Path of Exile Free Weekend

This weekend will be another public test for Path of Exile, the upcoming indie action/RPG, as players will be offered access to the beta beginning September 14th. You can find all the details in this FAQ, and here's a bit:
So far, the much-anticipated game has raised over USD$1,200,000 in a Kickstarter-like campaign from fans buying access to the closed beta, virtual pets and pre-purchased game currency. This weekend is the opportunity for anyone to try to game for free, without having to buy a supporter pack.

The Path of Exile Beta servers will open for public access at 5pm PDT on Friday, September 14. Public access will end at 11:59pm PDT Sunday night, September 16. A full FAQ about the public weekend is available at www.pathofexile.com/publicweekend/.

When released, the game will be free to play, but will not feature ‘pay-to-win’. A previous public weekend in July attracted 55,000 players.

The latest patch adds new skills such as Arctic Breath and Ghost Reaver, additional quests, greatly improved minion functionality and a new look for item hovers.

A host of unique items have been added, including several designed by Brother Laz, author of the popular Diablo 2 mod Median XL. Over 90 fans who have purchased the USD$1000 ‘Diamond Supporter’ pack also get to design unique items for the game.

While the game is currently in a Closed Beta, fans who pre-purchase at least USD$10 of credit for the game’s ‘ethical microtransactions’ receive a beta key.
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17.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 16:53
17.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 16:53
Sep 11, 2012, 16:53
 
Prez wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 16:10:
I love ARPG's but I despise F2P games. What do I do now??

There's basically nothing about the game that indicates it's F2P besides the cash shop button. The game plays like Diablo 2.5 except it'll be free.
16.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 16:18
16.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 16:18
Sep 11, 2012, 16:18
 
Learn to compartmentalize. One part of you can play and enjoy the arpg, while the other part can hide in the corner muttering "f2p, f2p, f2p".
15.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 16:10
Prez
 
15.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 16:10
Sep 11, 2012, 16:10
 Prez
 
I love ARPG's but I despise F2P games. What do I do now??
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
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14.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 15:47
14.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 15:47
Sep 11, 2012, 15:47
 
Slashman wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 15:24:
Wowbagger_TIP wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 14:15:
Oh, I just realized I have a spare beta key. Who wants it?

I'll take it!

Just emailed it to you. Have fun
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell (I think...)
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13.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 15:24
13.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 15:24
Sep 11, 2012, 15:24
 
Wowbagger_TIP wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 14:15:
Oh, I just realized I have a spare beta key. Who wants it?

I'll take it!
12.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 14:15
12.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 14:15
Sep 11, 2012, 14:15
 
Oh, I just realized I have a spare beta key. Who wants it?
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell (I think...)
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11.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 14:14
11.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 14:14
Sep 11, 2012, 14:14
 
Ive said for months PoE is the logical update to the ARPG Genre and a terrific bunch of developers behind it.

Yours truly,

Axis
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10.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 13:16
10.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 13:16
Sep 11, 2012, 13:16
 
I won a beta key during a Twitch broadcast the other day. I had watched the game enough to become interested in it but to also be concerned with some of the perceived game-play decisions.

Well, after my first attempt at playing it, here's my observations...

1) This game CURRENTLY doesn't hold your hand in ANY way.

There is NO tutorial. You're on your own. Now, it's fairly simple enough but I did at least watch it before I played it.

2) I actually DIED TWO times at level 2! TWICE! At level 2!

I didn't die ONCE during my first 30+ levels in Diablo 3. I was in shock that a low level mob could create the damage that I experienced. I was worried the game was going to be uber hard. It's not. It was just a powerful low level mob and I had horrible gear and I played like a nOOb.

3) I played once and didn't stop playing until I hit level 10.

It became addicting once I figured out what the hell was going on. You have to make some key binding changes and setting changes to make it perfect. Not much, but once you get your settings nailed down it's a lot of fun.

4) Kiting is not a forced upon tactic.

