Is it time to move on? Longread.

Recently, I realized that I’m in a strange situation regarding Path of Exile.

I’d like to start by sharing my history with Path of Exile 1 and why this game is actually so important to me. I’ve always loved ARPGs, and after replaying Grim Dawn yet again, I was craving something new. That’s when the Ultimatum league was happening, and I jumped in without watching any guides. It took me hours to understand the skill gem system, but back then, I found it incredibly interesting. I played through the acts with my build and then dropped the game. But what stuck with me the most was the game’s community. Despite the trolls in global chat, I genuinely loved the trading culture. The small but meaningful act of writing words of gratitude after a completed trade reinforced a sense of unity. It felt like a small town in European countries where people greet each other even if they don’t know each other personally. Over time, my friend list grew with a lot of new acquaintances, some of whom I still talk to today. In short, I really loved the tight-knit, almost cozy community of the game back then.

As the game grew—and you could feel that growth—the community changed. There’s nothing strange about some traditions dying out when you’re forced to make dozens, if not hundreds, of trades a day. Trolls and scammers became more common, and the feeling of a small, friendly town turned into the familiar vibe of a big city, where there’s no room for traditions—just speed and efficiency. Yes, some might find a bit of exaggeration in my words or even call it "rose-tinted glasses," like, “things were better before”, but I genuinely believe things were different back then. That sense of coziness and friendliness was one of the biggest strengths of the original game. Add to that the insane build diversity and the fact that, before the nerfs in the Expedition league, literally any skill could clear all content—personally, I felt the game was at its peak.

Sorry for the long introduction, but I needed to mention this to provide context for my next words, so they make sense to players who love Path of Exile 1. I’m sure that GGG is currently facing a big dilemma about what to do with Path of Exile 1. And despite how much I love this game—and loved it even more when it was smaller—I think it’s time to move on. I’m probably part of a small group of players who believe that Path of Exile 1 should be sunsetted, and GGG should fully focus on Path of Exile 2. This game has a ton of issues, and it doesn’t even come close to the level of the original game—I acknowledge that and have written about it many times myself. Fun fact: before PoE2 came out, I almost never posted on this forum. Maybe I asked about mechanics a couple of times or reported bugs, but that was it. So, despite the undeniable mistakes made by the studio, I understand that GGG won’t let go of Path of Exile 2, and our constant mentions of Path of Exile 1 are likely just holding the studio back from moving forward and amplifying a sense of resentment. If I’m not mistaken, Jonathan himself said that he—or the studio—doesn’t like Path of Exile 1 and that they envisioned the game as something completely different. Meanwhile, we keep bringing it up, which inevitably annoys the developers and creates an atmosphere of intolerance where new players also start seeing issues with the new game that they might not have noticed otherwise. The delay of 3.26 by almost a year just confirms that things can’t go back to how they were. GGG, I’m absolutely convinced that at this stage, you need to let go of PoE1 and fully focus on merging it with the elements of the new vision you have for the updated version of the game.

The new game has a lot of strengths compared to the old one, but it also has its flaws. Bosses, the campaign, decisions around skill gems, and cast-on-X mechanics—some of these changes have truly brought something new, fresh, and interesting to the game. I also like that in some cases, you have to sweat a bit to get through certain parts of the game. The exception here is white mobs, which drop nothing but constantly slow the player down—though that’s a topic for another discussion.

Overall, I’m absolutely convinced that your current approach of limiting player freedom in favor of “controlled gameplay” is doing more harm than good.

GGG, I understand that the chances of you reading this message—or it resonating with others—are slim. But my message is this: I would completely understand your decision to abandon Path of Exile 1 and focus on the new version of the game, but please stop forcing our builds into the direction you’ve predetermined. Remove the restrictions on heralds that only work if we use martial weapons, rework the skill tree to have more generic damage options instead of just spell damage or melee attack damage with two-handed weapons. Give more options for people who want to build tanks, not just glass cannons. Simplify the path between different parts of the tree so it’s easier to make classes like a Blood Mage with two-handed weapons. Don’t get me wrong—I know this is possible even now, but we’re forced to pay too high a price for such ideas, and I’m convinced that price needs to be lowered. Please remove these restrictions and give us the ability to experiment with builds.

I’m worried that you’ll need to bring back a lot from Path of Exile 1 for the new game to meet the expectations of a community that’s used to the almost limitless freedom of the previous version. I understand your desire to make Path of Exile 2 a next-generation game, but for God’s sake, stop taking it so seriously. Give us more freedom.

Thank you, and I hope you understand my perspective.

What does a "next-generation game" even mean? It is literally space bar spamming to avoid telegraphed attacks, something that is so utterly common in most games it is actually the trend, not "next-generation"

I think he means 'next-generation' compared to poe 1. Not necessarily next generation compared to most common recent games.

The problem with dodge roll, imho, is not the mechanic, its the implementation.

I like the idea of having a dodge, I even liked it in D4. However, the fact that there is a 'light stun' mechanic and a painfully slow animation time, you dodge away from things that literally just walk over to you after you dodged and are on top of you already before you can do anything else. Its just kind of silly

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and then the fact that you have no increased defenses... that is incredibly stupid. Half the time you dodge, what you are dodging hits you and does damage anyway.

"your next generational game" probably

Meaning a new version of the game that can last a decade or more

Btw a white mob dropped an exalt for me earlier, they do drop stuff just 99% of it under the loot filter

Waystones, runes and tablets being the most obvious things they drop because most people wouldn't hide any of that even at lowest rarity level

While I'm likely biased in "seeing patterns" there seems to be a huge uptick in threads that effectively are saying the same things ...

Basically GGG, as currently constructed (managed), probably can't successfully manage two games at once and they (I hope) need to staff up to fill the gaps OR they need to move on from either PoE1 (likely) or PoE2 (unlikely) ...

If GGG continues hurting BOTH PoE1 AND PoE2 then we might not have any proper PoE (anything) in a year or two.

Dodge used properly is useful, mashing dodge all the time isn't

Example off the top of my head: dodging doryani's mega slam, timed right you don't even need to leave the circle

No surprise the first few responses were hyper focused on one little sentence you said. I am just going to say BIG +1 I truly feel the focus just needs to be on PoE 2. The age old saying, "All good things must come to an end". Let's let them carry us into brighter pastures with this new iteration of the game so we can all have the best possible product

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Riiizzz#4801 написал:

No surprise the first few responses were hyper focused on one little sentence you said. I am just going to say BIG +1 I truly feel the focus just needs to be on PoE 2. The age old saying, "All good things must come to an end". Let's let them carry us into brighter pastures with this new iteration of the game so we can all have the best possible product

While I do NOT want them to do this (abandon PoE1) it may become a business necessity IF they do not do the things that would allow them to have BOTH PoE1 and PoE2 successful / viable at the same time.

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Riiizzz#4801 написал:

No surprise the first few responses were hyper focused on one little sentence you said.

youre right we forgot to +1 suitably shamed