I hope this thread to be an objective, intellectual discussion of this important change in gameplay mechanics. Please, whether you agree with the change or not, try to keep your tone civil, free of sarcasm and mockery. We can only stipulate as to why they did this, but I'd like to hear other people's hypotheses.

I reckon the devs wanted alchemy to take a more central role in the franchise, rather than keep pots a "secondary" tool as it is used in almost any RPG out there, including MMOs. I can imagine a creative meeting going, and people mentioning it would enhance the authenticity and further immersion if alchemy became an active part of the planning process, a true stratagem that could break or make a battle yours.

My biggest interrogation concerns the planning stage. The toxicity level from the first game, which made it intact in the second, is already a great way in imposing limits to the player and forcing him to make choices. The fact you need to meditate to produce pots is logical and it does enhance immersion, although it is more a stylistic design choice than something that truly affects the gameplay.

But what was the rationale for forcing a player to meditate to consume pots? What could the devs that suggested this idea at a meeting said to defend his idea? "It will promote immersion, force even more choices on the player?" That makes sense in a way, but there are much better counter-arguments. For instance, "guessing" work does not feel like control or choice for most people. People like to feel in control of their character, but with the current mechanics, you truly are forced to guess what MIGHT come ahead. It becomes Russian roulette. Of course, if you die during the encounter, you can simply reload (unless you play on hardcore) but then, what has been achieved? If the point of the hardcore mode is to make the gameplay as authentic and immersive as a game can be, why is guessing an appropriate or rewarding way of playing?

In my opinion, what makes the bosses so interesting is all the planning that is involved. It feels a lot more satisfying to win a battle after traps were laid, proper stratagem were thought out and intel (through books or dialogs) was recovered. Guessing is neither fulfilling or rewarding. Killing a boss after planning feels greats. If you pot the right pots by chance, all you feel is lucky.

What are your thoughts on this?

sorry for ignoring the wall of text but the reason they did it because its more true to the story itself.. in a way.

but that's no excuse for taking story element over game-play mechanics. this system just makes you want to make as many potions as you can and guzzle them down when the last batch runs out.

If you had some way of telling what you were going to run into it wouldn't matter ... lets say you could take a tracking skill which would put an icon on your screen when you entered a danger zone, together with what type of critters you could be expecting to run into.

Even then, I find taking pots annoying. The animation takes too long, and it's more of a hassle than an immersive aspect.

I brought this up yesterday. Some extra discussion about the subject can be found here:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/the_witcher_2/knowing_when_to_drink_potions

I believe they wanted to make the potion system more akin to what we saw in the opening cinematic for the first game.

I rather like the idea but there should have been some exclusions. Great Ratherford's Concoction instantly recovers vitality (is it the same, I'm going off TW1?). It's only use would be in the midst of battle because outside of battle your vitality recovers pretty quickly.

One annoying aspect is not taking the right potion or none at all and realizing that the battle your in is doomed to end in death. Whereas, in TW1 if you already had the potion already prepared you could take a swig at your leisure.

I'm conflicted about the idea tbh.

Well, lets hope they didn't hard code the UI so modders can fix it in the end

I'd have to say, again, consoles, and the very limited number of buttons they have.

In W1 and depending on the armor you were wearing, you had up to 3 slots for those potions you preferred: myself I had Cat, Raffard's, and Tawny Oil, all ready for consumption all the time, especially when needed the most, just like you'd have magazines for a gun.

Not anymore. Now you have to pretty much guess what's ahead.

Also, with this new fight--QTE-fight-QTE-fight mechanic, even if you knew what to take beforehand, chances are is not going to last the entire sequence, as potion effect time was GREATLY reduced rom W1 to W2: now potions last minutes, which just about guarantees it'll wear off in the middle of the fight-QTE-fight-QTE sequence

The way you use potions in TW2 is much closer to how Geralt uses them in the books, and I like that immersion. From a gameplay perspective, I haven't decided if I like it more than TW1 yet.

I wouldn't mind the current way to consume potions if they lasted as long as they did in the first game.

I find the fact you have to meditate to drink something (rather then a slot on your belt as in the first Witcher) rather annoying. Limiting the number of different potions available on your belt (once again as in the first one) and also the number of the same potion would have been less annoying and make for better game play IMHO.

Just Me,
Hakiem / Tim

in tandem with toxicity would be great

How did Geralt know who he was about to fight in the books? Did he see in the future?

i would not mind the limitation so much if the game always gave you a chance to meditate when you knew a big fight was coming.
(possible spoiler)




for example the kairan:
the game starts the cutscene when you approch the second last cliff to jump down. the first time i wanted to meditate there to drinkt potions. so i had to reload just for that.

letho: you never get the chance to refresh you potions after the fight with the crabspider.

draug: there are lengthy sequences before this boss and no potion lasts that long. even worse is the fact that the last autosave is 3 fights before the boss. so everytime you die you have to repeat this fights. and there is no way to save or meditate in between.

dragon: you dont even know that boss is coming. and even if you drank a potion it would have never lasted for the full battle.

and all the times you get ambushed.

Seems fairly straightforward to me. They dont want people gulping down potions casually, or especially during battle. Potions in this game are supposed to be a deliberate forethought. So they put them into an interface that cant be activated casually, or during combat.

It may not have been the *best* way to implement potions in the way that they want, but it was probably the most simple, without creating a separate potion interface.