Character Balance in Path of Exile: Lake of Kalandra

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MisterAbsence wrote:

Can I ask GGG few questions:

1. How many builds are capable to do hard core content and kill most of content?
2. How many builds will be able to kill all content in softcore?
3. How many people will be able to gear those builds referred in previous 2 questions?
4. How many builds that are not capable to do most of content are affected by the nerfes in this character balance manifesto?
5. Do you think is a good practice to dismantle some structural parts of all builds just to nerf those top tier builds (i think 6 meta builds) that were able to do all content?
6. Is it normal for a game with so many combination of skills and items to have only a few builds that are capable to do all content?(with god tier investment?)
7. Moreover, when talking about trading, 99% of the players have no idea what those meta builds are and what items are needed for all of them, and so the 1% who usually zoom through acts in 3 hours get most of the expensive items, and start to price fix the market. So, if you are a casual player wanting to try lets say a build with frenzy charges, by the time you get out of maps with a crappy build, and start getting some currency, the frenzy items are already 20 ex. and they grow in price every day. Is this what is wished from trade?
8. There will always 20 builds that mostly played. Why do you always nerf the top performers? Is this what balance means to GGG?
9. Why not work to make changes so more skills are able to do the uber bosses?
10. I am literally curious of how many players were capable to kill the uber bosses? (and not the ones that have 20000 hours - because they will always play the meta, the players that were not playing the 6 meta builds)
11. What i wonder, is it possible to take one skill at random and make a build that is capable to do all content? If not, maybe you should work on that.
12. Why is it, that most of leagues, when someone shows on youtoube a build that looks amazing, can do all the content and it is tanky, most of us see it and say "that looks really cool, maybe I should try it next league" - the one who made it says that the build is about several mirrors, and the next league GGG destroys the build? (what is the thinking behind this? you have about 30 people getting the actual currency to be able to make the build - that takes a shit load of time, and usually the people who play 8 hours a day or more can get that -, and you have 20000 people that watched the video on youtoube, never had the chance to even try to gather the currency to put the build together, because not many of us can have that time/currency investment and GGG already destroys the build, and more than that, when they nerf that build, they nerf globally most of builds for the losers that struggle to get to level 95. Not only the ones that dreamed to play a build that looks awesome, have no chance because it is financially impossible, but now the builds that they were struggling to get some currency with will not work).
13. How do you imagine casuals that play lets say 1 hour a day, will ever get the currency to buy mirror tier items? (they make 1 - 2 ex per hour for 90 days, that is 180 ex. I really want to know what kind of build will you have with 180 ex that will be able to kill uber bosses? - how many builds cost that much? - so basically lets say that is 1 build, by the 90th day he will have a chance to kill uber bosses)
14. Lets take the new players, most of them try builds on their own, and they struggle with the acts. They see the youtoubers playing awesome builds into a league, and next league that build is destroyed. What idea do those new players get?
15. Lets assume that you give every player in the game at the start of the game, a mageblood and Ashes. How many builds will those players make with those 2 starting items capable to do uber bosses? 10? 20? (my bet is they will play 5 of the most op builds, because the rest are not capable to kill uber bosses and do all content)

On a personal note, you play a game to have fun. To have fun in this game, you need to know all the mechanics. To know all the mechanics you need at least 20k hours and to have played it since 11 years ago constantly 8 hours a day. If you start later, you have no idea how the meta builds are and what to build. I bet most of players at a start of a league google builds on redit and try to look for youtoube tutorials of what to play. There are 500 people maybe, that are capable to figure out and theory craft builds, but for the rest 1 million players or more, it is just monkey see, monkey do. You are basically making a game available for 500 to 1000 people, and 1 million idiots that copy what they do. And if you are not lucky enough to find the build that works in that league, the next league will not be an option because GGG already F....ed it. Is this what you want for your game?

Ow, and one more thing, when talking about skill - you would think that skill refers to three things
- knowing how to build a character
- knowing how to farm currency for that character
- knowing the mechanics of the fights

If so few players are able to play the game at its fullest extent - that is doing all the content and bosses - because only a hand full of people can actually do that - why does not GGG take action to raise the skill of the 99% of the players that struggle with the game. All nerfs are making the game harder for 99% of the people that already cannot do most content. Why is it that GGG only takes the best players as reference when they are literally 500-1000 of them? Is that normal? It is like the Gov of a country looking only at the billionaires and making tax and law changes only taking them as etalon and reference. You say that putting more than x auras on a build is too OP. Look at how many people afford to stack that many auras on a build? maybe 30 players? The rest of population struggle to get a head hunter in 2 weeks.

