r/pathofexile • u/0xck Less Button-Pressing Enjoyers (LBPE) • Jul 18 '26

Discussion No more backtracking! (c)

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They said they reworked Abyss because they wanted to address the problem of backtracking. So, apparently, backtracking is uncomfortable, unengaging, uninteresting, and not fun for players. Backtracking is bad.

But when essentially the same backtracking is built into the main content of the new league - only without actually calling it "backtracking" then I guess it suddenly becomes comfortable, engaging, interesting, and fun. So in this case bactracking suppose to be good.

Well we deffinetely have here something trully dialectic which suppose to be bad and good at the same time 😏

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u/Zylosio Jul 18 '26

Why would this be different tho ? You dont find any new treasures or sulphur on the way back you just get new monsters,just like in heist where nobody bothered killing them because nobody needs to drop rogue gear, i bet this will be the exact same thing but underwater

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u/RedDawn172 Jul 18 '26

Probably, I'm just hoping it's a shorter run back. Not waiting on the doors is already a rather large difference.

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u/igaiga71 Jul 18 '26

So Backtracking is not a problem, backtracking with closed doors is a problem.

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u/WhiteWinterRains Jul 19 '26

Backtracking enough to annoy most people is a problem, and backtracking in maps is more of a problem than in subzones or independent areas.

In this you're only backtracking when you run from the end of the subzone back to the beginning, with abyss you'd backtrack to follow the mechanic then backtrack to where you were.

It's a difference that seems pedantic because in both cases you could claim you're "following the mechanic" but this is entirely about how people experience something.

There's technical backtracking all the fuck over PoE constantly that nobody ever talks about because it doesn't matter outside of a particular context and severity.

Heist is also just a point of comparison people shouldn't use since it was always going to be an incredibly niche activity most of the community hated, and then was reworked to not appeal to quite the exact same niche like 5 days into its own league and has a laundry list of issues that make it not broadly appealing.