Corto81

I gotta say that combat in PoE has been largely unenjoyable, even after I got a decent grasp on it. And yes, a huge factor is a lack of feedback. I can't tell you the number of times I ended up casting Knockdown on my Rogue because I didn't notice the skill didn't catch when my fighter was casting it. As others have mentioned, the toons are piled on top of each other, and the mobs just warp to your party unless instantly CCed, it makes is very hard to read what's actually going on. There is a good amount of information coming back at the player (mousing over enemies gives you a ton of information), but somehow I found most of the information coming to you is largely pointless, and the vital feedback, the basic stuff, is just not there. ... I'm not sure if I'm being too harsh, I backed this project and I believe in it.... But there's no need to reinvent the wheel sometimes, IE combat feedback was great and worked. Completely changing it for the sake of being "different" might just be stretching it IMO.

I read and watched your impressions on combat, UI etc., and I agree with pretty much everything. I understand how cleric spells work, I just never found the "list" of spells available etc. - if there is one?

Hi guys, Been trying to find some early beta impressions all in one place, but I don't think there is one. I'm mostly looking to compare my impressions with other folk, how they saw this early bit of the game. If people are interested, we could make a thread for it, keep it clean and simple, see how it goes. Anyway, my impressions: Artstyle/Atmosphere/Graphics: - artstyle and atmosphere are great (though I do wish for slightly more diversity on items) - graphics are pretty "meh" to be honest, characters are hard to distinguish from the ground at times, trees and grass are still as ice, etc. - music was pretty good, but I didn't find it "great" Customization/classes: - I like the classes, the customization needs some more work IMO - armor looks nice, though no mouse-over stats is extremely annoying Gameplay: - without messing around, I found the stamina/health system pretty awful. Even after I finally understood it, I definitely didn't like it. - UI is very unintuitive... I managed to find wizard spells (Grimoire) after 4 hours, and after 12 hours I still have no clue where to find Cleric spells, nor how to destroy items, etc. - stats need work overhaul IMO. No reason why everyone should skill Might... Make DEX the damage attribute for Rogues or something, INT for mages etc. More usefulness for other stats... Right now, you pour everything in Might and CON, with minimial investement in other stats, you're much better off than some sort of an all-around build - I'm not gonna go too much into the bugs, and stuff that's obviously unfinished, but the character/group selection and movement should be fixed ASAP, it makes for a very frustrating experience and makes the game not fun (IMO) Combat: - enemy mobs move too fast, they warp to you - AOE spells are largely useless because of it, unless you manage to CC the mobs on the first go - AI needs work - mobs just stack on the tank in most cases - like it's been said already, it feels too fast, too bursty... IE games were about strategy and theorycrafting and adjusting, not action-game style burst damage - I see where they're going, I see the potential, but I didn't like it Comparison to IE games (I think this is important, it was a huge selling point to backers, me included): - I mostly dig it, though the game needs a LOT of work - I don't see them smoothing everything out by the end of 2014... Spring 2015 is what i'm expecting now - I didn't care for certain (unnecessary) changes - the aforementioned health/stamina, Sneak/Scout is definitely weaker than the old Stealth/Disarm mechanic, and no pickpocketing is pretty weak (I know a lot of people never used it in IE games, but there are a good number of people who did) ... All in all, I'm a backer and I believe in the final product, but there's still a lot of work here to be done, but in smoothing out content and removing the (numerous) bugs, and I truly believe they'll have to rework some gameplay/design decision in order for the game to be fully enjoyable. I don't mind waiting til 2016 if need be to see a finished, complete product, I just hope OE doesn't run out of funds to do it properly.

Question is if they have enough money for it. I don't think there's enough time or money for it, sadly. Still, if the game pans out like we all hope it will, I don't think it'll matter.

Had this happen to me too. One of the non-boss dudes one-shotted my entire party (one by one) on several re-loads. It got to the point when I was wondering if I was underleveled of something. I managed to identify and swarm the guy (after turning the difficulty to "Easy"), and win the fight. But yes, Deep Wounds definitely seems bugged there.

Is this happening to just people's character or the companions as well? For me, it's just my main toon... Keeps losing his secondary set weapons.

Quite honestly, I don't like the stamina/health system, it's very messy and unintuitive and unecessarily overcomplicated. Simple HP system has worked for every game in RPG history, I don't see a need to change it. But... As it is, it's unlikey they'll change it, so at least fine-tuning it would be nice. Right now, it's lacking... Both in design and in feedback (tooltips etc.).

The Good: - ambient and feel - writing and dialogue - music The Meh: - character models need work... they're too... ordinary, sometimes even hard to tell apart from the surroundings - group and combat controls... half the time I end up casting a spell on my own guy, it's very clunky and just needs work - all damage coming from Might, no matter the class? Needs re-working IMO. The Bad: - stamina/health.... sometimes overcomplicating things is bad... Why not just regular Health, every game in history used it. - inventory management... after 2 hours I still haven't figured out how to destroy items etc. (obviously, finished icons will helps a great deal here once the game is done) Overall... I'm past the giddy excitement at this point. I fully support OE in this and they're doing a great job... But IMO, this still needs a LOT of work.

March 18th, 2015. I'll be very surprised if it's released before Q2 2015. They have a LOT of work to do, from implementing icons to combat balance to possibly re-designing certain game mechanics (stamina/health feels awful, pretty sure they'll change that at some point).

How does the beta work exactly, for the backers who had beta in their tier? Do we get the key per e-mail or something? (got nothing yet)