Character Balance in Path of Exile: Lake of Kalandra

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koratrice wrote:

I mean, to get at root causes, the ultimate problem is the XP scaling at the top end. Past level 90 it starts to take a LOT of XP to level, and a single death is demoralizing with how much wasted time happens. If you died 3-4 times in a map/scenario you weren't prepared for it can be enough to make you just walk away from the league.


While levelling, no one (but hardcore league) cares about a death here or there. Once you hit maps, it starts getting important. Once you get to red maps, it becomes something you start obsessing over.

And what's the result? Finding the golden zone where you don't die and can kill relatively fast. If you want people to play the way you'd like them to, you've got to quit with the ridiculous punishment. I've never been past level 92. I don't play meta builds. I basically do Solo-Self-Found even if that's not the league I officially signed up for. Between 90 and 92 is the point at which my builds cap out and I die enough that the game stops being fun and I move on. Often not playing for a league or 3.


The Archenemesis mods and reducing defenses is going in the wrong direction unless you also deal with the XP loss, which is a major UN-FUN factor. "Oh, I have 5 more portals... screw that, I'll try again with a different map." Is the goal to make sure that "casuals" can't see any of the "real" endgame content? Seems like it.

Basically, I'll probably never see any new content unless I give in and just run builds that exploit the hell out of the mechanics that currently exist and that other people put together, which eliminates one of the main reasons I like the game. However, it's going to be just the same thing over-and-over-and-over again because I'm not "elite" enough to deserve to see the rest of it.



Maybe what you need is a "Baby" mode with less XP loss (and potentially less abuse if you decide to keep jacking up the difficulty) so that those of us that just want to see the sights and enjoy ourselves can? At some point people will just decide that they've seen the same content enough times and just not come back.

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Prezzet wrote:

Pog

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koratrice wrote:

I mean, to get at root causes, the ultimate problem is the XP scaling at the top end. Past level 90 it starts to take a LOT of XP to level, and a single death is demoralizing with how much wasted time happens. If you died 3-4 times in a map/scenario you weren't prepared for it can be enough to make you just walk away from the league.


While levelling, no one (but hardcore league) cares about a death here or there. Once you hit maps, it starts getting important. Once you get to red maps, it becomes something you start obsessing over.

And what's the result? Finding the golden zone where you don't die and can kill relatively fast. If you want people to play the way you'd like them to, you've got to quit with the ridiculous punishment. I've never been past level 92. I don't play meta builds. I basically do Solo-Self-Found even if that's not the league I officially signed up for. Between 90 and 92 is the point at which my builds cap out and I die enough that the game stops being fun and I move on. Often not playing for a league or 3.


The Archenemesis mods and reducing defenses is going in the wrong direction unless you also deal with the XP loss, which is a major UN-FUN factor. "Oh, I have 5 more portals... screw that, I'll try again with a different map." Is the goal to make sure that "casuals" can't see any of the "real" endgame content? Seems like it.

Basically, I'll probably never see any new content unless I give in and just run builds that exploit the hell out of the mechanics that currently exist and that other people put together, which eliminates one of the main reasons I like the game. However, it's going to be just the same thing over-and-over-and-over again because I'm not "elite" enough to deserve to see the rest of it.



Maybe what you need is a "Baby" mode with less XP loss (and potentially less abuse if you decide to keep jacking up the difficulty) so that those of us that just want to see the sights and enjoy ourselves can? At some point people will just decide that they've seen the same content enough times and just not come back.

"

koratrice wrote:

I mean, to get at root causes, the ultimate problem is the XP scaling at the top end. Past level 90 it starts to take a LOT of XP to level, and a single death is demoralizing with how much wasted time happens. If you died 3-4 times in a map/scenario you weren't prepared for it can be enough to make you just walk away from the league.


While levelling, no one (but hardcore league) cares about a death here or there. Once you hit maps, it starts getting important. Once you get to red maps, it becomes something you start obsessing over.

And what's the result? Finding the golden zone where you don't die and can kill relatively fast. If you want people to play the way you'd like them to, you've got to quit with the ridiculous punishment. I've never been past level 92. I don't play meta builds. I basically do Solo-Self-Found even if that's not the league I officially signed up for. Between 90 and 92 is the point at which my builds cap out and I die enough that the game stops being fun and I move on. Often not playing for a league or 3.


The Archenemesis mods and reducing defenses is going in the wrong direction unless you also deal with the XP loss, which is a major UN-FUN factor. "Oh, I have 5 more portals... screw that, I'll try again with a different map." Is the goal to make sure that "casuals" can't see any of the "real" endgame content? Seems like it.

Basically, I'll probably never see any new content unless I give in and just run builds that exploit the hell out of the mechanics that currently exist and that other people put together, which eliminates one of the main reasons I like the game. However, it's going to be just the same thing over-and-over-and-over again because I'm not "elite" enough to deserve to see the rest of it.



Maybe what you need is a "Baby" mode with less XP loss (and potentially less abuse if you decide to keep jacking up the difficulty) so that those of us that just want to see the sights and enjoy ourselves can? At some point people will just decide that they've seen the same content enough times and just not come back.