Potion system-Profession hobby

When I think of RPG games...some sort of potion is always presence.
To make great gold sink, and create more social activities in towns, having complex potion system would be very nice. And who know...might create new strategies too

Here are fundamental rules of potion system
-You can carry maximum 2 potions with you
-You need potion vial(need to replace after 5 usage due to contamination) to carry potion and use it
-Makers need potion jar to store and distribute potions only. Unlimited usage.
-Potion users are responsible to buy their own potion vials...and makers responsible for their own potion jar
-Each profession can create one unique type of potion
-Potion can be only used once....when outside of town
-Can be refilled "only" in town
-The maker must gather ingredients...like herbs, glands etc.
-Once you gather all ingredients, you can create 1 litre of potion...equavalent to 5 servings.
**-Potion will have grades in quality depends on the maker's character level: regular, premium, golden**
-You can trade/sell potions

Here are 6 unique "premium" potions(or more if new professions are available near future)
(type/maker/effect/side effect)
-Healing potion/monk/instant full health/slow attack speed for 5 seconds)
-Antidot potion/ranger/removes all conditions/slow movement for 3 seconds)
-Adrenaline potion/warrior/increase attack rate, evade chance for 10 sec/life degen for 5 seconds)
-Anti-Hex potion/mesmer/removes all hexes/all skills disabled for 3 sec)
-Energy potion/Elementalist/instant full energy/dazed for 10 seconds)
-Booster potion/Necro/+1 health and energy regen for 10 sec/10% death pentalty for 10 seconds)

Example of ingredients
-Healing potion: 5 Tyrian mushroom, 3 ginger, 1 golden ginseng

Important note: There can be "only one" potion maker for each account. After logging on, you select potion maker. You can switch, but you will lose all potion ingredients you have; and can not gather ingredients for 72 hours after switch.
Example...I have 4 characters. I selected my warrior as main potion maker. Later I decided to switch to monk. I'll lose all ingredient I have and will not be able to gather any ingredients for 72 hours.

-If desires, there can be "potion trainers": Regular, Premium or Golden trainer.
Trainer will charge you gold(amount depends on level of training) just like tuition fee. (s)he will teach you how to make potions, how to distinguish/find/store ingredients.
Since each knowledge will build upon previous knowlege...you must seek to learn from regular trainer, then premium, then golden trainer. You can not skip.
If this is the case, potion quality grades will be depends on your level and level of training(refer to star marked italic text on fundamental rules). And you must re-learn everything if you switch potion maker.

What do you think?
If it is good...feel free to add/change more ideas to make it better ^^

Oh I forgot 1 thing....in order to use potion, there must be a new user interface called potion window. You must drag your potion filled vial to this window before leave town in order to use your potion.

Just thought of another idea....in order to increase more gold sink, there can be trainer called "ingredient master". (s)he will teach you how to find/distinguish ingredients. Once you learn...you will be able to see that ingredient while travelling. Again..you must re-learn everything if you switch your potion maker
For example...I payed 500 gold to learn how to find golden ginseng; but no one on my party learned it. When we travel, only I'll be able to see and gather golden ginseng. If everyone learned it...the same system to govern items can be apply here.

I like your idea. There are many things I'd love to see in GW and this is another point of interest. I hope they are listening!

Anet hates grind.
This adds grind, seeing as you will pretty much NEED pots to be "uber" in PvP.
So that won't make it.
Has been suggested before.
Go play FFXI

_Zexion

WAY too strong, monk pot HECKA STRONG and ele pot u can plague touch dazed lol, instant dazed for the enemy

nothing wrong with potions, so long as they dont heal....

consider making pots that take away negative conditions or add positive ones, much like the scrolls can add exp and so forth.

all i need to do to heal, is stand still for a second or two and not get into a fight...
so the best potion for that would be a Sanctuary potion, that made any and all creatures (not used in PvP btw) ignore me for the duration of the spell, but if i attack, or cast, or do anytihng even move, the effect is busted.

i dont like the fact that a pot vial gets contaminated after 5 uses, though...ok, if you never clean your equiptment, but hell, i would never let my bottles get dirty^^
maybe better have vial types.

say, if you have pots like antidote (poison)
a fantasy version of that heamastat from dino crisis (no words come to mind right no lol)
Mind clearer (mental hexes)
Blood Purger (for weakness and similar)
Balm (for sickness)

each one could have a certain king of vial. each one would look slightly different, and have a different color when filled, so you dont swig a bottle of blood purger when you meant to take a gulp of antidote

yes, most, if not all these effects can be produced by a class, but hey, when your monk is down or being pounded, and your poisoned, you dont have time to wait for them to be free, like so *gulp*

