The current season of Path of Exile 2 is under criticism. However, the hate and vitriol have reached such proportions that fans are now standing up for the developers.
How is Path of Exile 2 doing? The new season of Path of Exile 2 had significant launch issues.
- First, there were technical problems that led to performance drops and game crashes.
- Then there was great upset over the nerfs, which many players felt were too harsh.
- In a livestream, the developers tried to explain themselves, but the fans found what was said to be unconvincing.
- The European servers also caused frustration.
- Six days after launch, a major patch was supposed to fix many issues, but it also introduced new bugs.
Many of the problems that plagued the new season “Dawn of the Hunt” at launch have now been resolved. However, recent reviews reflect that the ARPG still stands at only 40% positive ratings (via Steam). Since the patch, these ratings have been trending more positively.
In the forums, on Reddit, and in the chats of larger content creators, the frustration of players is palpable. Many posts full of anger, hate, and vitriol directed at the developers can be found. While constructive criticism is always welcome, fans are now standing up for the developers and stating that it has gone too far.
Here you can watch the trailer for the new season of Path of Exile 2:
Time to Appreciate the Work of the Developers
What do the fans say? Fans have discussed the many negative comments, messages, and posts on Reddit. In their opinion, the hate has gone too far. Post creator MomentoDemento explains on Reddit:
It has been ages since I last saw such engaged developers. So please, take a step back, even if you are upset about the recent nerfs, and think about it for a moment. The game is still in Early Access, and you acknowledged that when you purchased it on Steam.
So once again: Please have a little more patience instead of bombarding them with negative reviews and constantly complaining in the forums about the latest changes. They are clearly working incredibly hard to deliver what the community wants, and that effort deserves recognition.
It really hurts to see so much hate over just a few percentage changes. They are also people, and it is worth considering how you would feel in their place after putting everything into this project. I once again ask for more patience. I truly believe that in the end, they will deliver the best game in the genre.
The post is receiving a lot of support. For example, SecXy94 writes on Reddit: “This post and the comments shed light on something. People seem to think that feedback or criticism is synonymous with hate and bitterness. Some people are going way too far.”
How are the developers doing? Since the new season “Dawn of the Hunt” was released, the developers have added 18 patches and hotfixes within 6 days, and the trend is increasing (via PathofExile.com). In three posts in the official forum, the developers have also written about upcoming and planned changes as well as their ideas for the game.
Game Director Jonathan Rogers (seen in the title image) and Mark Roberts also appeared in a livestream with PoE2 content creator Zizaran (via YouTube) and talked for over 2 hours about their thoughts on the ARPG and answered questions from the chat. So the developers are not idle and repeatedly show that they take the players’ concerns seriously.
The developers of Path of Exile 2 have been in the public eye for years, and they know how severe a shitstorm can be from the criticism of the predecessor. However, if you plan to step into the public eye someday, you should prepare: This is how to protect yourself from hate on Twitch before you start your first stream.
