Holy crap! I completely forgot to do my blog entry for today/last night because I played Path of Exile for literally 12 hours. This is probably the first time in over four months that I've forgotten to do an entry--that's kind of mindboggling, actually.
I guess I haven't been quite this addicted to a game in awhile. It reminds me of the days when I'd play WoW or League of Legends all day every day. I haven't been as attached to those games to such a degree in quite some time now--I typically only play a few matches of League at a time, and even when I was playing WoW recently I very rarely played it more than a couple hours.
I guess this had to happen at some point. It was inevitable, I think. I've been thinking in the back of my mind that I can't keep up this output forever--surely one day I'll stop updating. I'll stop writing. I'll lose motivation and maybe discontinue the exercise completely. I was hoping that day would be far into the future. But you know what? That day's not today. Even though I'm extremely late on this entry, I'll still count it for yesterday. My sleep schedule is very irregular at the moment and it's certainly not the first time.
There are a variety of reasons as to why I've been so feverishly adherent to Path of Exile as of late. The primary reason would be that it's just a very fun game to play, much like its predecessor Diablo and similar games in that genre. Unlike Diablo, however, there is an extremely heavy emphasis on customization and experimentation. While I'm aware that Diablo offers a variety of viable build paths for each character class, Path of Exile really does take it a step further. With a massive passive skill tree comprised of 1350 "skill nodes," and only about 100 points to spend on that tree, there is a near infinite amount of different paths that can be taken.
In addition, there are dozens of skills available to players in Path of Exile. Skills range from melee combat, ranged spells, beneficial auras, curses, to short-term buffs. Each of these skills can be theoretically equipped to any character provided the equivalent skill gem is found. These skill gems correspond to one of three principal elements--Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Each skill gem requires a certain set of stat requirements in order to be equipped and used. Progression through the passive skill tree determines your character's stat distribution and therefore which skills you may equip.
I've been playing a summoner type character wearing heavy armor. I never attack directly and spend all of my mana on summoning minions or on beneficial auras . At any given time, I have approximately fifteen different minions following me around absolutely plowing through the hordes of enemies. My progression through the skill tree has provided my minions with substantial boosts to their power, such as increased health, increased damage, and the ability to benefit from stats from my equipped shield. Support gems further augment their power. The Spell Totem support gem, for instance, is attached to my Summon Skeletons spell. The resulting spell will cast a totem that continues to spit out skeletons in groups of 2 when enemies are nearby, decreasing the burden of micromanagement somewhat.
Aside from all that, a couple of my friends are acting as enablers. When I have friends willing to play the game with me, I don't really feel the need to ever take a break, as long as they're still willing to continue. As sad as it might sound, playing these games is pretty much my primary form of social interaction--so not only is the game quite addictive on its own, it also serves as a way for me to "spend time" with friends I might not otherwise communicate with in any meaningful way.
I don't know, man. Zombies and shit.
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