From Victoria Island to Wraeclast - a Nexon Gamer trying to figure out GGG

TLDR: Developer transparency = Good. Game identity = Important. My longevity = Uncertain.

I arrived at POE2 not as an avid ARPG fan, but due to seeing positive player feedback about the developer's reputation with their playerbase from a decade of POE1 live service. I am a long-time Maplestory player, and enjoy grind and progression more than any aspect of a game. There's a whole essay to be written about the role of gambling in player progression from this perspective, but I want to write today instead about the idea of player agency and developer transparency.

In the Maplestory community, it's not uncommon to see GGG patch notes linked which clearly detail and address player feedback and concerns of their games' live development. These posts, of course, are to juxtapose the ninja edits and intentionally ambiguous wording Nexon prefers to employ in their patch notes, particularly for their overseas regions (GMS). The allure of an MMO where player agency matters to the developer, where patch notes are timely and transparent, and where game updates are aligned with community concerns and feedback - this is what drew my interest to playing POE2.

I've logged 150 hours since December 13th on POE2, reaching level 80 and T10 maps alongside a level 52 alt nearing the end of cruel campaign (11 hours). The grind is enjoyable - repetitive enough for replayability, challenging enough for focus. Character progression has a refreshing depth and a familiar shallowness - build any stat & skill combo you can dream of, and achieve it by rolling the dice and enduring the trials of the yellow bricked road. A mix of randomness and agency that rewards time played over any other investment.

As of today, there are two things wavering my position enjoying the game. The timing of its release, and the future of its endgame. The first point is evidently inflammatory, so I'll leave it brief: the extended period since Dec 16th with a total of two brief developer communications has kindled my wariness of developer intentions that my time under Nexon bred into me. No, the game is not on fire - yes, it was the holidays. Yet still, my rose-tinted glasses have been cracked. I retian faith that this isn't the basic communication standard GGG expects to deliver to its players, yet I know better than to pay a company with my faith when I've already paid them with my money and attention. So, I figured spending some time to voice my perspective would amount to something better than waiting another day.

As for the state of the endgame - I want to talk about its future, and perhaps more importantly its past. I read several times about the endgame pivot by GGG nearing EA release. I also read in places about concurrent development and release schedules for POE1 and POE2 - I saw two standalone games. Both of these were news that made me glad - a concerted effort to deliver a prolonged, enjoyable endgame experience that could stand apart from, and alongside, its predecessor.

The first time I opened a Breach, I died very quickly and thought - oh, I will work on my defenses and clear speed. Yesterday, when I opened a T6 Breach at level 80, with 65% Elemental & Chaos resistances & 8k EH, and died very quicky - I thought, oh, I'm not sure I enjoy this activity. So I snooped around on the internet, reading about past POE1 league mechanics. Realizing that the first step GGG took into POE2's new endgame was a step back into past POE1 endgame mechanics, I can only be concerned what this means for the large part of our playerbase that never invested in its predecessor. I want to enjoy POE2, but more importantly, I want to see that POE2 has a strong identity. Is that identity a higher fidelity POE1/"speed is king" experience? Or is it something beyond that ala Act 1 Count Geonor?

To conclude with the Nexon analogy again - Maplestory may be a gacha-simulator, daily check-in grind fest - but it is unashamedly proud to be so. Whatever GGG envisions for POE2, I hope that they push that vision into the game's activities and playstyle with as much confidence as "God Chang-Seop" announces a 3% final damage gain for the equivalent of two months daily mushroom farming. I am not playing POE1, just as I am not playing old school Maplestory.

Thank you for joining me. Posting this in discussion as it is marginally feedback and majorly me taking a break.