Path of Exile removes old content – but shows Destiny 2 how to do it right

The Hack’n Slay Path of Exile will throw five-year-old content out of the game with the next patch. They have become out of date and boring. In the MMO shooter Destiny 2, the removal of content regularly leads to criticism, but in Hack’n Slay the deletion of the expansion triggers general cheers. What’s going on there?

How’s it going with Destiny 2?

Path of Exile cancels 2016 expansion “Prophecy”

This is what happens now on Path of Exile: With the patch 3.17.0 in January 2022, the systems of the expansion “Prophecy” will be removed from the game. It is said that the expansion from 2016 now feels “out of date” and has been overtaken by new expansions.

What makes Path of Exile better? Path of Exile does not just delete the content, it sorts it out.

• A whole range of unique items can now be found “no longer exciting” and are completely removed from the game.
• But other items are redistributed and players can get them in different ways.

What’s the reaction Unlike Destiny 2, the response to the change has been mostly positive. Players seem to agree with the development team that a lot of the expansion had become boring. The players are therefore happy to no longer have to go through the mechanics of the expansion.

You are already thinking about which annoying mechanics you want to get rid of.

The duel Diablo 4 vs. Path of Exile 2 awaits us soon

This is behind it: In Destiny 2, it looks as if the content is “as a whole” removed from the game: This creates huge gaps in the story. But Bungie doesn’t seem to mind. Path of Exile makes this more nuanced. You “get” the good things about the old extension.

Also, it obviously makes a big difference whether the developers are just removing systems or story content from a game. Whether a Free2Play game removes free content or whether content is thrown out that you previously had to buy as DLC for money is apparently also relevant for many.

The systems in Path of Exiles are closely related to the concept of “parasitic systems”: When a game adds so many new systems to a game over the years that can be used to further improve your character, they can sometimes become annoying.

WoW: Parasitic systems and how they make our MMORPGs worse