Upcoming patches and race events

"

flab wrote:

About the lethality of Turbo vs normal, for a melee build, and a stock one at that (marauder gs/hs), there is a rather significant difference.

"

indczn wrote:

My only gripe about the last hardcore turbo week race was that the population was so low that it was really difficult to trade for anything, particularly support gems due to the tiny population beyond level 30.

These two points are correlated. The population was so low because it was a pain in the ass for all but the die-hard racers.

I personally didn't find the Turbo HC 1 week to be that much fun, but then I am a self-admitted casual player and only race for personal enjoyment and to get a bit of currency. I died 3 or 4 times in the 20's and 30's and said screw it.

Just my casual player 2 cents.

I liked the last week long solo HC turbo event so please dont drop them. I'm only competing with myself to beat previous "high score" (highest exp of surviving toon) in those leagues so I've no comment on the competitive impact of trading.

week long cut-throat? wouldn't have the time.

In all seriousness, I dislike the combination of Turbo and HC. HC alone is great. Turbo alone is great.

Combine the two and you're just dying and restarting a LOT more than usual. I think Turbo would lend itself well to non-HC in that it's a game of attrition as much as it is one of skill.

Turbo Cut-Throat sounds better than it would be, given that Cut-Throat is more about pvp than pve.

Hardcore Cut-Throat at the week level would require likely more arbitrary rules and restrictions than I think GGG can afford to implement right now.

On the other hand, dying in CT usually hurts as much as dying in HC, if not more so, given you can at least still use your items in pussycore after dying in HC.

Anyway. These considerations may be more important once we can actually make our own leagues.

didn't read the OP... oops.

"

To what extent does trade affect solo races?

If I was truly competitive in a solo race, I wouldn't want people with better real-world connections getting an advantage over me. So, no trade is fairer unless/until trading is done via some in-game hub where everyone has equal opportunity to bid/buy.

"

How did the lethality of the turbo one compare to the normal ones?

There's quite a sharp difference. I hate to admit it but most of my characters die to Hailrake on Tidal Island :(

"

when/what do you want the next one-week hardcore race to be?

when: How about running them back to back? :D

What: to be selfish I should side with Charan on this: just plain Hardcore. TurboHC will most likely mean me dying either on Tidal Island to Hailrake or, if I get lucky, in the Fetid Pool to the Necromancer and his minions. If I skip the Fetid Pool I'd most likely die to whatever the next boss is beyond the Crab :(

TL;DR: plain Hardcore because the chance of me getting even a short way through Act 1 in TurboHC is minimal.

[EDIT]FWIW, I like TurboHC. response above was pure protectionism :)

+1 1 week cut throat. Would prefer non HC to get more people in.

"

Tindraa wrote:

"

flab wrote:

About the lethality of Turbo vs normal, for a melee build, and a stock one at that (marauder gs/hs), there is a rather significant difference.

"

indczn wrote:

My only gripe about the last hardcore turbo week race was that the population was so low that it was really difficult to trade for anything, particularly support gems due to the tiny population beyond level 30.

These two points are correlated. The population was so low because it was a pain in the ass for all but the die-hard racers.

I personally didn't find the Turbo HC 1 week to be that much fun, but then I am a self-admitted casual player and only race for personal enjoyment and to get a bit of currency. I died 3 or 4 times in the 20's and 30's and said screw it.

Just my casual player 2 cents.

Of course the two are related, and it was to be expected, but I'm saying that to frame the point about disabling trading in a longer event, as it would make the situation worse. It also relates to the current reward system being restrictive, while nicer for the new players, it further locks in set builds for races where there isn't time to run for gems, or its unreliable to trade for. I know the population will be low, but to further restrict access to build defining supports that aren't rewarded for a class will not make the race more interesting nor encourage me to participate. This sacrifice is worse than curing the supposed party problem, even though I mostly solo.

One of the reasons I rarely participate in the 3hour races any more is that there are few viable builds and I dislike repeating myself, but play the 1 week races is because there is at least a reasonable possibility of deviating from norm. The reason Turbo appeals to me is that there is significant risk, so someone running 10 hours or more per day does not necessarily win, although it helps. Several times, the early leader by a few levels died for one reason or another, allowing for the possibility that late starters would still stand a chance.

I think playing solo with trading gives a distinct advantage to those that have quality friends. If player A likes to play Marauder and gets a sick wand drop, Player B likes to play witch and gets a sick 2H Mace drop, if they're both friends, they can quickly trade and take advantage of the loot (arguably even more so than a party with both of them in it could).

If Player A isn't friends with Player B, chances are he gains no advantage and doesn't waste time trying to find a home for his wand.

I think trading should be disallowed for solo races.


EDIT:

Also any word on buffing map drop rates (especially the ability to advance to higher levels) in the next patch? Currently I've cut off my Path of Exile time to play some other games that have finally attracted my attention. Not because they've done anything right, but rather because the current map situation is annoying and feels like a waste of time and currency.

I ran 5 level 60, white maps and 5 level 60, rare maps (used 1 alchemy on each, played as is, no matter the mods, averaged around 55% IIQ) and the white maps not only returned more maps (4 vs. 3) but returned higher level maps (3x 60s vs 2x 60s, 1x 61 and 1x 62). Yes it's small sample size, but perhaps IIQ on maps should buff map drops more, if I can run a small, random test like this and see little or no benefit.

I know you nerfed map drops silently, so I don't exactly expect you to announce that you're returning them (close) to previous levels, but it would be nice if you did.

"

indczn wrote:

Edited

I hear you, but I was making a different point (using your "population was low" observation to make it :-)). My point is this, for semi-casual players, 1 week Turbo HC is a pain, so you/GGG should come to expect lower numbers in those races than other races.

You make a fair point about there being more of a chance for later starters to "win" in that type of race, since there is significantly more risk to all, but then I don't compete against others (I'm certainly not a Top 25 player), I compete against/for myself.

In the end, I'm saying exactly what Charan just said. I'm not in favor of Turbo+HC+1week races (change any one of those three variables though and I'm in).

This is just one opinion, but it is representative of some percentage of the player base. GGG has the statistics of "% of the member base that played (and % played to the end) each of the various race types". IF participation is one of the goals of the races, it would be fascinating to learn which of the race types "pop".

firstly
SOLO Races are solo, it by definition means you cannot connect in any way with another player, therefore NO TRADING!


Secondly yeah how about a few NON HC races esp turbo , penalty for dying like ruthless but allow more participation of people, because during races all I see is , "damn I died, oh well I give up now"
A week long race every month would make a huge difference on participation