I play Hardcore SSF even in my real life, no friends girlfriend or family...

Something I love about SSF is that it makes it much easier for me to balance the game with IRL. When I play trade my competitiveness really comes out and I end up taking it way too seriously.

SSF makes it easy to just put the game down engage in real life and come back whenever I please without feeling like I’m falling behind.

I get to play a game that I love WITHOUT it coming at the cost of my real life - it’s complimentary to my life.

Game changer!

Also the progression is way better. You just feel like what you do is more meaningful - like solving a puzzle.

I really wish there was a guild version of SSF. Like 3-5 people can play a non-market version of the game together. I hate playing in trade league but I really enjoy playing with my friends.

I'm soloing my self found right now

For the younger among you: a Gameshark is a cheating device for old consoles that sits between the game and the console and allows you to edit memory.

I've always naturally played poe self found. For me simply buying better gear doesn't feel good. The downside is that I don't make it very far into the endgame but I like to see how far my luck and crafting will take me.

To add to the point on shortcutting skill gem progression, the same applies to pinnacle bosses and the natural progression of the endgame. on SSF you have to get the splinters and boss keys yourself making it more of a journey to kill all the pinnacle bosses on the hardest difficulties which can also be a good goal and stepping off point for either a character or the league, where as on trade people will circumvent that journey to instantly get to the destination.

Started playing PoE in Jan 2012 because of your stream (thank you)! I only play hcssf in both games.

SSF is a more engaging and enjoyable experience. Players who haven't tried it may prefer it for the following:

1. Using currency on items rather than for items is fun & challenging. You brick a lot, but the successes are memorable
2. Lucky drops & crafts feel so good when a 10x better item isn't available on trade for 1ex
3. No economy fomo - fun per hour >>> Div per hour when Divs are so rarely used
4. Satisfying progression - each objective and item upgrade feels meaningful. Without trade, it's not so easy to trivialize 10 tiers of content

I've always felt that pressure when playing PoE, always being behind in the race or constantly poor, because I'm more of a casual ARPG player in general, and for some reason I never thought about playing SSF. I'll definitely play SSF in this league, thanks sir.

the Main Problem of ssf is that certain crafting currencies are balanced around Trade which means it is expected for you to buy more and Sell some which results in the droprate being shit for ssf. And you have to Grind for days to get enough mats just for them all to Go poooof

Yes I switched to ssf about 2 years ago and it has been worth it. It unlocked like 60% of the game that you don't care about in core

I decided to league start SSF in 0.4. In previous leagues friends I used to play with were RMTing so I decided to try it to ensure I can have fun progression without having the worry about what other people are doing.

It was intimidating at first and quite challenging to get what you need for a build. Caught myself many times trying to walk over to Currency Exchange to buy an Omen I need. :D
But after a bit of getting used to I noticed I was having way more fun, instead of hoarding currency I started thinking how it can help me get better crafting results etc.

Yes you are probably not getting the ideal items, but the excitment of seeing your progress is just on an entirely different level.

I’ve gotten both your videos to pop-up on my YouTube feed this time around. Whatever you are doing, it’s working.

The divine/hour mind set is crazy… we already work 8 hours a day and now work another part time in PoE2.

I played about 50 hours in 0.1 then came back for 0.4 and sunk over 250 hours into several SSF characters. All leveled up to the mid 90's. SSF forces you to experience and learn all of the games systems and I watched many a video on how to craft lol.

Knowing that I earned/looted/crafted every item on my characters myself is such an incredible feeling.  I hope more folks will give SSF a go. It truly is a blast.

For me it's simple:In trade you have only one goal ever and that's currency. If you're playing a build that is slow (but fun) there's a feeling of loosing out due to lack of speed or divines/hour. In ssf there are many goals and you really play the real version of the game as it should be played.

As a veteran I alternate trade and ssf. Trading "ratrace" is exciting part of the game that I like to participate in every now and then.

Hope you make lots of videos on this! I’m here for it and want to follow your process.

Swapping to SSF was the best thing ive done, Trade became way to stressful and once you found a good drop you actually felt some kind of accomplishment...

The Mjolnir point is the most pertinent for me.

I've played ARPGs since Diablo 1 and for me, the joy has always come from finding some cool drop I've never found before and making a build around it. Really makes your path in each league quite different.