I play a DH in Diablo 3 and I have to kite stuff all the time. I hate it. In this game, I'm playing a Ranger and I haven't kited once. Mobs appear at an acceptable pace. In D3 you can get 30-40 mobs at once. I don't think that's going to happen in this game. I've been zerged but it was at a much more enjoyable pace.

I can just dungeon crawl at the speed that I want to. Maybe that changes at higher levels, but I've watched very high level characters in high level map drops and it didn't seem to be like Inferno D3 to me.

5) The alteration of items is nice. I couldn't get a magic quiver to drop, so I took a trash one and MADE it magic! Boom, problem solved. I don't have to go in to the AH to buy one off someone else.

6) LOOT FEELS LIKE LOOT

Stuff drops that is actually useful. Not like Inferno D3 where you farm forever and forever and forever...

I haven't tried higher levels but D3's loot system is horrendous at all levels. This is where POE appears to destroy it.

7) F2P and no P2W

Winner. Graphics are better than the complaints indicate. I like the environment look over what D3 has. The water effects, the terrain looks much realer to me. I can zoom in to my character more too.

Despite this being beta I haven't encountered a bug, a glitch or any lag yet. It's fairly polished for a beta.

8) The passive skill tree which at first glance appears to be daunting is not.

It looks like it will be the thing to keep you interested for a long time. I just pick a skill or two and start working my way towards it.

You end up learning new skills at a pace that isn't too quick, a la D3. In D3 you learn stuff SO fast, you end up trying a NEW skill before you've even mastered the OLD one. They just get thrown at you too quickly. There are less skills in POE, but that is a good thing I think. The passive skills are your targets and it takes time to get them.

I plan on not reading one article about "HOW" I "SHOULD" play, I'm just going to experiment.

If you like ARPG's, you should definitely try POE.
9.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 13:08
mch
9.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 13:08
Sep 11, 2012, 13:08
mch
 
It's really not that hard to get into the beta even without paying the $10. I signed up and was let in less than a week later. A friend signed up and was accepted the same day.
8.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
8.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
 
Optional nickname wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 12:08:
we have had Diablo1, we all played it, and now there is nothing that will ever top that.

It's pretty crazy to say "nothing will ever top that." Diablo 1 is pretty just-ok with lots of annoying quirks. If you go back and ignore your nostalgia it stands up, pretty well, but isn't something that's impossible to topple.

1) More variety (in characters, skins, customization, weapons, weapon types, magic spells, skill trees, etc.)
2) Keep randomization
3) Allow offline singleplayer

It's not at all hard to beat. It's just time consuming. The biggest problem is people remember Diablo 1 but hold anything new to modern standards, so they get angry at old fashioned standards in new games even if they were in Diablo 1, and get angry at new standards because they're different than Diablo 1.

Really, if someone manages to update the gameplay in the right ways (keep the inventory, keep the offline, keep the randomization) yet increases customization and, most importantly, adds a ton of atmosphere, it'll be a winner.

I guess that's the most difficult part - atmosphere. Atmosphere was much easier back then - graphics and sound were so basic that we had to fill in blanks with our minds. Now they're so detailed that there are no blanks (perhaps part of the problem) and no room for our imagination. Few games manage to do atmosphere well for that reason. X-COM killed in atmosphere (again, lots of blanks and generic items.) Doom and Diablo killed in atmosphere. Today, who does it? Amnesia... and...?
7.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
7.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
Sep 11, 2012, 12:16
 
ASeven wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 11:00:
InBlack wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 10:53:
I tried this, but it felt so underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time...

This is nowhere near the quality of Diablo2:LOD or even D3 in its current state...

...gotta look elsewhere for that ARPG fix...

It has changed in major ways and still does, the game is pretty much unrecognizable from 3 months ago. When did you play it?

Seriously, this. The game gets better by leaps and bounds. I started playing around off and on with it several months ago. It's almost like a different game now. If you really want more, wait until open beta starts later this year, as that's when they're adding the third act to the game, but I think it's a fantastic game already, far superior to D3 in all but graphics/animation, and even those have improved from when I started. They've done a few major re-workings of the skill tree since then as well, all improvements IMO.

