[Megathread] Path of Exile

[Lysah]

Dunno, I think the april fool's joke was a bit too far. Obviously it was taken to the extreme, but items do need to be hard to get to a certain degree, I'll agree with Redblade on that. I don't think Cadiro and the latest trade improvements ruined the game, but if they added a functional auction house where you could buy and sell items independently of human interaction at all...I don't know. We would probably see ten times over the amount of items for sale that there are right now and anything below tier 1 rarity would become essentially free.

They plan on adding the ability to trade without needing to be in the same instance, I think that will be as far as trade improvements need to go.

[Fencers]

The tiny bit of hassle of going to a website and whispering another player is kinda pointless in the grander scheme of the game, I think.

Hardcore players know how to use POEXYZ. Sending a whisper is very low effort, part of it is even automated. So the most work I do in-game is click Trade. There almost never any conversation at all beyond the automated whisper and "thanks" at close of sale.

Since the first wave of trade improvements there hasn't been a single person who typed anything more than "my ho"/"thanks"/"hi, i would like to buy your behemoth Goliath boots listed for 1c..."

No AH/Trading Post is just a goddamn facade at this point.

[Redblade]

I don't think Cadiro and the latest trade improvements ruined the game, but if they added a functional auction house where you could buy and sell items independently of human interaction at all...I don't know.

I don't think it ruined the game but it's heading down a road I don't want to see the game head, it did screw the market over though (not to the point where you can't sell anything as some interpret what I say) to a point where most things are worth nothing.

They plan on adding the ability to trade without needing to be in the same instance, I think that will be as far as trade improvements need to go.

Agreed, I do think it will take something away from the game though as it's interesting to see other people hideouts some times. Due to how the lab is designed it's an inevitable change though.

The tiny bit of hassle of going to a website and whispering another player is kinda pointless in the grander scheme of the game, I think.

Hardcore players know how to use POEXYZ. Sending a whisper is very low effort, part of it is even automated. So the most work I do in-game is click Trade. There almost never any conversation at all beyond the automated whisper and "thanks" at close of sale.

Since the first wave of trade improvements there hasn't been a single person who typed anything more than "my ho"/"thanks"/"hi, i would like to buy your behemoth Goliath boots listed for 1c..."

No AH/Trading Post is just a goddamn facade at this point.

I think you underestimate how little it takes for some the consider it "too much effort".

[imabanana]

I don't think it ruined the game but it's heading down a road I don't want to see the game head, it did screw the market over though (not to the point where you can't sell anything as some interpret what I say) to a point where most things are worth nothing.

Good thing is, there seem to be a lot of build variety thanks to this.

I kind of like this league actually, made finding relatively good items easy, which means less trading needed, and trading is by far the worst part of POE, less trading = much better game for me. It's actually the first time I stay for so long playing in a league, I left every time I got around 80 and started to need trading to get not-too-shitty gear.

[Redblade]

Good thing is, there seem to be a lot of build variety thanks to this.

There is no evidence that it has anything to do with the fat man nor the trade improvements, it could just as well have everything to do with ascendancy.

I kind of like this league actually, made finding relatively good items easy, which means less trading needed, and trading is by far the worst part of POE, less trading = much better game for me. It's actually the first time I stay for so long playing in a league, I left every time I got around 80 and started to need trading to get not-too-shitty gear.

I trade a fair amount and I'd say less than 1% of all trades are bad/annoying in any way...

How poe.trade works now it's never been easier to find items and the online status is almost perfectly accurate.

[imabanana]

I trade a fair amount and I'd say less than 1% of all trades are bad/annoying in any way...

How poe.trade works now it's never been easier to find items and the online status is almost perfectly accurate.

Well, first thing that sucks it having to get out of the game to look for in-game trades, that alone is bad/annoying for all trades. Then having to use one of the worst messaging system in current online games (which is a huge pain for sellers mostly, if you're in the middle of something and get multiple PM before getting out of it), then try to not get into the issues of maps stealing / items replacing or things like that.

Yeah, it works, but it's still shit.

- - - Updated - - -

There is no evidence that it has anything to do with the fat man nor the trade improvements, it could just as well have everything to do with ascendancy.

Do you really think easy access to almost any unique has nothing to do with current build variety?

[Fencers]

Relative to the sheer number of unique items in POE, a small few are build defining. Most unique items are trash.

[Redblade]

Well, first thing that sucks it having to get out of the game to look for in-game trades, that alone is bad/annoying for all trades.

Welcome to indie games, a place where third party tools and sites are more norm than exception.

