Well, that makes sense. They should have clearly marked thus as Early Access and that it'd release as ftp. Hopefully they'll manage to transfer your stuff to the 1.0 version, I guess the good thing is that these types of hack and slash CRPGs are infinitely replayable and the hardcore player base starts from scratch every season which is three months long.

It's just so mind blowing that SO many people bought in for EA with this and on console too, it's going to set a god awful precedent, really wish they had confined EA to PC like usual.

lots of early access of unfinished games on steam.

First, they finish their games, then i give them money.

It said Early Access on the store page, but usually it's a lower price for early access and higher at release... Not free later.

Starting over from scratch is not that fun. We basically already did that in cruel mode which was luckily a lot easier than the first time. Hence also not wanting to start with zero equipment again and having to grind levels to be able to get past the boss roadblocks. The good thing about the end game is that the bosses are better balanced with the rest of the mobs. Or rather the rest come in such large numbers all at once that it evens out. And they bosses so far are as big bullet sponges.

Having to defeat the Act bosses again, no thanks. Rather repeat random zones than the same zone over and over before being able to continue. So yeah, hopefully something carries over.

Here's where we're at in Poe2 after figuring out how the Sekhema trials actually work


I found a better stave over a week ago, my wife is still using the same Mace as from just before we hit cruel mode.



Me wandering around the passive tree

Trust me, 1.0 will be easier, they'll want to retain more players and having difficult mechanics will deter seasonal replay value, I'd be more worried about space in your inventory than anything else, expect to have to buy it at some point and then buy it again soon after. 

Fucking hell. Fuck that. Already sick of skill trees these days but that is a lot of bullshit. No thanks

It also depends on what you get from it.

For instance, I was in the closed beta for World of Tanks, and when the Beta ended I got some special tank (the Panzer V/IV, basically a Panther with a Panzer IV turret), plus extra credits and gold, most of which I spent on premium ammo for a tank with a conical gun, not sure if it's still in the game btw. I also have several medals that only existed during the beta.

Yeah it's daunting, includes a search function to help you find what you're looking for...

It's a game on its own to 'explore' the skill tree. At least you can always refund and reroute (for a small gold fee, trivial compared to how much gold you get) but a lot is just redundant and unnecessary. (Nvm navigating that on a controller is still a pita after 150 hours of playing) It would be nice if base stats would upgrade by leveling instead of from the tree. All the connecting node paths are just choose plus 5 to str, dex or int. Needed but rather disappointing to have to spend a hard earned points on that after taking days to level. And in the end game you get a bunch more skill trees to grind on lol.

And the tree is just part of it next to skills, passive skills both with support gems. 174 to choose from, but you can only use each one once, up to 5 per skill, all adding more/different requirements. Skill gems need to be leveled up as well and some skills are meta skills where you can socket other skills in next to support gems.

Our stash is mostly upgrade materials for all the abilities, gear upgrades, rune modifiers, support gems, waystones, different currency items. A lot to keep organized. Fighting is only half of the game really. I guess that's why it's so tempting to start a new character, simplify things and have more play time instead of spending hours optimizing or trying to make changes to your 'build'.



It seems these games nowadays are made for guides and streamers to make money of :/ And the loot system to promote an online market place. (But that's as old as mmorpgs are)

If you're looking for a casual arpg, this aint it.

For me (so not universal advice, just the way I see it), it’s straightforward. Create a budget and spend it as you please. Enjoy your life on your own terms and don’t dwell on the “what ifs” like “what if I waited for a better deal or a better version?” Leave the stressful decision-making to creating the budget, not to where you spend it.

