Path of Exile - Donate for permanent access to the Closed Beta

[woges]

Grinding Gear Games now have the donation page they were talking about during the stress test weekend.

We’re looking to kickstart Path of Exile and we need your help.
We’re a small game studio in New Zealand composed entirely of Action RPG fans. For the last five years our focus has been on designing an online game with maximum player choice and strategic freedom. Following the public stress test weekend, we received hundreds of requests for the ability to donate for permanent access to the Closed Beta.
Path of Exile is completely free to download and play. We never intend to charge for content or access to the released game, but we are happy to offer early Beta access for those who support us during this important time. In order to fund the development and continued expansion of Path of Exile, we offer a range of ethical microtransactions that allow you to distinguish yourself in the world of Wraeclast without receiving any gameplay advantage. We are completely opposed to the concept of “pay2win”.
On this page, you can pre-purchase Points used to buy cosmetic microtransactions. Every purchase comes with a Closed Beta key so that you (or a friend) can start playing immediately. In addition to the Points, we offer a wide selection of exclusive rewards such as in-game pets, shipped copies of the game, its soundtrack, posters and even the chance to help design a Unique item that will be added to the game.
Thank you very much for your support!

More information.

 

[Hunter42]

Hi,

I did that and I must say, after playing the Diablo III beta, this one (Path of Exile) looked much more impressive. The game looks better, the skill tree is amazing. I had lots of fun (but I leveled the Templar only to Lvl 4 and my witch to Lvl 2).

Of cause, this is only a first impression and says nothing about the final version/balance /long term fun.

Just my 2 cents....

Michael


P.S.: Played this one without a problem in my Parallels desktop with my Mid 2011 iMac (high resolution). Technically the game seems to be VERY stable (especially considering it is a Beta)

 

[basharran]

Game looks very good, plays very nicely and will be totally free on release. Nice way to support this developer with only 10 USD for a splendid modern Diablo 2 game!

 

[rich ruffo]

Yup, this game gets better and better with every patch. They have nice phyiscal stuff when you pledge they listen to what the fans want. When you play the game you feel guilty that its free , very fun and addictive. If someone wants a beta key let me know i have one left.

 

[turian]

this game lacks in innovation

 

[Kirk]

I've played a couple POE characters up into the 20's and have just barely gotten into Act 2. I didn't play much Diablo but I've played through Titan Quest many times. The POE game has some innovations compared to TQ.
- In TQ, I'd end up with millions of useless gold pieces. POE has a barter system. Instead of gold you have loot that when stacked actually have useful abilities.
- In TQ, I never bothered to look at non-magical loot so there was no point in it being in the game. POE has orbs that can turn a non-magical item into a rare magical item.
- In TQ, I had to choose two class skill trees I wanted available to the character. POE lets you spend points on any skill that you want to provided you can navigate a path to it in the skill tree.
- In TQ, you could enhance gear with items similar to POEs gems. POE takes it a little further with gems gaining levels, support gems, and the ability to enchance gem quality.

So I think it unfair to say that it lacks innovation. It has many small improvements to the genre that I really appreciate and it could possibly unseat Titan Quest as my favorite action rpg.

 

[Oneiromancer]

Path of Exile is a great game from my short time in the open weekend. The skill gem system seems like the Materia system from Final Fantasy 7, while the passive skill trees are like the one in Final Fantasy 10 (and to a lesser extent, 13). I know this site focuses on "Western" RPGs much more than Japanese ones and that is certainly the type of RPG I play the most, but I figure some people will understand my comparisons. And it does work quite well for an ARPG like this.

To build on what Kirk said about currency, check out this page: http://www.pathofexile.com/item-data/currency . I didn't see most of those items in my short time in the beta, but the ones I did see were all used as currency with the traders, as well as being useful in-game as well. I think it's a pretty unique system and gives the player a lot more interesting choices. From what I understand, the devs are concerned about inflation and want to make sure people have reasons to spend the currency even at high levels, which is good.

I doubt I'll be buying permanent beta access, but I will definitely play once the game is out.

 

[Twotricks]

Hi,

I did that and I must say, after playing the Diablo III beta, this one (Path of Exile) looked much more impressive. The game looks better, the skill tree is amazing. I had lots of fun (but I leveled the Templar only to Lvl 4 and my witch to Lvl 2).

Of cause, this is only a first impression and says nothing about the final version/balance /long term fun.

Just my 2 cents….

Michael


P.S.: Played this one without a problem in my Parallels desktop with my Mid 2011 iMac (high resolution). Technically the game seems to be VERY stable (especially considering it is a Beta)

You played only to lvl 4 ... than you didnt see nothing yet.

I am so glad i whined about their forums to let me in closed beta

 

[Hunter42]

You played only to lvl 4 … than you didnt see nothing yet.

I am so glad i whined about their forums to let me in closed beta

I agree. Nevertheless, the feeling is much better than Diablo III (where I finished the beta).

Michael

 

[Daroou]

I've got a lvl 24 duelist. It's a fun game with nice graphics. I agree with the noted innovations above. The combat is fun, the world is well designed, etc etc.. That said, the game relies on its one core combat mechanic. It doesn't offer anything besides loot, leveling up, exploration and combat. I don't need story, but it would be nice to have more choice and less linearity in gameplay. Even something as simple as offering different dungeon types, like the 'roguelike' RPG's offer, would be nice. And that brings me to what I believe is the game's achilles heel.

There just isn't much world content to explore. They are saying they'll have Act 3 done for release. So how much gameplay in total are we talking about? Will there more sandboxy dungeons that scale and randomize everything? Again, the roguelikes have 100+ level dungeons that randomize and scale loot and creatures. That would be great to see if it happens and I'd be all over that. But as it is now I don't see them even being close to that amount of content.

 

[zz]

They can easily add infinite dungeons to this game. The main game world already operates the same way in terms of scaling.

I'll have to wait until they fix the crashing issues though.

 

[redman5427]

I played all weekend and I love the game. Enough to support and buy three beta keys. Here's the thing. This game has development ongoing and they admit they are not even close to being done. It's a free game with a cash store and that will allow them to keep adding acts and other parts of gameplay that due to the NDA I can't talk about. You will have to wait for a paid expansion for Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 while one for this game could come with a patch. According to an email I got they are changing some core components but mums the word right now. My interest in this game is such that I don't feel a need to follow the other games right now at all.

 

[rune_74]

I really like thelook of the game...I'm already in the closed beta.