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A good friend of mine introduced me to LE recently. As much as it is early access, it feels like a an astonishingly well made ARPG and is truly a breath of fresh air in comparison to Diablo 2 Resurrected/3 and Path of Exile. I have an embarrassingly large amount of hours on both Diablo and POE, and it is quite clear that LE has done a fantastic job being a middle ground between the these two huge franchises while still being true to its own distinctive theme/class builds and systems.
If Diablo 3 is the "too casual, easy mode, oversaturated uniques" end of the spectrum, and POE is the "hardcore, basement-dweller, min/max" version on the other side - LE has struck me as being the perfect in between by bringing in what works best from both worlds. I could rant on all these elements, but this post is just about the aspect of trade as it becomes a hot topic within this community due to a potential trade system introduction.
One of the things LE has done a great job in executing, to me as a new player, is the drop rate for uniques. LE has really reinvigorated my love and chase for the dopamine hit of a new exciting item dropping off a monster you just slayed. The game, in its current state, does not distort this aspect of the ARPG genre, the way that D3 and POE have done.
The survey has a question that asked players what drop rate reduction would be appropriate with the introduction of trade. This question alone is the reason why I am making this post.
D3 essentially schedules your drops to be guaranteed at the end of a greater rift while dropping an excessive amount, causing a routine diminishing feeling to the drop excitement. This turns the game into a casino slot machine disguised as an ARPG.
More importantly with respect to trade, POE for the average player, has an incredibly vast unique item pool combined with a much lower drop rate, causing very few of the drops to be usable and are instead just flipped for currency (if it is not just a currency drop itself). Due to the existence of trade in this game, this turns the game into a crafting/currency grind for the majority of the end game where players will just buy and trade for desired endgame items as opposed to finding them organically. This is mostly true for D2R as well. I say this not as a bash or complaint, but to simply showcase the way drop rates and trade systems affect how a game is played.
The latter is what I hope this game avoids, with any introduction of trade in this game.
I am not a developer, nor should my own opinion represent the majority of ARPG players or LE players. I simply want to highlight how trade might affect the enjoyment of this game for the average player, and in turn how that may affect the game's popularity and player-base in comparison with the competing ARPGs in existence.
Knowing myself, the introduction to trade would only slightly disappoint me - and it would not stop me from playing the game, to a certain extent. However, if the trade systems and its subsequent effects on the game's loot acquisition elements were to change substantially (that is from one of strictly dropping off monsters at a healthy rate, to one of endless currency farming for player trade) then I could see myself splitting time from this game with POE/D2R, or dropping the game completely for its competitors - as opposed to strictly playing LE. I worry that this distinctive game would end up becoming a watered-down version of its existing competitors, leaving little room for player retention or interest from potential new players.
I think this game has a lot of potential, and I am currently sinking an unhealthy amount of hours into it due to the positives I mentioned above regarding the unique drop rate and arguably perfect balance of an ARPG middle ground. There are probably more veteran LE players who will have better insight than me on this - but I thought it may be beneficial to contribute to the conversation as a newer player, as it may represent a portion of the existing (or future) playerbase.
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