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If we look back at the type of replies in the last 3-4 leagues when PoE2 has been brought up it has mostly been seen in a hopeful manner and some people almost treated is it as the Holy grail and the next evolution of PoE.
"X problem is really getting out of hand in PoE, they will likely fix it when PoE2 comes out" and other similar statements were constantly thrown around in this sub, some people were always skeptical and would reply that we shouldn't get our hopes so high, but the majority seemed to see it as a positive thing and the one solution to fixing every problem exists in PoE. This was further made worse by Chris, I am not sure if it was on Baeclast or some other interview where he was asked how he would handle managing expectations of the playerbase when every seems to have to have their own opinion on what PoE 2 will fix, his reply was something along the lines of "Yes it would infact address all the problems", which only feeds into the problem of over-expecting (I am not able to find the exact podcast/interview, if someone else remembers which one it is, it would be awesome if they link it), but I digress, we aren't discussing expectation management here. But rather fact that overall community's outlook for PoE 2 has been overwhelmingly positive.
Fast forward to post-3.15 patch, I don't believe is the same anymore, the community seems extremely divided by the new changes and even if they like some of the changes they disagree with various other ones. (I personally don't see an issue with the damage nerfs, it was getting pretty stupid at the mid-high end of things, but I don't agree with the flask/ailment changes, very on the border with the movement skill changes). But due to the way this whole "nerf cycle" was pitched,Chris mentioned how these changes help gauge community reactions and they can get feedback as they can't afford to go wrong with launch on PoE 2 and how many players are perceiving it as "the road to PoE 2" with a series of nerfs and changes coming in the near future. Suddenly we have this new sentiment of "PoE 2 is just PoE with a new Act story line" or "If this is how PoE 2 is going to be, I don't want it", "PoE 2 should be a separate game"
It is honestly fascinating how drastic of a change this is in terms of sentiment, what was once seen as "Salvation" is now the "Be careful what you wish for". I think the BIGGEST problem I with the new changes is the fact that is was too pre-mature and should have been done overtime while addressing the problems these changes create, this is very different from when players "quit" due to a league being unsatisfactory, as they will very likely come back next league to try again. These are changes at a fundamental level of PoE and it is very jarring and most importantly abrupt, which might not just make players "quit" early into the league, but they might actually start sitting this one out. Some might go with the "I'll check back when PoE 2 comes out", but many have started to despise the idea of PoE 2 and those aren't really players GGG is being to get back, unless things change drastically over the next few leagues (COPIUM?). And yes I do understand that a certain demographic leaving is expected and maybe they were never meant to be the target demographic for the game, but this does effect community morale significantly. Statements like "How long do you think GGG is gonna take to change their stance again?" are rampant and I can see why that's the case, they actively encouraged Speed meta (Alva timers, Legion 4/5-ways, delirium) and then turned back and said "We don't want that". So it wouldn't surprise me if in 2-3 leagues due to players numbers/revenue/stockholder pressure they change it again.(Though I doubt it, but there is a possibility).
Honestly, I hope and pray GGG actually takes in the community feedback from this league, not just from the subreddit but whatever internal metrics they use and not just the "we will keep it in mind in the future leagues" and continue to apologize for implementing more things that the playerbase flagged as problematic (like splinters lol). I am still hopeful for PoE2 (I might be dumb to be) I think these few leagues might be the "rough patch" where GGG decides to reduce damage by 40-60% while we still don't have all gems at 6-link and other changes that PoE 2 will get. The question is, how long is this phase gonna last?
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