Food is overpowered, nerf food

[Kilburn]

Why is food so overpowered? It gives giant stat increases and has massive duration for no reason.

 

Strange that most potions only last 20-30 seconds but food always lasts for several minutes.

 

I think the whole thing should be canned and food should only restore some small amount of Hit points when consumed. The best most expensive food could restore a moderate amount of HP.

 

The dragon meat or whatever could MAYBE give one other small bonus.

 

 

[Zenbane]

You said the food should be canned... lol ew

[Abel]

Well, it's the same thing as sleeping in a room giving a bonus in mechanics, and sleeping in another one, a bonus in  intelligence :D. i still don't get the point... Personnally, when i sleep, i just hope to feel rested. Not healed (when magic can't do anything), or more clever, dextrous or whatever. Same with the invisible but unlimited stash. I crave for a wagon being actually pulled along by this poor Edèr, the face redened by efforts :D.

 

Food is not my first concern actually. But this is one of them, yes. All these aventure game mechanics in a RPG that end up being not this immersive because of them. For me, at least, it's a huge problem.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Abel

[Zenbane]

Sleep on a crappy bed and then try to slay dragons all day. Then sleep on a memory foam bed with SleepIQ and slay again. Clearly one of those days will yield smarter and more crafty PvE adventuring.

[Abel]

Yeah, which bed should i chose if tomorrow i want to lockpick things? You'd suggest goose feather? or duck? Oh, maybe duck is actually usefull to get ready for a good lore conference, sorry ^^

 

Or maybe you don't get my point

[Fenixp]

Since forever, videogames fought a battle in balancing gameplay mechanics and believability. For me, gameplay > realism, pretty much every single time, and both choice of food and resting places provide interesting decisions in terms of gameplay. If you don't want food to do these things it's pretty easy to just ignore it, just like you can ignore resting bonuses, so what's the big deal?

[JerekKruger]

Food has a long duration sure, but it can't be consumed during combat. You eat a few times a day and choosing the right food sets you up for the day. That's the abstraction food is simulating here.

[Abel]

Since forever, videogames fought a battle in balancing gameplay mechanics and believability. For me, gameplay > realism, pretty much every single time, and both choice of food and resting places provide interesting decisions in terms of gameplay. If you don't want food to do these things it's pretty easy to just ignore it, just like you can ignore resting bonuses, so what's the big deal?

 

I'm earing you . It's a valid assessment. It's just that for me... in A RPG, believability >>> ALL. Because it's a RPG, and i need to believe to play it. You know, in my current playthrough, i use the notes to write the diary of my character in game. Her thoughts, fears, hopes, projects, reasons, and such. I need the world and the gameplay to be believable to be able to think like her (call it full immersion if you want). To me, it's the purpose of a RPG. The better part of a RPG.

 

There is only one thing i can't go along you with. "You don't like it, then ignore it". Someone else said in this forum on another thread something like this:  "Please, don't tell me to ignore it if i don't like it. The only fact this is in the game makes it impossible to ignore". Exactly my thoughts.

 

EDIT: One last thing. The other worst thing for me in Pillars is the life being regained while sleeping anywhere. Magic can't heal, even a nosebleed... And yet, sleeping a few hours in the weeds makes any dying guy a fresh adventurer ready to go. This was not like this in BG. This pillars mechanic even defeats the purpose of priests to me. I used to have 2 or 3 priests in BG, in order to heal my group in any dungeon (where i would never sleep). I loved priests. They bore me in Pillars.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Abel

[Zenbane]

Yeah, which bed should i chose if tomorrow i want to lockpick things? You'd suggest goose feather? or duck? Oh, maybe duck is actually usefull to get ready for a good lore conference, sorry ^^

 

Or maybe you don't get my point

 

Even brindle couldn't miss your point, and well all see how he gets without proper rest: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/83361-breaking-news-pillars-2-has-been-announced/

 

So I had a choice to either mock your point or make a simple lighthearted reply that hints at the absurdity behind claiming "attribute bonuses from resting" somehow ruins immersion in a game where a Monk with a flaming head can perform a flying roundhouse kick while wearing full plate armor. And you explain your stance by claiming, "in A RPG, believability >>> ALL," in which case you very likely need a break from lovingly caressing RPG's.

 

All we are talking about here is the perspective you have when you click on something. So when you click on the rest icon, you have a hard time understanding why your character can pick a lock better when he wakes up? In real life, being better rested grants all sorts of benefits: physical recuperation, better judgement, smarter decision making, maximum endurance, mental prowess, spiritual awareness, and it even boosts your immune system.

 

So if all the known practical benefits of proper rest elude you, as well as the entire "sleep therapy" industry, and all you can do is feel like your immersion is being ruined when you click on a ham sandwich before resting in satin sheets... then hell maybe you're right, I am missing your point lol

 

As for why one skill boost over another... maybe each room has different books that you read before bed. Problem solved.

[Fenixp]

I'm earing you . It's a valid assessment. It's just that for me... in A RPG, believability >>> ALL. Because it's a RPG, and i need to believe to play it. You know, in my current playthrough, i use the notes to write the diary of my character in game. Her thoughts, fears, hopes, projects, reasons, and such. I need the world and the gameplay to be believable to be able to think like her (call it full immersion if you want). To me, it's the purpose of a RPG. The better part of a RPG.

