Absolutely disapointed -- This game is hard, and not in a fun way.

here is why it makes no sense: as a game studio, you want to cater to a lot of ppl. if you instantly make the difficulty high, you will instantly lose xx% of players. not working as intended i imagine

why not make 2 or 3 difficulties.
lower difficulty ---fight continues where you died----50% loot and rarety
medium difficulty----as is----75% loot and rarety
high difficulty----tuned up even above what we have now---loot as is now

making a game to cater to the needs of only the gamers that do it for a living (or above average) is-----sorry ----stupid

you can go crazy with dificulty content in the endgame, but a playthrough should be an enjoyable expierience even for casual players. so the most difficult encounters in a playthrough should not be the ones that are important for game progress.

running through a game at lvl 2 3 or 4 and getting one shot, while not a tragedy. is bad design in my eyes. 1 shot mechanics (unless in endgame) always make me think, "realy thats what you think is fun"

+1 to OP
This current state of PoE2 just feels bad. It's slow in a tedious way. Maps are gigantic but they took away movement speed buffs and travel skills.
Rolling is fun until you have to do it constantly to avoid every attack from every trash mob. Loot is garbage, you don't need a filter because hardly anything ever drops, and if it does it will be completely useless to your build. And once again crafting is impossible in the campaign because you get hardly any currency.
Grinding Gear believes in punishing our desire to play. Everything that is fun about POE1 was slowed down, minimized or simplified. It is like it is designed solely to be giant time sink.
If they launch in the current state they are going to lose everyone within the first week. Except the streamers, maybe.

I'm totally fine with going in a different direction for POE2, but this level of difficulty is going to appeal to a much smaller audience, which is a weird business decision.

I have to imagine that GGG is looking at their metrics showing how well the whole population of players is progressing through the acts. I'm guessing you'll see player retention fall off too quickly, and too soon. The DAU numbers are still good right now, because the game is new and still bringing in new downloads.

POE1 = long term cash cow
POE2 in current state = short term cash cow

Just adding my +1

Concept of deathless runs is not for me.

Boss 1shots.
After death effects on a 10min bossfight
party body blocking
slow res timer
low base character damage/defence
scarcity of loot
cost of respecs
spending 28k gold on gambling for only blue items many with 1 mod.
Sanctum mechanics for ascending???
Ultimatum mechanics for ascending???

Also... here is a Professional POE player, who normally plays for ladder position on Hardcore, with a high functioning damage outputting build, playing soft core and supremely frustrated on his 3rd death to the same boss mechanic... what hope have us mortals?

https://www.twitch.tv/zizaran/clip/FrailVainHamsterEagleEye-jGAgF5OO_gt9XmLz

I'm clearly not the target audience for this one.
I can't respect a game that doesn't respect my time.

+1
This game kinda boring.
Ngl so far enjoyed boss fights. Currently playing in cruel act 2 with ember fusillade + flame wall. My dmg is good enough, and survivability is not bad (armour es, blasphemy enfeeble, blind), but its so boring outside bossfights, endless areas with random location of entrances to next location, killing endless waves of white monsters, no rewarding, no craft, reset of location after death is extremely boring. At this point I just playing this game cause I waited it for so long, but its so depressing to understand that now we gonna have longer seasons of poe 1 , game that I loved for many years.

I haven't got that far because I've started from scratch 3x now. :( It's tedious. Definitely needs work.

"

MyztikalD#1561 wrote:

I can't respect a game that doesn't respect my time.

I better press buttons to vote up this comment then playing THAT.

You're free to disagree with what's written, just be polite and constructive in your response.

The below is based on my perception of the game; this is just one person's opinion. It's possible my experience could have been different with more loot or other factors, just to give an example. I'm sharing my thoughts in the hope of providing constructive feedback.
________________________________________

My first impressions of Path of Exile 2 in early access were critical, but after spending more time with it, I've somewhat tempered my views. However, I still feel that while the game is designed to be difficult, it often isn't difficult in a fun or rewarding way.

