Campsites: the fix for camping supplies.

[Sable Phoenix]

This is just an idea that struck me, like a thrown tomato.

 

What if camping supplies, instead of being completely consumed as soon as you use them (I don't know anyone who throws away their bedroll and pots after one use), actually allowed you to set up an actual campsite?  The campsite would remain at that map permanently, and could be treated like a makeshift inn, although without the bonuses, obviously.  Also, only one allowed per map.

 

You would have to severely reduce the number of camping supplies available throughout the game, of course, otherwise every map would wind up with its own campsite.  But it could also add a new strategic element to when and where you used camping supplies.  Do you use it now, on level 7 of the Endless Paths of Od Nua, when your party is all beat up and has only a few spells left, or do you take a chance in pressing through to level 8, where you know the grand staircase intersects?

 

Alternatively, make campsites time limited, say three days, before they disappear again and you'd have to make another one.  That would allow the current amounts of camping supplies to be retained.

[Ink Blot]

I honestly don't see the point of camping supplies at all. Those players that are bothered by the limited supplies are just going to run back to the inns anyway. The rest aren't bothered in the least by the limitation. I did both a normal and hard run and didn't even notice the limitation. It seemed to me, at least, that it was a completely unnecessary restriction as it had no bearing on my gameplay.

[zombo]

This is just an idea that struck me, like a thrown tomato.

 

What if camping supplies, instead of being completely consumed as soon as you use them (I don't know anyone who throws away their bedroll and pots after one use), actually allowed you to set up an actual campsite?  The campsite would remain at that map permanently, and could be treated like a makeshift inn, although without the bonuses, obviously.  Also, only one allowed per map.

 

You would have to severely reduce the number of camping supplies available throughout the game, of course, otherwise every map would wind up with its own campsite.  But it could also add a new strategic element to when and where you used camping supplies.  Do you use it now, on level 7 of the Endless Paths of Od Nua, when your party is all beat up and has only a few spells left, or do you take a chance in pressing through to level 8, where you know the grand staircase intersects?

 

Alternatively, make campsites time limited, say three days, before they disappear again and you'd have to make another one.  That would allow the current amounts of camping supplies to be retained.

Hmmm.....I like the party camp from Dragon Age:Origins, which is similar to what you said, except it would be one permanent spot. You go there any time and rest. I think DAO handled it best, but the system in place for PoE is fine with me as well.

[Captain Shrek]

I have a better overall idea. Limit total carrying capacity. Make resting supplies heavy and use survival skill to check against intruders in the camp. There, fixed. 

[perilisk]

Without random encounters or any sort of time constraint, there is little preventing you from just leaving, resting in an inn, and returning (with even a tiny bit of athletics, you should be able to use the stronghold inn and then reach any map without fatigue, so cost is not really a factor).

If you're really concerned about trivializing resource limitations, you might as well ditch resting, and make everything either consumable or per-encounter. That, or design areas more mission-based than exploration-based (meaning, you either make it all the way through with your per-rest resources or fail). Resting would be more of a checkpoint under such a design.
 

[GrinningReaper659]

I've got a different sort of idea for the limited camping supplies. How about we make the limitation meaningful by not allowing infinite inn rests. I propose making it so that you can only rest once every 24 in-game hours (or even as much as once every 12 hours). Feel free to only implement this on Hard and PoTD.

 

As for the OP's suggestion, you may as well just ask to remove resting restrictions altogether. Even if the number available is severely limited, there will still be enough to have wilderness inns all over the place. I don't see how this would improve anything for anyone or really change much at all, as you're usually not far from a town anyway.

[Ink Blot]

I've got a different sort of idea for the limited camping supplies. How about we make the limitation meaningful by not allowing infinite inn rests. I propose making it so that you can only rest once every 24 in-game hours (or even as much as once every 12 hours). Feel free to only implement this on Hard and PoTD.

This would only have people wasting time waiting for time to pass, or traveling from one area to another to force time to pass.

 

Honestly, I don't see why there needs to be a change to it. As it is, it serves as a small deterrent to spam-resting if you don't want to waste time traveling to inns. I don't see a good solution to this 'problem'. Either the resting is so restricted that it just annoys the player, or it's completely irrelevant like it is now. I've yet to see a real middle ground.

