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[Nillo]

Let's make a list of character names so TIGers can join each other's parties for happy fun times.

I'm playing Arythea the Witch in the default league. She was originally intended to be a summoner, but I rerolled at around level 15 after realizing that minions are obnoxious (they have the same model as the enemies, they can't really tank anything, etc...) and now I'm playing her as a traditional spell-based witch with fireballs and freezing pulses and stuff.

[Netsu]

The game is a very accurate D2 clone, awkward running animations included.
Haven't played that much so far, I leveled a marauder to 21 or something, char name is Netsol.

[Alevice]

My HC died due to my own stupidity and arrogance, so now he is on Default league. His name's AleviceJones and he is a dual wielding Duelist. Reached Cruel difficulty last night.

I kinda dig the game has uncensored genitalia in the corpses appearing on the last level.

[Landshark RAWR]

I usually only play with a couple of other people on my hardcore character (BusyLittleBear). but i have a default league character at around level 15 (LandsharkRAWR) He is a bow shadow that focuses on trap use

[Nillo]

It's really hard to think of a good name for your character in this game. I come up with the most obscure shit, and I'm continually amazed at how almost everything is already taken. Iosa? Enshadu? Shyssiryxius? Nope.

[Alevice]

You set hardcore mode by switching to hardcore league during character creation

[Nillo]

Bumping this thread to tell you all that Path of Exile is amazing and has improved immensely over time. Summoners in particular are way more fun to play now and there are tons of skills to choose from, like flaming skulls and animated weapons and all sorts of cool shit. Strongboxes, corrupted items, and now the Forsaken Masters are all brilliant ideas that add a lot of depth to the game.

With the most recent addition of Masters you can do randomized missions for NPCs that you find scattered throughout the levels. Each mission gives you some reputation with that master, and if you get enough you unlock a hideout which you can decorate and use as your headquarters. Masters can be invited to your hideout to act as vendors, selling very useful items. They also give you a crafting bench which you can use to put specific mods on your items, like +phys damage or +all resistances. Gaining more reputation unlocks more crafting options, increases the hideout size (allowing you to invite more masters) and improves the selection of items you can buy from them. The reputation is global on your account, which encourages you to make a lot of characters and have them work together to gain the greatest bonuses.

[s0]

i should really get back to this game because i remember enjoying it

[Blademasterbobo]

i really wanted to like this game, but the fov / lack of respeccing killed it for me :I

[Nillo]

There is respeccing, it's just intentionally made difficult to encourage building new characters rather than reworking existing ones if you want to make significant changes to your playstyle.

For active skills, they come in the form of gems which you equip on your character. This means that switching from one active skill to another is very easy compared to most other games in the genre (i.e. Torchlight). However, your passive build may orient your character towards the use of a particular category of skills. If you've invested in fire passives, then you're limited to choosing between different fire skills, and in my opinion that's perfectly fine. It allows you to develop a "fire identity" for a character without limiting yourself to, say, the use of Fireballs instead of Firestorms.

For passives, you can change them around to an extent. Some quests give you "respec points" which can be spent on getting back wrongly allocated points. You can also use any number of Orbs of Regret to gain more respec points. There is no limit to how many respecs you can get this way, but it is highly expensive in terms of currency, so you're better off making a new character if you want to change your fire caster to an ice caster... which IMO is also fine.

Lastly, it should be noted that the game often receives patches which significantly alter the skill tree, and when this happens, everyone gets a full passive reset to adapt to the changes. This means that if you're patient, you can actually completely remake your character for free by taking advantage of a full reset, and I have done this myself a couple of times.

[Blademasterbobo]

yeah i don't have the time nor the patience for that

[Nillo]

yeah i don't have the time nor the patience for that

Fair enough. Path of Exile is by no means a game of instant satisfaction; it takes some time before the mechanics "click", and some research has to be done in order to create a strong build. I think it caters to the hardcore crowd who is prepared to put in that effort, compared to games like Diablo 3 which guide the player through the experience.

I actually think it's charming when a game allows me to completely fuck up. Like how in Magicka when you cast a boulder spell and select yourself as the target, it actually crushes you under the weight of the boulder, because that's how the spell works. When things like that happen, it just makes me feel more like I'm in control of my own destiny.

[Alevice]

I control my own destiny enough to admit that the only notable problem with poe is that builds can fuck you up in the very long term if chosen poorly.

[Blademasterbobo]

yeah it's not about instant satisfaction, it's about 20+ hours thrown away beyond the normal amount of thrown away time a video game entails, just because their f2p model or some nerd ideology prevents them from implementing a proper respec system.

also lets not understate the fov issue, it legit gives me a headache to play the game haha

i really liked everything else about it, but  

[Nillo]

yeah it's not about instant satisfaction, it's about 20+ hours thrown away beyond the normal amount of thrown away time a video game entails, just because their f2p model or some nerd ideology prevents them from implementing a proper respec system.

also lets not understate the fov issue, it legit gives me a headache to play the game haha

i really liked everything else about it, but  

It's not just a nerd ideology, it's an essential component of character customization. If the player could change their skill points at any time then their character would not have an identity. They would be just like any other character of that class.

If you've played Diablo 3, then you'll know a common complaint about the game is that every character of a class is fundamentally similar. If you and I both create a Witch Doctor and get to level 60 with it, then the result of that journey is exactly the same. There's nothing your Witch Doctor can do that mine cannot. The only difference is what gear they've got equipped (and the gear in D3 is also quite bland, but that's beside the point).

As for the POV issue, I must admit I had to look up the term because I didn't know what it meant until you said it. I can't say I think much about the camera when I play video games, so I have no comment there.

[s0]

It's not just a nerd ideology, it's an essential component of character customization. If the player could change their skill points at any time then their character would not have an identity. They would be just like any other character of that class.

If you've played Diablo 3, then you'll know a common complaint about the game is that every character of a class is fundamentally similar. If you and I both create a Witch Doctor and get to level 60 with it, then the result of that journey is exactly the same. There's nothing your Witch Doctor can do that mine cannot. The only difference is what gear they've got equipped (and the gear in D3 is also quite bland, but that's beside the point).

there are a few genres that don't benefit from streamlining. the diablo genre is one of them, because, let's be honest here, the "core mechanics" (aka clicking on monsters to level up) are really boring. character customization was really one of the main reasons diablo 2 was so much fun.

[Blademasterbobo]

you can still maintain that feeling and have better respecing. it's not a binary thing, there's a spectrum for how difficult it has to be. diablo 2 had some points you could respec at and nobody whined about that.

[Netsu]

D3 has taken streamlining to the extreme, by reducing greatly the amount of customisation and then removing any commitment from the remaining choices.
Haven't played PoE for a while, so dunno how respecing works there, but receiving a free respec at specific points in story/character levels seems to me to be the best solution.

[Landshark RAWR]

path of exile gives you points throughout to remove individual points, also orbs of regret. you can also change your choice for the act 2 bandit quest if you want

[Nillo]