Poe 2's Negative Reviews on Steam Are About to Exceed 30%

I personally did not take part in any "review bombing". My downvote for that game was earned by my experience playing it and realizing it will never be anything other than something I will never want to play, nor would I recommend to people I know.

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elemenopy#1102 wrote:

I personally did not take part in any "review bombing". My downvote for that game was earned by my experience playing it and realizing it will never be anything other than something I will never want to play, nor would I recommend to people I know.

Review bomb is a term often misappropriated by sycophants to excuse unpopularity. Most people are like you; compelled to negatively review on the basis of strong feelings that something is wrong with the product.

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elemenopy#1102 wrote:

I personally did not take part in any "review bombing". My downvote for that game was earned by my experience playing it and realizing it will never be anything other than something I will never want to play, nor would I recommend to people I know.

to be fair, i'm seeing a lot of them with 100, 200, 500, and even 1k+ hours in the game. that's not really review bombing imo

also have to consider the game isn't only on steam too, so a lot of players and their actual playtime is probably more

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bachgaman#6713 wrote:

By the way, does anyone know of any good game that had such a rating?

You do realize that if PoE 2 fails due to review bombing, the company will just die right? It's wild to me the lack of forethought people have.

But yes, I do know of a good game that has MUCH worse reviews over it's history than PoE2. It's PoE1. Which has seen as high as 70% negative reviews during some of its Xpacks. Also mega hits like Skyrim, The Witcher 3 and Call of Duty all had points with sub 70% positive reviews. Games that had legit bad reviews like No Man Sky and rehabilitated over time also do well, because I'll be honest. Steam reviews are worth less than the paper they're printed on. They're only a metric of how toxic the games player base is in my estimation. Since most people who encounter a 'bad' game (or rather, a game they don't like), is to stop playing, refund if able, and move on.

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Northern_Ronin#6465 wrote:

You do realize that if PoE 2 fails due to review bombing, the company will just die right? It's wild to me the lack of forethought people have.

+1

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Northern_Ronin#6465 wrote:

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bachgaman#6713 wrote:

By the way, does anyone know of any good game that had such a rating?

You do realize that if PoE 2 fails due to review bombing, the company will just die right? It's wild to me the lack of forethought people have.

Spoiler

But yes, I do know of a good game that has MUCH worse reviews over it's history than PoE2. It's PoE1. Which has seen as high as 70% negative reviews during some of its Xpacks. Also mega hits like Skyrim, The Witcher 3 and Call of Duty all had points with sub 70% positive reviews. Games that had legit bad reviews like No Man Sky and rehabilitated over time also do well, because I'll be honest. Steam reviews are worth less than the paper they're printed on. They're only a metric of how toxic the games player base is in my estimation. Since most people who encounter a 'bad' game (or rather, a game they don't like), is to stop playing, refund if able, and move on.

Negative reviews = review bombing, positive reviews = legit.

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Northern_Ronin#6465 wrote:

You do realize that if PoE 2 fails due to review bombing, the company will just die right? It's wild to me the lack of forethought people have.

Friend, I don't think Tencent are running out of money anytime soon.

In 2022 GGG had a profit of $48.9 million after tax. Now there's a bunch of financial nonsense like them reporting on the "full" price of things they sell, irrespective of e.g. Sony taking a 30% cut of sales on PS5 or them eating the VAT on sales in Europe, and a bunch of their expenses haven't been accounted for yet due to even more financial nonsense. And it's Kiwidollars not USD.

But the fact remains they're clearly in a perfectly healthy position, and it's hard to imagine Tencent standing by and watching the company fail. GGG has a relatively large, relatively sticky, and relatively wealthy audience that does things like individually purchase multiple copies of a $12,500 supporter pack (hi, Charan). PoE 2 dying would be a devastating blow to GGG, but I don't accept for one moment that it would constitute a fatal one (and think of the tax write-off!!).

There's also an argument to be had on whether 'number go down' on the Steam store would even dictate whether PoE 2 does fail. I play through Steam, but I always buy through the official website. I don't imagine Xbox or PlayStation (comparatively modest though they may be) playerbases are checking out the Steam store page on the regular, either.

And finally, I'm not really comfortable with the idea that we can't / shouldn't offer genuine criticism, because if we do maybe the company will die and it'll be all our fault. Someone who doubtlessly gets paid considerably more than I do (and quite possibly more than you do as well) is responsible for running the business that is GGG. Don't put that on your own shoulders. And, kindly, don't try putting it on mine, either. For businesses success is earned - not given.

So many wild exaggerations in this thread. "A lot", "almost everyone", "most", "no one", on and on.

Here's a fact. The game is made and financially backed by people that want to make money. If you think they're doing it for any other reason, I'd dare say delusion is driving the bus for you.

Another fact. The game is played by people that want to enjoy it. Okay, maybe some masochists and RMT people mixed in, but yeah.

Tencent is the boss. GGG isn't. The player base makes or breaks everything.

Negative reviews will have an impact on the tone of conversation held between those that make the game and those that back it.

Sorry to say it, but like the OP and a few others, I am fully enjoying the spectacle of a dumpster fire that POE2 has turned into.

Keep those reviews coming.

I gave it a bad review because it is bad. End of story. It wasn't to annoy anyone or make a point. If they smarten if up, I will change my review. Same way I would treat any other game.

They just need to get gud