In a 3.5-hour podcast, the lead developer of Path of Exile, Chris Wilson, addressed the concerns of the upset community. The last patch 3.15 caused a lot of discontent among players as it significantly increased the difficulty of the game. We at MeinMMO summarize.
Why the podcast? With the last major update, the Expedition league started, which drastically changed the difficulty of the game. Some builds lost up to 40% damage. However, it appears that not all changes were planned, and many of them were not well received by the community.
Apparently, Path of Exile lost about 30% of its revenue after Expedition, as Chris mentions in the podcast, mostly due to the changes in this update. So far, developer Grinding Gear Games has held back and provided few answers to fans. In this podcast, Chris wants to answer all questions from the community.
What kind of podcast is this? This podcast is the 75th episode of “Baeclast,” a podcast hosted by YouTuber and community member Tarke Cat. The Twitch streamers and PoE experts Octavian, RaizQT, Nugiyen, and ZiggyD joined the podcast and talked with lead developer Chris Wilson about the current state of the game.
In this video, you can watch the full 3.5 hours:
“We don’t like the changes ourselves”
What does Chris Wilson say? Apart from the topics of Path of Exile 2 and the long-term future of Path of Exile, a possible hardcore mode is being discussed. But the main topic is the changes from Expedition (also known as Patch 3.15), which ones were good and which were bad.
Chris mentions, among other things, that they wanted to pack all nerfs into one patch, and they became negligent during planning, doing more nerfs than they should have. However, he is very satisfied with some other changes. He particularly apologizes for the faulty communication between the community and the developers.
It’s difficult. When I look at the live stream we did for Expedition, I stand fully behind all the statements. They are all correct. But they were not received as we thought. It would be easy to say that you all misunderstood it, but the mistake was ours. We expressed ourselves poorly, and we are sorry.
He talks about addressing some of the changes again with the upcoming updates 3.16 and 3.17 and partly reversing them. A very important topic for the community is thus the changes to mana and flasks, which are potions that grant a short-term bonus and must then be replenished through kills. Wilson also criticizes the speed of Path of Exile.
We talked about [the new Flask system] in a conference, and I have to admit, we just completely failed. The changes do not achieve what we wanted; they simply do not work, and we don’t like them. […] If our game is now running at 1500% [speed], we want to reach about 800%. We want you to really fight. Current builds kill enemies that you can’t even see on the screen. That isn’t fun.
What do the pros say? He receives strong criticism from the professionals in the round for this statement. The streamer Nugiyen accuses GGG of saying one thing but doing another, focusing particularly on tank builds and people who want to play especially slower.
You want to slow down the game; I can understand that, but currently, you are doing nothing for it. Your changes to the flasks even have the opposite effect. If I kill monsters faster, I can use flasks faster and kill monsters even faster. You are not making the game slower when you nerf strong speed builds; you have to give slow builds a chance to exist. Many fans want to play slower, they want to take their time, but the current meta simply does not allow that. You need to fundamentally revise how flasks recharge, not just how they can be activated.
In this video, you can see the trailer for the latest update:
Developer promises: “No further nerfs”
What’s next? In the next update 3.16, extensive changes to the flask system are again planned. You should be able to obtain the flasks you need more easily. Additionally, proactive and reactive flasks will be treated differently by modifications in the future to support more playstyles.
The GGG team also wants to take a closer look at other changes and reinforce some of them. Chris Wilson promises, however, that there will be no further nerfs to any mechanics in the near future.
We wanted to make a big patch that changes everything so players don’t have to adapt four times in a row. We nerfed everything we wanted. Absolutely everything. There will be no more nerfs in the near future, neither in Patch 3.16 nor in Patch 3.17. Everything that comes now makes you stronger again.
What’s this about the masochist mode? Chris also talks about an extremely hard mode that might find its way into the game. The idea came to the team during the changes from 3.15. If this mode actually comes to Path of Exile, it should be completely voluntary and truly extremely hard. Chris Wilson explains it as follows:
It should be a mode where you genuinely rejoice over a blue item. Where you come to town with 3 orbs and not with 50. Gear should gain enormous importance here, and stats cannot simply be changed. Here you must cope with what you find and should rejoice over every item. Even for experienced players, Act 1 will be a challenge. Act 3 will be cursed hard, and I haven’t made it to the maps myself yet.
However, it is still uncertain whether this mode will actually make it into the game. Chris considers it an improvement for everyone. The streamers, on the other hand, fear a split in the community, even if they themselves would love to play it.
The community finds it great
What do the players say? After severe criticism, many are pleased that Chris is stepping into the line of fire and genuinely answering all questions. The mood in the comments, whether on YouTube, reddit, or the forum, is overwhelmingly positive. The community appreciates that GGG seeks this exchange and looks forward to the future with renewed optimism.
- For example, user PCMau5 writes (via YouTube): “I have to admit, that was incredibly transparent of Chris. A game developer cannot be more honest. Facing the discussion openly and discussing new content before the next updates is […] great.”
- GoodGuyGaming3 writes (via YouTube): “I am impressed by the discussion. […] This is by far the best and most constructive interaction you will ever find while there is such tension in the community. […] This should be a model for others in the industry on how to handle your community.”
- User killy2 writes (via pathofexile.com): “After the podcast, I have an overall good feeling. Of course, it doesn’t improve the game right now, but it could get back on the right track.”
What do you think of the changes, the podcast, and the general mood in the community? Are you still playing Path of Exile, or did you stop after 3.15? How do you find the interaction with the community? Share it in the comments.
Just recently, Chris Wilson commented on Path of Exile 2 and said: “In 2 years, we will be close.”