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al3xro wrote:

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MisterAbsence wrote:

Can I ask GGG few questions:

1. How many builds are capable to do hard core content and kill most of content?
2. How many builds will be able to kill all content in softcore?
3. How many people will be able to gear those builds referred in previous 2 questions?
4. How many builds that are not capable to do most of content are affected by the nerfes in this character balance manifesto?
5. Do you think is a good practice to dismantle some structural parts of all builds just to nerf those top tier builds (i think 6 meta builds) that were able to do all content?
6. Is it normal for a game with so many combination of skills and items to have only a few builds that are capable to do all content?(with god tier investment?)
7. Moreover, when talking about trading, 99% of the players have no idea what those meta builds are and what items are needed for all of them, and so the 1% who usually zoom through acts in 3 hours get most of the expensive items, and start to price fix the market. So, if you are a casual player wanting to try lets say a build with frenzy charges, by the time you get out of maps with a crappy build, and start getting some currency, the frenzy items are already 20 ex. and they grow in price every day. Is this what is wished from trade?
8. There will always 20 builds that mostly played. Why do you always nerf the top performers? Is this what balance means to GGG?
9. Why not work to make changes so more skills are able to do the uber bosses?
10. I am literally curious of how many players were capable to kill the uber bosses? (and not the ones that have 20000 hours - because they will always play the meta, the players that were not playing the 6 meta builds)
11. What i wonder, is it possible to take one skill at random and make a build that is capable to do all content? If not, maybe you should work on that.
12. Why is it, that most of leagues, when someone shows on youtoube a build that looks amazing, can do all the content and it is tanky, most of us see it and say "that looks really cool, maybe I should try it next league" - the one who made it says that the build is about several mirrors, and the next league GGG destroys the build? (what is the thinking behind this? you have about 30 people getting the actual currency to be able to make the build - that takes a shit load of time, and usually the people who play 8 hours a day or more can get that -, and you have 20000 people that watched the video on youtoube, never had the chance to even try to gather the currency to put the build together, because not many of us can have that time/currency investment and GGG already destroys the build, and more than that, when they nerf that build, they nerf globally most of builds for the losers that struggle to get to level 95. Not only the ones that dreamed to play a build that looks awesome, have no chance because it is financially impossible, but now the builds that they were struggling to get some currency with will not work).
13. How do you imagine casuals that play lets say 1 hour a day, will ever get the currency to buy mirror tier items? (they make 1 - 2 ex per hour for 90 days, that is 180 ex. I really want to know what kind of build will you have with 180 ex that will be able to kill uber bosses? - how many builds cost that much? - so basically lets say that is 1 build, by the 90th day he will have a chance to kill uber bosses)
14. Lets take the new players, most of them try builds on their own, and they struggle with the acts. They see the youtoubers playing awesome builds into a league, and next league that build is destroyed. What idea do those new players get?
15. Lets assume that you give every player in the game at the start of the game, a mageblood and Ashes. How many builds will those players make with those 2 starting items capable to do uber bosses? 10? 20? (my bet is they will play 5 of the most op builds, because the rest are not capable to kill uber bosses and do all content)

Quite valid questions meant to bring them to common sense.
Btw on question 13, you broke league deadline by 90 days extra.

As for myself...
The following is not a result of this manifecto. It is a culmination result of your past leagues.

Defenses were picked because they're mandatory thx to Archnemesis mods and obnoxious mobs health and dmg.

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Aias_o_Telamonios wrote:

GGG keeps nerfing things with the same reasoning. Build diversity. When was this diversity EVER achieved?

Even if a build is 1% stronger than the others people will play that. You can NEVER have everything balanced so GGG will just keep nerfing everything that's popular so that people are forced to play other builds.

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Innomen wrote:

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tetomobile wrote:

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BigBadWolf1776 wrote:

Problem - GGG kills any and all viable builds

Solution - get a life and forget PoE

Just do not buy packs or mtx.
If everyone does it, it hurts more than complaining on forum

Boycott fallacy. One pampered little yuppie larvae with enough forum tiles to redo my bathroom erases the need to listen to 3000 average players, and that's exactly the plan.

And that's the point. They don't want to run The People's ARPG. They want to run Uncle Pennybag Acres ARPG country club and fishing resort.

Don't you get it? The boat league is them doubling down on whaling. They aren't very subtle or creative.

That's why they had to copy FF and D2 in the first place.