Sounds like good idea ^^
The reason I added contamination after 5 uses is to make gold sink...so that people will always spend gold to buy vials
Vial types sound good idea too though.
What do you think about side-effects?
If you like the idea of side-effects....then do you think characters should always(100%) get side-effect after consuming potion or get it by chance?(like 50% chance getting side-effect)

It was just an example...so if it is too strong, developers can adjust it since they know lot more detail about the game. And yeah...I checked out necro skill called plague touch and you are right (never played necro before).
How about we make those potion related negative condition "side-effects"?
Therefore it can not be removed by regular condition removing spells such as mend ailment, or pass on to enemy by plague touch.

This seems waaay to complicated.

And the all important question: does this imbalance PvP?

Yes. (PvE characters stocked up with potions? No thank you.)

ah, you cant take them into PvP, willow


that would be one of the conditions. only 5 say, per player per mission and not available in pvp.pots arent realy for pvp, their something for the pve crowd. if you dont like pve, then go back to having yer fun in pvp, and not worry about it

would not even bother sugesting something like this work in pvp arenas, as yeah, its obvious it would imbalance pvp towards a pve character, for a change. -^.^-

the side effects shold be from drinking a pot made that wass too high crafted for your skill level.
stuff thats like drinking dwarven ales is better, though....hic-ups *silence type negative* or billious *nausia type* stuff that will let you figh, but not at 100%

though, i htink if your going to invest the time and effort in pot making, you shouldnt loose everything if you log out with the pot maker and log in with another char.
suggest you simply cannot create pots with another char, unless you were willing to pay a fee for joinig the 'alchemists union' ^^ because anyone can pay the small fee to get one char trained, but having all chars trained ect means your adding to the alchemists, so the union wants its dues something like 5 or 10k per extra character.

on the skills ect.
best way is to make a pot char buy a special kit. similar to the pot maker backpack from tower of souls game, only it stores your alchemy kit, your vials and your pot ingediants.
un used vials and ingrediants stack, used vials stack only when the exact same pot is in them.

and you should be able to learn more than one collection skill, just that you can only take 5 with you when you leave an area (town ect)
so..i have skills like

examine compund (allows a identification of level 1 thru 3 items. for 4 thru 6, you need the higher verson, identify compound)

Look at (skill that alows the pot maker to examine the area to show potential herbs ect)
forage area (alows the removal of small amounts of materials from an area)
harvest (alows a slightly better removal rate, but on a smaller area)
harvest patch (allows best removal rate, but can only be used on one single patch of collectable materials)

when i say, the area, i mean everything visible in the circle on the round minimap, the circle being your characters agro circle. all stuff outside that area remains un taged and un collected.

other skills like
recognise mushroom (used to know which safe mushrooms ofr low level 1-3 mushies)
recognise fungus (know which dangerous high level 4-6 mushies)
recognise Grasses (low level herbs like grasses and barks level 1-3)
recognise herb (high level herbs, herbs and flowers and roots level 4-6)
recognise stone (low level mineral compounds 1-3)
recognise minerals (high level mineral compounds 4-6 level)
recognise liquids (for knowing the simple liquids like waters and milks level 1-3)
recognise sap (for high level saps and simialr drippy stuff level 4-6)

so, if im going out to the maguma jungle, what skills do i take?

'look at' and 'harvest patch' for the collecting part, so long as i have gaind the 'harvest patch' skill (its harder and higher than forage area, uses more energy, and yeah, i forgot to mention, the skills themselves cost energy to use..so only the guys who realy wanna be pot makers will want to loose energy collecting stuff in the maps)

and since im going to the jungle...
if i just started, i take
'recognise mushrooms'
'recognise grasses'
'recognise liquids'

thats my five skills.

i would prefer the higer version (doubles with the lower version of the skill when you 'master' it so you need only take the higer version, but 'mastering skills cost cash and time. till then, higher and lower skills need to be taken to recognse a full category of items. lower versions of a skill canot be master'd)
but unless i have managed to get the higer versions of the skill,i cant take them.

there should also be a few special skills.

