That’s weird that it crashed so often for you. I don’t think it’s crashed 7 times in the 300 hours I’ve played. Did you do the usual “update your drivers and os” stuff?
You can get a loot filter that will make it more obvious what items to pick up. www.pathofexile.com/item-filter/ladder/follower . Some items sell for more valuable currency (like an item with all 3 color sockets linked together, or one with six sockets, etc).
The game does pick up as you go farther. You get more sockets on your equipment so you can add more support gems and skills. The beginning is pretty easy, though.
There are also other potions you can slot in for like more speed, resistances, and such.
There’s a lot of depth. More than I really know in detail.
Now I’m thinking of downloading it again :thinking: