In the interview with the creators of Path of Exile, MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus had a little chat – with interesting results. The bosses explain that the game, considered super-complex, is not that difficult to understand, just simply too old. The same problem affects most service games, like the 20-year-old MMORPG World of Warcraft.
Recently, I had the chance to chat with Mark Roberts, Game Director of Path of Exile, and Jonathan Rogers, Creative Director of Path of Exile 2. The main topics of the presentation were:
- the new expansion of Path of Exile, which is especially suitable for newcomers
- and the new class and the delay of Path of Exile 2.
In the following conversation with the two, I probed a little deeper. I love action RPGs, but Path of Exile has never captivated me. It always felt too complex, a bit too harsh to enjoy.
I shared this impression with the two, and to my surprise, they agreed, at least partially.
I was allowed to see the Ranger in action during the presentation, the newest class in PoE 2:
Path of Exile is not too hard, just grew too much over the years
We got on the topic because of the recent success of Last Epoch, which is seen by many players as “better than Diablo 4, easier than Path of Exile“. Therefore, I asked: “Have you ever thought about creating an Easy Mode for PoE, allowing the game to choose certain things by itself?”
Rogers’ response was surprisingly detailed:
I just recently spoke to Mark about this. The discussion was: If Path of Exile were to launch today in its current state, would it still have the same [good] reputation? We then thought: Last Epoch feels partly so easy because the community has not yet optimized it to hell. […] When you know there are people doing a million DPS, you feel inferior with your 100,000 – even though you are really breezing through the content. Then it feels like there is a level of complexity simply because for some reason, people want to optimize as much as others.
The other part is that Path of Exile has simply existed for so long. A lot of content is available, and this content can be used to improve a build in some way. That feeling of needing to interact with everything to really get everything out of it, that’s actually not the case. You don’t have to do everything; you can just play the game and do what you enjoy.
I think the question is not whether you want an Easy Mode in the game or whether the game should make decisions for you. The issue is rather that a game with so much content feels complex […] and I am sure that in 10 years, when Last Epoch has had many expansions, people will not say that it is an easy game. That’s just the reality of a game that has been around for so long.
Jonathan Rogers
Path of Exile and World of Warcraft have the same problem
What Jonathan Rogers said reminded me, as a long-time WoW player, of my favorite MMORPG. A lot has changed over the 20 years it has been on the market. Even MeinMMO demon Cortyn says: WoW is too hard for newcomers.
And not only that, in trying to stay fresh, Blizzard has continually tweaked and revamped existing systems. Cool for veterans, but eventually incomprehensible for newcomers. So much so that fans now wish for fewer skills for all classes.
It is especially difficult for newcomers to get into the game when they consult established players. Because anyone who has been playing WoW for years obviously knows which content is the best, what should be ignored, or which addons are must-have. Simply discovering the game is hardly possible as a newbie.
The bosses of Path of Exile share my impression and discuss their experiences with the action RPG. Mark Roberts responds: “Exactly! Here are the 600 addons you need.”
At a certain point, a game simply needs a kind of restart. Rogers says about this:
“That is one of the reasons why Path of Exile 2 is so great. We have a certain level of reset, where I am sure people will find it easier than Path of Exile 1. And while I am sure that is partly true, I do not think it is easier [in the way] people will claim it to be.”
Jonathan Rogers
After a delay, Path of Exile will go into beta at the earliest by the end of the year, then in release quality
, as the boss promises. Quite a bit of gameplay is already known, but there is still a lack of polish. However, the creators are sure of one thing: Path of Exile 2 intentionally avoids the success formula of Diablo 4 – Players should only pay if they really want to
