ExileCon 2023 is fast approaching! Today we're taking a look back at some of the greatest moments from ExileCon 2019. The event started strong with Grinding Gear Games announcing Path of Exile 2, and Path of Exile Mobile. This was followed by a series of Developer talks, including a Q&A with David Brevik, Rhykker and Max & Erich Schaefer. Last but not least, ExileCon Race included surprising twists and turns.
Maxroll at ExileCon 2023
Maxroll members Grimro and Tytykiller are attending ExileCon 2023, so be sure to say hello if you see them!
If you're planning to watch from home, many of us plan to restream the events and share our reactions live! So join us in following major announcements, and help cheer Tytykiller to victory in the race! Remember to follow everyone, so you don't miss out.
For the ExileCon weekend Grinding Gear Games is offering exclusive Twitch drops to anyone watching Path of Exile creators.
Path of Exile 2
In a touching moment at the start of Exilecon 2019, Chris Wilson stood on stage and presented the 4.0 update for Path of Exile. This update is Path of Exile 2 and includes 19 New Ascendancies, a 7 Act Campaign, new weapon types and fundamental changes to the Gem and Skill systems! The Path of Exile 2 announcement marked a huge moment as Path of Exile's last major release was 3.0 which came out in 2017. Over a series of Developer Talks, Grinding Gear Games outlined their inspirations and expectations for Path of Exile 2.
There hasn't been much Path of Exile 2 information since ExileCon 2019. But GGG has teased a new Ranger Ascendancy which allows you to use Melee skills with bows, and new weapon types such as the Spear and Crossbow. If you never got "Armor Piercing Bolt" out of your head, don't worry we haven't either! Back in 2019 Path of Exile looked a lot different and often showed its age. In comparison Path of Exile 2's graphical style looked slick and polished, it looked modern. But over the past 4 years GGG did a lot of work to upgrade the graphics in Path of Exile to more closely align with Path of Exile 2 leading to a more immersive experience.
Developer Presentations
GGG's Founders sat down for a Q&A offering unique insights into Path of Exile's history and development.
Chris Wilson (Managing Director), Jonathan Rogers (Technical Director), Erik Olofsson (Creative Director), and Nick Kolan (Writer) talked about what it was like to make Path of Exile.
There was also a series of Developer Presentations focused around a single topic.
Author's Note: I found the presentation by Senior Programmer Alexander Sannikov particularly interesting! As someone who knows very little about programming, it often seems like magic, so taking a look at the Path of Exile recipe was refreshing. I look forward to seeing more Developer talks from ExileCon 2023.
Path of Exile Mobile
At ExileCon 2019 Grinding Gear Games announced their second game: Path of Exile Mobile, a project headed by Trevor "Mobile Fall Guy" Gamon. Shortly after the reveal, Trevor sat down with ZiggyD for a Q&A.
This isn't an out of season April Fool's joke! Some content like Delve may be unavailable, but there's going to be a big focus on blasting maps and killing monsters with minimal downtime in between. More information is coming at ExileCon 2023.
During ExileCon 2019, fans and creators got some hands-on time with Path of Exile Mobile, and most of the sentiments were positive.
What to Expect from PoE Mobile
"Mobile games are kinda bullshit right? You know, pay to win microtransactions, time gates, energy bars, random nag screens, notifications, video ads, you know you get the idea. There's really a lot of garbage going on in mobile games today. But in 2012 when we first released Path of Exile on PC you really could have said the same thing about a lot of free to play games there too." ~ Trevor Gamon
Rhykker Q&A
Maxroll's very own Rhykker sat down with the legendary Blizzard North developers David Brevik, and Max & Erich Schaefer to talk about all things ARPGs!
Many of the games we call "ARPGs" today are Diablo-likes, inspired by Diablo I&II with Path of Exile being a spiritual successor to Diablo II! What do some of the people who inspired Grinding Gear Games think about Path of Exile? Big points of discussion include adding MMO elements to ARPGs, game balance & difficulty, and a bit of insight on what it's like to be a developer.
Many of these words were indeed prophetic and can be seen reflected in the design of games like Diablo IV, Last Epoch, and Torchlight Infinite.
The Future of ARPGs
"The last ARPG I made was called Marvel Heroes, and I thought that the steps that we took with that game, were kind of the way that I see the Action RPG genre going. Which is more of a collaborative effort, being in zones with other people, that aren't necessarily in your party or anything like that and joining up, and working together kind of dynamically, and then going your separate ways. As well as doing bigger events like bosses that require raid style things, and you know that kind of direction I think is a hybrid between MMO and ARPG is the way that I would like to see it go in the future. Maybe it will maybe it won't. I did try it with Marvel Heroes, and it's a shame that we can't play that anymore." ~ David Brevik.
Author's Note: Around 3 minutes in, Rhykker asked what the ARPG industry would look like 20 years in the future (2039). This led to a discussion about what makes a game part of the ARPG genre, which is a fascinating concept. Is an ARPG about the isometric camera view and controls? Or is it about killing lots of monsters? Personally I agree with Erich that the best ARPGs are about creating a sandbox for players to play in. I'd love to see more games innovate in that direction.
When it comes to world design I agree with David. Adding MMO-like elements into ARPGs where you can drop into and out of someone's party helps the world feel alive. Though, after having played Diablo 4 I feel no game has fully capitalized on it yet. Diablo 4 and Lost Ark are good first steps, but I'm waiting for something with more sandbox elements. The reason I've played Path of Exile for 10 years, is because the game gives you a unique level of freedom to build your character the way you want (even when it's a bad idea). Right now, no game combines that with the power of an open world experience.
ExileCon Race
The ExileCon 2019 Race was a showdown between Tytykiller, Tie23he, Waggle, and Havoc.
Tie23he took the win, with Havoc coming in for a close second. Waggle finished third, and Tytykiller finished 4th creating the legend of Tabulast. While Tytykiller didn't win the race, he did get an IRL Tabula Rasa signed by the devs!
If you like Path of Exile Races, get ready for the ExileCon 2023's showdown between Imexile, Tytykiller, Havoc, and a mysterious fourth challenger!
Cosplay & Streaming Guidelines
Grinding Gear Games released their Cosplay and Weapons Policy along side the Streaming Code of Conduct for ExileCon 2023. Most of these rules are common sense, and we've highlighted the bullet points for your reading convenience. However, if you're attending the event we highly recommend you give the original posts a thorough read.
Cosplay Policy
Planning to Cosplay?
Streaming Guidelines
Are you a Streamer?
Fan Creations
A lot of cool fan creations came out of ExileCon 2019 including great cosplays! During ExileCon 2019 all participants had cards which they could use to challenge various monsters and iconic bosses (played by GGG staff). The ultimate goal was to defeat the Shaper, played by Chris Wilson himself. One fan by the name of CallMeBeachy recreated the ExileCon card game with a Roguelike Deckbuilder called CardCon.
We look forward to seeing what unique event Grinding Gear Games has in store for ExileCon 2023.
Over the next week we'll be covering ExileCon 2023 including all the major announcements. ExileCon 2019 is a hard act to follow but it looks like Grinding Gear Games plans to go all in! If you haven't already, head over to our Discord and select the Path of Exile role in #roles to stay up to date with our content development. Stay Sane Exile.
Written by: Tenkiei
Reviewed by: Xtra37