Popular Opinion: In 3.29 League Challenges Should Require Solo Completion and Overhauls

This is important change to implement. I want real challenges.

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VoidWhisperer42#5989 wrote:

Challenges used to mean something.
Back in the day, seeing someone with a full challenge set was a “whoa, this guy’s a monster” moment. Now? Everything from Uber boss kills to map completion is up for sale. It’s all on rotation in carry discords, and the MTX has gone from badge of honor to glorified participation trophy.

And when was this exactly?

Global and trade 820 channels have been used to share or trade challenge completions and various types of rotations since version 1.2 of POE. POE 1.2 is when Forsaken Masters launched, specifically on 20th August 2014 (2014-08-20), which is why the 820 channels were chosen, as a reference to the release date of the expansion.

There were only two league cycles with challenges before that, the first being the 1.0 release (which had Nemesis league in HC and Domination league in SC) and the second being the 1.1 Sacrifice of the Vaal release (Invasion in HC, Ambush in SC). There were no challenge leagues in open or closed beta.

People were using the 820 channels to complete challenges less than a year after the game first released. Act 4 didn't even exist yet and was still nearly a year away from being released. There was no atlas and wouldn't be for a little over two years. Acts 5-10 were still 3 years away. But people were already sharing and trading challenge completions.

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Nomancs#6176 wrote:

This is important change to implement. I want real challenges.

If you want "real challenges", then nothing about this proposed change would affect you in any way. You can already do all your challenges solo; joining a party is a choice you're free not to make. And if that's how you prefer to do things, just go play in SSF, that's why it's there.

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AxiomOfAnarchy#7408 wrote:

just go play in SSF, that's why it's there.

Choosing to complete the challenges yourself, or opting in for SSF, does not address the core issue of the current state of challenge quality. The challenges themselves need a thoughtful and meaningful rework to make them more engaging, rewarding, and enjoyable. Ensuring they are fully achievable in solo play along the way is simply one part of restoring their value. What is truly needed is a comprehensive redesign that revitalizes their purpose and makes them feel worthwhile again, rather than merely optional tasks to be checked off.

As already discussed across countless posts, this is not a new concern. So no, SSF is not the solution here.

TL;DR Summary of the Discussion So Far

Across this topic, the core conclusion is clear, players are not asking for easier challenges, they are asking for better designed challenges.

The community wants challenges that are:

• Built around fun, engaging gameplay
• Meaningful and progression based
• Free from outdated vendor recipes and repetitive filler tasks
• Not dependent on extreme RNG or excessive currency grinding
• Not designed around shortcuts, carries, or loopholes

Players want challenges that reward natural play and skill development, not luck, currency stacking, or external assistance. Challenges should feel like achievements earned through engagement, not chores completed through efficiency exploits.

Improving challenge design would directly benefit player retention. When content feels rewarding and purposeful, players stay invested longer. Stronger design keeps people engaged throughout the league instead of causing early burnout.

Reducing cheese strategies strengthens reward integrity and encourages deeper gameplay, which supports long term engagement rather than short term completion.

Limiting carries helps players learn their builds properly, promotes organic progression, and improves overall league longevity. Progress should come from playing the game, not bypassing it.

Most importantly, players want challenges that feel equally fair and enjoyable in both Trade and SSF environments. A redesign that works across both systems would greatly improve consistency and satisfaction.

Finally, players value differentiated recognition for modes such as HC and SSF, similar to how Ruthless mode already has its own badge of honor.

In short, this discussion is not about removing difficulty. It is about modernizing challenge design so it promotes engagement, integrity, progression, and long term player retention.

With 3.28 approaching, this presents an ideal opportunity to introduce meaningful and decisive improvements. Implementing substantial changes now would not only address immediate concerns, but also lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive overhaul in 3.29.

Taking this stepwise approach could position the next expansion as a true evolution of the endgame, delivering a refined, modernized experience that significantly elevates long term engagement and overall quality.

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VoidWhisperer42#5989 wrote:

Choosing to complete the challenges yourself, or opting in for SSF, does not address the core issue of the current state of challenge quality.

Then make another thread specifically about that.

This thread is specifically about requiring solo completion for league challenges, which my suggestion does directly address.

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VoidWhisperer42#5989 wrote:

Limiting carries helps players learn their builds properly, promotes organic progression, and improves overall league longevity. Progress should come from playing the game, not bypassing it.

And now we're back to the original point of this thread: you want to require solo completion for league challenges, something which is already more than adequately addressed by the existence of SSF, as well as by the ability even outside SSF to simply not join a party for challenge completion if you don't want to do so.

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AxiomOfAnarchy#7408 wrote:

There were no challenge leagues in open or closed beta.

Anarchy and Onslaught leagues were in 0.11.0 (open beta) all the way back in 2013.

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AxiomOfAnarchy#7408 wrote:

And when was this exactly?

Long before you started playing leagues on that profile. :)

Challenges are not as important as a great core game. Gambling Strongboxes and just aiming for fixed loot tables is not it. Before they haven´t fixed that they can´t think about challenges.

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AxiomOfAnarchy#7408 wrote:

Then make another thread specifically about that.

I don’t need to start a new thread on this, as this topic already captures both aspects quite well: the players’ desire for more engaging challenges and the corresponding improvements to how challenges are acquired and completed. Altogether, it represents a comprehensive overhaul where each element seamlessly complements the other.

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AxiomOfAnarchy#7408 wrote:

And now we're back to the original point of this thread: you want to require solo completion for league challenges, something which is already more than adequately addressed by the existence of SSF

We also return to the point that SSF fails to address the issue previously identified and, as such, cannot be considered a viable solution.

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TayPoE#6379 wrote:

Challenges are not as important as a great core game.

Challenges form an integral part of the game core content for each league. As such, providing a compelling and polished experience for challenges is just as important as ensuring the core game, much of which is also optional, delivers a satisfying experience.

Both therefore hold equal significance. While overhauling the challenge system represents a relatively modest undertaking requiring less effort, a comprehensive revamp of the endgame also demands minimal work beyond a few scarab adjustments to enable a broader range of strategies, along with the introduction of fresh content that naturally accompanies each league.
Consequently, integrating improvements to both systems is entirely feasible.