Here's a breakdown of my experience with different classes:

1. Minion Witch:
o I invested heavily in minion damage and health, but during boss fights, my minions would die almost instantly, leaving me to run around like a headless chicken.
o The Act 1 boss was especially frustrating. Certain parts of the fight occur in a small, enclosed area filled with adds, making it nearly impossible to succeed with a minion build. I eventually had to give up my minions.

2. Warrior:
o My experience was better with a warrior, although I relied on a yellow weapon I had originally found with my witch.

3. Mercenary:
o I'm playing a mercenary now, and it's been a more balanced experience – though I have 3 yellow items found by my other characters.
________________________________________

Suggested Improvements

A few tweaks and fixes could significantly improve the (early) game experience:

1. Community Toxicity:
o The community is becoming increasingly toxic. At this rate, it might soon resemble the toxicity of League of Legends. While this isn't entirely GGG's responsibility, implementing stricter forum and chat rules could help maintain a more positive environment.

2. Dodge Mechanic:
o The dodge mechanic feels sluggish and unresponsive. My character dodges like a 50-year-old (and after a roll like that, I'd also need a moment to check my lower back and struggle to stand up straight.
o Suggestion: Make the dodge animation and recovery more fluid and responsive to improve combat flow.

3. Loot System:
o Loot distribution feels off. My mercenary is using several yellow items collected by my other characters. Without these, I doubt I’d be able to beat some bosses.
o Example: The Cemetery boss took me almost 10 minutes of constant dodging and occasional shooting to finish due to my low damage output.
o Crafting Currency: There is a lack of crafting currencies and, at times, a lack of base items to use for craft. This makes gearing up through crafting nearly impossible.
o Suggestion: Improve drop rates for crafting currencies and ensure a better supply of base items to give players more control over their gear progression. Parallel, item drops need to be tweaked, too; using only blue items vs. some yellows is a completely different game.

4. Currency and respec:
o The current system makes prohibitively difficult respeccing. The ability to experiment with different builds is essential in a game that prides itself on being challenging. If respeccing remains costly or restrictive, players will be forced to follow cookie-cutter build guides to have a chance at beating endgame content.
o Suggestion: Make respeccing more accessible by either reducing the cost or increasing the availability of gold. Allow players to feel comfortable experimenting with their builds without fear of being locked out of progression.

5. Body Blocking:
o A major source of frustration for my witch was getting body-blocked by my own minions, which led to unnecessary deaths or forced me into difficult situations.
o Suggestion: Either reduce the collision size of minions or allow players to pass through their minions.

6. Minion Mechanics:
o Minions feel weak and unreliable, reminiscent of the issues seen in Diablo 4's launch.
o Suggestion: Improve minion survivability and damage, especially for boss encounters.

7. Sense of Accomplishment:
o There's a lack of a clear sense of accomplishment or progression. Too often, success feels dictated by RNG. If RNG is against you, even defeating a difficult boss or elite mob doesn't feel satisfying.
o Suggestion: Introduce mechanics that provide a tangible sense of advancement or reward so players feel a positive payoff for overcoming challenges rather than just relief.

8. Mouse and Keyboard Controls:
o Movement feels slippery and imprecise when using mouse and keyboard. The character tends to slide after a command, making it hard to control movement precisely during combat.
o While WASD movement is somewhat better, the overall movement speed and responsiveness contribute to a sluggish feel.
o Suggestion: Tighten the movement controls and reduce character sliding. Make gameplay more responsive and fluid.

Thank you for your hard work, and I look forward to seeing how the game evolves!

Loving the game.

+1. Either me and my buddies were all under geared. Bad luck? Drops that may had helped us live thru ACT I. After 100+ attempts on the big bad wolf what was apparent is casting offensive skills to kill his adds in the fog lead to having to stay still long enough to get hit 30 times and die or run around dodging endlessly until the pack literally shoved you into the fog and die. Sit still for long enough to cast and have the boss and adds take all your health away 300 times or don't cast and die. Very confused on this half baked design. Shoe horned into a handful of EXACT builds with Exact gear???