The Path of Exile Rift is Growing Larger - Who Are the Real Tourists?

The Path of Exile community has never been this divided. What’s more surprising is that everyone wants the same thing – for Path of Exile 2 to become the greatest ARPG.

The rift in the Path of Exile community stems from the initial early access release of Path of Exile 2. Most players didn’t know what to expect from the game, but one thing is for sure: Path of Exile 2 brought so many new people to the game.

With an already massive and loyal fanbase in Path of Exile 1, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that most of the discord comes from the new players and the loyal PoE 1 fanbase. The word “tourist” has been getting thrown around ever since PoE 2 came out, and it is becoming as toxic as ever.

What Does “Tourists” Even Mean in Path of Exile?

The term “tourist” was popularized in 2024 during the successful but rocky launch of Path of Exile 2. It was from a massive post in the PoE community forums that dissected why Path of Exile 2 was bad. Since the post was titled “PoE 2 is for Tourists,” the summary was basically saying it is for people who don’t like PoE 1. Some of the systems of PoE 1 are still in PoE 2, but it was lacking in almost every form or were missing completely. “Tourists” is now being loosely used to describe people who enjoyed PoE 2 but never played the first one.

This caused a big rift in the community because Path of Exile 2 was meant to be PoE 1 but greater, but what players got was something entirely different.

It is completely valid that PoE 1 players are disappointed and angry because they were expecting a heightened version of PoE 1. They We expected it mainly because most of the details being released were relatively short changes based on PoE 1’s current system. It was looking to be something like PoE 1 with a massive graphic overhaul, which would be the worst-case scenario.

Things took a massive turn when Grinding Gear Games suddenly announced that they would continue Path of Exile 1’s live service even when Path of Exile 2 is released. Personally, I thought it was odd that they went this route a bit too far into development, but I had a feeling they didn’t want to risk Path of Exile 1’s success because if Path of Exile 2 doesn’t become the “better PoE 1,” they were ruining two good things instead of one.

It does make sense, but the departure of Chris Wilson, the iconic lead for Path of Exile 1, made things a little suspicious. Everyone trusted Chris Wilson’s vision. Things only started to make sense when players really got to play Path of Exile 2.

Nothing Will Stop the Path of Exile Divide

Because PoE 2 will never be like PoE 1, there will be an indefinite rift among the community. There is no question that the loyal PoE 1 players were the majority reason why PoE 2 even happened. From years of supporting PoE 1, I have never seen such undying support for a franchise, one where players are even rejoicing for microtransactions to give the developers more money for a job well done.

That’s uncanny for a free-to-play game. However, with PoE 2 being categorically the same, but playing more like a soulslike with heavy emphasis on decision-making than freedom and experimentation, it’ll never be what PoE players want. In some way, it is a good thing because PoE 1 and PoE 2 will systematically alternate in seasons, giving players a 2-month turnaround for new content.

In time, most PoE 1 players who hated PoE 2 just accepted the situation since PoE 1 isn’t gone anyway. They can just skip PoE 2, but the rift will always be there. The comparisons will persist, causing ongoing discord within the community.

People will always compare these two games that are specifically designed to be different from each other. Content creators will always be a significant part of this rift, especially with clip compilations of them having negative takes that are taken out of context by viewers because they don’t see the full picture.

Some would even call these creators tourists, which is probably some form of rage-baiting when directed at some of the earliest supporters of the game.

There shouldn’t be any tourists here, especially when it is used to degrade others who are actually having fun playing a game they like. And it goes both ways – it shouldn’t be used to attack players who are overtly negative at the game. But, as the saying goes, it wouldn’t be PoE if it didn’t have a balance of your haters, whiners, the “best” builders, white knights, and now… maybe even tourists.