Regarding playing substandard early versions of games, I’m also an optimist. My focus is mostly on the positive aspects of games rather than the negative (although there’s a balance, and that’s where my perspective ends* see note below). If a game has some brilliant ideas, the negative aspects often become trivial or something I can easily work around. This is quite common in RPGs, and I would guess Baldur’s Gate 3 would fall into that category (I haven’t played it). An extreme example I can think of is Dwarf Fortress. The initial release came out in 2006, about 16 years before the official launch in 2022. The game had numerous flaws, such as using ASCII instead of graphics and inconsistency in the UI. However, the concept of the game was an extreme sandbox that evolved into an ongoing history. Kingdoms and civilizations expanded, wildlife and nature grew, and there were historical eras (like when most of the giant colossal beasts in the world were extinct, civilizations expanded, which could alter the political landscape and introduce new dangers and opportunities for your fortress and its characters). While the game is significantly better from a functional and feature standpoint today, experiencing that early version in 2006 was priceless. So, I don’t see an issue with obtaining an early version if it’s far from its final state, as long as you’re willing to wait for it.

note
*Just to go on a bit of a tangent about the balance I mentioned above, the exceptions (but not necessarily relevant). The negative aspects of a game only bother me when they’re grating, and even then, it usually takes some time for the grating to start to chafe (depending on the game, and if I've experienced that grate before). For instance, in the game Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I initially enjoyed the combo and chain system for what they were, but once I was over that, I found they were too disconnected from the combat - it wasn't about beating the opponent with fight commands so much as completing puzzles and landing combos. As these puzzles and combos became more essential to the combat in the later half of the game, I found that was what the game was about - hours and hours and hours of something I was already bored with. Despite this, I still enjoyed the story elements in the later part of the game and found it worthwhile to endure the battle system the first time through. However, the story wasn’t compelling enough for me to ever suffer through it again unless significant changes are made in the future. In contrast, Chrono Trigger is my ideal game. The battle system there is complex, sleek, and enjoyable.

A similar thing happened to me with fighting games, I used to enjoy them when they were more about timing and strategy. But then Killer Instinct happened. It was a novel idea at first, ridiculous combos to slaughter enemies. But as more and more games copied that, games became more about landing complex button combinations and much less about timing an uppercut or heavy kick - I remember (was it Alpha 3?) being able to crush people with Akuma with my eyes closed, making the game less fun than turtling with Guile in the earlier Street Fighter games. Soul Caliber came out later, and focused more on the classic elements of fighting games, and also added a lot of flavour/story - that was the last fighting game I really enjoyed. Just to share an example.

You say that now.... but give it time, and you too will be converted.

In POE seasons usually run 3-4 months.
And honestly thats fine.  In POE1, your "respec" points are hard to come by.... and expensive to buy as curency, so often times, its cheaper/faster (than farming for it) to just reroll the character.

Once you master the art of running through the campagne it takes like 6-7 hours (if your a godly speed runner type, you can go down to like 3hours).
At that point, your at maps and ready to start chaseing endgame and crafting upgrades, and collecting/completeing challenges for free skins and effects (every season has them, so its like a "to-do-list" to challenge yourself with). (if your a newbie, you might take like 13-15hours)

Anyways.... since its always right before the weekend, in those 2days, you typically go 12-16hour of gameplay pr day.
People prep meals, and plan sleep ect around new league launchs, and challenge themselves to see how they end up on the ladders rushing through it.
After a week or so, typically the upgrade paths are minor ones, and its just more fun to make a new character and do it all again.
(maybe you had differnt builds for differnt content options or farming strategies? ect ect)

Anyways 3-4 months is plently long, when most people usually only play their characters like a week or slightly longer before rerolling.
The league mechanics are typically added to the game, so POE is huge, theres so many differnt paths of endgame to enjoy that it appeals to many differnt types.

However I feel like most go for completeing the atlas, and doing enough challenges, for whatever skin they are trying to unlock that season.
Maybe do a few Ubers?

"So yeah, hopefully something carries over."

Your character doesn't die, but its moved from "whatever this league is" to standard league (graveyard of old characters).
Like 99% of POE players, don't care that seasons last 3-4 months, and thats it.
When your character is moved to standard, you go on to play the new season, with new mechanics and content.
You can recreate your "old" character if you wanted, in the new league.

Honestly I love running the champagne and trying differnt builds.
I get some crazy idea, and just go try it out.
its part of the charm and appeal of POE, and why it can last so long.
Plus every so often, theres new abilities (skill gems) (support gems), changes to acensions, balance changes ect ect.
So its often fresh..... and you watch some youtuber (like mathil : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaP100kTBB_WGM9IiF73yw )
Do something silly, and your like "I gotta try that, it looks fun".