The Problem of Potions

[Mystry]

This is going to be a long post.

As just about every single person who has set foot in T4 knows, you practically have to have both an armor and main stat potion on you at all times to be effective in any way. This is particularly true on Order, because Destro, by a rule, has easier access to potions, for reasons I will get into later.

Potions are undeniably extremely strong, in their current form. "Squishy" classes frequently can reach 70-80% physical damage reduction with the extra armor, and the main stats are equal to an extra 3-4 pieces of gear on you.

Here's the problem: Potions, and ways to get them, are behind a self-feeding loop, centered on scenarios (which is also, incidentally, where they are the strongest because of the limited players and class imbalance/group comp imbalance is exhibited to its fullest).

Let me explain. Right now, we have quests to win scenarios. In return, we are rewarded with some emblems and gold. Sounds good right? Well, no not really. See, when Destro (primarily Destro since they have, for various reasons, become the primary beneficiaries of this feedback loop) wins a scenario (which they do VASTLY more often than order because the VAST majority of the time, Destro has more potion buffs, along with more even group comps, overpowered classes and a host of other problems that I will not touch on here), they are rewarded with gold. For losing, order gets diddly squat. That gold can then be taken and invested in more potions, increasing their win rate further. It doesn't take a genius to see how quickly this spirals out of control.

Now lets talk solutions.

I know one or more of you is inevitably going to spout some nonsense about going out and farming your own potions. This doesn't fix the feedback loop problem. It doesn't address the problem of one faction having vastly easier access to potions. Not to mention that it removes players from the RvR lakes and scenario ques, since they off busy farming ingredients (with the exception of cultivation since that can be done at the same time). This is not the solution.

You could nerf potions effects. In fact, I would be in favor of it since potions are so extremely strong, but that still would not fix the feedback loop in the game, and instead of a huge advantage, one faction would have a small advantage. Which is still an advantage. This is not the solution.

You could remove the gold rewards for winning scenarios. This is probably more viable than the previous two, but still not an optimal solution; rewarding good play and winning games is a good concept. It pushes players to perform their best and not throw the game. Not to mention that its a huge source of income for players. Not the solution we need.

After giving this thought, I believe I have stumbled upon the answer. A way to remove the feedback loop without destroying the usability of potions. The answer, in my opinion, is to suppress potion effects while in a scenario. This is different from removing the buff on joining, because that wastes the potion and would needlessly punish players, rather the idea is that when you are in a scenario, potions give no benefit to your stats. Once you exit, they return to having an effect.

You can make up for potions in RvR lakes by outnumbering and outflanking the enemy. You can't do that in scenarios because of the limited play area, and limited amount of players themselves, and the power of potions, particularly when in a limited team setting where in each player is magnified in importance, is so strong that it practically guarantees a win when one team has potions and the other does not.

[TenTonHammer]

Yes i agree

At most i think only scenario potions should be allowed in scenarios

[ToXoS]

[Darosh]

TLDR: Pug issues.

[wargrimnir]

Destro wins vastly more scenarios because they have potions. This is a travesty.

Clearly deserves no further discussion.