[Suggestion] Randomize the effects of blessed potions of attribute gain.
issueid=1423 12-11-2012 01:53 PM
Junior Member
Number of reported issues by Toffeeviola: 7
[Suggestion] Randomize the effects of blessed potions of attribute gain.

It always struck me as a little odd that blessed potions of attribute gain increases attributed across the board:

1) I always thought of attribute potions as being of a substance that enhanced the drinker in one or more area. A potion that enhances all aspects of a person feels intrinsically dull.

2) The function of guaranteed attribute increases is already fulfilled by 'Potion of Increase X'. Randomizing potions in their blessed state would bring them conceptually in line with the potion's cursed and uncursed states.

3) There is no risk involved. Being able to increase attributes across the board guarantees a minor increase in ALL useful areas. Much better imho to have a lesser increase (e.g. 3-5+ from a blessed potion) in a randomized pair of stats.

4) This will have the additional effect of making characters remain more distinctive, as they are more liable to retain areas of serious weakness, where the PoGA in it's original form mitigates this somewhat by raising all attributes closer to 'normal' levels.

5) Blessed potions are overpowered relative to uncursed potions. Blessed potions are so many multiples more powerful than uncursed potions that drinking them in their uncursed state is essentially a huge waste. As a result a canny player will always wait until they can get holy water and bless their collected PoGA potions all at once. Then they'll subsequently drink them and go up ~2-4+ on all attributes. This essentially makes them less 'Potions of Gain Attributes' and more 'Potions of Become More Powerful in the Mid-Game'.

6) In line with decreasing the power of PoGA it might be worthwhile to upgrade uncursed potions to potentially be more useful, so that players will be more willing to quaff them early on (whilst running the risk that the potion might be cursed) rather than always waiting until later. This might be achieved by having them raise attributes by 1-3+ rather than always by 1+.
Issue Details
Issue Number 1423
Issue Type Feature
Project ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Category All
Status Rejected
Priority 4
Suggested Version ADOM 1.2.0 pre 7
Implemented Version (none)
Milestone (none)
Votes for this feature 0
Votes against this feature 11
Assigned Users (none)
Tags (none)




12-11-2012 02:09 PM
Ancient Member
It seems you're finding a lot of them. Do you really consistently find 2 to 4 poga before blessing your water?

12-11-2012 02:10 PM
Junior Member
Yes I do. But I suppose that *might* be a product of my tactics. I normally put off all quests and run around the ID until I get to about level 12.

Regardless, the guaranteed nature of the attribute gain is what bothers me. I would find it much more fun and rewarding if the gain was substantial but random. I think the prospect of potentially getting something brilliant like 4+ to Learning more than outweighs the occasional disappointment of getting 4+ to Appearance.

12-11-2012 04:30 PM
Ancient Member
re 6) If you store your stuff in a safe place they won't get destroyed or cursed.

12-11-2012 04:53 PM
Junior Member
Quote Originally Posted by Stingray1
re 6) If you store your stuff in a safe place they won't get destroyed or cursed.
What does this have to do with 6)? I know lots of safe places and use them regularly.

12-11-2012 05:03 PM
Ancient Member
I don't see anything wrong with PoGA in their current form. They're rare enough that their power is justified, IMHO.

12-11-2012 05:06 PM
Ancient Member
I don't know what to say, um. I won't be drinking them earlier, because I'll leave them in a safe place. So that they don't get cursed or destroyed. Then I'll drink them later.

12-11-2012 05:11 PM
Ancient Member
Well, it's "attributes", not "attribute". If there was no case in which they'd raise more than one attribute, we'd have to rename them.

I'm not convinced by any of the points you've brought up, honestly. There are no hard and fast limits on how much a blessed item is allowed to be better than an uncursed one (blessed scrolls of identify or uncursing are even more extreme compared to their uncursed versions!), nor is your proposal going to change anything about players saving up their PoGA until they have holy water for them. (Drink now and get a random +1, or later and get a random +5 - why would I ever pick the former?) Yeah, they're powerful, but they're also rare. Your proposal also doesn't add "risk" - you'll always get stats, and there's nothing else you can do but drink and hope for a good roll.

I like the current PoGA simply because singular stats are already served well by the individual stat potions, which aren't random in their effect, but in their availability. That's perhaps another point; the randomness is already in that these potions are usually found randomly. There's no need for more.

12-11-2012 08:47 PM
Ancient Member
PoGAs are already well-balanced by:
* their rarity, they're rare as loot, rarer as shop items, and the Alchemy ingredients to make them are expensive too.
* wishing limitations - one per wish.
* the inability to dip more than one in holy water; blessing 4 PoGAs actually requires 4 potions of holy water, not one.

12-12-2012 09:15 AM
Junior Member
Fair enough, all. You make some good points and it seems the idea is not exactly popular. I know when to shelve an idea :)

01-10-2013 12:40 PM
The Creator
I shell it, too, for many of the reasons mentioned.

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