A Look Back at ExileCon 2019

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

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

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

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

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?

• Any costume weapons brought to ExileCon should not be in any way functional, and should also be lightweight and of an appropriate size.
• Oversized items are considered anything that will inconvenience other attendees, such as being difficult to move around, unable to turn without hitting someone, etc. If we determine an item is oversized it will not be permitted.
• All costume weapons and effects should not contain any live rounds, ammunition, or the ability to fire any kind of projectile (this includes anything akin to BB guns, nerf/airsoft weapons, etc.).
• Replica gun costume weapons are not permitted under any circumstances.
• Replica bow or crossbow costume weapons should not have a tensile string (making it possible to fire projectiles) or have no string at all. Any accompanying arrows should not have a head, or the head should be made of a soft substance and significantly blunt/rounded.
• Any costume weapons with a replica blade of any kind should not be made of metal and will have blunt rounded edges. This includes but is not limited to costume weapons made to replicate daggers, swords, axes, spears and lances.
• Metal costume weapons of any kind will not be allowed into the event - this may include weapons with metal parts, such as a wooden staff with a metal spear head on the top. We would consider this a weapon, and not a costume.
• Sharp costume weapons of any kind will not be allowed into the event, including sharpened blades, needles, or anything with a sharp point. As above, these are real weapons and not costumes.
• Large costume weapons should be made of an appropriate light-weight material. A replica Stone Hammer made of actual stone would be a real weapon, and incredibly heavy to carry all day - we would not allow this into the event. A replica Stone Hammer made of styrofoam and balsa wood would be much more appropriate for the event, and also safer.
• We will not be allowing stilts at ExileCon for Health and Safety reasons.
• If your costume is large you may not be permitted to sit in the allocated seating for the Keynote speeches on both days, and the closing talks on Sunday - we expect the theatre to be at capacity for these talks.

Streaming Guidelines

Are you a Streamer?

• Please respect people's space. If someone is giving social cues that they don't want to be included in your stream, please respect that and move on. The comfort of ExileCon attendees will always take priority over IRL Streaming.
• Please do not crash any presentations or interviews. You can watch them with your audience but do not be disruptive in any way to the normal flow of the convention.
• Please do not talk during any of the developer talks.
• Please do not film or stream any meet and greets. However, you can film/stream your own meet and greet. If your meet and greet is happening alongside another booked guest, please get their consent before doing this.
• While streaming or filming, do not enter any bathrooms or other spaces where people would expect privacy.
• Please don't do anything that belittles or mocks any attendees of the event, including staff.
• Please do not stream the VIP Dinner, ExileCon After Party or Ultra VIP Dinner.
• Please be considerate of the length of your camera arm not getting in other people's way in any scenario.
• You can record your reaction during the main show presentation but please consider the experience of people sitting near you. Specifically, you should not block their view or record them if they do not want to be recorded.

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