We welcome First Impression posts! Please be nice to those posts.

Hi GGG! Could I ask if you let me know what do you'll Nerf next month? So i can focus on other things and don't waste hundreds of hours and currency on a build that you will make usless pretty soon. Thanks!

I really dislike the brightness and texture of the new Twilight Strand (it's blinding, and looks like painted styrofoam.)


Though I really DO enjoy all the other tiny graphical changes/nuances that have been added to various zones. Running water and ambiance in certain zones, hue changes [to make Belly feel like intestines, but Harvest feel like a stomach,] the removal of the worst zone in the game [as well as adding more changes to the zones near it to differentiate better,] etc..

Great work all in all. :)


PS. DAT MERVEIL DAUGHTER DOE! :O

I have the profound impression that The Pit map boss arena is utterly.. Stupid. 1 Death and the area is completely riddled with monsters. 1 Death and the spawns keep coming. There had to have been over 150 mobs shooting me instantly when i reentered that place.

Damn this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 5 Deaths because of 1 death. Goodbye exp. /rant

random drop fps and death after that cuz I am not using logout scripts so fcking rekt me.
I want to die on the game moments, not fps
START RACES pleaaaaase

This is my (I believe) fourth first impression of the game during last 3 years - I've tried to start it multiple times before and failed due to strange itemization system where it's not enough to find an item with decent stats since there are also gem slots and links. Even though there were some positive changes (like seemingly lower mobs difficulty) my impression is still not too good - to put it mildly. Itemization with 7+ layers of RNG

item type * item rarity * item stats set * stats roll * item slots * slots color * slot links

result in disgusting gameplay: character always use outdated low level equipment. With such itemization system it becomes impossible to progress sooner or later - especially considering sudden difficulty surge around L65-75 (merciless Act4). Lower cost of slots and links could solve this problem - if the devs actually want to solve problems in the game. Though I didn't see too much effort to solve problems - see next paragraph.

Not to mention horrendous server instability with loss of loot upon disconnects, really bad multiplayer experience with x5 increased zone load time (why?!) and fps drops to 0 during 10-20 seconds. I really don't understand how could this game get more than 75% rating ("mostly positive") on Steam? I guess people are ready to praise just any aRPG no matter of actual quality (or lack of it).

Still the game finally became good enough for me to use forums and leave this post. I'm going to try it again 6-12 months later.

TL;DR "wonderful" RNG itemization saved me $30 from not purchasing supporter pack.

My first six months

Introduction:

Since I am a writer, this feedback could be a bit overwhelming, so it is advised to not consume it all at once!

First steps:

When I picked up the game around April this year, I did not know much about it. I heard good and bad things, which made me curious about the so called "better version of D3". My first character was a Witch, as I liked her look and I always favored summoners and spell casters. over melee, as I hate to click on things and run after mobs. (D2 Shamans anyone ....)

Anyways, my first journey brought me into the cruel difficulty in which I had to throw the towel, as I got an Alpha invite to a different game and was currently stuck or should I say "owned" by the monsters that ate my zombies, which then often lead to my death. My motivation to play on, was just gone also because of the "length" to reach endgame.

I remember, how I entered cruel, expecting a new game and yet it was all the same as before. To know that I had to play through the game three times, while not gaining anything meaningful, left me "non impressed" to say the least.
I did expect new monsters, new quests or maps - but instead all I got were harder hitting monsters.

When I came back:

After summer, some time around November it was I believe, I decided to give the game another go, after all it was still on my HDD. I loaded up the game and created yet another Witch and again she was a summoner. This time however, I read up a bit about the game, I believe I watched a video on YT by some Aussie guy called ZiggyD. He explained me the crafting system and what a loot filter is, as honestly, I was so overwhelmed last time when I played with hundreds of drops and names flooding my screen.

My new summoner, now became right from the start, a professional lady, who picked smarter passives and also found good items, to support her play. While I was still clueless about how I can find uniques and stuff, (where are drop rates higher?, what are masters, why do I not get a blue socket on my STR boots....), I came further and achieved a level in the 80´s after several weeks.

Shortly before the "reset" I found a great armor, sadly I instantly lost it, as a new league started and of course I want to play the new stuff. So here we go again, I created yet another summoner and again she was a Witch.

I advanced quite fast into merciless and hated every second of A3 and A4. A1 is so wonderfully done, just like A1 at D2 once was, but then the game enters the mode of grind and repetition, but oh well, the journey is the goal right?

The endgame:

After finally finishing A3 and doing two quests at A4, I loaded up the map device and started progressing. Said map device, is a really great idea! Not only are there tons of maps, no, they also play different and the Atlas is fantastic. Sadly, we can only improve the atlas by two things, the shapers orb and the other thing, that however, never does anything useful for me and is just temporary.

I feel more could be done there, I want to improve more maps, maybe make a few of those my MF maps, others my XP maps by locking some type of mod into place. One of those mods could be "increased XP" another "increased quantity". While we can directly influence the map we play, we can not add suffixes or affixes to them permanently inside the Atlas.