'clean kit' (alows the character to clean their vials and kit properly. should realy be your first skill, otherwise vials get dirty and theres a 10% to 90% cumulitive chance of contaminating the mixture, depending on how many times you put a pot into the vial or mixing jar (the kit part dosent get dirty, only the recepticals that hold the mixtures)

'consentration' (alows the character that has learned this skill to give ther full consentration to the task. reduced the risk of side efects at medium to higher level potions)

'familiarity' (you have made this potion so many times that your familiar with its making. you gain a 50% chance of making a medium or high version if the potion)

these skills are automatic once learned, you dont need to take them equipped.

about harvesting stuff.
it goes into your inventry as normal, then once you look it over in your inventry, it is transfered to a free slot in the Kit
still only 250 per slot of materials, but 10 per slot of vials
a vial can be stored in storeage, but the character who takes it out will find an un-identified potion vial, so must use an identification kit charge to know what it is.

potions can not be sold.
potion materials can be sold, but only to the Alchemist Vendor, along with vials.
vials can be bought from the vendor, or sometiomes dropped by mosters.
if your a non pot maker char and fnd the vial, you can ether give it to your pot maker, or your friends/guildies pot maker or sell to trader.

its possible to learn the harvesting skills and only use them to collect, but you loose out on lots of oppertunites if you become just a material harvester.

whew...-^.^-

lol this sounds a LOT like the Alchemy proffession in World of Warcraft.
If you ask me that if you really like that kind of grinding you should stop being cheap and go out and get WoW.

one, i dont *like* wow
two, i dont have a creditcard to *get* wow, and three,
wow did not invent the system.

you used to be able to do stuff similar in games as old as Myth of Soma for frickin sake.
and, i have never even been to the website for wow, so how would i know if it had alchemy in it?
i suppose you suggest if im cheap, i should go back to neverwinter, which had a similar system befor wow WAS wow, when it was still just warcraft?

just because something is similar, dosent mean that it cant be made to fit the game your playing right now.
i prefer guild wars, and i have no intention of going on wow, it dosent appeal to me.
i dont like the two side thing, i didnt like it with the devils of devilsoma, and i didnt like it with hellbreath international.

i like guild wars, and im sugesting something that might appeal to those of us that arent into pvp.
i suck at pvp, and i want something i can enjoy doing and fill my time with other than mindlessly dieing in pvp trying to gety better at something that has no interest to me...
and any comment about how i can bugger off and get another game, because guildwars was MADE for PVP, can all go and read the original developers info, where it says its not designed soley for pvp or for pve, its for both, and those that think it should be for just one or the other should wake up and smell the charr....ok, no smell the charr, since you would die of the smell^^

Well thought out, but this game is based on skill, not hours played. People potting up is not in the spirit of the game, and suggesting this as an idea is making me mad. Scrolls will be our closest form of potion, and with the addition of cheaper scrolls, it makes the game more fun.

1. You're right WoW did Not invent the system. However WoW did implement The system you are discribing in its entirety. So it was easy for me to see the similarity in it.

2. My post wasn't in defense of PVP. TBH I dispise PvP. I like the PvE aspect of the game totally, and as a PvE'r I don't want any extra grind that will consume Hours apon Hours of time to learn the skill and master.
I like the scroll system they have now, EG: Go farm a little gold and BUY the scroll OUTRIGHT, I don't have to Learn a stupid skill to make it and grind to get ALL the ingredients for the damn reciepe.

3. As for you not having a Credit card is irelivent. Guild Wars is free to play, and the changes you and the various others that are suggesting systems from other PAY 2 PLAY games, will undoubtibly change that fact.
If you guys want all that extra CRAP and expect GW to stay free You are seriously delusional.

In closing I wish you all would stop trying to change the game that I love already.

Just my 2 cents

Yes, I can see possible grind problems and unbalanced issue for PvP play.
How about applying same system like runes and scrolls then?

For people who only plays PvP, they can "unlock and purchase" potions with "faction points". For people who plays PvE(and PvP):
1, Can make own potions and trade/sell them to make gold
2, Can purchase from potion trader
3, Acquire potion by collectors(just like how you acquire collectors weapon)

This way, there will be continuous "faction point sink" for PvP people who unlocked everything. For PvE people(for those who decided to save money and make their own), it will create more way to make gold...other than doing running service, or do quests/missions over and over again(just to make few hundred golds..assuming you are with full group or with henchmen).
It might even create opportunities to re-visit old places again too. I don't know about others, but for me, I hardly visit any low level towns like Ascalon City and Serenity Temple. What happens if certain herbs only grow in these areas?
I might re-visit those places for herbs; and again appriciate ArenaNet's artistic talent. This way, visit meant for something...I got herbs I want, and had a nice tour in old places.

