Topic: The Witcher 3

I'm a bit concerned with these tales...Maybe I'll hold off starting this for a bit.

@Red620Ti All the issues seem to be save cache related. The current message from CDPR is save regularly and when you finish quit to the main menu and quit the game on the home screen. I'm 48 hours in and nothing buggy has happened to me yet, other than twerking horses.

Also, for fans of The Witcher grab yourself a copy of The Last Wish. I never understoof the intro to The Witcher 1 until I read the first chapter.

@Red620Ti - What Des said! I'm 60+ hours in (and loving this game). I save frequently to various save-slots and have been quitting to menu when finished. The only problem I've had once or twice is the loading screen freezing (although not recently) and one time the game bombed out after a quest. Other than that my biggest problem is switching the bloody thing off to deal with real life quests (food, toilet breaks, letting the Wife have her turn - she's also addicted).

Thanks for the heads up on this - just ordered myself a copy

I never suspend games, always quit to main screen and still got broken. My issue was that two Xbox ones, half patch on each. Second Xbox one reloaded patch (which changes the save). First Xbox one then said saves incompatible with current version so it wiped them out. Second Xbox one then (I'm guessing here) synced to the latest save (by this time there weren't any). Result, everything wiped out.

Restart on higher difficulty so not too much of an issue.

As others have said, the problems seem to be occurring for those people that use the 'instant-on' power option instead of turning off completely and those that don't save and quit to main menu when they finish playing - the suspend play option.

I have (according to smartglass) 106hrs accumulated and not once had any problems with the save. I have had the occasional black screen loading freeze but because I regularly manually save, the most I have lost is 5mins of game play. This hasn't happened though for quite a while (probably around 60-70hrs of game play) so I assume its 'fixed'. I can't say there isn't any very minor glitches or clipping issues- mostly it seems to be around the armour and hair as these are replaceable - in cut scenes the equipped Armour and/or hair can have a few clipping issues but its not game breaking. There has been the odd floating NPC (usually for a second or two just after a cut scene) and once I saw a deer stuck in a tree (not up it but IN it) but these occasions can probably be counted on 1 hand - 2 at most. Considering the number of hours I have played, the size of the game, the problems are not that frequent and minor and haven't ruined my game so far.

I have had to contact CD Projekt Red about missing Enhanced versions of Northern Wind and Moon Dust bombs - one I bought and the other I found - that disappeared from my Alchemy options so I cannot create anything more than the standard version - It seems I cannot find Superior versions of these either now but looking a the forums I am not the only one so hopefully this will get patched soon. A new patch is due in the next week or so.

The depth of the story, including side quests, the way the world looks and more importantly feels, the attention to detail etc is incredible. The world looks and feels 'real' with its dynamic weather that impacts on the trees etc, the day/night cycle creating stunning sunsets. I know I have said I expect Batman: Arkham Knight to be my Game of the Year (its Batman after all) BUT its going to have to be way better than Asylum and City to surpass what the Witcher 3 has achieved in my opinion.

Ok, just come across first moderate glitch. I'm at a person in distress in Velen, killed all the bandits and the key has not spawned. Guy is stuck in his cage hollering and I can't do anything. Even tried Aard but they make those cages to last. This seems to be an issue on the CDPR forums with no solution.

Did you try checking the bodies for a key? I thought I was screwed in that scenario as well, then I found a body away from the others, and I was able to loot a key from it.

Unfortunately I'm experiencing what a lot of the CDPR formites are: I kill the bandit leader (who has the key), looted him but no key spawned and end up running around like a numpty witcher sensing every grain of dirt to find the key. The location I'm searching is the Bandit Camp on an island east of Oreton.

Some have suggested meditating for 24 hours so that the bandits respawn, which doesn't seem to work in my case, but the kicker is that the leader is a one time only deal i.e. if he wanders off or dies he won't respawn. Being an island it's relatively self contained so unless Drowners got him or he himself drowned he has to be somewhere on the island. I've checked an abandoned hut on the west shore but no luck there and the smaller island to the north but no such luck.

Apparently this happens on different PiDs around Velen but the trigger has not been found. Some have suggested that visiting the marker at a low level and returning or meditating for longer than 1hr near the camp screws with the loot system.