Lost in translation:

What the Atlas really is, took some time for me to understand, as it was quite overwhelming and I have yet to find the shaper and unlock 60% of it.
That being said, quite often I play and don´t fully understand why I just found a unique in each map of the day, while a few days ago, I played 10 maps and didn´t find a single one. But I also lack the knowledge about so many prophecies or divination cards. It´s like a sealed book, I either read up on third party websites, or I stay dumb until it just unfolds and I might miss out on a bigger reward as I didn´t want to be "spoilered".

But also item descriptions confuse me, physical damage, ok, but to what? My Bow, my spells, my minions...? The passive tree is full of stuff, that I don´t fully understand and how it might affect me or my minions.
My minions for instance gain life on hit, if my weapon has it, but not if my gloves do...?

Honestly, unless a user reads up on things, he or she will be left in the cold, especially with the crafting system. Quite often I just dump in all my loot so that my vendor can give me the currency, I don´t even know why I get what I get and it´s very similar with the crafting. I would love to see a UI there, something that tells me what possible mods my item could get if I bring it to a master. What are the affixes and what the suffixes and why do some items have 6 or 7, while another tells me it can´t have more after three are shown. How often can I use an exalt on an item, what is the chance for a unique with the orb of chance and what is the benefit if I upgrade a skill gem or why did my ring upgrade itself after I killed a boss, and so on.

A while ago, I found a 40 damage helmet, so what did I do? Well I brought it to my master and she enchanted it. Problem was, I lost my 40 damage, it was overwritten... Same with lab enchants, what does what, I often sit there not knowing what I just gained :(

Another example, I enchanted my armor with +1 zombies, but I am still stuck with 4 zombies, even though I should have 4 large ones and a minor one or 5 large ones. Why does the game downgrade my zombie numbers if I can have 9 max and get a 50% penalty due my weapon? I did waste my currency and lost a crafting slot on my armor :(

POE is not as bad as Wildstar, but some ingame tutorial, a UI improvement would be really useful as it´s trial and error right now. Without reading reddit, I would still not know about the claim all command :D It´s little things, but they would help improve the game a lot!

But there is more:

Another aspect about POE which drives me insane is stash space. Look, I admit, I am a hoarder, but that´s what games are for. You collect stuff and right now I am out of stash space. I have essences, currency, divination cards, skill gems, a few uniques for later use, ton of maps ...
At D3, we can gain additional stash space by playing, why is that option not available here? I have to admit, I find the rewards for the challenges really underwhelming, as they don´t help me at all.
I would prefer meaningful rewards there, that I can either buy or earn. F2p should be Free and not gated behind a purchase, one reason why I always disliked games that ask for money as soon you create a second char or new race.

This btw. did GGG great, I can make as many chars as I like and play each class and gain each expansion for free. That´s what F2P should be about and you do greatly there, but the stash problem is poorly done.

One reason why I skip standard is the stash, I find it impossible to play there with only 4 tabs, I still have not yet emptied my temporal tabs :)

If you don´t want to reward us with tabs, then how about points? Let us gain points for challenges and then we can redeem them in the shop. Works too!

Trading:

This is an aspect, which I really love, but hate doing at POE. I love trading, I did a lot of it at D3 when the AH was still there or at other games with AH structures or vendors, such as Ultima and it´s really annoying how it´s done at POE.

If I want to trade, I need to spam the notice board in game or create an account at a third party websites and leave the game and make my chars public. This is not only a security risk but also very inconvenient and the trade demands that I am online. These things should be offered ingame, independently of your online time. It would be wonderful if I had five slots that I could post my offers in and if someone want´s to buy my item, he hits accept and we trade.

My 50 chaos orbs that I found, are pretty much a sitting duck, as I can not trade with anyone right now, unless I do what I don´t find fun. I understand that professional traders dislike the AH; as this offers more transparency and you might lose out on your overpriced sales, but hey, it would let us focus on the game again and not some third party network, that 90% of the players might not even know about.
Right now I play completely selffound, I get along, T13 is good, but I have stuff that others could use and I just vendor it, due the stash problem.


Final verdict:

POE is great fun, due the massive amount of classes and choices. Each skill affects how you play and I find them all useful and a player does not need to play "one spec", but has a choice.
Quite often games with many choices, don´t offer true choices, D2 is the best example with the talent tree´s. Yes, you could play frozen orb, but not fire orb or nova girl with frost and lightning nova. It was all limited to three or four builds and this is definitely not the case at POE. I tick boxes as I please and use gems as I like, the system is brilliant and reminds me of the old D1. I find my skills and level them up as I use them or at least have them equipped. (it took me some time to realize that my offspec gems also level...)

I play a summoner, never read a guide and yet feel like I play my own version of whatever some pro might has written somewhere. Getting to T13, clearing merciless lab, shows, that you don´t need the perfect gear or FOTM build and this makes me happy. That being said, breaches kill me, but that is ok :), hopefully I find better gear for even bigger zombies or just moar!

