I keep looking for a reason to craft something... and failing.

[Terikan]

I feel like so much of this aspect of the game is wasted by the fact that you have to try really hard to give enough damns to use consumables like food, or need to use potions.

 

And enchanting is limited by what your equipment doesn't already have, and even at the end of the game I lacked many components despite going all over (outside of the endless dungeon).

 

I have never once been able to justify crafting a single item.

[anameforobsidian]

On PoD Solo certain parts absolutely require scrolls.  Also, there are some spells that are scroll only.

Also, enchanting is absolutely necessary to get the best gear in the game.

Foods provide a unique buff that adds on to other bonuses, rather than suppressing them.

Some potions are in limited supply, and they can make a big difference in hard battles.

Edited April 22, 2015 by anameforobsidian

[Enoch]

It's really really hard for a CRPG developer to make a crafting system that (1) feels worthwhile, (2) isn't totally overpowered, and (3) can safely be ignored by players who'd rather not spend their time picking flowers.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Enoch

[Tigranes]

Food is crucial to survival in early game on POTD/Solo. 

 

Certain potions and scrolls, like Fan of Flames, Paralysis, Revival, Maelstrom, Major Endurance, can be battle-changing at strategic points. 

 

Enchanting is so obviously useful for almost any player, and especially with merchants selling ingredients, there's no conceivable way you're lacking ingredients if you've looked everywhere. 

[Brother Pain]

I'd use food if it was on a per-rest basis, but the timed buff is annoying if you like to take your (real) time exploring.

[guntter]

I'm playing in normal and never use potion till lv 10.

 

But I think it will be different on higher difficulty.

[Katarack21]

I'm playing on normal. Potions of endurance are a *big* help all-around. I also use scrolls a lot--it's a big help in both healing (allowing mages and ciphers to do at least a basic amount of party healing) and in general in allowing cross-class spell use.

[kalel78]

I feel like so much of this aspect of the game is wasted by the fact that you have to try really hard to give enough damns to use consumables like food, or need to use potions.

 

And enchanting is limited by what your equipment doesn't already have, and even at the end of the game I lacked many components despite going all over (outside of the endless dungeon).

 

I have never once been able to justify crafting a single item.

 

you obviously havent looked at the merchants in twin elms.. you can get everything you need through those.. also if you search the markets in the towns around the world.. they will have the ingredients you need.. even things like Dragon Eggs/Meat.

Edited April 22, 2015 by kalel78

[Zwiebelchen]

It's really really hard for a CRPG developer to make a crafting system that (1) feels worthwhile, (2) isn't totally overpowered, and (3) can safely be ignored by players who'd rather not spend their time picking flowers.

 

Then FFS they should just get rid of it.

 

Wow, phew, this was an outburst... sorry...

But it's true. Why does every game developer feel like an enchanting/crafting system is mandatory in a modern game release? It's totally not. Crafting is cool in sandbox games, but this is a cRPG. There's no reason why we need crafting; just get rid of it. It destroys the fun of discovering new unique magic items anyway ("Wooohooo, a magic item ... errr ... never mind, it got the same enchants as my old item.")

 

 

I never understood why games like The Witcher had a crafting system.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[WebShaman]

It's utter bollocks.

 

I completed the game multiple times on different difficulty levels without ever enchanting/using potions/food, etc, by using the basic strategy of tank and spank.

 

PERHAPS some use it on PotD.  I don't know.  Perhaps it is used on solo runs.  I don't know.  All of those type of things have never indulged that they did so.

 

Scroll use I know has been used (I mean...it is called "cheeese" but...).

[Guest BugsVendor]

 

It's really really hard for a CRPG developer to make a crafting system that (1) feels worthwhile, (2) isn't totally overpowered, and (3) can safely be ignored by players who'd rather not spend their time picking flowers.

 

Then FFS they should just get rid of it.

 

Wow, phew, this was an outburst... sorry...

But it's true. Why does every game developer feel like an enchanting/crafting system is mandatory in a modern game release? It's totally not. Crafting is cool in sandbox games, but this is a cRPG. There's no reason why we need crafting; just get rid of it. It destroys the fun of discovering new unique magic items anyway ("Wooohooo, a magic item ... errr ... never mind, it got the same enchants as my old item.")

 

 

I never understood why games like The Witcher had a crafting system.

 

 

This +1.

 

I always have a feeling like all those systems are just something they can advertise about. And these system suck.

