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The original was posted on /r/pathofexile by /u/Morinmeth on 2025-01-31 19:15:51+00:00.
Long text ahead. I usually have some hideout projects stockpiled for the community to enjoy every month, but I don't have the heart to log in, and I imagine many of us share the sentiment. I can't even say anything to ease anyone's worries, I'm just as frustrated. So I'll just write a couple of thoughts bellow, just to vent a bit.
My main problem with the PoE 1 delay, is that this is exactly what I thought would happen when it was announced that PoE 1 and 2 would be separate games instead of separate campaigns. The PR for it was communicating PoE 2 as this passion project that's going to take the genre to the next level, but the subtext of the idea is the danger of PoE 1 entering its sunset years. Everyone's expectation was that GGG could totally juggle the two games at the same time, because the assumption (also built on PR) was that the games are being developed by separate teams. But Jonathan has taken the decision to move over the PoE 1 developers on PoE 2 for some months now; that was not communicated until the cauldron burst open.
I fully get going through the ups and downs of development when going out on an endeavour such as PoE 2. I don't think any rational person expected the game, in early access, being anything near perfect. However, the decision to pull the PoE 1 devs had obvious consequences. PoE 1 would freeze, and then Christmas would hit. Now it's the 31st of January, and the game is as it was 8 months ago. And the whole "time goes where the money is" argument is one I really disagree with, because the optimal profit for GGG has always been having both games live, for different communities bleeding on each other.
In my, very insignificant and very subjective, opinion: PoE 1 is built upon three aspects: a foundation of rapid game cycles, development that has not been scared to experiment, and transparency in communication. It's this combination that brought this community together and had us buy supporter packs, because that combination built GGG into an entity you could both trust and have a blast with, in the long run. It didn't matter so much in the end, if you didn't like a league. Who cares if you didn't enjoy Kalandra or Synthesis when you get leagues like Legion, Ritual, or Affliction. You were in it for the adventure, and if you didn't like it, next league is always there. Right now, two out of three (in my head, core) aspects are non existent, and that's why it stings. There was a conscious decision to not be transparent, and the game is stagnant instead of moving. At the same time, I'm one of those people that is not fully sold on PoE 2, at least not yet. It feels as if that experiment needs a little more trial before the errors are fixed.
Remember for how long this community has been patient with quality of life issues, like trade friction, other companies would not even have the luxury to think of. That patience would not be in place, if it wasn't for all the above that made spending time in PoE 1 worth it. It sucks that we're in this place right now.
tl;dr I miss PoE 1, I would even play Talisman league right now