In the end, POE offers a lot, but needs to sort out the stash issue and come up with a better UI, which is easier to understand for those not reading guides and forums. The game has lot´s of potential, but is quite hard to grasp for casuals, which I am one of.

I will keep playing, level 90 is my goal and that I find something really awesome :D

So I don't know if I've posted in here before and I feel my criticisms will fall on deaf ears, but here we go.

There's no point to playing for an average person, endgame takes too long to reach for what is zero character progression. The game is balanced for long periods of play on the standard league, which is a ghost town, yet everyone is in the populated disposable leagues.

In other words, nothing you do will ever matter in the game, because everything is tossed into the garbage bin that is standard once a league ends.


There's not a single thing that carries over from all the hours you play except for a few piddly event cosmetics, and the only good ones that were had are long gone. If ascendancies were things you permanently unlocked across heroes I'd feel more accomplished. As is, I need to play this game like a part time job in order to get anywhere with one character. Why bother playing standard if nobody's there, why bother playing a league when everything you do doesn't matter.


There ought to be a reason to keep playing the game in disposable leagues, despite the abysmal grind time. These fast leagues seem to be designed for people with free time akin to retired people and young kids, and the standard league feels so empty there's barely a point to stick around. In the long run this will lose you players, as people will become burnt out quickly from spending so much time in one league, only to find their progress was meaningless if they mean to stay where the players are.

I recommend merging the two leagues so that seasons are more organically integrated, with races being relegated to the disposable league category. Since if your game is filled with disposable content, then the game itself will be thrown away by new players.

"

Attlus wrote:

There ought to be a reason to keep playing the game in disposable leagues, despite the abysmal grind time. These fast leagues seem to be designed for people with free time akin to retired people and young kids, and the standard league feels so empty there's barely a point to stick around. In the long run this will lose you players, as people will become burnt out quickly from spending so much time in one league, only to find their progress was meaningless if they mean to stay where the players are.

This is actually really important feedback, but allow me to add that temp leagues are balanced around meta builds with super-fast clear speed. They are also balanced around trading, not self-found gameplay (so you get good gear earlier in the league).

If you adhere to only one of the above, or neither of the above, it is natural that you will feel like you have to treat the game like a part-time job to get anywhere in the temp leagues.

I'm not making excuses for GGG, though. Balancing around trading is forgivable, though it would be far more forgivable if trading weren't considered to be an unpleasant ordeal by so many players, as indicated by the fact that it is such a frequent criticism of the game in the feedback forum.

Moreover, the existence of meta-builds is usually criticized for hurting build diversity (because GGG inevitably balances around them), but I think it's also important to note the real damage they do to temp leagues, as your particular feedback illustrates.

"

Attlus wrote:

There ought to be a reason to keep playing the game in disposable leagues, despite the abysmal grind time. These fast leagues seem to be designed for people with free time akin to retired people and young kids, and the standard league feels so empty there's barely a point to stick around. In the long run this will lose you players, as people will become burnt out quickly from spending so much time in one league, only to find their progress was meaningless if they mean to stay where the players are.

Good job about the condescending tone here ...
If you know the game well, 3 month is enough to do a real lot already.
And this is not only valid for meta builds, meta builds just make it much easier ( and faster ).

If you are starting and are a newbie to the game, you will need to learn, that's what makes the game what it is, its depth.
I guess it can be frustrating to feel that you cannot reach anywhere like many other players do, but then you should probably play for yourself, not for others.

Hey, i wanna leave my Feedback here after 3 Months of daily playing PoE. In Breach League i wanted to really speed things up and reach 90+, do 36 Challenges for that awesome Wings,
kill Guardians, Shaper and do all this things that i saw on YT and Streams. But. I am LvL 90 for 2 Weeks or so now, i cant manage to get more than 1 Tier11-Map
in 5 Hours of Farming, cant manage to 6Link an Item, found only 34 Chayula-Splinters, have no Currency for running Perandus-Coffers, and so on...

I tried to play some other Classes then, tried to use my Currency for better Items, bought a lot of Regrets and switched my Ascendancy and Skills several times.
But really,i am frustrated and think i have to give up.

There is just one Question left for me. Is PoE a farming Game or trading Game? Is it even possible to find(!) good Gear- im mean: Grinding(!) gear games??
Getting Maps, getting Chayula-Splinters, get Currency, getting a 6Link -without Trading- seems to be not possible unless u have an insane amount
of Luck or more than 10 Hours a Day Playtime.

Dont get me wrong, i rly love to farm and i was able to farm 8-10 Hours a Day on Weekends, 3-5 Hours daily in Week-even without good Drops. I was really, really motivated.

But now?

This Game seem to have a lot of Potencial, there are really cool Mechanics and i had a lot of fun. But playing it feels to much of "working", not enough of Fun.

This is my Feedback after all. Sry for bad English.