POE Split Fun Not As Fun, Science.

Overlooking the quite frankly off-putting condescension of the OP's tone (seriously, it does you no favours, as the plethora of mocking responses here indicate), there is a point to separating the mechanics like this. For a start, the hardcore/'soft'core dichotomy is fundamental to the 4 month league blocks. It caters to two fairly different crowds, although there are overlaps. The hardcore league typically tests a new feature that GGG considers appropriately difficult (although Invasion wasn't balanced for shit at first). The softcore league, on the other hand, has always received mechanics that are more clearly bent towards risk and reward.

Hardcore league mods:
Onslaught -- all enemies are significantly faster. Reward: zero

Nemesis -- all rare enemies come with a new, far more punishing mod. Reward: zero

Invasion -- all zones have out-of-play enemies, accompanied by a unique boss. Reward: zero, beyond drops

Softcore league mods:
Anarchy -- Rogue exile can spawn, presenting a more PvP-like experience. Reward: increased item drops upon death

Domination -- Shrines can spawn, which grant nearby enemies a specific buff. Reward: you get the buff for a time if you can touch the shrine

Ambush -- locked boxes can spawn, which you can manipulate with currency. Reward: if you can defeat the enemies, you get what's in the box.

Clearly, the softcore mods are more balanced towards an immediately rewarding experience, whereas the hardcore ones are just there to make the game harder.

These are facts.

The Op's attempt to categorise which is more 'fun' are opinion, nothing more. And as others have pointed out, fun+fun does *not* mean more fun if 'fun' can't be universally agreed upon in the first place. I find the strongboxes fun and the invasion mobs annoying and gimmicky. Others will disagree. In the end, GGG separates these things based on an assumption that the hardcore idea of 'fun' is probably the softcore idea of 'too hard', and that the softcore idea of 'fun' is probably the hardcore idea of 'too easy'.

The two week charity race combining both mechanics could not have happened before players were sufficiently exposed to both ambush and invasion -- it'd be too much at once. The two week charity race could not have happened without prior isolated testing of Invasion on the hardcore playerbase.


This is why they're split.

Given the OP's history of an unwillingness to be wrong (that is to say, to learn), this is my only post here. Cheers.

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Charan написал:

[...]

Given the OP's history of an unwillingness to be wrong (that is to say, to learn), this is my only post here. Cheers.

But the pie!!!

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johnKeys написал:

before reading and actually responding on-topic, I have to ask:

what the fuck is this "science" thing you all keep talking about?

This one: