Game Design Flaws
This game is fantastic in so many ways, the story telling is great, the world is immersive and it has been great fun to play... up to a point. however the game design is seriously flawed and goes against every mechanic that makes games addictive and encourages players to keep playing them long after the main quest is over. There are 3 major problems:
1. Not providing xp to missions because your level is too high is RUBBISH. The glaring flaw is that it penalises you for playing the game how you want to play i.e. doing quests and exploring any way you like as you have to play all missions within your level range to get xp properly. This is CRAZY since it is an open world game.
2. Penalising you for saving money is STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!! A money cap is a mechanic that goes against human nature (or at least how most of us are raised) i.e. to save money for a rainy day. In most games one of the most satisfying things is building up a surplus loot because in real life, as we all know, this is really hard to do. At the moment there is no point in saving any cash in the game which MAKES NO SENSE.
3. Powerful and interesting monsters do not respawn. Therefore crafting some items becomes impossible since there are not enough monsters to get these rare parts. (F@#KING Ekimmara Hide!!!). I know that the game encourages monster hunts which is a great mechanic but why don't those monsters simply become more common once you have completed the quest?
I have been playing this game on xbox since release (in spare time) and am only about 27% through game, Im level 22, I feel powerful, well equipped and have plenty of resources. There is so much more to do and so many higher tiers of power and enemies to look forward too. However the xp bug has hit me (not getting xp for quests that are "green" within my level range) and I've stopped playing missions since I wont be able to get xp easily as very little is given for slaying beasties in the world and the tougher ones don't even respawn. Also I actually DON'T WANT TO LEVEL UP since levelling up will make a bunch of quests unviable in terms of return because of the tiered xp system.
Ok so I'm waiting for the 1.4 patch to drop, so have decided to build up loot, cash and craft potions. But I can't craft some of my potions since there are not enough beasts to kill (F@#k me!!!). Then I have saved cash to around 65K, go cash in some more loot for a little more dough and BOOM!!! I suddenly only have 900 gold. WTF!!! Now I have nothing to do until the patch arrives... NOTHING. Also because of this current game design, once I complete the quests and explore the points on the map I will have NOTHING to do. sure I can try to level up further killing a million Nekkers and drowners for 1 xp per kill and loot up and lose all my money every 65K I put in the bank!!! So much fun to be had!!!! NOT. What a bitter way to end such a great game.
I think these issues can be fixed, which is why I'm posting this complaint. I know that patch 1.4 is fixing the xp bug (among the other various bugs afflicting the game) and believe that the need for Ekimmara Hide for higher level potions has been scrapped but the 3 issues I have noted don't appear to have been addressed fully. Please CD Project Red, listen to players and change the game design so that players can play the game the way they want to and Witcher 3 becomes the masterpiece it deserves to be rather than a noble but very flawed RPG that leaves it's players feeling bitter and cheated for the 100s of hours spent in the world of the Witcher.
This game is fantastic in so many ways, the story telling is great, the world is immersive and it has been great fun to play... up to a point. however the game design is seriously flawed and goes against every mechanic that makes games addictive and encourages players to keep playing them long after the main quest is over. There are 3 major problems:
1. Not providing xp to missions because your level is too high is RUBBISH. The glaring flaw is that it penalises you for playing the game how you want to play i.e. doing quests and exploring any way you like as you have to play all missions within your level range to get xp properly. This is CRAZY since it is an open world game.
2. Penalising you for saving money is STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!! A money cap is a mechanic that goes against human nature (or at least how most of us are raised) i.e. to save money for a rainy day. In most games one of the most satisfying things is building up a surplus loot because in real life, as we all know, this is really hard to do. At the moment there is no point in saving any cash in the game which MAKES NO SENSE.
3. Powerful and interesting monsters do not respawn. Therefore crafting some items becomes impossible since there are not enough monsters to get these rare parts. (F@#KING Ekimmara Hide!!!). I know that the game encourages monster hunts which is a great mechanic but why don't those monsters simply become more common once you have completed the quest?
I have been playing this game on xbox since release (in spare time) and am only about 27% through game, Im level 22, I feel powerful, well equipped and have plenty of resources. There is so much more to do and so many higher tiers of power and enemies to look forward too. However the xp bug has hit me (not getting xp for quests that are "green" within my level range) and I've stopped playing missions since I wont be able to get xp easily as very little is given for slaying beasties in the world and the tougher ones don't even respawn. Also I actually DON'T WANT TO LEVEL UP since levelling up will make a bunch of quests unviable in terms of return because of the tiered xp system.
Ok so I'm waiting for the 1.4 patch to drop, so have decided to build up loot, cash and craft potions. But I can't craft some of my potions since there are not enough beasts to kill (F@#k me!!!). Then I have saved cash to around 65K, go cash in some more loot for a little more dough and BOOM!!! I suddenly only have 900 gold. WTF!!! Now I have nothing to do until the patch arrives... NOTHING. Also because of this current game design, once I complete the quests and explore the points on the map I will have NOTHING to do. sure I can try to level up further killing a million Nekkers and drowners for 1 xp per kill and loot up and lose all my money every 65K I put in the bank!!! So much fun to be had!!!! NOT. What a bitter way to end such a great game.
I think these issues can be fixed, which is why I'm posting this complaint. I know that patch 1.4 is fixing the xp bug (among the other various bugs afflicting the game) and believe that the need for Ekimmara Hide for higher level potions has been scrapped but the 3 issues I have noted don't appear to have been addressed fully. Please CD Project Red, listen to players and change the game design so that players can play the game the way they want to and Witcher 3 becomes the masterpiece it deserves to be rather than a noble but very flawed RPG that leaves it's players feeling bitter and cheated for the 100s of hours spent in the world of the Witcher.