SET FREE THE ASCENDANCY POINTS (or rework the lab) [New ascension methods/lab rework ideas]

"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah stop saying GGG did a doodie and giving feedback"
"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah stop the criticism"
"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

Oh, hey there mister "i saw your profile and didn't like it", how is life treating ya?

Sid,
GGG probably planned for uber lab before this thread started, nothing to do with numbers. They have devs allocated to this and they are just doing their job. New lab doesn't mean anything, it was in the pipes, it is getting executed.
Also you are suggesting that GGG know what they are doing? Please, have a look at 2 weeks league. What did they do with it at the beginning? Nothing. Just slapped Perandus on it again and called it a day. If it wasn't for community outrage they wouldn't move a finger to do more. Pvp? Resources well spent for sure. Heck, look at Warbands and Talisman, one didn't drop league specific items the other dropped white and blues like theres no tomorrow. So don't tell me that they wouldn't have done it if the numbers were bad. Of course they would, 100%. Devs are so detached from the actual game they make it is insane.

As for the emotional and hyperbolic, I am not surprised that people that feel very passionate about this game voice their feelings. You say 4 guys, yes perhaps not many but for me it was enough to see huge chunk of my guildmates avoid lab to confirm how I feel about it is not a separate issue.

I also hope that people care. Caring about this game is what will improve it, step by step.

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gathor wrote:

Also you are suggesting that GGG know what they are doing?

im pretty sure they do. however not in the way you think it means: they know perfectly well what is good for the finances of the company.

sometimes it looks weird from the gamers' perspective but im pretty sure they are spot on with their short and long term financial goals. these are the ONLY one that matter. this game is expensive to run and they are held hostage to developing new content (otherwise people get bored and leave).

and yes, i understand staggered content development etc but if the lab is so bad as some claim and stats show it - why risk yet another backslash and release it? they could have shelved it. or released as a map (with enchants as the only rewards) or whatever. but they went ahead.

about the 2w race - im more and more inclined to believe that was a marketing stunt. that they never intended for it to be released as a leagueinsidealeague but wanted to look like a nice guys. but it is only my theory, no proof for that anywhere ofc.

as for the lab itself - it is less intrusive than leveling masters each league. takes less time, takes less effort. but because it punishes certain playstyles and techniques (alt-f4 for the win) it is disliked (my theory again but it connects with profiles of people that complained the loudest)). there are ofc other reasons for not liking it - even 'just because' (and it is perfectly fine as anyone is entitled to liking/disliking anything) but few people making a big fuss wont make the river flow upstream

this is an old news. in 2 weeks we will have prophecies to complain about - because i bet there will be 'common, meh ones' and 'uber-rare interesting ones' and few unjust nerfs will occupy our minds. doing lab 3 times (even disliking it) is - sorry to be blunt - not an issue worth talking about anymore as it is here to stay.

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sidtherat wrote:

(my theory again but it connects with profiles of people that complained the loudest)

Hahahahaha and is your theory of only 4-5 people complaining in this thread connected with the number of fingers in your hand? You know you can use the other hand as well, right?

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Regulator wrote:

Can we please get some data regarding people running the lab? How many runs compared to maps etc? A bit more detailed one from what was realeased a while ago.

If the above is too much work for nothing, at least answer honestly with a simple yes or no : Are there any plans on reworking how ascendancy points are acquired? Leaving the whole issue unanswered is like treating your supporters and playerbase like rubbish. At least say that, in a develpoment manifesto or a post (ill take even reddit at this point), silence is worse than a negative in that question. For fucks shake dont be so apathetic on the matter.

This

I think the purpose of this two-week pseudo-race was to get a clearer idea of the labyrinth's popularity. The newness and impact of the labyrinth and ascendancies has waned, and the usage numbers won't skew towards the positive in the shortened league as much as in Perandus league.

Tomorrow will be a live stream on twitch with chris. So I suggest that people send questions and problems they have with the lab to ziggyd, so he can ask chris about future plans for it, and will we get optional way of getting points for people that cant stand trap gameplay. The stream will mostly be about the new league, but still maybe he will answer some of the questions.

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Regulator wrote:

This thread serves its purpose fine, and will continue to do so until GGG finally mans up and at least says something on the matter, ANYTHING regarding this issue, seriously their silence is beyond understanding. Either they are ashamed of the atrocity they implemented in the game and the numbers are totally against the lab (which they unfortunately spent a lot of money and time and in a way they have to stand by their choice) or the issue is so small that they dont even need to adress it.

There's no question in my mind that there's been a widespread, highly negative reaction to the Labyrinth --- how much of a minority or majority feels that way probably even GGG can't really tell. But, while it would be interesting to get Chris Wilson's frank take on the response to the Labyrinth, and likely it would be a very pro-Lab take, I'm not really sure what sort of concrete, official announcement GGG could make.

It didn't surprise me at all that the Labyrinth got expanded in Prophecy and is still required for ascendancy points. My impression is that GGG have gone all in on the Labyrinth and they're pretty unlikely to back-track at this point. I, for one, am going to take a long break from PoE (having played it off and on since the closed beta in 2011). I have no desire to play the game while the Labyrinth remains an integral part. Too bad, since there are many other things about PoE that I like. No idea how many other players are going to vote with their feet (and more importantly their wallet) but I guess GGG will find out.

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TheDeathX wrote:

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Regulator wrote:

Can we please get some data regarding people running the lab? How many runs compared to maps etc? A bit more detailed one from what was realeased a while ago.

If the above is too much work for nothing, at least answer honestly with a simple yes or no : Are there any plans on reworking how ascendancy points are acquired? Leaving the whole issue unanswered is like treating your supporters and playerbase like rubbish. At least say that, in a develpoment manifesto or a post (ill take even reddit at this point), silence is worse than a negative in that question. For fucks shake dont be so apathetic on the matter.

This

Please GGG, people are being driven away from PoE because they don't like the trap game play and when they come to the forums they see people that share their view being attacked and shit on. Many will just uninstall at that point. I know there's risk of losing player base either way but I really believe your best shot to keep the player base at maximum is to just let us know. The truth is the best path. Will this issue of forcing players into game play they don't like be addressed or not? Thank you,

@miljan

First I'll summarize my thoughts, then I'll list what I think are good questions.

IS IT A PROBLEM?
* Ascendancy point gating: No, not really. By the same logic the Dweller of the Deep quest is bullshit.
* Traps as a binary: No. It's okay to have some unkillable but predictable enemies.
* "Percent max life" damage scaling on traps: Partially. There's no reason I can see to have every trap deal % max life damage, nor have every source of % max life damage be a trap. Having this feature on one or two traps would probably be good design (to make stacking EHP only work against some traps), but not all of them. Also, three of the trap designs are VERY similar spinning blades deals.
* Trials: yes; mandatory repeated tutorials aren't good. But GGG kinda already knows this. I feel it's a moot point to ask/complain about while they're clearly still working on it.
* Labyrinth length: kind of. I feel Normal Lab is a real chore and maybe should be shorter.

MY QUESTIONS
1. Why does every Labyrinth trap deal "percent max EHP" damage? Why not just some of them?
2. A lot of traps deal physical damage-over-time. Why isn't there more damage type variety in traps?