[GrinningReaper659]

 

I've got a different sort of idea for the limited camping supplies. How about we make the limitation meaningful by not allowing infinite inn rests. I propose making it so that you can only rest once every 24 in-game hours (or even as much as once every 12 hours). Feel free to only implement this on Hard and PoTD.

This would only have people wasting time waiting for time to pass, or traveling from one area to another to force time to pass.

 

Honestly, I don't see why there needs to be a change to it. As it is, it serves as a small deterrent to spam-resting if you don't want to waste time traveling to inns. I don't see a good solution to this 'problem'. Either the resting is so restricted that it just annoys the player, or it's completely irrelevant like it is now. I've yet to see a real middle ground.

 

 

I was half-joking at first, but the more I think about my suggestion the more I actually like it. Maybe a separate toggle such as the "Expert Mode" toggle that exists now (where you have to set it on before the game and if you turn it off can't turn it back on again), with a few "hardcore" features such as limited number of rests per day and inventory system with limited weight and space, etc.

 

I agree, though, that limiting the rests per day would only end up frustrating most players if it were mandatory.

[luzarius]

This is just an idea that struck me, like a thrown tomato.

 

What if camping supplies, instead of being completely consumed as soon as you use them (I don't know anyone who throws away their bedroll and pots after one use), actually allowed you to set up an actual campsite?  The campsite would remain at that map permanently, and could be treated like a makeshift inn, although without the bonuses, obviously.  Also, only one allowed per map.

 

You would have to severely reduce the number of camping supplies available throughout the game, of course, otherwise every map would wind up with its own campsite.  But it could also add a new strategic element to when and where you used camping supplies.  Do you use it now, on level 7 of the Endless Paths of Od Nua, when your party is all beat up and has only a few spells left, or do you take a chance in pressing through to level 8, where you know the grand staircase intersects?

 

Alternatively, make campsites time limited, say three days, before they disappear again and you'd have to make another one.  That would allow the current amounts of camping supplies to be retained.

 

If the game was moddable, we could add this feature and it would make things far more immersive.  It would be nice to have all your companions sitting around a campire making party banter like Dragon Age Origins.

[scrotiemcb]

I think something closer to the current system is better.

 

Limiting camping supplies isn't enough to actually stop players from resting whenever they want. The game needs to limit camping supplies AND prevent players from leaving areas until quests/tasks are complete.

 

Some examples from act 1

 

* if you leave the temple of Eothas to rest at the inn, you return to find Raedric's guards sealing it back up. If you talk to them, it seems Wirtan has been slain.

* if you climb up the vines to gain access to the sanctuary in Raedric's Keep, then go back to Gilded Vale, you find on your return the vines have been cut, and you need to find another way in. Also, the high priest only grants you one rest - he's not that generous to allow another.

 

 

This would work best with optional quests, giving your party a chance to fail them if they retreat. However, that's fine; properly limiting camping for the main storyline isn't vital, so long as the system has a place to shine.

[Captain Shrek]

Without random encounters or any sort of time constraint, there is little preventing you from just leaving, resting in an inn, and returning (with even a tiny bit of athletics, you should be able to use the stronghold inn and then reach any map without fatigue, so cost is not really a factor).

 

If you're really concerned about trivializing resource limitations, you might as well ditch resting, and make everything either consumable or per-encounter. That, or design areas more mission-based than exploration-based (meaning, you either make it all the way through with your per-rest resources or fail). Resting would be more of a checkpoint under such a design.

 

 

Nothing needs to be prevented. Just make time a currency that you can spend. So that if you waste time things start happening. Makes healing magic and resting that more important. 

[RedSocialKnight]

My idea for a fix (which is also a fix for the currently necessary-but-boring Survival skill) would be to replace camping supplies with food -- and the level of food you could prepare would be dependent on Survival.

 

Food would restore health (to a greater or lesser extent according to ingredients and skill) rather than just providing buffs, but it would also provide buffs until the next time you camped -- much as inns do now.

 

Ingredients would be common in the wilderness but rare in dungeons, and the ones you'd find in dungeons would be grubs, fungus and the like -- which could be cooked, but would actually impose debuffs rather than granting buffs, except in the hands of a very skilled cook.

 

 

Limiting camping supplies isn't enough to actually stop players from resting whenever they want. The game needs to limit camping supplies AND prevent players from leaving areas until quests/tasks are complete.

 

Yes, I like this a lot. Many would complain, but it could be added as an option like "Expert Mode"

Edited April 28, 2015 by RedSocialKnight