What’s at the end of the path?
Path of Exile’s in a rough patch right now. Players are just dissatisfied with the game. Crafting is bad. Drops are even worse. A purely RNG system means spending so much time and PoE currency just to get passable items, though you can get lucky. What is driving players away from playing? Is it all the nerfs to popular skills, or that Harvest isn’t too viable anymore?
The Chase
In games, there should be a purpose. Usually, in story-focused games, it’s the main quest that directs the player’s path. You want to know what happens in the story, how the characters are affected by the events in the plot, that kind of thing.
Sandbox games are more open-ended, and players have the freedom to choose a goal to work toward. Maybe it’s amassing riches. For some, it could be collecting items or achievements. Others want exploration and the search for secrets. A good thing about this genre is they can keep on choosing new goals once they’ve reached the old one.
What these two genres have in common is a ‘chase’. You’re either chasing the end of the quest or your own chosen goal. That’s why you play the game. Sure, even in linear games you can still set goals for yourself such as not using certain weapons or skills or keeping the character at a certain level. Whether the game gives you a goal or you make one yourself, you play the game because of it.
The Problems in Path of Exile
GGG wants players to chase ‘the Moment’. That one moment where you get a super good piece of equipment, whether you crafted it or picked it up. While the latter is highly unlikely, RNG gates the former.
So, the planned gameplay loop is farming enough currency such as Exalted Orbs to be able to craft gear. After that, you’re going to farm again to craft even better gear. Repeat until you can’t get any better gear than what you have.
That sounds alright, right? There’s nothing bad about that kind of gameplay loop. In fact, that’s basically Monster Hunter. MH successfully implements this gameplay loop by making monster variants that are harder to defeat, and so the game always presents a challenge to the player. The materials needed to craft better gear are always accessible, just kill enough of a certain monster to get it.
Path of Exile’s current crafting system makes it hard, though. RNG is never reliable, and that’s all the current system is. You might chance upon the wanted mod easily enough one day, but that day might be tomorrow, next week, or next month. In the metaphor of a chase, you don’t feel like you’re getting closer to the goal, no matter how hard you run.
That’s demoralizing. When you can’t see the goal, it’s easy to lose sight of it. You don’t feel the usual milestones that you’re getting stronger because you can’t craft. You can’t craft because you can’t kill the next tier of enemies. Now, you’re just stuck.
But wait, PoE trade is an option, isn’t it? Well, aside from the horrible trading system, nobody’s crafting because nobody’s buying. Many players are also skipping the league because of these problems, leading to fewer buyers. So trading is also not good.
Conclusions
When you do have a goal but you never feel like you’re getting closer, you feel like all your efforts are wasted. That’s exactly what’s happening in PoE, and time is a precious resource now. The only ones thriving in the game right now are either extremely lucky or those who can afford to spend hours/days/weeks playing. The latter also needs to have the perseverance or fortitude to keep on grinding.
So what are you chasing in PoE? If it’s something you’re not sure you can reach, maybe it’s time to reevaluate and reset. There are still things to enjoy in the game, so maybe you just need a different perspective. Taking a break can also be good, and maybe the game will be better next league.
Look forward to a better PoE next league!
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