The reason why XP penalty exists and why it's not for everyone

https://youtu.be/pj8FxWMf4V4?t=688

Finally, someone linked an interview from Jonathan as to why the XP penalty exists.

First of all, it makes sense to add that to the challenge of race to 100.

But a few points about this:

- Grinding XP in POE 2 is long and tedious as it is without XP penalty.

- How many cares about the race to 100? These are hardcore gamers who dedicate their life to the game. I wouldn't even say it'll go more than 5% of the current POE 2 player base. People do want to get to 100, but most wanted it at their own pace.

- This is an ARPG which the main mechanic is to grind for gears, not to race.

- In a race, when you stumble and fall down, you don't get knocked back a few meters back. The punishment of losing juiced up maps/nodes/fragments is enough punishment for people to lose an edge for that race.

I'm a bit optimistic about how Jonathan answered the point about XP penalty as it seems to be something on their list to think about.

My apologies if this is another one of those "XP penalty" threads, but I think it's best to have the discussion with the thought of the original developer's idea on why it is there in the first place.

There's almost zero value in a mechanic like this being imposed on everyone for the sake of Races. There's no defense that you can make as to why this is mandatory, and not optional and opt-in.

You want to race? K, click the race button. Warns you "Race characters lose 10% XP on death past level 70"

Bam, everyone's happy.

If I was the developer for a game, I'd be looking in the mirror and asking myself why I felt it necessary to force something like this on every player, for a once every few months event. Seems like it's just a weak argument to justify it.


I never cared about racing, and most games that try to force competitive stuff like this, have very few people interested in it, unless the game is literally designed for competitive players.

. Just let me play the game without getting kicked in the nuts GGG. Please.

I'd rather have the XP penalty than losing the map mechanics.

When a character reaches 100, I have no desire at all to continue playing on that character. Without the XP bar moving up, it feels pointless.

Racing to 100 in EA?! On top of the other problems that maps have?! On-death explosions you can't see, random one-shots from nowhere, getting one-shot from off-screen...

Okay, what about racing in leagues? Okay, cool! What about the players who DON'T want to race and simply just enjoy the game?

Jonathan REALLY didn't think this through...

Its not just there because of 100 race. He stated thats one of the reasons in the interview but not the only reason.

Come to think of it, when was the last race to 100?

I can't think of any...

imagine designing a whole game where a few streamers participate lmao.

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Mashgesture#2912 написал:

Its not just there because of 100 race. He stated thats one of the reasons in the interview but not the only reason.

Where did he say it's not the only reason?

Nowhere. Nowhere did he say it.

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OnlineV4#0974 написал:

I'd rather have the XP penalty than losing the map mechanics.

When a character reaches 100, I have no desire at all to continue playing on that character. Without the XP bar moving up, it feels pointless.

So, what about you liking the build so much, you keep playing on it?

"

Akedomo#3573 написал:

If I was the developer for a game, I'd be looking in the mirror and asking myself why I felt it necessary to force something like this on every player, for a once every few months event. Seems like it's just a weak argument to justify it.

Hasn't stopped people from coming back to PoE 1, or Diablo 2, or Elden Ring. Won't stop people from playing this game either.