I have to disagree with this. First, we are not asking ArenaNet to buy expansive server and spend lots of money to maintain each month; so that everybody can play in one "in-game world" simultaneously.
What is wrong with suggesting ideas that might give more flavours to the game?
Yes, GuildWars is different than other "Pay 2 Play" games. Because even though it is "free" it's continuously "changing and improving", to give more flavours to the game. If above quote was true, then ArenaNet did not need to release Sorrows Furnace; furthermore people do not need to suggest things like "auction house" that exists in other "Pay 2 Play" games.

In closing, I love GuildWars because it keeps changing and improving...not the other way around....so let's keep brainstorm to make Guildwars even better.

kaos, then why complain that i should go play wow?

i like this game, probably just as much as you do.
and even if wow had everything i had ever dreamed of in a online mmo game, i *Still* would not go over to it, simply because i do not like the premis of one side against another. the horde versus whoever.

i hate the idea that i can be wandering along happily, minding my own damn buisness when someone form the other side pops up and whacks me. simply cause im on the wrong side, and around them and the can.

and to be honest, whats the big deal? the likelyhood of something like pots creation being added is small, but the fact that were sugesting it shows the Devs that theres still many things they can add to the game to make it more fun for everyone.

right now, they say you dont have to grind for stuff. yeah, maybe, if you spend housr offline looking at all the skill and class combis, work out which skills are the best for which areas and missions ect, and have a reasonable amount of friends you can call on ant any time your playing so they can come help you if your stuck with something.

or you can grind away and farm,farm, FARM for the gold...or just buy it off of someone (be it swap for a nice item or get from net)

i dont mind a little casual farming, mainly for materials myself, or to get a reasonablt wep or offhand items for firneds athat are starting out, but i dont fancy having to find some area that has decent drops out in the back and beyond of the map, and circuiting it over and over just for drops to sell.

i would rather spend that time making stuff.
if you have never had the fun and enjoyment of making something in a game, something that you like, something that you can use, you may never understand.
if you have never gone out and collected stuff to make a realy NICE wepon for a friend and just given them the finished product and seen their reaction (be it typed or in real life) and not had that nice glow feeling inside that you not only MADE sometihng, but also made someones day....*shrugs*

and the credit card, was simply for wow, i guess i could buy those little scratchcards, but mehh, i dont want that game, free or otherwise.
i like guildwars...i want to get guildwars to be and stay in the top 5 games online.
and if a few sugestions or 20 can help the Devs find usefull, fun and helpfull things to do and add to the game, so i will.

Well I guess that Most of you people that want Sooooo much change have really missed the point. Guild Wars was and is Verry different from other MMO/CMO's, and thats why I Played ALL the beta Event Weekends, and Bought the Final Release of the game. I am an avid RPG gamer, I have played NwN, UO,and WoW.
And I like Guild Wars BECAUSE its different not to mention FREE. I have seen a steady increase with GW gamers that play the other games making sugestions that are already in other RPG's. It is my Belief as well as others they are only making these suggestions because they enjoy those types of systems, BUT are not able to go and pay for it be it with a credit card or a Pre-paid game card.

It seems they want all the goodies that the other MMO's have and don't want to pay for it. Things like Mounts,Being able to choose the charr as Opposing faction, and the variouse learned skill professions like in WoW.

Let me ask you :
1.Do you really think by implimenting these things into the GW interface will be easy?
Answer. I think not.

2. Do you really think that these changes wont increase the server space and bandwidth that Arena Net already has and is struggling to maintain stabilty?
Answer. They most deffinately will.

3. Do you really Think that if Arena Net Does listen to you and makes all/most of your suggestions a reality and they EXCEED what the can afford ,that they wont toss around the possibilty of a monthly fee to cover all the extra expense of hosting all the Fluff you people want.
Answer. MOST DEFFINATELY.

lol If you really can't see what I am talking about, then I guess my post and my time was wasted.

In closing and this messege is to Arena Net Don't fall prey to petty bickering and begging for usless things, for if you do and the game becomes just like all the other Cookie Cutter Online games out there and then you feel the need to CHARGE....... Be aware that you will undoubtibly lose you original core fanbase.

Another 2 cents out of my pocket.

"This messege will self destruct in 5 seconds"

Absolutely not. No grind. NO CRAFTING.