Try the free weekend. It's free And you can get in permanently for just $10. A total bargain for a game like this. I've already purchased a few point packs to support them, since they're very responsive to feedback and every major patch seems to be quickly followed up with a few minor ones addressing feedback on the patch.

I'm having a blast with it. Only thing that may pull me away for a while is BL2, but I'm sure I'll be going back and forth.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell (I think...)
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6.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 12:08
6.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 12:08
Sep 11, 2012, 12:08
 
PHJF wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 11:17:
PoE is about as shallow as games come. Diablo 1 has more depth and variety.

PC Gamers have been spoiled, emotionally, satisfyingly, with Diablo 1 and 2. These same gamers are being tortured mentally and spiritually, now with Diablo 3. Unfortunately, having played 1 and 2, we long and wish for a great successor to that original franchise. Here is hoping PoE will be able to change its engine along the way. but unfortunately, we have had Diablo1, we all played it, and now there is nothing that will ever top that.

Diablo 3 needs to die a horrible death, and I urge all gamers of today to boycott that corporate lab experiment. I say this because having played many games over the years, this current iteration is absolutely detremental to anyone with a gut and a brain, it is an absolute insult, as to how the AI algorithm in that game, acts as a main water tap, in the hands of some douchebags at Blizzard mission control. I could talk till I'm blue in the face about how everything is horribly wrong with Diablo3, but the problem is it's fucking Diablo! and we all wish it will be like D1 and D2, and we are in denial, I say we, those that still play it. be strong people, abondon ship, and just think of good memories of D1 and D2.

1.2 million raised from kickstarter, that's pretty beans, and here is hoping many more will join such ventures, and topple giants such as EA, UBI, and Blizzard, but don't become like them in the long haul.

PC gaming, we are riding a very very defunct wave right now, let it pass, allow the shitstorms to settle, and hope for new seeds to bring us new great games.

This comment was edited on Sep 11, 2012, 12:15.
5.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 11:17
PHJF
 
5.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 11:17
Sep 11, 2012, 11:17
 PHJF
 
PoE is about as shallow as games come. Diablo 1 has more depth and variety.
Steam + PSN: PHJF
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4.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 11:15
LOC
4.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 11:15
Sep 11, 2012, 11:15
LOC
 
Also, they aren't Blizzard and don't have millions upon millions to polish a game until it shines like a jewel. They have to rely on us gamers to help them test and shine up their game. And they sure do listen us, and they change their game in response to most of the criticisms we've levied on the game.
3.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 11:13
3.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 11:13
Sep 11, 2012, 11:13
 
InBlack wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 10:53:
I tried this, but it felt so underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time...

This is nowhere near the quality of Diablo2:LOD or even D3 in its current state...

...gotta look elsewhere for that ARPG fix...

This is so incredibly wrong.

Yes, the graphics aren't up to D3's standard but everything else is clearly better. There's not a hint of catering to stupid players in this game and the item system is incredibly interesting and addicting. Also, say what you will about the art style, but at least it doesn't look like a Disney cartoon (Torchlight 2).

If anyone out there wonders why the masses are obsessed with the latest shallow action RPG (GW2 or D3) then this is for you.
2.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 11:00
2.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 11:00
Sep 11, 2012, 11:00
 
InBlack wrote on Sep 11, 2012, 10:53:
I tried this, but it felt so underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time...

This is nowhere near the quality of Diablo2:LOD or even D3 in its current state...

...gotta look elsewhere for that ARPG fix...

It has changed in major ways and still does, the game is pretty much unrecognizable from 3 months ago. When did you play it?
1.
 
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend
Sep 11, 2012, 10:53
1.
Re: Path of Exile Free Weekend Sep 11, 2012, 10:53
Sep 11, 2012, 10:53
 
I tried this, but it felt so underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time...

This is nowhere near the quality of Diablo2:LOD or even D3 in its current state...

...gotta look elsewhere for that ARPG fix...
I have a nifty blue line!
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