Castle Paradox

[Mr B]

Okay. I'm taking a small poll here. I'm thinking of writing an article about item use, and the results of this poll would assist me in that endever.

So here's the deal. Let's say you're playing an RPG. In this game, you cannot restore MP except in inns. Inns only occur in towns, and towns are few and far between. Because of this, you are often forced to conserve your MP usage.

However, near the beginning of the game, you find an Ether -- a potion that restores MP to maximum. It can be used both inside and out of battles. Because you read the walkthrough (bad you), you know that this is the only Ether that you will find in the game -- there is only 1.

How would you use it?

[Shadowiii]

Same thing I do with elixers, megalixers, x-potions, x-ethers...save them all the way until the last battle, then never use them. Last battles I never use items; I always have some insane MP amount and just use "Cure 3" etc over and over. The exceptiion being Final Fantasy 7, where I used the "W-Item" bug to give myslef 99 megalixers and used them...a lot.

So, yeah. I basically will save it for the final boss, then won't USE it on the final boss. The only exception is if the final boss is difficult (like in most of the Castlevania-troides, I stockpile potions in COTM, but I never used them [no store in the whole game] until the final boss (who does 500+ damage a hit...egads), where I used them ALL))

So yeah, depends on final boss difficulty. But I always save them until then.
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But enough talk, have at you!

[Sephyroth]

If I've read through the walkthrough, then I'd just look for the hardest boss in the game (according to the walkthrough) and use the Ether during THAT battle (if I run out of MP and am less than halfway through the battle).

If I didn't know anything about the game, I'd probably use the Ether right on the next boss, since I'd expect to be able to find as many Ethers in an area as is enough to let me beat the next boss.
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im realy ded

[The Wobbler]

[*Worthy*]

I must concur with shadowii; I rarely use any of those great items. Normally, I'll save them all for the final boss, and never use them. Most normal bosses are not that difficult in which I see the need to use an ether.

~Worthy
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You can do whatever you want...but prison is full of people who make bad decisions.

[MultiColoredWizard]

Obviously you haven't played Dracula XX ever, Shadow. There are god damn pillars that you have to jump around on.
Honestly, I find myself saving things, and then finding that I have too many of them too often(metroid: zero mission is an exception).

[JSH357]

I never use them in Final Fantasy games, and I typically try not to use items ever- I'm always paranoid that I'll need them later.

In Query (The game I'm working on) the only way to heal outside of battle is with items, and the only way inside battle is with spells. Also, each of your characters only has 10 MP. I did this because I feel that people basically ignore MP (And for NPC limitations) and end up just using physical attacks. But since you can Defend or Charge to restore MP in Query and the spells are far more powerful than attacks, they are infinitely more useful. You still conserve, but not in the extreme since MP is recoverable. And since it's important to heal out of battle, items are important as well.

[Iblis]

[MultiColoredWizard]

Yeah, that's a better wording of what I said. Except, of course, sadly, you never need them.

[LeRoy_Leo]

Hmmm... And an interesting game play concept too. Saving items until the end, huh? I use them when they are needed. Some people feel that you should use items that restore MP and Hp in order to conserve the MP for ofensive spells on the enemy. However, the concept of having only one Mana restoring item that you get at the beginning of the game is, how you say, intriguing. Sounds like a challenge, and makes me have to decide when the best time to use the item would be. Also makes me have to think of battle strategies, and hope that the game designer is good at balancing battles so you don't need to use that much MP at the start anyway.

Have you ever conciderred making it so later in the story some guy tries to create potions that restore MP (you know; the lost art deal) but fails either via enemy attack, or he combines the wrong ingredients in his clumsiness and becomes the final boss? You know, the assumed final boss is viciously killed by him and he takes up from there? Hmmm... And he used to be such a nice guy too... If you don't want to use that idea, I will.
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

[TMC]

I generalyl horde special items and try to never use them except in impossible boss fights. I mean, I'm not even sure what megalixers, x-potions and x-ethers do.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Roach Lir]

Ether restores Mana. I save it 'til the final boss. I'll need it then most, i guess.
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Dark Legacy - 0.3%

[Aethereal]

In Magisteral I have limited the MP more than I have the restoratives for it (you can purchase low-level magic cure potions, but not an infinite number of them) because of the way I have implemented the MP-gaining system (not via level ups).

As for using the Ether, I'd likely never use it. I rarely find myself running out of MP for those who completely and utterly rely on it. For example, it isn't a big deal if Maxim (Lufia 2) runs out of MP, as he's a good fighter. However, it would be a BIG deal if Artea or Selan ran out because they rely on magic to deal most of their damage, and in cases like that I generally don't run out of MP. Honestly I've found magic to be less useful recently in some games, a good case being Lufia 3 (a replay). I rarely use my magic other than to cure, and the attack mages are there because the fighters I don't use are worse, they come in handy once in a while, and they are higher leveled usually. I think the biggest problem with that is that games are starting to include more elemental attacks that fighters always have access to (not elemental weapons, actual skills or whatever). So I think I'd let it stew in my inventory or sell it (if it sold for a good price).

Also, I'm moving this to Game Design Discussion.
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[Mr B]

Oh-kay! Thanks everyone. This confirms some of my original suspicions, as well as adding new ideas to the mix.

I myself fall into the typical group of just hoarding these things until they are no longer useful.

[LeRoy_Leo]

I forgot to metion that trading mana potions in for health potions or getting a full refund on sell back is a nice idea. (That is what I do in some of my games... Not that it's important.) Otherwise if you'd make a mistake and buy some unneeded mana potions your pockets could empty really fast, if you know what I mean. Also being able to trade mana potions for life potions is a neat way to turn in the mana potions for more useful things. Mana potions are so rare that they become desireable? Perhaps. The absence of mana(magic) potions in your game is due to there being a shortage there of... Or did someone already mention that?... I think it was me, maybe. Sorry.

Well, what do you think? Game design and story almost have to go hand in hand anyway.
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "