HC CoF for me. I recently did a tanky sentinal build and I’m thinking I like it better than the damage heavy builds that I typically go with, especially since I always stick with HC. Maybe a primalist this time around.
Oh yeah, and gotta get my vacation days submitted in so I can properly enjoy launch 
Yes. The cycle ‘ladders’ and the thrill of starting fresh should be all the incentive the cycle leagues need. Otherwise, if you have to dangle more carrots, they aren’t as star-spangled awesome as everyone is touting them to be.
No one should be required to start a fresh character to obtain these ‘cycle cosmetics’. I’m sorry. This isn’t FTP, we all payed the box fee for this game, and should be able to obtain items with our desired playstyle…(Legacy,HC,Masochist,SSF,etc) Now, if you want to throw around some e-peen wagging achievements, and tie them to cycles, go ahead…as long as there’s no in-game items attached to them.
There’s the ladders, fresh economy and ‘race’ of everyone starting from scratch. That’s what we’ve heard is so important to everyone, so that should be the incentive. Not special items, that can only be gained by playing in the cycle league. I just don’t buy it. Either the cycle is it’s own incentive, or it’s not good enough to be worth the resources to run them.
Should HC have special incentives? SSF? Masochistic? Maybe Legacy league needs special incentives as well? We’ve seen how unattractive Legacy is in POE… haven’t we? I mean, if the playstyles can’t stand on their own merits, then they should be scrapped, and save the resources for other initiatives.
That is not what is so important to EVERYONE. It’s what important to some. Maybe not even the majority. It’s hard to calculate exactly, to be honest.
Personally, I can say that I have zero interest in ladders and races. In fact, I think a vast majority of players don’t really care about that either. Which makes sense since only a very small portion of the players will ever get a relevant position in the ladder. This is further aggravated by the fact that LE ladder will be arena waves and arena isn’t something that will attract that many players in the first place.
Fresh economy and fresh start is kinda fun every once in a while, but it’s not something I would do over and over without any other incentive.
Why would I stress out trying to grind characters and endgame over a 3-4 month period, only to do it again and again, when I can simply take my time and play leisurely, having fun when I feel like it, over a longer period of years AND NOT MISS OUT ON ANYTHING AT ALL?
Ultimately, if cycles and legacy are the exact same, cycles will become increasingly empty, with the only players joining being the ones that like the race and the fresh start challenge.
Not to mention that if all you want is the fresh start challenge (if you don’t care about trade) you can simply start a character found toon.
As a wise man said yesterday: It is insane how different people play the same game!
I love achievements, but I don’t give a f about cosmetics in an arpg.
I probably wouldn’t go as far as uninstalling, but I would be quite pissed off if, when achievements finally appear, some of them “force” me to play in a way I dislike (in my case, the best example would be forcing me to play in a group).
Apart from this difference, I agree with what you are saying, each challenge or league should be its own incentive, no need for more.
Very true.
This is why all the calls-to-arms when people see a shadow of a P2W possibility are a complete fallacy. Yet, irrational as they may be, the calls-to-arms are there, and can hurt badly a game’s reputation.
Almost, but not quite.
I play cycles only for the fresh start, I love it. While Solo is good as well, it is not exactly the same: 3-4 months is a great rythm for a fresh start, I can find a few uniques with my first character and follow what the RNG gods tell me to create a matching alt.
2, 3 characters, then fresh start again. Feels great. Not quite the same as solo, which can be frustrating if I suddenly drop a superb item I will never be able to use.
Well I guess we have to disagree here then.
The F2P vs. Box Price is not a argument that I agree with at all.
Quite the opposite. I am actually thrilled if a dev keeps me engaged in a game by offering cool new cosmetic rewards.
I can see how PoE’s or Diablo s approach can be off putting to people, because you miss actual content.
But with LE’s approach it will most likely be either nothing or maybe only cosmetics.
We have to see, but I really hope that we get a solid cycle achievement system with cosmetic rewards.
If by “challenge” you mean “leaderboards & a fresh/reset economy”, then I agree with you. Unless a new league mechanic changes the pre-endgame, levelling a new character will be as challenging in league as it will be in standard.
I loved Legacy league in PoE, the ability to choose which of 3 league mechanics to interact with was awesome. The only downside was the use (& inventory management) of the stones they used to enable it. I’d be happy if the brought it back without the leaguestones.
That is what I meant. I think I already said this in some other thread but: there will always be some players that will always play cycle, for whichever reason. And there will always be players that will always play legacy, for whichever reason. The vast majority of players, though, will swing between them depending on what’s offered in each. And if there isn’t anything new and fun to try out in cycles, they will tend to stay in legacy.
I’m sure that EHG will come up with something fun for cycles that will be unique to them (no pressure, guys 
). I think this first cycle and maybe the next one won’t because they’re still adding stuff that they consider core to the game, like the rest of the masteries, skill trees, class balance, etc. I doubt it won’t piss some players off, though, since whatever they do (or don’t) will always piss someone off.
I can understand that. However, it’d be a pretty tough time rationalizing an “Achieved Lvl 100 in Hardcore Mode”, and have that obtainable in Softcore. I mean, there are some logical limits here.
And that’s perfectly fine. Introduce new cosmetics with new cycles. I didn’t say don’t do that. But don’t force people to start from scratch in the cycle-league to get them. They already said cycle content would be in all ‘leagues’, so why can’t the cosmetics be obtained in those as well? Tie their acquisition to cycle content, even… that’s completely logical.
I love how reading comprehension has failed from “don’t make them only available in fresh-start leagues” to “why 4 don’t you wantz cool cozmeticz!??!?!?!?!?!”. I just don’t want to have to start a brand new lvl 1, with empty stash and grind up all over again, each time a new league comes out. I didn’t stop playing POE because it wasn’t still a fun time, I stopped because I hate having to rebuild characters every league, just to experience league content.
PoE has HC achievements, both in-game and on steam. I honestly have no intention of getting them because I don’t like HC, but I really don’t have an issue with the achievements existing.
Achievements are supposed to be something that either rewards your play or encourages you to try other stuff. I don’t feel like I have to have them all. This isn’t Pokemon
Well, if you look at PoE model, if they gave out the MTX rewards for both league and standard, all that would mean is that league players would have to grind a lot to get everything while standard players could get it with just a fraction of effort, due to already having super-uber-powerful level 100 characters that can complete the season achievements in the first week, rather than having to grind them for a few months.
So what you’re saying is: it’s ok if cycles get MTX rewards, but I want the same rewards without having to grind for them.
My question was specifically aimed at:
You have legacy and the recent cycle, they have the same game content.
But the recent cycle still has this extra cosmetics that are only obtainable in that to make it stand out from legacy.
So it does not force you to start from scratch do experience game content.
But for the cosmetics you have to start from scratch if you want them.
As a semi-casual I do my own “Cycles”. When a character gets to the point were trying to progress further into endgame feels too grindy I either start up another character in that arpg or migrate to one of the other titles I play. Choosing which one depends on where they are in their league/season/cycle and what they happen to have on tap at the moment for content. Legacy/Standard/Eternal? Nope never heard of them.
Reach level 100 deathless? 
Ideally, all achievements should be achievable (duh) in any league / game mode.
But I admit that games doing that are a rarity, most developpers use achievements to encourage players to try all the different modes. A few normal achievs, a few about hardcore, some about trading, some crafting, a bit of multiplayer, a dollop of PvP…
This is also a good system, I am used to it.
Nah, just because you’ve got to lvl 100 deathless in SC doesn’t mean you’e completed anything comparable to doing it in hardcore, as we all know, it’s called hardcore for a reason. It’s harder than softcore.
Umm isnt hardcore in LE the same difficulty as SC.
Afaik it is. U just play the game different like going for more defenses than dmg. Harder cuz if u die ur character becomes SC.
Nota sure id call that harder
Yes, that was rather the point of the sarcastic comment.
Lmao apparently i missed the Sarcasm
I’m English, there’s usually sarcasm.
Not even that. If your softcore character dies, they also become SC, so it is litterally the exact same. Just an extra free stash.