 

Instead of spending so much effort on these ridiculous unnecessary additions they should have made the core game more engaging and detailed.

 

There are so many boring ass encounters in this game made with 0 imagination. Literally copy paste monster groups over and over again but Woohoo we have useless crafting system.

 

To people saying there were using food and scrolls a lot. I loled. Finished the game 2 times on PoD without custom companions and all that. Never used a potion or a scroll or an enchant until the last fight. That's it.

 

I don't mind crafting systems or some enchant system as long as it is well balanced and placed. When it's just there for the sake of being it... meh... And besides again it doesn't fit into the role playing part. It is never explained why you can enchant or what you do to those weapons. You look at your character history, and you were some gardener or alike before you  joined the caravan to guilded vale but somehow you can enchant weapons O_o.

 

If they relay needed it there should be some bad ass wizard or special smith with a quest that could do this for you.  There is nothing like adding new magical abilities to a 10 000 years old legendary magical blade, casually, by the camp-fire somewhere in the woods

[RedSocialKnight]

I played on Hard and never used a potion. I used food once, for my first dragon fight -- hard to tell how much difference it really made.

 

I did occasionally use scrolls -- it was cool for Aloth to have access to druid spells like Moonwell.

 

Of course I enchanted all my gear, and I quite liked that system even though it was irritating that you could **** up unique weapons by putting the wrong enchantments on them.

 

Why does every game developer feel like an enchanting/crafting system is mandatory in a modern game release? 

 

I don't think they did think it was necessary or even a core feature. It was a stretch goal.

Edited April 22, 2015 by RedSocialKnight

[Rostere]

I feel like so much of this aspect of the game is wasted by the fact that you have to try really hard to give enough damns to use consumables like food, or need to use potions.

 

And enchanting is limited by what your equipment doesn't already have, and even at the end of the game I lacked many components despite going all over (outside of the endless dungeon).

 

I have never once been able to justify crafting a single item.

 

You must be insane. Crafting Scrolls of Paralyze is completely OP. Crafting weapons and armor to their maximum potential is a no-brainer.

 

That said, I don't like crafting in general, but it sure as hell is not useless.

[Elerond]

Crating is in the game because it was feature that backers requested during Kickstarter and Obsidian promised one.

 

Upgrading your weapons and armors with exceptional/superb enchantment is may not be necessary, but very helpful thing to do as is to give your weapons lash enchantments and your armors attribute boos enchantments.

 

Food and Potions gives temporal boost that in certain play styles gives your character/s massive edge in next encounter. They can become quite important if you play with party which don't have characters that are able to boost your characters. But you can survive with out them if you want, but using them would make your life easier and in end game you don't fall short of them if you so desire.

 

Scrolls give spells to those members of party that don't normally have access on them or they give your wizards/priests/druids more spells to cast without need to rest. But you can survive without using them, but using them probably will make your life easier.

 

Crafting system was much more powerful initially, but backers with beta access felt that it over shadowed unique items that you can find, which is why it was heavily gimped before release.

[Zwiebelchen]

 

Why does every game developer feel like an enchanting/crafting system is mandatory in a modern game release? 

 

I don't think they did think it was necessary or even a core feature. It was a stretch goal.

 

Wait, what? The enchanting thing was a stretch goal?

 

...

I'm seriously starting to believe that all the bad things in the game were stretch goals ...

 

If that is true, I'd say Obsidian made the right decisions: deliver the minimum possible product in stretch goals and invest the extra money into all the other stuff.

 

So, now, we only need a mod that disables all stretch goal content and we have a perfect game.

 

 

Crating is in the game because it was feature that backers requested during Kickstarter and Obsidian promised one.

 

 

Seriously, this is what happens when too many people (as in backers) have a say in what gets created: we get a cluster**** of mediocre instead of fewer but higher quality content. I'm starting to think that publisher-developer relationships are a good thing. At least they rigorously cut on mediocre content then.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[Psychevore]

I beat PotD without ever eating something or using a scroll I crafted, using the normal companions.

 

Enchanting is a whole different ballgame though. I used a single stilletto all game long, upgraded it from normal all the way to superb.

 

And I crafted some potions.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Psychevore

[Jimmious]

I've crafted countless scrolls to overcome the lack of supplies when I got stuck in a couple of places. Life-savers.

[Lightzy]

The problem is that devs, instead of making a GAME like game used to be, where you have to be smart and every game system is important, and there's some, god forbid, challenge,... instead of all that they try very hard to make a game, like this game's designer josh himself said, where you can wear any armor you want and it'll still be good, because we don't want to limit our players' fashion sense

 

Result of this design philosophy: having to create a (crafting) system which you can use heavily if you like it, or ignore completely if you don't like it.

Which necessitates making the game very easy, because you want people who "don't like crafting" to get a "warm fuzzy feeling" experience.

 

It's not a game, it's a fashion show

[Starwars]

First time playing on Hard, I think I may be used potion... 5 times tops? Scrolls I used a bit more but still not to the point where I would craft them. Enchanted a few times just for fun. Never ate any food. Completed the game quite easily still.

 

On my replay, I tried a bit more stuff, including the food. It can be useful.

 

But yeah, I found it pretty much completely unnecessary even on Hard which is kinda... bad I guess. 

 

Next playthrough will be on PotD so maybe I'll make more use of them then but yeah, the game is too easy to really make me feel that they are a meaningful part of the game on Hard.

[Ouroboros226]

Playing on hard + expert. 

Food and rest bonuses too weak to make any noticable difference.
Enchanting? Used it minimally. My entire party always had better than what I could craft.
 

The only thing that would make enchanting worth it would be if the crafting mats for superb armor and weapons was available in a moderate amount by mid-game. However - crafting mats for top tier weapon and armor is limited to 1 character. And the difficulty of the monster you must kill for top tier armor upgrade is the hardest in the game. 

So ironically, when you have the mats to craft 1 x top tier armor - you are strong enough to not need it. 

[Tuckey]

I was going to post something during the kickstarter to the effect that crafting wasn't really needed, wish I had now. I never got the impression that backers were demanding it either. I think at some stage they (Obsidian) were just posting stretch goals because things were happening so fast and they wanted to maintain momentum.

 

As it is, itemisation has suffered because crafting is in the game, its that simple in my opinion. Why else does Eder start out with the best armour in the game?

[Zwiebelchen]

I was going to post something during the kickstarter to the effect that crafting wasn't really needed, wish I had now. I never got the impression that backers were demanding it either. I think at some stage they (Obsidian) were just posting stretch goals because things were happening so fast and they wanted to maintain momentum.

 

As it is, itemisation has suffered because crafting is in the game, its that simple in my opinion. Why else does Eder start out with the best armour in the game?

 

I agree on this. But we shouldn't forget that PoE was one of the first successful large-scale kickstarter game projects ever. I think it isn't fair to really judge them on some bad decision they made during the heat of the kickstarter campaign. In fact, even today lots of kickstarter game projects haven't learned the lesson on stretch goals.

[Ineth]

Crafting weapons and armor to their maximum potential is a no-brainer.

 

Yep. Get the best weapons/armors/shields that don't already have a quality enchantment (but have other unique enchantments), and add a quality enchantment on top of it.

 

There's no real reason not to do it.

[Ineth]

The only thing that would make enchanting worth it would be if the crafting mats for superb armor and weapons was available in a moderate amount by mid-game. However - crafting mats for top tier weapon and armor is limited to 1 character.

 

You can do plenty of "Exceptional" enchantments though.

[rjshae]

 

It's really really hard for a CRPG developer to make a crafting system that (1) feels worthwhile, (2) isn't totally overpowered, and (3) can safely be ignored by players who'd rather not spend their time picking flowers.

 

Then FFS they should just get rid of it.

 

Wow, phew, this was an outburst... sorry...

But it's true. Why does every game developer feel like an enchanting/crafting system is mandatory in a modern game release? It's totally not. Crafting is cool in sandbox games, but this is a cRPG. There's no reason why we need crafting; just get rid of it. It destroys the fun of discovering new unique magic items anyway ("Wooohooo, a magic item ... errr ... never mind, it got the same enchants as my old item.")

 

 

I never understood why games like The Witcher had a crafting system.

 

The answer is pretty simple; because some players really like it. The same is true for in-game houses, or romances. It's there to appeal to a portion of the player base. The fact that you don't like it doesn't really matter; it didn't stop you from buying or playing the game, and it is easy to ignore. If it does encourage more people to buy the game or increase their enjoyment, then it's a win from the developer's standpoint.

 

As for crafting in The Witcher, that was one of those rare games where I actually felt like I needed crafting. It proved highly beneficial during the toughest fights.