Besides, why is it annoying to stand in town while searching on a website over in game, is the tab action that annoying?

Then having to use one of the worst messaging system in current online games (which is a huge pain for sellers mostly, if you're in the middle of something and get multiple PM before getting out of it), then try to not get into the issues of maps stealing / items replacing or things like that.

What's wrong with the chat system? Like I'm sure there could be improvements allowing us to be in multiple global with multiple tabs, much like WoW chat, and such but other than that I struggle to see what's so bad with it.

Never had a map stolen yet...and you can protect your self against that really easy so fail to see it as a problem. Items won't be replaced...like ever so that's not an issue.

Yeah, it works, but it's still shit.

It works and I think it's actually really good the way it is now.

It's interesting to note Chris explanation in the latest SoE podcast why instant trades are bad for the game and especially who it affects most negatively.

Do you really think easy access to almost any unique has nothing to do with current build variety?

Not really. Sure some of the more exotic builds using league specific items to make the build function at all will increase it by a marginal amount, but if Shav's cost 2.5ex or 7ex, RotP cost 1 alt instead of 20-30 chaos and so on won't matter THAT much.

[Lysah]

Yeah the podcast was really good, and Chris showed that they really put way more effort and thought into these issues than we even do. He made a point to say that very few people (relatively) ever actually bother with trading at all, and that trading improvements tend to only help those people. I also liked their reasoning for why they don't give people a free premium stash tab, I still have yet to regret giving GGG my money.

[Redblade]

Yeah the podcast was really good, and Chris showed that they really put way more effort and thought into these issues than we even do. He made a point to say that very few people (relatively) ever actually bother with trading at all, and that trading improvements tend to only help those people. I also liked their reasoning for why they don't give people a free premium stash tab, I still have yet to regret giving GGG my money.

Yeah, as much as I dislike Zeno it was still a good podcast and Chris did really well answering questions other developers generally would have evaded.

[White Male]

The game feels even more laggy than diablo 2 was. Kind of depressing because I love the game, but the low fps and lag are just killers

Yea I had to stop playing hc

Ping shoots up to 3k in some zones

[imabanana]

Welcome to indie games, a place where third party tools and sites are more norm than exception.

Besides, why is it annoying to stand in town while searching on a website over in game, is the tab action that annoying?

I never took the whole "it's indie so it's ok if we do shit" as a valid argument, sorry.

What's annoying? The fact that you can't see whispers anymore when alt-tabbed? That you can't see friends logging in? That you can't talk with your guild? That you can't compare items directly with your own? That you can't see global/trade anymore? That if any other chats are enabled then whispers will be lost somewhere in the chat log and you'll probably never even see it? Could go on for long I think.

What's wrong with the chat system? Like I'm sure there could be improvements allowing us to be in multiple global with multiple tabs, much like WoW chat, and such but other than that I struggle to see what's so bad with it.

The fact that whispers are lost somewhere in the rest of the chat mostly, I probably missed half of my trade offers thanks to that. Sometimes you know some people PMed you while you were doing something, but then just finding who/what/when is a pain. And replying too. Adding a whisper tab to the chat would probably solve most of that (or even better, a tab per user, that you can close when it's over with him).

Oh, yeah, of course, you can use some half assed 3rd party tools to see what you missed... outside of the game, again

[Fencers]

Chris Wilson was so good and open on the podcast I dropped more money on the game. I admire GGG's integrity.

[Redblade]

I never took the whole "it's indie so it's ok if we do shit" as a valid argument, sorry.

But they are not doing shit though...they have added API support for something they never intended to be a thing.

What's annoying? The fact that you can't see whispers anymore when alt-tabbed? That you can't see friends logging in? That you can't talk with your guild? That you can't compare items directly with your own?

Get a second screen if it's that much of an issue for you. Besides, once you set your search up now you can just set it to notify you when a new item comes up that matches your requirements.

That you can't see global/trade anymore? That if any other chats are enabled then whispers will be lost somewhere in the chat log and you'll probably never even see it? Could go on for long I think.

I'll give you some free trade advice...don't use trade chat, it's 99% scumbag rates. That solves the issue with your lost messages (that you can still hear even when tabbed out which makes the complaint kinda weak in the first place).

The fact that whispers are lost somewhere in the rest of the chat mostly, I probably missed half of my trade offers thanks to that. Sometimes you know some people PMed you while you were doing something, but then just finding who/what/when is a pain. And replying too. Adding a whisper tab to the chat would probably solve most of that (or even better, a tab per user, that you can close when it's over with him).