Anyone else finding the crafting system a bit of a PITA? You come across a big monster, check the beastiary and discover the best way to attack it is to use a particular blade oil and or bomb. So you go to craft them and discover you don't have all the ingredients. So, off you go traipsing around a load of merchants trying to find which ones have the stuff you need by trial and error... this can take a looong time. I don't have a photographic memory either so I have to write down what I'm missing. Thing is, even when you are just exploring and you encounter a new merchant there is no easy way to see if he's selling stuff you don't already have to add to your collection. What I'm finding is that I say 'stuff it' and wade in with my sword and igni all the time... :-/ </moan>

To be honest I am not finding the crafting an issue at all. I rarely use Roach to get around, instead I run everywhere and grab all the herbs/loot I can find en-route. If/When I get a new potion, I immediately craft it (if possible). If you go to the Herbalists, you can swap between Alchemy and Inventory so you can see what (if anything) you are missing without quitting the dialogue, checking what you need and then entering the dialogue sequence again to buy missing items.

Once a potion/bomb/oil is created, you have it permanently in your inventory. If you run low on these, you can meditate and it replenishes your stocks - Alcohest is essential for this as it is used if you don't have specific ingredients. This is why I create everything as soon as I can so I am not in that position. I currently have all enhanced Oils with a few Superior ones, most Decoctions, All but 2 bombs at Superior level (as mentioned) and all but 1 potion at superior level too - just need some Arachas Venom for Tawny Owl.

I've been riding everywhere although when I'm on foot I grab everything in sight but I still have a lot of gaps to fill. I know you can switch to the alchemy screen when visiting a merchant but I've got so many ingredients I need to scroll it extensively to see everything. It would be great if there was an indication for each of the merchants items that not only tells you how many they have to sell, but how many you actually own... that way it would make life a lot simpler.

You must have come across an ingredient that you were missing though and there's no easy way to know where to go to get it is there? I only get to play the game for an hour or two in the evening and I don't want to be spending all that time searching for a single ingredient lol

I guess as I pick up everything as I travel and I create everything as I go along, its rare that I need something a herbalist sells. The things that took the longest to get where things like 'Dark Essence', Troll Liver and things like this - specific monster parts. Its easy too find herbs as they show up on the mini map and you can always use your Witcher senses too. I don't think there are specific areas for specific herbs but I must admit I don't really pay attention. I have found Ergot Seeds and Mistletoe the most difficult to find - or at least I have never really noticed picking these up. I rarely stick to roads either as there seems to be fewer herbs alongside these. I travel 'as the crow flies' to the objective and make a point of heading towards '?'s' and anything that looks like it could be a village too between myself and the objective, zig-zagging between the herbs en-route as well. With all of these, I have many more than I am ever likely to need. Because I play this way, at most I have only been missing 1 or 2 ingredients and so its easy to remember when I get to a merchant or find it en-route. Herbalists are always the best place to find the odd missing ingredient though as long as its not 'enemy' related.

At least you only have to create these once - Oils seem to have unlimited use too. Decoctions look to be single use but are replenished when you meditate as are all bombs and potions too - as long as you have Alcohest. Mahakaman Spirit also gets used to replenish the Decoctions as they require a specific Mutagen and this is used in their place.

I know you have limited time but it really doesn't take much longer to run everywhere and its more fun (I find) as you often come across some hidden treasure, bandit camps (with more treasure) and groups of monsters to slay and loot too.

Cheers, I'll have to try going through the list and crafting everything then and make a list of what I'm short of... I've only come across one herbalist so far which is the one near the beginning where you have to make the swallow potion. I'll try to spend a bit more time travelling on foot and off the beaten track too!

Anyone else finding gwent a pain in the proverbial? I've bought any cards I find for sale but still get my arse handed to me by almost any NPC with the monster deck. One guy got 120 points in one round! I've now missed out on the Dandelion card as I gave up trying to beat the guy, thinking I could come back to him, but the quest has gone (door is locked now). I cant seem to get enough cards for any deck after the initial one...and all the BIG cards seem to be in the others.

Me too - I've given up on it for now. There's a really good video on youtube that Kate (ex-OXM) has done for the official xbox uk channel that explains tactics you can use. Found it very interesting although if you've got a crap collection of cards I'm not sure there's anything you can really do except wait until later in the game when you've collected some decent ones?

Yeah - I watched that, but it didn't really tell me anything new. I just don't have enough good cards to beat the better NPCs. Oh well...I'll keep hounding the merchants and cross fingers.

I must admit, I haven't bothered with Gwent. I didn't buy a game like this to play 'cards' and really don't enjoy card games on a console. Can't say I enjoy card games in real life either....

Gwent is an interesting addition, but I was always a sucker for side games in RPGs....Final Fantasy 8 I think had an awesome card game?

I love the dialogue you hear as you are wandering around the world in the game. I never tire of hearing about the soldiers who "got their arses whipped like a Novigrad whore" for instance

Anyone else heard some good ones?