Path of Exile Provides Interesting Solutions to Diablo III's Problems Grinding Gear Games' free-to-play debut could be the sequel Diablo II fans have been waiting for.

"Let's see you do better."

It's a common response to criticism. The Jamie Kennedy documentary Heckler puts forth this misguided notion that, unless you personally have done standup, written a novel, acted in a play, developed a game -- whatever the form of expression may be -- your opinion on that matter is somehow invalid.

I'd like to think that most people could smell this sort of logical fallacy from a mile away. You don't need to be a great chef, after all, to know that the slop they serve at Applebees is anything but fine cuisine. But, because most of us aren't in a position to outdo every piece of substandard entertainment that crosses our path, "Let's see you do better" continues to be a well-worn defense mechanism.

Every once in a while, though, someone not only accepts this ridiculous and cynical challenge -- they actually manage to do better. Imagine that.

One look at the official website for Path of Exile and you can tell the developers at Grinding Gear Games have a beef with Diablo III, and, to some extent, Torchlight. They never say it outright, of course, but the site's marketing copy is filled with statements like, "The game is completely free and will never be 'pay to win,'" and, "We're sick of the recent trend towards bright, cartoony RPGs."

In interviews, Grinding Gear co-founder Jonathan Rogers has been much more specific about the studio's feelings toward Blizzard's game. "Diablo III was obviously going for a huge number of sales and they really succeeded in doing that, but we really wanted to stress character customization and sort of interesting builds and that kind of stuff," the lead programmer told VG247 last month, continuing, "Diablo III didn’t really deliver that for me, personally. I personally prefer our game, obviously. "

You'll find this attitude reflected in Path of Exile's design at almost every turn. Name something Diablo III players complained about and you're likely to find it addressed here in some respect.

By eliminating currency altogether, for example, Path of Exile doesn't struggle with gold farmers the way most online RPGs do. In place of a traditional economy, the developers have opted for a pure barter system; players trade gear for other gear, determining for themselves what their loot is worth, while NPCs exchange unwanted equipment for useful stuff like town portals and orbs that randomly adjust the stats on magic items.

Along those same lines, Path of Exile has no auction house -- real-money or otherwise. It's a controversial subject for trade-focused players, but even Diablo III senior game designer Andrew Chambers recently admitted, "We don't really like that, for most players, all of your current gear is very likely to be something you've found on the Auction House. This can create a situation where it doesn't feel like you 'own' the gear you've obtained; instead, it feels like you are renting it."

Diablo III also caught flack for its somewhat limited character customization options. Path of Exile remedies this with a leveling system not unlike Final Fantasy X's sphere grid. Essentially, each character class starts out in a different spot on a massive network of more than 1,300 skill nodes; every node confers a passive ability, and, just like FFX, one type of character can eventually level its way deep into another class' section of the grid. Furthermore, all of the powers in the game are tied to gems that slot into equipment, meaning any class can use any skill in the game.

Path of Exile isn't immune to every criticism leveled at Diablo III, however. As with Blizzard's game, Exile requires a constant internet connection in order to play. I wouldn't mind this so much if the servers were more reliable, but I've died far too many times now due to random disconnects and latency issues. While I understand the need for a free-to-play title to maintain a persistent online connection -- both to deter cheating and direct customers toward microtransactions -- stability remains a huge concern for the game.

Path of Exile has some unique problems of its own to sort out, as well. Dungeons in the game are programmed to reset automatically following a very short period of inactivity; this causes headaches when, after clearing the first part of a lengthy, multi-level map, you die and have to fight through the entire bottom floor again. Or, worse yet, you simply get disconnected and have to start the mission from scratch.

I'm also not convinced that the game's current business model is sustainable. Grinding Gear doesn't charge anything to play Path of Exile, and the only things on their cash shop are a handful of cosmetic effects, non-combat pets, and dance emotes. There's also an option to design a custom in-game item for $1,000, which, silly and expensive as it may sound, I think is actually a pretty cool idea. These guys have gone out of their way to avoid typical microtransactions -- your bonus experience potions and the like -- but I worry that not enough players will care about vanity items to keep the business afloat. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

But is Path of Exile a better game than Diablo III? I guess that depends on how you felt about Diablo. Personally, I enjoy both games for very different reasons, but I can see how fans of Diablo II might prefer Exile over Blizzard's most recent effort. The thing is completely free, so you should probably check it out for yourself at pathofexile.com.