Personally, I never buy the stuff. Only use what is lying about and even then, I find myself carrying too many spares. Always thinking that around the next corner there will be a worse Boss fight. Wait a minute…are we not on the same page?
Potions! I’m talking about potions, whatever their promised benefits. Makes no difference, I cannot remember to drink them. Not in order to buff up, not in the thick of battle. Mind you, I’m all in favor of potions. My World of Warcraft herbalist/alchemist made a fortune collecting, brewing and selling to others so I can appreciate the need. It’s just that being a hoarder by nature (another post, another time) who rarely drinks, potions invariably accumulate over time. Managing red and blue stacks with an occasional green isn’t too difficult as it’s easy enough to see what can be sold off. It’s games with specialized pharmacuticals that cause me trouble.
For example, let’s look at Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, a game I installed during Gamer’s Drift. Very early on I couldn’t help but notice how many bag slots were occupied by tiny colored items, apparently potions. Six different potions and I’m only level 7? Out of curiosity I visited the Sacred 2 Wiki for clarification. In the interests of research I present my findings:
Five types x three strengths = fifteen potion types. Without major effort, there is no way I can keep track of so many. I decided to continue Sacred 2 at another time and moved on to…..why don’t I let you guess what game? It’s a cRPG where the main character has long white hair and wears a chest belt with of all things, potion sockets!
You win. Ironically I’ve settled into playing The Witcher. A game where potions and oils are a major part of battle preparation, not to mention identifying, collecting and creation associated with such concoctions. While this may seem problematic enough for an historical abstainer, it’s only part of my learning curve. The days of logically color coded drinks are fond memories. Now I must recognize names like Maribor Forest and White Raffard’s Decoction. Over time I will learn, and adjust. In the meantime, gotta go. I challenged a peasant to a drinking match but first I must see about brewing up some Wives’ Tears (neutralizes intoxication). Such is the life of a Witcher.
I typically use potions freely to keep my stats up if I even suspect I might need to. I’ve learned that it’s easier to be at full powers when ambushed than to run around in circles while scrambling in the inventory. I’m an anti-hoarder and like to travel light at about 3/4 of max inventory weight so, yeah, I imbibe freely
In The Witcher I was constantly using potions as they were pretty easy to make once I got the hang of it and they made a lot of fights much, much easier. Plus potions are an integral part of being a Witcher.
I use the potions if I can remember to do so. I just finished a tough Witcher battle and then recalled that I didn’t use any swallow or tawny, which pumps up vitality and endurance. I managed to win anyway but it could have been easier. I do remember to use cat because I’m blind without it. I am a hoarder and always trying to save for later.
I am awful at using potions in games. Every time I scroll over them to see what effect they cause I get severely confused as to how I could possibly have the foresight to use them. Typically, if I do use a potion (or equivalent), it will be directly after I’ve been severely injured by whatever effect it’s supposed to counter.
I only ever remember the potions if they are assignable to a quick key, and then it’s always only mana or health.
I’m like you and Jen, Yap. I collect mounds of potions and then forget to take them, but I can’t bring myself to purge them from my inventory (what if I need a potion of Slightly Increased Metabolism??) I wind up finishing RPGs with a huge assortment of potions clipped to my belt.
I tried to break myself of this by actually using “potions” in Fallout 3, and I wound up cross-addicted to Jet, Psycho, and Buffout. Lesson learned. I’ll stick to booze. 🙂
Fallout 3 was the first game in a while were I didn’t use potions at all, except for the health stimpacks. Otherwise I just sold them all or traded them for stimpacks. That game was all about guns for me.
I think Morrowind cured me of hoarding. I still remember all the junk I had stacked up in my house, rooms and rooms of junk and no use for it whatsoever. These days if I can’t carry it I drop it. It also makes for some exciting times when I find myself out of something and have to run back to the last place where I saw a bunch of loot.
Ah, Morrowind. To illustrate an upcoming S.R. on hoarding, I went back to Creeper’s for a screenshot. All of Vvardenfell is waiting on an old computer for me to advance into Tribunal and Bloodmoon. Morrowind was my first rpg so I blame many current bad habits on that game. 🙂
I’m a hoarder – only because it’s sometimes really confusing what I should keep or toss. Like Jen, unless I can assign usable potions (usually health and/or mana) to a hotkey I forget to take them until I suddenly die.
I use potions if there is some very easy way to do it and their effects either restore health or mana. Other than that? Not so much.
The worse were the old “gold box” D&D games, Pools of Radiance, Curse of The Azure Bonds, etc. All of my characters saved dozens of potions “just in case” and they pretty much all went unused throughout the entire game.
Ajax19, may I adopt your phrase? I’m collecting (or creating) syndromes for what ails me. And perhaps others. 🙂 RDD (Rainy Day Disorder) is more indiscriminate hoarding (piles of everything). Your “Just In Case” seems to suggest (to me) a belief that someday there might actually be a specific need for an item. I like it.
The “Tap at Random” bit on the sidebar there is really great. I’m finding new old stuff on a regular basis that I missed the first time around.
I have both syndromes described above, Rainy Day Disorder and Just In Case. The game gives me this stuff so I just figure it must have a purpose. That purpose ultimately ends up being to take up space in my inventory, and then the game is over.
I am definitely a non-drinker of potions. This is one reason Jade Empire remains one of my favourite RPGs: no item or potion management, save literally a handful throughout. I need more like that because having said fictional disorders combined with my mild obsessive compulsive disorder, again combined with The Perpetual Need To Find Everything And Explore Everywhere in games causes me to finish them a good 50% slower than the average player. I remember the first time I played KOTOR it took me 67 hours. Sigh.