Was anybody else disappointed with how little time you get to acquire and use Act II shop items?

Once you get into Act II, you only have 2 sidequest-shopping periods and 2 story quests left to go. So either you

• Play all the sidequests, get only 2 chances to shop during Act II. The amount of Act II stuff you get in the first shop phase is going to be small (possibly zero), especially taking into account whether or not its useful for your characters. You may have gotten lucky and gotten an Act II piece or two during Act I, but in all likelihood a very small amount of weapons/armor/etc in total by the time you finish the campaign.
• Or you skip the final 2 sidequests in favor of getting 4 total chances at the shop during Act II. This is your only real way of getting geared up with Act II stuff, but that means you pretty much only have Act II gear for the final quest.

I would agree. I was very surprised and disappointed that RTL Act II was not as long as Act I. I was hoping, much like in normal play, that they would be mirror images of each other (in terms of how many quests are played).

I agree too. I would love to have a chance to get to play with more Act II toys ... and a few extra XP from a longer Act II wouldn't be missed either...

Same goes for the Delve. I like the faster pace and shorter length, but only 1 boss fight in ACT 2 is not enough imo. 1 or 2 more would be perfect.

Whilst I agree that act 2 is too short in kindred fire, it doesn't have an effect on shop items. Which deck you get your draws from is based on game and not the current act. I've frequently had act 2 items before the interlude and likewise have continued to receive act 1 items afterwards.

Yeah, you might get some trinkets, but have you ever gotten an act II weapon in act I? I haven't. It'd be pretty game breaking too, since Act I monsters aren't designed to handle that.

I have gotten Act II weapons in Act I when playing RTL. I have yet to play the Delve, so I can't really say as of yet.

Yeah in RtL which shop cards you see is based on fame, not actual act. Act 2 weapons during Act 1 is totally doable.

I'm aware it's based on fame, but fame progression is designed so that you start getting act II items 'around' the time of the act II transition. Which is not something that should be changed because if it were possible to get more than a handful earlier it would make act I very unfun.

That's why the solution is that act II needs to be longer, and not that we need more fame so we can get more act II items sooner: getting act II items sooner would put the challenges of act I out of whack. The fact that act II is short and that the amount of time you have to enjoy having act II items is also short are intertwined with each other, they aren't two unrelated things.

I'm aware it's based on fame, but fame progression is designed so that you start getting act II items 'around' the time of the act II transition. Which is not something that should be changed because if it were possible to get more than a handful earlier it would make act I very unfun.

That's why the solution is that act II needs to be longer, and not that we need more fame so we can get more act II items sooner: getting act II items sooner would put the challenges of act I out of whack. The fact that act II is short and that the amount of time you have to enjoy having act II items is also short are intertwined with each other, they aren't two unrelated things.

If you believe this to be true (I actually disagree on some of your points), then I suppose you must not like the fact that you gain relics in Act I as well.

I'm fine with relics in Act I because the ones you get are utility that works in scale for either Act I or Act II. "Redo a dice roll" is a nice and balanced utility ability in Act I or Act II, so getting Fortuna's dice in Act I is fine. And when they are weapons, they are scaled for Act I. For example Staff of Light has power dice equivalent to an Act I weapon. In Act I it is a powerful, but in scale, weapon to use, in Act II it falls behind as a weapon (but still retains usefullness for its utility functions). Similar for the Shards relic. It would be problematic if the relics you were getting in Act I were Dawnblades and Ynfaernal Runes.

Are you saying you think it'd be good for the game if kitting your party out with Grinding axe, Rune of Fate, etc. early in Act I were commonplace?

^{I agree. It feels so strange that Act 2 lasts for such a tiny amount of time. As someone who never got chance to play Campaigns before it's been really nice to actually get some act 2 stuff used.}

^{I really don't understand why they cut it short.}