In Path of Exile 2, new players have had enough. They are annoyed by the developers’ attitude towards trading.
What feature is being discussed? The new players, who were drawn to Path of Exile 2 as a successor to the popular ARPG brand, are disappointed with the developers. The reason for this is the absence of a trading and auction house system in Path of Exile 2.
While new players were initially overwhelmed by the conservative “That’s how it’s always been” faction, it now seems that the moment has come when the mood is boiling over.
Do you already know this NPC in Path of Exile 2?
Players have had enough
What is the situation in the community? The mood among new players is poor. The majority of gamers are already in the endgame and can only improve their character through trading on the external website of Path of Exile 2. Many gamers find this extremely irritating because this method takes a long time and involves many risks.
Moreover, players feel that the grind for currency items is not worth it. They would prefer to manage upgrades for their character independently, for example, through a crafting system (via Reddit).
Especially among new gamers, it seems that a tipping point has now been reached, as posts with many upvotes regarding the trading topic appear almost daily in the Reddit forum of the ARPG. The tone is always similar:
- The current trading system via an external website is cumbersome.
- There are many scammers trying to steal items from new players.
- Bots dominate the system and constantly scan the market to snatch items at the best prices.
- There is no alternative to trading after a certain point in the game.
- A crafting system to improve one’s character is missing.
- An auction house could solve many problems at once.
This opinion also appears repeatedly in the MeinMMO comments:
- Kiky writes there: “An auction house in such a complex game is a must. No ifs or buts. I have stopped for now and will let GGG [editor’s note: the developers of PoE2] improve the game in peace. LE as an indie studio managed to do it, and the two big players are as stubborn as little children.”
- Kozrek knows the trading issue: “I have tried to trade items multiple times. To get a specific unique helmet, I had to message over 30–40 people before finally getting a response. Every time, the item had just been listed a maximum of 5 minutes ago and the seller was online. It’s a joke to message people for hours; in that time, one could have leveled up significantly…”
- For Pinklady, it’s enough: “No auction house = No PoE 2. Plain and simple.”
Why aren’t the developers making changes? The responsible people at Grinding Gear Games are well aware of the gamers’ desire. The developers are repeatedly confronted in interviews (via YouTube Zizaran) and by players in forums and on Reddit with requests for a solution to the problem.
Users often refer to the official trade manifesto, which has documented the developers’ ideas regarding trading and explains why trading in Path of Exile functions as it does.
However, a solution still seems to be elusive. This could slowly become a downfall for the developers, as some players are already turning their backs on PoE2 with the new Season 7 of Diablo 4. It remains to be seen whether the developers can deliver a solution quickly enough or if they will lose the newly gained players at this point to Diablo 4: The new Season 7 of Diablo 4 gives fans of Path of Exile 2 exactly what they want
