EXACTLY.
I mean why should I even ride around in that world if there are just some side quests here and there and nothing more? Might as well just fast travel to nearest position all the time.
After you corssed the world 3 times it gets boring.
I love some of the ideas of your system (potion upgrades / more powerful versions of potions, the whole "being allowed to take max. 2 potions in battle", the toxicity (which hopefully has negative effects if too high this time around), hell even the mutagenic potions (as long as "mutagens" are still a thing separately).
But that auto-refill thing is nonsense.
If that is not provided, what can we expect to be?
yes totally agreed,there's no place for health potion in the witcher.it's a special touch of game mechanism.If I see a health potion in the game...:mean:
The more I think about the auto-refill and what it could change and bring to the game, the more I like it. Less clutter in inventory, less clutter in world map. Ingredients that you DO find might give you a sense of true achievement (as opposed to just clicking away to pick up your 145th plant just because you can). Ingredients will most probably be connected to the treasure hunting activity, as well.
Also, economy might be less prone to abuse (less stuff to stack, less things to sell, less money Geralt will have).
Should be clearer now.
Maybe herbs in the environment is still a thing, and they just weren't present or turned on, so to speak, in any of the areas shown in the E3 gameplay footage or the behind-closed-doors demo.
Populating huge areas with lootable plants, bushes and shrubberies (in a natural way) shouldn't be much of a (time consuming) problem with SpeedTree, which, iirc, is the main tool for generating/spawning all the game world's flora in The Witcher 3 as well.
Let's go though your list.
1. Less clutter in the inventory.
Have a realistic inventory. Restrict both carrying weight and carrying volume, use slots if need be. Problem solved.
2. Less cluttered world map.
Plant fewer alchemic herbs throughout the world. Problem solved.
3. Sense of achievement.
Make alchemic ingredients hard to find. Problem solved.
4.Fool proof economy.
Make alchemic ingredients hard to find. Problem solved.
To balance things out, have herbalists sell you low and mid level alchemic ingredients. Potions can be used multiple times. Problem solved.
Why do we need auto-refilling potions again?
I mean, so far the arguments in favour of them have been so flimsy, so contrived and so oblique, that I really look forward hearing the Reds defend the solution. Either something is escaping me or something has escaped them.
The reds have already said that they did it because no body was using it and were just hording stuff. Keeping the W2 system but making ingredients harder to find, putting fewer of them out there, and heavier restrictions on inventory would have the opposite effect of what their stated goal with this the auto-refill is... which is to get people using potions all the time.
Check updated post. Giving Geralt the ability to purchase low and mid level ingredients from herbalists scattered through the world and/or a pharmacy, and the ability to contrract a regular supply of either ingredients or potions at a cost addresses those concerns.
It seems to me there would be nothing left for the new system to solve. But I await further details.
2. Less cluttered world map.
Plant fewer alchemic herbs throughout the world. Problem solved.
3. Sense of achievement.
Make alchemic ingredients hard to find. Problem solved.
4.Fool proof economy.
Make alchemic ingredients hard to find. Problem solved.
Why do we need auto-refilling potions again?
'Handcrafted' may be applicable to the points of interest and important landmarks in the environment but I (highly) doubt that, in case of the flora each and every tree, bush or grassy strip was carefully placed by hand.I doubt its a matter of flipping a switch to turn them on/off. Every detail of the game's environments have been handcrafted, so that suggests that they are not using the automatic procedural generation of feature of Speedtree. So the lootable herbs that are in the game are deliberately placed where they are.
No, I think it would be very well within the bounds of possibility to let SpeedTree semi-randomly populate selected areas (where it makes sense and within reason) with herbal plant life.
It's just a question if CDPR is willing to do that.
no body was using it and were just hording stuff.
just found a very rare ingredient for a very powerful potion on the body of an ice giant, it was hard, I nearly died (and reloaded twice - just for the sake of insisting on difficulty) : great achievement. With that ingredient I am able to make a powerful potion (great achivement, again) that I will be able to use once (or as many time as multiple times can mean). If I use this potion in a situation I didn't need it, I will have to hunt another ice giant or whatever (if there are some remaining) to be able to have another bottle of the potion.
Or I won't use it at all, because I don't want to lose the potion, which I almost died to make, on a meaningless fight after which there could be a fight I might have bigger need of that potion
I don't see problem, if you don't use potions, it's only your problem...
Many times I don't have orens to buy items, maybe auto refill orens? Why not? Looting is boring, and I don't like selling items, if there are auto refill potions, I want same with orens...
Auto refill I said NO, if CDPR give it optional I don't have nothing against...
'Handcrafted' may be applicable to the points of interest and important landmarks in the environment but I (highly) doubt that, in case of the flora each and every tree, bush or grassy strip was carefully placed by hand.
To my understanding that's exactly what SpeedTree or similar software is used for: To significantly lighten the workload for the developer by letting some fairly sophisticated algorithms 'seed' plants, trees, grass, bushes, etc while factoring in several parameters like altitude, terrain type, lighting and weather conditions, and so on. It's corrections or adjustments to the already placed flora where the developer steps in. And even the 'touching up' is most likely reduced to a minimum due to the algorithms doing their job and automatically placing everything in a way that's both satisfying and most importantly already looks and feels natural.
In no way was 'every detail' or 'everything' we saw of the Swamps' or No Man's Land's flora placed by hand.
I may have to eat my words here afterwards, but... no, no way.
And CDPR definitely uses SpeedTree for The Witcher 3 (or so I think I heard or read somewhere), so... if it's not used for what it's usually used for, why should CDPR license it again?
No, I think it would be very well within the bounds of possibility to let SpeedTree semi-randomly populate selected areas (where it makes sense and within reason) with herbal plant life.
It's just a question if CDPR is willing to do that.
I'm sure many of us never had this problem
gutting a system that is widely loved.