I do not know of a single believable RPG. Well okay, there's that thing where you build a hut and maybe not die which kind of is that I can't remember the name of, but any RPG where your character goes from 0 to Big Evil Defeating Murderer of Doom in just a few in-game months is instantly unbelievable. Any RPG where putting a point in a thing makes you, from one minute to another, 100% more efficient at using something puts gameplay before believablity. Any RPG which makes one kind of steel cut 300% more than another kind of steel just doesn't make any logical sense (something Pillars managed to avoid for the most part, by the way). I assume that as long as you're willing to ignore these inconsistencies inherent to the genre as a whole you're also probably willing to ignore other (in comparison extremely minor) gameisms, like gaining minor bonuses from food. Edited December 6, 2015 by Fenixp

[Kilburn]

Aside from not being believable the huge bonuses are overpowered. It makes a massive difference in combat when it shouldn't.

 

They don't let you prebuff with spells so I'm not sure why they put in those huge overpowered food bonuses. And the game doesn't need it because even on potd it is too easy. And why does food give better bonuses than potions?

 

Why not make food restore health? It would still be useful but not game breaking. That would give food a useful niche since at the moment there is no way to restore health besides resting.

 

Resting bonuses could have their own thread. Imo resting bonuses are just as dumb as food bonuses and should be axed. Sorry but think up something else for the stronghold

Edited December 6, 2015 by Kilburn

[limaxophobiacq]

IMO it'd be fine if you were limited to one food bonus per character, just like you are limited to just one resting bonus.

 

Eating lots and lots of food (like you can do now to stack bonuses) could give you a 'stuffed' condition with assorted penalties.

[Zenbane]

One of my favorite dungeon crawlers (LoG) requires that your party eat, else risk starvation penalties. On top of that, there are racial foods where after eating X amount of a specific food type, the character gains a "permanent" stat increase (eg, after eating a lot of Cheese a Ratling will gain +1 Dexterity). Again, those are permanent stat increases in an RPG; and here is a thread for another RPG where folks are disgruntled over "temporary" food bonuses.

 

It's interesting how a difference in sub-genre can create such nuance with something as simple as food.

[Cantousent]

I haven't been able to post as much lately, but I figured I had to agree with the crowd who doesn't understand why it's an issue.  I mean, a hat that gives extra intelligence and mechanics is just fine, but eating some good ol' fashioned homecookin' just strains credulity?  Of all the simulationist issues, this one appears particularly weak to me on its face.

[mosspit]

No actually when food gets nerfed, they will move on to calling out on stat increases on items. It is a progressive thing.

[Zenbane]

Exactly! Well, unless every hat in every RPG is nerfed to look like this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2589829/Now-THATS-thinking-cap-Electric-hat-zaps-brain-make-smarter.html

 

[Kilburn]

I haven't been able to post as much lately, but I figured I had to agree with the crowd who doesn't understand why it's an issue.  I mean, a hat that gives extra intelligence and mechanics is just fine, but eating some good ol' fashioned homecookin' just strains credulity?  Of all the simulationist issues, this one appears particularly weak to me on its face.

 

 

I already explained the problems with it but I will go over it again.

 

1. the bonuses are insane. +2 strength +2 dex +2 con and a whole bunch of endurance for example if you consume multiple meals.

2. the duration is huge.

3. eating some steak is better than drinking a magical potion in most cases. this annoys me.

4. it makes an already easy game easier.

5. its kind of dumb and makes no sense. a magical hat is fine but becoming the hulk after eating a steak is a little dumb. Ok, you think the magical hat is just as dumb as the steak. We will have to agree to disagree on this one.

6. the vendors restock the raw materials and those materials cost next to NOTHING. Meaning you can craft unlimited food with no sacrifices.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Kilburn

[Cantousent]

Okay, I get you.  I still think that it's not a big issue, but I can understand some of these things just get under a players skin.

[Kilburn]

Okay, I get you.  I still think that it's not a big issue, but I can understand some of these things just get under a players skin.

 

It is not a huge thing.

And you can always impose restrictions on yourself and not use food.

Personally I get annoyed when i have to use too many restrictions...

Anyway, just putting it out there - something they might want to look over again for next xpac, or pillars 2, etc.

[mosspit]

It is actually more annoying to go around purchasing the materials / food. The restriction to stop using food feels more natural in that regards. But whatever, YMMV.

[Heijoushin]

Food is a hassle to eat before each fight. If there weren't good bonus', I don't think people would bother.

 

Then again, real soldiers do fight a hell of a lot better when well fed so...

[Teioh_White]

Yeah, not that I think it's good design or anything, but the annoyance of gathering materials/going shop to shop to buy food, then having to constantly be aware of refreshing it, is enough to get me to rarely use it. Unlike, say, backtracking to rest more though, I don't think the pain of gathering food was supposed to discourage players from using it.

 

I just toss it on the pile of self-imposed restrictions. Not that it's anywhere near as bad as most things on that pile, just too much of a pain for me to get worked up over, so might as well just remove the option.

[AndreaColombo]

I must have missed something. Since when +2 to any attribute made a big difference in PoE?

[Zenbane]

I must have missed something. Since when +2 to any attribute made a big difference in PoE?

 

Not that I disagree with the rhetorical nature of the question (I agree that food/rest is a non-issue), but I also know that some builds seemingly rely on both food and rest simultaneously to get max effectiveness. For example, the Human Fireball Barbarian Build relies on both to help increase the radius of effectiveness to its maximum potential.

 

 

And the further you push the bonus, the better the gains are. So you really want the +2 Int amulet, the resting in Caed Nua +3 Int bonus and maybe even some Cassita Casserole for the tough battles.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416939844

[AndreaColombo]

^ the moment you put things in the game that give bonuses of any kind, there will be builds that revolve around them. It's not wrong, bad, or evil; it's the way games work and it is fun.

 

Food as is now is all right; some people/builds use it and others don't. If it gets nerfed to +1, nobody will use it ever.

 

That people stack bonuses is not something that was born with PoE.