First Impressions + Suggested Improvements: Gameplay, QoL, Game Balance, More

Dear GGG Team.

OUTSTANDING WORK. Kudos for possibly being the most gamer-focused dev in the world, making what is fast shaping up to be the greatest ARPG ever made. Here are some notes to help you cement the latter status sooner rather than later:

BRANDING: Where are the sparks from the grinding gears icon/logo on loading screens? You may think this is trivial, but rest assured it isn't. Your are GGG. You are different. You are special. And yes, you are a bit rough around the edges. OWN IT. GGG is NOT The Enterprise D... it is THE MILLENNIUM FALCON (ROUND dish in tact).

WEAPON SETS & INTERFACE: I am finding it cumbersome to deal with weapon sets both on the passive skill tree and action bar. Maybe...?

GIVE THE ACTION BAR SWITCH A "TOGGLE" OPTION; and/or, allow for the WEAPON SWAP skill to double-up with a toggle action bar button (like primary attack is also interact), effectively giving us two loadouts based on weapon set.

GIVE THE MAP OVERLAY BUTTON IN THE ACTION BAR A "HOLD" FUNCTION SO WE CAN PAN W/ THUMBSTICK & ZOOM IN & OUT WITH TRIGGERS.

POINTLESS/REDUNTANT UNIQUE ITEMS: There is something *profoundly not fun* about a unique drop that is WORSE than the magic/rare already equipped. It also ruins the fantasy of truly special items. Without resorting to some clumsy crafting solution (that likewise ruins the mythos of unique drops)...

UNIQUES ROLL WITH A "+X TO SKILLS" (OR BETTER) IF THE CURRENTLY EQUIPPED ITEM IN THE SLOT HAS A +X TO SKILLS MODIFIER. If there is no +X to skills attribute in play, then at least make the item value greater than the one currently equipped.

UNIQUE MONSTER BALANCE ISSUE: I encountered a unique "Mystic Knight" or some such in one of the Mausoleums, Act I, that rolled "Evasive" along with his homing ranged spirit attack, three grenades attack, and melee attack. This was by far THE HARDEST CONTENT I Have faced yet, INCLUDING ALL THE BOSS FIGHTS! I was playing a Mercinary (which to date has been the easiest character compared to the Witch and Monk, anyway). Even with break armor rounds, because his ranged attacks are homing, I could not stand still long enough to get off enough rounds to break his armor. Also, he moved fast enough to avoid grenades. The only way I could beat him was to cheese him with environment and by returning to town to refill my life flasks. Took me WAY TOO LONG to beat him, and I didn't even get A RARE drop! I think the overall difficulty of the game is good, but it's these outliers that seem to pop up (like they did in POE 1 as well) where RNG rules, but the combination makes for mobs that are tougher than the toughest bosses in the game... breaks the fantasy a bit. Maybe this is okay for endgame, or a special endgame but Act One? Better yet, take what I think is a BUG and turn that bug into a FEATURE...

MAKE CRAZY RNG UNIQUE MOBS A "PSEUDO BESTIARY-LIKE" LEAGUE/GAME MECHANIC... "THE HUNT CLUB" or maybe even "PREDATORS": Give players a chance to "flag" crazy-hard uniques. Track these and throw them into a bounty pool / leaderboard / hunt club museum where players can go to "hear tall tales of harrowing encounters with mythic monsters" and select to go "hunt" for them (for extra xp, loot, but also bragging rights, back trophy cosmetics, portrait frames, titles, etc. Selected "UBER RNG Uniques" will spawn randomly, and a timer will begin counting down upon first strike. Players will have to best the leaderboard time for their class in order to earn the title "Master Hunter" and top the leaderboard for said Uber Unique. However! said Uber Unique will be "blacklisted" from rolling for players unless they've explicitly chosen to hunt for it in the hunt club / predators guild. In time, this will weed-out the crazy uber unique rng mobs from the game, while harvesting them for an extra league-like challenge for those wanting to wear the mantle of "trophy hunter, master hunter" (or why not?... "Predator"). The best part is you don't need some AI algorithm to do this... the players in Early Access will "do the work" for you, and continually add new crazy uber uniques to the "Hunt Clun/Predators" league mechanic. And hey, while you're at it, why not make the same thing available in POE 1?

BTW, I have ideas for other league mechanics. For instance: Ever heard of a little CRPG called Ultima, and the "Age of Enlightenment" Trilogy? Now consider "Avatars in Exile," where the character selection screen features a "Holy Inquisitor" passing judgment and sentencing "the vile heretics." The story is you character awakens in Wraeclast with amnesia. You must remember who you really are over the course of the campaign if you are to become an Avatar of Wraeclast. Learning the sacred mantras and the locations of the hidden shrines of the eight virtues will not be easy, nor finding the runes required for entry. Then there's the Great Stygian Abyss to contend with, all while upholding the virtues. Not easy in Wraeclast, to be sure.

As you can see, you have made something much more than just the best ARPG ever to give millions more players endless hours of enjoyment, satisfaction, and repetitive strain injuries... you have on your hands a foundation that INSPIRES NEW POSSIBILITIES never before experienced in the ARPG genre.

Maybe all this is too much, too soon, for early access. I imagine your priorities right now are server uptime, game balance, bug fixes, etc. That said, GGG has blown everyone away with an early access release that puts many AAA devs FULL releases to shame. I have a feeling that a "pseudo-mini-league" test of sorts that adds more content (like "Predators") to the base game prior to official launch might not only solve the uber RNG unique monsters problem, but also be another worthy feather in GGG's cap.

Thanks for your time and consideration. Keep up the great work.

Attlas Allux
www.attlasallux.com