Grinding Gear Games Path of Exile Interview Part 1

01 Sep 2010 at 21:11:46 by Eric Bruce

Introducing Grinding Gear Games and Path of Exile

Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006 by three long time friends united by their common love for action RPGs: Chris Wilson (Producer and Lead Designer), Jonathan Rogers (Lead Programmer), and Erik Olofsson (Art Director). Their favorite game in the early 2000s was Diablo 2, but after years of playing that click-fest, they were ready for something new. For another ARPG that would give them the same sort of gaming satisfaction. They couldn't find one, though. Various "Diablo clones" came and went, but none had the fast paced combat or deep and addictive item slot machine the the GGG guys craved. So, eventually they realized what they had to do. Make their own. Thus was Path of Exile born.

The game has been under production since November of 2006, initially by just Chris, Jon, and Erik. Their team has grown since, and while they're still a very small development studio with just twelve full time employees, Path of Exile is nearing completion. The game is currently in a friends and family alpha test, with a public beta planned for later this year, and a release in early 2011.

Path of Exile was designed from the start as a free to download and free to play MMORPG. The game's financial model relies on "ethical" item sales. As described by the developers, their item shop will not sell game items, or anything (such as "potions of double experience") that many other "free" RPGs offer to boost character performance. No one need spend cash money in the PoE item shop to enjoy the game, or to rise to the highest levels or to use the best equipment, all of which will be found from monster drops. The "items" sold will be fun things, such as armor dyes, "evil" pets, and special effects, such as a way to make all of your character's kills extra gory. They'll also charge nominal fees for more utilitarian services, such as character name changes and realm transfers.

While PoE is immediately playable by anyone familiar with isometric view RPGs such as Diablo 2, Titan Quest, or Torchlight, this is not just another Diablo-clone. Nor is it a WoW-clone, as the developers made clear during our interview. Their game is designed for fast play and speedy leveling up; despite the company name, there is no tedious grinding in PoE. New characters can be created quickly; one of GGG's design goals for the game and website was to make it so simple that any visitor could be in the game, killing monsters less than five minutes after first loading the website.

While the gameplay is fast, it's not shallow, with a very imaginative and intricate gem/skill system. It's best if you read the conversations in the interview for a full explanation of this complex and powerful system.

The following lengthy transcript is condensed from that discussion.

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