Hot take: Necropolis League is actually GREAT...

... if you're playing the game, that is, rather than playing the game's economy.

I don't care about the trade economy at all. Whether I've remembered to check the SSF box or not, I never trade in this game. The result is that I engage with the game's content, rather than trying to rush past all the game's content to get to blasting maps as fast as possible... because that's how you dominate the trade economy.

Early on, people using this strategy were salty because the league wasn't rewarding enough. Then, GGG panicked, buffed the league's rewards, and suddenly those players were having not only divines but mirrors rain on them, and they rejoiced... but all the players who couldn't play the game like degenerate no-lifers were salty, because they couldn't use the same strategies.

So, GGG floppped, nerfing the degenerate strategies into the ground, making the no-lifers all salty again because their fun was ruined, while also making the wanna-bes salty, because they'll now never get a chance to use the degenerate nonsense that GGG had patched into, and back out of, the league.

All of this drama happens in, and because of, the trade economy. If, like me, you're not trading, then you might not have noticed at all. Because the league mechanic is actually kinda fun; it might be one of my favourites, and it's definitely my favourite crafting league. I'm having so much fun, that I wouldn't mind seeing Necropolis go core.

Of course, after all the drama, there's zero chance of that happening, right? So now I also have a reason to be unhappy. Not quite as unhappy as everyone else, but it does kinda spoil the vibe to have so many people pissing in the punch bowl at the party while I'm just trying to have fun.

And all of this drama is a result of the unhealthy incentives that GGG have deliberately, systematically, consistently, promoted to their players. They've built and balanced around trade to the exclusion of all else; the one non-trade options players have access to, SSF mode, comes with such a heavy progression penalty that I have to assume that GGG don't really want anyone to play SSF.

But SSF is the option with the healthier incentives. It's the one that encourages playing and experiencing the game's content, and deciding for yourself whether that's fun or not, rather than having your perception of fun being entirely dictated to you by others. Because the trade economy, much like its real-life counterpart, is low-key a zero-sum game, where if you're not winning, you're losing, and (again, to judge by all the agita on these forums) miserable.

What PoE needs, desperately, is a properly balanced non-trade option, so that people who just want to play with the new toys, but who don't want to labour under a heavy progression penalty for doing so, can be freed to have fun with the game again, rather than being herded into the late-stage-capitalism minigame which they seem not to really be enjoying.

It's probably too late to do this for PoE1. It's not too late to do this for PoE2, the design of which appears to be all about encouraging players to engage with the content, rather than skipping past the content to get to the zero-sum economics as fast as possible. Just saying.

I agree, I'm currently having a lot of fun in game. I largely play SSF - but on SC Trade so that I can buy items if I find something valuable I won't need. It works great. I always see how far I can push without having to trade, but never feel like I've gotten stuck because I can't craft something I need. Above all, I just play. I don't know what lunatic needs to hear this, but stop spamming maps in your hideout for the div thing and just run your maps!

No. Why? Because as soon you start ignoring the actual league mechanic and focus on "core game", the game becomes more fun. That is the clearest sign the league is shit.

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Aynix wrote:

No. Why? Because as soon you start ignoring the actual league mechanic and focus on "core game", the game becomes more fun. That is the clearest sign the league is shit.

I'm not ignoring the league mechanic. I'm loving the league mechanic. Like I said, it's my favourite crafting league to date. I'm just treating the crafting league as a source of items I might actually want to use, rather than treating it as a source of items I'll only ever sell for profit.

If you're only engaging with the graveyard as a source of product to sell, then yes, it's terrible -- you can make more currency per game hour by ignoring it. But then, that's kinda my whole point.

Guess what, Everyone who hates Nekropolis is type of a player who dont give a f. about crafting. For them it might as well not exist so for them Nekropolis is only those forced extra mods on maps + alflames.

The necropolis league is great if you love looking at spreadsheets and third party tools/websites instead of playing the game by killing things for drops.

ya Im liking it more now that I made some cool stuff

The first 2 crafts and more to come hopefully!

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mnieradko wrote:

The necropolis league is great if you love looking at spreadsheets and third party tools/websites instead of playing the game by killing things for drops.

Says the guy who has no stake in it, because you haven't even tried it.

How would you know? Are you just repeating what you read on Reddit?

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Aynix wrote:

Guess what, Everyone who hates Nekropolis is type of a player who dont give a f. about crafting. For them it might as well not exist so for them Nekropolis is only those forced extra mods on maps + alflames.

Yeah this.

I would say PoE is in a decent state.

That doesnt mean the league mechanic itself is not awful. You either exploit is somehow (packs of rogue exiles with the right haunted mods, etc) or it can be totally ignored.

I just quit this ugly league. Now I can focus in my other 454 steam games, good games.