up more than anyone else throughout the story now, and they outlive Malachai, so surely killing them at least 3 times each isn't enough yet...

To catch a glimpse of the Maven's and Elders expanded universe, even if we can't go there, just to take a peek at something that resembles the skill tree, with each node being another Atlas full of maps/worlds.

I'd also love to see flicker strike stop desyncing, and Riposte bug "ghost weapons" to disappear...

But more than anything, I want the supporter packs with Kiwi pets to come back! I missed my chance as a starving student back when they were originally available, and now I want to give you my money for one!!!

Thanks for the years of incredible gaming. I'm looking forward to many more years!

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CrogenitorSeims wrote:

Maybe they're in denial. Maybe they know, but can't bring themselves to say it. Maybe the Exile tried to spare them and lied. But personally, I want to believe she escaped and is alive somewhere, not as some monster but as her new self.

The dialogue is strange because Nessa was supposed to survive. They probably ran into technical difficulties at the last minute making her model detach from the Brine King. Or maybe they felt it wasn't dark and edgy enough. Either way, every act in 3.0 involves at least one town NPC running off and courting evil, and only Clarissa survives. It's pretty painfully tropey.

I'm terrified that if Zana returns in PoE 2 they're going to try to butcher her character. The plot to Conquerors of the Atlas strongly suggests that Sirus was supposed to be Zana—his colour scheme, svelte figure, and hatred of Oriath would all fit her if she blamed the Templars for what happened to her father (which she probably should). Kirac was clearly programmed to replace Zana, capable of handing out maps and chisels and even being pointlessly mandatory for revealing citadel locations.

But obviously the game we got didn't do any of that; it seems cooler heads prevailed at the top and vetoed Evil Zana late in development. Let's hope they keep doing that if she does appear in PoE 2.

Einhar. Give me Einhar. That's all I would really need from PoE 1. That sonofabitch is the best.

Very curious to see Path of Exile 2's story.
Several points seems very good ideas, but difficult to perform (best exemple : "Every place we go should be intentional").

For the content of Path of Exile 1, I really love to see the Heist's gang again. I just love their interractions. Maybe a new generation of rogues with some olders faces.
And more than a place or character, I hope to find a feeling like with the Bravalo's story again. Several little stories from Path of Exile 1 are disseminated across readable spots. But since it's a very simple story, and because the texts are in very logical and signifiant places (exemple : the church where his family has taken refuge), this one has a particulary "gratifiant" feeling.
Oh... and knowing if there was something between Jun and Zana, during the past 20 years ! Their deserve sweet time after their narrative's arcs.

There is just so many questions I have and things I want to see, but I'll just pick my top three.

Lilly ross and the sunken city of Tsoatha as a number one. The idea that this major god has his own city and domain is definingly something I want to see.

The trials of ascendancy. Forget what happens to ascendancies themselves or how they are handled, I want to explore the ruins of the trails left in the wake of the first exile.

Lastly: The exile from POE 1. The Atlas, if I had to guess, does not exist. Sin seals away the exile because they have gotten so powerful that they too, could be considered a god.

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LordofDiamonds wrote:

Great post! To answer the question, I suppose what really hooked me when I started during Torment League, aside from the mechanics and skill gem system, was the unsettling hopelessness in the game. You're stuck in the continent, essentially a death sentence and there are hints/dialogue at Wraeclast being completely in ruin.

This. Back in 2013 that's what I felt too. This feeling of the game was 'lost' because it got too much fast-paced, and as I remember at that time we didn't have too much things to run so fast. But I'm glad that they are slowing down a bit, as I heard and saw on the announcement. It means we might expect that good feeling back if they keep the dark design from the very begining of PoE. So this is what I want to see as 'place' of PoE1 in PoE2, this dark hopeless feeling.

If I'm not wrong, there was a person who opens the door to lioneye's watch. I hope to know what happened to this person :D

I hope in PoE2 every league is a 'place' where that caravan stops and stay through the entire league until it goes to another place(league). Would be really cool to see the enviroment changes.

This is awesome, can't wait for path of exile 2!

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There’s a ton more I’d like to get into in the future, but for now I’ll leave off with an open-ended question: in terms of places and people, what would you most like to see again from Path of Exile 1?

I'm hoping Jun and Zana got their happy ending retirement together. Maybe the orphan they adopted grew up to be an Atlas-exploring-Ninja.

I would love to see real fortresses or cities of the different civilizations we are introduced to in POE. In the actual state of the game you dont really understand wich kind of people you're talking to or what civilization they belong. You're just introduced (yourself) to a couple of characters with no real connection with the previous act, some short and vague lore and that's it.

And i would really love to see some changes to the locations once you kill certain boss or complete a quest. EG, when you kill ryslatha you shouldn't be seeing her offspring anymore and yet they're all over the place.

Third but no less i'd like to see and know more about the gods and innocence, since i think by POE2 he would've had enough time to think about his sins in the south.