Like I said, more like the WoW chat then. I'd love that as well but I can see why it's not a priority.

Oh, yeah, of course, you can use some half assed 3rd party tools to see what you missed... outside of the game, again

So you're complaining that some one made a tool that solves your issue?

[imabanana]

Get a second screen if it's that much of an issue for you. Besides, once you set your search up now you can just set it to notify you when a new item comes up that matches your requirements.

So the solution to a basic problem is to invest in more hardware? Sorry, but no, that's not a solution.

I'll give you some free trade advice...don't use trade chat, it's 99% scumbag rates. That solves the issue with your lost messages (that you can still hear even when tabbed out which makes the complaint kinda weak in the first place).

Guild is often very active, general too. That doesn't solve the issue. I always play with sound disabled and background music (or movie) too, so that sound doesn't help either. I actually don't even have speakers on the computer I play on right now.

So you're complaining that some one made a tool that solves your issue?

It doesn't solve it, it's an ugly workaround that will just notify that something happened, you still can't do both at once.

[Redblade]

So the solution to a basic problem is to invest in more hardware? Sorry, but no, that's not a solution.

Then you have to work with what you got and make the best of the situation. Like I said, once you have the searches setup it's effortless to monitor them.

Guild is often very active, general too. That doesn't solve the issue. I always play with sound disabled and background music (or movie) too, so that sound doesn't help either. I actually don't even have speakers on the computer I play on right now.

And how is it anyone's problem but your own that you chose to play without sound? And you can always turn general/guild off when going to search for items...it's not like you're reading them at that point anyway.

It doesn't solve it, it's an ugly workaround that will just notify that something happened, you still can't do both at once.

So don't use it then...

All I hear are complaints to complain right now. You don't have dual monitor, deal with it or buy another one. You won't have sound on nor turn chats off while you search, either use the tools available to solve your issue or deal with the issues coming from restrictions you your self impose.

Or you could just not use xyz at all if it's such an inconvenience, I'm sure the people in trade chat would love to offer you things at their "slightly" higher rates.

[imabanana]

And how is it anyone's problem but your own that you chose to play without sound? And you can always turn general/guild off when going to search for items...it's not like you're reading them at that point anyway.

I give up, you're just not listening or don't want to understand.

"Don't do it at the same time" is not a solution when the problem includes "not being able to do it at the same time".

(Also, the sound issue is not just my problem, it's also one for the 10-15% hearing impared population)

[Lysah]

Is it bad that I've become so cynical that being "good and open" just seems like another type of marketing ploy to me? :O

Yes. Some of Chris' answers in the podcast could even be taken poorly/negatively by many people depending on what they are hoping PoE to be, but he still had no problem saying things like they were, even if it rustled some jimmies. Obviously the reason they interact with the community at all is PR/marketing by default, but as a form of marketing, it would be a pretty big stretch to call this QA a ploy. GGG obviously cares about maintaining their reputation as one of the best f2p titles, and what else matters? Just because their motivations always trace back to money doesn't mean it's a bad thing, it helps us and it helps them and everyone is happy. I mean...why does anyone ever do anything?

Also, new MTX are out, they're all pretty nice, too. Chris mentioned in the QA that they were desperately in need of a graphical artist, so I am looking forward to a lot more of this stuff. Several of their ideas in the past have been "meh" (flicker strike/blink arrow MTX??) but these are all spot on imo.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1646439
Patch containing these hopefully this week. Chris mentioned Wednesday tentatively, but I honestly doubt they will announce the patch a day before, so I would expect Thursday/Friday with an announcement tomorrow if all goes well. They have the primary build candidate on their test server, so if everything goes well it could happen whenever.

[Redblade]

I give up, you're just not listening or don't want to understand.

"Don't do it at the same time" is not a solution when the problem includes "not being able to do it at the same time".

(Also, the sound issue is not just my problem, it's also one for the 10-15% hearing impared population)

I understand completely but you put unrealistic expectations on a free indie game that is funded by what's essentially donations. If we would be talking about Blizzard and a game they charged you for the box/expansions and possibly a monthly fee then I'd be right with you having high expectations.

The fact remains that there is workarounds for your issues, you're just unwilling to use them and as such have to suffer the consequences.

[Fencers]

Is it bad that I've become so cynical that being "good and open" just seems like another type of marketing ploy to me? :O

You'd be a poor marketer if you suggested to a developer or other company representative (Wilson is both btw) to make declarative statements that are contra to community feedback.