Well the fun in that is relative.
A fact is that that is what true rpg's are about.
In a real rpg, it's your character's stats that greatly determine (together with some luck - dice rolls) the outcome of alot of actions (combat, opening locks, speech checks, etc.).

From what i've seen of it so far, this game is fairly heavily action oriented. And with action I mean the fact that the player's actions determine alot (especially the combat: roll, parry, swing, cast sign, roll, roll, swing). It's all about the timing like you say.
I'm not saying this isn't fun, it's just not realy rpg-like.
It's all a matter of advertising actually.

But then again, alot of devs and publishers advertise their game as rpg these days, while alot of them have little to nothing to do anymore with a real rpg.
If your main character can lvl up, it's enough to call it an rpg these days.
This is because the revival of the rpg genre on the pc, caused by the success of real rpg's like Baldur's gate and fallout, made this genre so popular that alot of games get labelled as 'rpg' in an attempt to increase sales.

Not saying that I don't like a good action game once in a while, just saying that there is some sort of 'abuse' of advertsing going on last years in using the term 'rpg'.
As this game is advertised as an action-rpg, there probably isn't much to comment on that, only that the rpg-acpect is arguably a bit thin :)

At the moment, it feels like an action game with RPG elements.

Nothing wrong with it, I was hoping for less emphasis on dexterity required during combat. My reactions aren't what they used to be which makes the game very hard.

rpg doesn't have to mean easy combat

put the game on easy then and stop whining. Seriously, if you followed this game at all, viewed ANY previews, you knew it was combat heavy. The devs said for those who aren't into it, turn the difficulty to easy. That will NOT change the RPG elements such as dexterity, vitality, etc. It just makes them easier to kill for less combat focused folks. They will still surround you and if you have crappy gear or stats and go into the wrong area you will still likely die (just WAY less as likely if you had it on hard).

Ok, so I have seen a lot of posts with people complaining about QTE's & action elements of this game.

This is understandable given that many people prefer RPG's because traditionally(especially if you look at D&D), their characters would do the work for them, and they can play the game at a pace they enjoy.

Perhaps this is where the roots of CRPG started, but there are many other aspects to an RPG.. story, world, characters relationship with the world its story, how player decisions affect the world and other NPC's, character development of skills and personality.

The Witcher 2 has all of these.

FACT: Games will always evolve based upon the technologies available, audience, current culture etc.

If players dont adapt to new game mechanics, learn them, and after you learn them you will get good and enjoy them. Then you will end up letting something new ruin the experience for you, instead of enhancing it. Most players do adapt, and personally I find the action and QTE's get me more involved and immersed into the game.

If games don't adapt to the players, people simply won't buy them in future. As exemplum let me tell what I did once Empire Total War failed my expectations: I didn't buy any other game from Creative Assembly anymore.

Well... Basically, you want to go into an area in the game, take a cup of coffee and let your character fight the battles for you, yes? Given rest of your posts, the only acceptable answer here IS yes.

This game was built to adapt to players. Unfortunately no game can adapt to All players. Over time sales & reviews will show your view to be a minority.

If that is how you look at games you will miss out on a lot. Game creators are like artists, and while they are creating the games for us to play, they are also creating the game for themselves too. If game creators listened to every person who wants to complain about something then they will no longer enjoy making the game. If they do not enjoy their creations then it will show. So while we may not agree with what they do in certain places there is no reason to banish them from your game library.

Game developers want to make us happy with the games they create, but they also want to create their own story at the same time. The only way games can adapt to players is to have the players create the games themselves.

If game design adapted solely to the mainstream player, we'd be hip deep in shitty console ports, generic FPS's and all round low quality games.

It's up to the good leading video game developers to create games which are fresh, high quality, and offer something unique. Right now, I can say the witcher 2 is not like any other game i've played, and I'm confident now that other RPG developers will look at the witcher 2 as how it should be done, or as something which should be beaten. Which is a good thing.

@mitrydates

This game does cater to you. That's why there is an Easy difficulty option. Also, you seem to be in the minority so I doubt CD Projekt need to cater to your needs specifically.

In fact you mean that if games don't adapt to you, you simply won't buy them in the future. :)

RPG's appear in many forms. The battle system is different every time. Though you might call the witcher (2) an adventure game, like the zelda series. I however love the combat system. However if you played the first witcher the combat system was based on hack 'n slash, so why would the witcher 2 be any different? Except it's more tactical. As I play on normal mode signs and swordmanship are sufficient. Though bombs make it neat too. If you're blindly going to attack, you're just asking for trouble. You need to have skills for the game. While some games require you to think of a strategy which abilities to select on the monster, here you require a strategy as well. Difference is this is real time.

I just finished Baldur's Gate and when a random wolf in the wilds can take you out in one hit, RPGs don't mean easy combat. Witcher 2 feels a lot like the original when you get to chapter 1. You can skip the prologue if you want by choosing 'We split up at the Monastery' when talking to Roche in the dungeon. Then you can wander around, picking flowers, do quests, craft items, go exploring, beat people up, play dice, whatever you fancy.