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What Makes Path of Exile Fun

When going fast isn’t as fun anymore

Path of Exile has been loved by isometric ARPG fans for years. From the gameplay to the systems within the game, the players enjoyed it and played it. Now, through a series of ill-thought-out decisions, many players are leaving it in droves. What happened to the magic? What made them stop collecting PoE currency for crafting or trading? Will this trend continue in the future?

Here are some of the things players love(d) about Path of Exile.

Complex Gameplay

Path of Exile does things differently from the typical ARPG. From its massive shared passive tree to the skill gem system, there are many variations to builds and characters. Also, while there is an optimized way to build the character, players are free to substitute equipment and skills they’d rather get. Otherwise, they can try any manner of combination of passive and gem skills they like.

The Power

Progression means getting stronger and stepping up to defeat stronger and stronger bosses. When builds go right, players can feel it. They switch out equipment with better ones and get the skills that enhance their build even more. This progression gives a feeling of achievement and satisfaction, giving them the motivation to do everything all over again in the next league. Of course, with a different build this time.

The Story

Okay, this is pretty subjective, as some people like the grind better than the story while others prefer the opposite. Yet, Path of Exile does have a good story with characters that have clear motivations and characterizations. Some say it starts out slow and then picks up in the later acts.

Then again, when you’ve been playing the same acts over and over again across leagues and characters, you can get tired of it eventually.

The Community

While the game doesn’t exactly promote co-op play, the community is helpful to newbies and anyone asking for help. There was also a time when GGG could get direct feedback from players using a few social media channels. However, PoE trade remains cumbersome to participate in, requiring a second screen to ease the process.

What Happened, Then?

Well, there wasn’t any one factor that made players collectively quit. It was more of small things piling up that eventually broke the camel’s back. While it’s hard to trace what that first few things were, here are the biggest influences on the decision.

First, the nerfing of several popular gems. The intention was to make players choose other skills to build around, however, that didn’t fix the fact that some of those skills weren’t good enough to build around. Maybe it was the skill’s mechanics or it has a strict requirement for equipment. People generally want low-budget builds. That’s because they want to save up their Chaos or Exalted Orbs or they don’t want to grind so much.

Second, the nerfing of the Harvest league mechanics. Since it was a deterministic process that goes against GGG’s vision of the game, it became harder to use. Now, players went back to the hard, clunky, RNG method of grinding. It’s not like they can rely on mob drops either, as good equipment rarely comes from those. They end up stuck since they can’t grind for better gear because they can’t upgrade their equipment.

Third, players felt like their hard work went nowhere. They can’t get good equipment after getting spoiled by the Harvest mechanics. Hours of grinding give them nothing but disappointment and misery. The same goes with using up all their PoE currency. That’s a disheartening and demotivating thing to experience, which explains why players are quitting in droves.

Conclusions

It’s not like all the good things in PoE are gone. They’re just buried beneath RNG gating which is one of the worst types of gates there could be. You never know when you get the jackpot if it’s on your next try or the next 100. It’s easier to quit when you haven’t experienced the jackpot, but once you do, you start chasing the feeling.

Still, if you can look past all these things, there are things you can still enjoy in the game. One sure way to do this is to forget about meta. Don’t be too anxious to complete the league either. Go at your own pace and do what you want to do. Whether that’s messing around with friends or tweaking your build, it’s up to you how you enjoy the game.

Lastly, take note that a perfect game is only perfect for you. Other people have different preferences from you, so they may disagree on some points. In the same way, disagreeing with this article is normal. Continue enjoying Path of Exile, no matter how you do so!