Sooooo……..should I start it?
 

What's the Watch consensus?

Due to the normal RL distractions (work, family, blah blah blah) I haven't yet been able to start PoE. This weekend was supposed to be THE weekend. I cleared my schedule of most priorities and I was planning on spending most of the next two days playing PoE. But now I'm not sure. After reading the forums here discussing the bugs, especially the disappointment of these bugs (Fluent), I'm not sure I should jump in just yet.

I've also got my MMX playthough going on. I've got about 30 hours in, I'm in Act III about to enter the Karthal Sewers. I've got momentum going here and I'd hate to pause this game just to play a PoE that is riddled with bugs.

So should I wait till I finish MMX? I'm feeling very indecisive right now. My favorite part of playing games are the first few hours when everything is fresh and new.

Many issues have been patched by the most recent update but I'm personally still waiting for the next patch or two just to be sure. And, following that, waiting on the IE UI mod to be updated for the respective version.

tbh, even though I love the game, I've been starting and stopping it. Part of the reason is because I'm playing on hard and combat get's to be a challenge..which is good. I don't feel like starting it up and trying the same thing again just yet.

If your experience is anything like mine, then I say definitely fire it up. I can say it hasn't taken over my life (yet).

I would definitely say go for it. As Drithius mentioned, the most serious issues have already been dealt with, and surprisingly, there weren't that many to begin with. I don't really see much point in holding off - the game is already in a very fine state and quite stable.

I would take Fluent's comments with a heaping shovel of salt, as myself and others who have played the game here would say that they were a vast overreaction and centered around his personal displeasure over minor balance tweaks making his guidebook "obsolete."

On one hand, the game is bloody brilliant. I mean it. It's one of the best RPGs in the past 15 years!

On the other hand, yes, you may run into bugs. Some of them game-breaking. And of course, they seem set on continuing to tweak the balance and things like that in the game.

If you're okay with the second paragraph, then by all means, go for it. If you're having fun with MMX, you might want to wait for another patch or 2…

The "game-breaking bugs" seem to be quite uncommon, the balance stuff very minor. Thus, the salt i mentioned.

The balance is still being tweaked, period. So one day you might be experiencing one thing, the next it will be different. If you like that, play the game. if you don't, wait.

P.S. I have a gamebreaking bug that may not have been addressed in the patch. Since I can't test it yet, I'm not sure. I will report back later if it has indeed been fixed.

The game is patching on Steam for me now. Note that GoG apparently have not released the patch for those of you who used that service. As far as I can see, this fixes all the major bugs.

If you start playing now with 1.03 you should be all good. The game is fantastic and worth playing ASAP.

Go for it. I've been playing it a lot since day 1, only experienced 1 bug so far myself (at least that I could notice). Really great game.

While I want to fully say go for it, and you should, if you're having fun with MMX why not finish that and then jump into PoE? I know I personally find it very hard to get back into games that I've left at some point well after the beginning. Eternity will still be just as great at some future point in time, not to mention that you'll have the added bonus of some patching.

I paused my MMX playthrough because I had been looking forward to it's release greatly. If you think you'll like it more than MMX, play it. You can always go back to MMX at some point.

I think the game is fine for a first playthrough, given the usual reservations with a large RPG near release.

Unless, of course, you're very young and inexperienced - in which case it might be a shock that complex software developed with limited time and resources, is going to have some issues that could potentially hinder your progress. Also, it helps to have a million players testing your game - and that will be a bit more useful in terms of feedback than a few hundred players. Of course, I'm not referring to a specific genius on the Watch here *cough* ;)

I'd definitely recommend spreading out your savegames - and not relying on quicksaves alone, but veteran players will already know about the risks involved without manual saves.

But there's really no rational reason to start now, and I have absolutely no doubt the experience will be significantly improved in 6 months or so.

So, if you're not dying to play - just wait until things are polished and balanced, and I bet there'll be some convenient mods available at that time, too.

If you're currently in a game and having fun, finish it first before starting another.

I'd give the same advice independet from current or (state of the) future game.

Can't really tell you what's right for you. I typically wait for all patches, tweaks and content.

I play a few hours usually to get a feel for the game and then shelve it.

After a few hours of POE, I'm not getting the whole OMG it's the best game ever feel that most are getting though. So shelving it won't be hard.

Also if you've only got 2 days it might be better to finish MMX. I don't think you can get through POE in 2 days.

So after much deliberation (and several Yuenglings) I've decided to finish MMX before I start PoE. I seem incapable of playing more than one RPG at a time, so if I did start PoE, that would mean MMX would be put on hold for at least a month, probably longer. If I know myself, (and I do) I would probably end up never finishing MMX.

Just to tease myself though, I installed PoE last night and went through character creation. I loved all the ethnic and disposition choices available. I hope they show up in the game as more than just stat boosts. (NPC reactions, etc.) I have to say I wasn't all that impressed with the character portraits though. Looks like one of the first things I'll be doing is how to import new portraits.

Edit: My wife and kids were supposed to go out of town this weekend to visit my mother in law, hence my plans for weekend long gaming. Alas, my wife came down with strep throat and had to cancel the trip, so I'm playing nurse this weekend instead.

That's what late nights and caffeine is for when they're all asleep! Hope your wife feels better soon.