I have no clue where you got the impression that we are "begging" to implant this "potion idea". But allow me clear one thing. ArenaNet is "open" to ideas and suggestions and we are simply "suggesting" few things. The public and developers will decide which ideas will be implant on the game, from many ideas.

About your 3 questions...I'll actually start by asking you one question...how do you know implenting these things will be easy or hard? Only developers (whose very talented) will know that. If it is hard...then why not? They "worked hard" to build GuildWars the way it is now. Why not work hard to make GuildWars even better?. Their "hard work" made GuildWars so popular. Since you played beta event as you mentioned, you probably know that there were many doubts among many people. Many people wondered, 'With their business model, how are they going to maintain this game? It's probably going to be a bad game with bad support'. ArenaNet *clearly* prove them wrong. If they really desires, they can make it happen even it seems somewhat impossible to others...that is my view of ArenaNet so far. As long as they continue to support and improve their game(s), people will continue to buy their products(for guildwars...expansions)...because people will trust their games.
Furthermore, I like and support those popular GuildWars ideas/suggestions like auction house, town cloth, pet grooming and etc...that you consider it is from "Cookie Cutter Online games(just like potion)" hence it should be only implent for charged games.

In closing, best idea(s) arise from many ideas. If no one gives any ideas or suggestions(simply because it is free?), then how can GuildWars evolve to better game?
I will be perfectly fine if this potion idea is not popular among other people. I'll be happy to know that someone suggested even better idea/suggestion to make guildwars even more enjoyable.
If there is no comment(s) to make this potion idea little more fair and balance....then lets move on to other ideas; rather than waste time on this unpopular suggestion.

ah yes, the no grind excuse.

hello, theres plenty of grind in it right now, but ooooh no, we dont want to add some more grind that somebody else would actualy *enjoy* now, would we?

ahem, sarcasm mode off.

ok, lets be honest here, people. the SF update, apart from the hard work of mapmaking, scripting for quests and behaviour ectra was mostly *Small* changes.

green items, chests, keys ectra were small compared to the main parts oof mapmaking and so forth.
taking out stuff you put in is also smaller, compared to addin in something that never was there befor.
you just have to make sure that by taking out these items, you havent broken something else with the domino efect. or busted some script that is connected to others that makes the game fall over.

no, im not dissing the Devs, i know they have done a hard days work times many to get that update to us, and FREE no less.

im trying to explain to you that some things are easy, some hard and some are so hard they dont warrent trying.

Kirbie, there will never BE a balance to most of the people that hate the idea of pots. simple as that.
their idea of fair will be what they have now, and woe betides someone that messes with their idea of fair.
look at all the crieing and wailing and gnashing of forum posts that acompany every update.

SOMEONE will loose thier idea of balence every time the devs do anything, but we do need to make sure that the game itself has balence.
no, i beleave a lot of people complain on anything sugested, simply because its sugested for pvE.
some complain wehn stuff is sugested for pvP cause they dont like it, but the majority of people that whine whenever anyone sugests something that has a use SOLEY in pvE is larger.

i often wonder why they even bother. if it dosent affect your gameing experiance, then why does it bother you?
oh yes, it takes the developers away from making stuff just for YOU, dosent it.

this game was never intended to be a 'cookie-cutter' of any game. sugesting that adding anything from another game is silly, considering that everything in this game has been used in part by other games.
humans only? done by soma and mir and prince of quin.
craft wepons at the crafter but nowhere else? prince of quin, again.
green wepons? wasnt that diablo2?
pets fro rangers...neverwinter nights?

about the ONLY new idea thats not been used in some shape of form is the instanced areas. these were to stop players camping boss monsters, kill and drop stealing,and perhaps also to cut down lag and travel to point of interest time.

i am 100% behind the team who made this game, and i hope they have many years of happy game world building and improving.
i, as a playing memeber of their worlds comunity, do though have sometihng to say about the world my characters live in. sugesting things that might have even the tinyest bit of usefull info or gameplay to them is not something we should stop doing, simply because other people in the comunity think its bad.

if real life worked like that, all frell would break loose, when folks dissagreed about stuff. thank goodness reality works along the 'what we all agree is real, IS real, what we agree is false is not real' version.

now then. hows about we simply say, 'I dont like your sugestion because it dosent fit with the way i play the game, but since its just a SUGESTION, and the devs will not be so dumb as to implement something that will make them have to ask us to PAYE for a game they have said will always remain FREE, I will simply say I do not agree with this, and if it were ever added, i would not use these extra items!' hmmm?

i guess thats just to much hard work to agree to dissagree these days, isnt it.