Zizaran interviews Chris Wilson, January 13, 2018 TLDR

Interview by Zizaran: https://www.twitch.tv/zizaran
Link to interview: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/218148819?t=06h31m10s
YouTube Mirror: https://youtu.be/HKgvHRzt3ao
Main discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/7q91ne/chris_wilson_answers_questions_about_path_of_exile/
Full script: https://pastebin.com/iHZxyJw5
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Summary as quick as I can make it:

* Chris is the Managing Director at Grinding Gear Games.

    Topic: Currency System
* Currency in PoE was inspired by players trading items instead of gold in games like Diablo II and Guild Wars.
* GGG has experimented with other currency types.  New types are unlikely in the near future.
* Vaal Orbs are perfect in terms of risk and reward.

    Topic: Starting GGG
* Chris, Jonathon, and Erik poured their souls and their bank accounts into creating Path of Exile.
* Jonathon wrote the core architecture, Chris wrote the item generation system, Erik drew the art.
* Chris: "Before you can hire someone for a role, you have to do it yourself to know what it is."  Chris practiced many roles (balance, build-of-the-week) so that he could hire someone to do his work better.
* The founders encourage hired developers to try exotic changes.  Chris: "I feel that Path of Exile's success comes from the fact that we try to do weird things."

    Topic: League Design
* Design begins on leagues three to six months before release.  This short delay between design and publication allows designers to address the current state of the game.
* Acts Five through Ten were released so soon so that Xbox and China initial releases (full of new players) would have a single difficulty playthrough.
* Expansion development is fairly open ended.  GGG balances catering to new players (who know nothing about the game = flashy new features), returning players (who are taking a break from the game = additions requiring game knowledge), and existing players (who know mechanics intimately and see issues = quality of life and bugfixes).
* Leagues should be engaging from Lioneye's Watch through the Atlas and include rewards for players who play twenty, two hundred, or two thousand hours.
* GGG is not "skipping an expansion to revamp old content."  GGG is interleaving updates to old systems along with new content.  GGG cannot afford to ignore new players (no new content) to focus on existing players (refreshing outdated... everything).
* Nemesis was Chris's favorite.  Talisman was too conservative with its item rewards, hence breachrings drop commonly and always rare.  Breach, well-loved, is a spiritual successor to Beyond, much-hated.
* Xbox development necessitated a team to work on optimizing the engine, which also affects PC.

    Topic: Item Design
* Chris created Tear of Purity / Blood of Corruption.  Ziz farmed Uber Atziri for five mirrors with it.
* GGG no longer permits purchasing a supporter unique.  Supporters who design uniques usually want flashy chase items.  Not everyone gets a chase item.  Flashy (complicated) items are difficult to create.  GGG was losing money, even when charging $2500, by making supporter uniques.
* Community marking the game is good.  Supporter uniques were an inefficient use of resources.
* Divination cards let supporters leave a mark on PoE while letting GGG control what items are created and the droprate.
* GGG is exploring other ways supporters can leave their mark (like Hall of Grandmasters), as long as the maintenance can be justified in the very long term (unlike Hall of Grandmasters).
* If GGG adds spears / crossbows, players will expect them to be hot new items.  Merely creating a new stat stick, like the other base weapon types, will seem underwhelming.  Spears and crossbows will not be added unless there's a compelling / interesting reason.
* Pants yes.  Pants slot no. (New character models are in development)

    Topic: Chris & PoE
* Chris plays hardcore.  There used to be stigma about playing "scrubcore."  GGG has focused on making players feel good about playing Standard, and only playing Hardcore if they want to.
* Chris lets his team work on balance, even if something kills him.
* The older acts (Act One, Two, some of Three) feel like a chore.  Will be updated... eventually.
* Chris is okay with logout macros.  Without quick escapes (at all), forced content would need to be easier, but PoE needs sharp teeth.

    Topic: Future of PoE
* Additional acts unlikely... for now.
* Alternative storylines unlikely unless a compelling reason is found.
* Next expansions are on-schedule for March and June.  4.0.0 planning will begin soon.
* Guild QoL is being considered.  Chinese realm is experimenting with a new way of joining guilds.  Perhaps the new premium stash tabs will be ported to guild tabs.  Guild character slots cannot be increased without extensive serverside performance testing (unlikely).

    Topic: DC Timer
* If the timer were adjustable, players would try to set it as low as possible, and disconnect too often and blame GGG.  Players frequently do things they think improves their ability to play, even if it hurts.
* But maybe the client can adjust it automatically based on your own internet's stability?  (Speculation!)

    Topic: Magic Find
* Item rarity is good because it improves the gear you find, and PoE is all about gear.
* Item quantity is bad because it increases currency items, too.  Why add damage and clear 10% faster when I can add IIQ gem and get 30% more items?
* Bisco's is a chase item like Headhunter.
* Magic Find does not affect map drops.
* Sextant changes are likely in the next expansion or two.  No details yet.

    Topic: Racing Events
* Exciting and cool, but tricky to entice players without sabotaging the leagues.  Players leave league to race = empty leagues = players demand new content sooner.
* Caters to the top twenty racers more than the average player.  Perhaps more races specifically for Twitch views and hype?
* Community-led races were successful in terms of vierwership.
* Synchronous racing is too disruptive to gameplay (interrupt your map group) and real life (races at all times of day).
* Asynchronous racing is possible, not yet developed, other fundamental issues with racing need to be resolved too.
* Overall, creating race seasons and alt art gear was not worthwhile.
* Chinese realm has "Path of Endurance", a neverending rush of act bosses you fight with your league character.  Your progress is ranked against other players.
* Next patch: Hold alt while mousing over items to see affixes, rolls, tiers, etc.  See options menu.

    Topic: Multithreading Optimization
* Chris seems to be unaware of how widespread crashing due to multithreading is.  Maybe we're wrong, maybe his telemetry is wrong, maybe he wasn't told?
* Burning ground performance improvements are coming within weeks.  This permits burning ground on Xbox.
* Patchnotes are difficult to write, because internal code dedication logs are not perfectly organized.
* Map Fragment Tab coming eventually.
* No trade improvements planned in the near future.
* Possibly revamp hideouts so you have a single hideout across all leagues.  (Speculation.  Low priority.)
* "Can you fish?  Try it!"