Few small useless suggestions...

[Lex]

Anyone else sick of the same difficulty names, potions, etc... Idk about you since Grim Dawn in my opinion is one of the most unique ARPG's out there it should have unique names!

So instead of health potion it could be "bandages, first aid kits, etc... since its in the Victorian era"

Instead of energy potion it could be water or something

Also since this game is in the Victorian Era I think the difficulty should have that theme not just normal, epic, legendary etc... idk its kinda of a useless idea but you know just thought I'd post it too see what people think. I really like the bandages though it would be nice to look for them instead of health potions. So is the water idea cause its a world in peril so supplies are short. I'm pretty sure Crate said there renaming Mana to energy so I mean it makes sense drink water for more energy tell me what you think

[Father Squid]

I might be wrong, but I think it is probably more accurate to say Victorian-era inspired, rather than Victorian Era. I'm pretty sure Medierra has stated before that it is not meant to be a portrayal of Earth, but rather another world populated by humans... so I don't think the game will restrict / limit itself to items / elements / classes / settings, etc. of that era.

That being said, I have no problem if it was something other than a potion of healing, but I think that it just for the convenience in that a new player immediately knows what he is dealing with... rather than Dr. McGuillicuddy's Snake Oil Elixir, which would also fit with the Victorian Era...but leaves a whole lot of questions as to just what I'm dealing with here...

[yerkyerk]

Like Risen 2 does;
Blood stands for health and Glory for XP. Than we should have spirit (or flat-out booze) as mana

[eisprinzessin]

Originally Posted by Lex

since this game is in the Victorian Era I think the difficulty should have that theme not just normal, epic, legendary etc... idk its kinda of a useless idea but you know just thought I'd post it too see what people think.

So, how would you name difficulty levels in a victorian way?

So instead of health potion it could be "bandages, first aid kits, etc... since its in the Victorian era"

Bandages are used in WoW (next to potions and food). First aid kits sound (to me) like from an FPS.

I'm pretty sure Crate said there renaming Mana to energy so I mean it makes sense drink water for more energy tell me what you think

I feel this demands for some lore for potions. They are in the game, because they are needed for the gameplay, but what is their explanation for being on Cairn? Once we have that, we might be able to come up with a unique name. But the term has always been Energy:

Originally Posted by medierra

I prefer the term "energy" as a skill resource. It's sort of a measure of how far you can exert yourself at any given action either physically or mentally before you're exhausted.

Originally Posted by medierra

How is mana intuitive? When I first encountered that word in role playing games as a kid, I thought "wtf is mana?" I figured out that it was used to cast spells but it wasn't until I became a designer that I actually looked up the meaning of the word. Mana is apparently a Polynesian word and, while I'm not sure I completely trust the English dictionary definition of it, it is something like "life-force". Why not just say "energy". Energy is a very common word and people instantly recognize that energy is used to "do stuff".

Additionally, while mana is RPG convention for spell-casting energy, we use energy for non-magical skills as well. Energy seems like a better general-use term to cover both magical and non-magical abilities.

Finally some thoughts on naming in general:

Originally Posted by medierra

I tend to not finalize all the terminology until the end when everything is solidified. Naming is always tricky.

Originally Posted by medierra

It is more a problem of the limited diction available from which to name things. My tendency is to try to avoid using terminology that is similar to other games but sometimes it is just unavoidable since all the potentially cool sounding and fitting words have been used. [...]

Its funny but I swear, naming things is one of the most difficult aspects of design and also frustrating because it doesn't seem like it should be such a big factor constraining what we can do. Sometimes I've had to abandon or rework certain systems because I couldn't come up with a good naming scheme.

[GSGregory]

Name everything after beer....lol

[medierra]

I was thinking "elixir" sounded a little cooler and more fitting than potion.

I also was originally thinking of new difficult names but its just been easier to refer to them as epic and legendary here so people know what I'm talking about. Haven't made a decision on that yet.

[Mind Dragon]

How about tincture of mana.

Other than drunken master, I always thought of booze as mana restore as a sense of humor.

Tinctures do have alcohol if you are set on that.

Otherwise extract of mana leaf. Essence might be a stretch.

[GSGregory]

Originally Posted by medierra

I was thinking "elixir" sounded a little cooler and more fitting than potion.

I also was originally thinking of new difficult names but its just been easier to refer to them as epic and legendary here so people know what I'm talking about. Haven't made a decision on that yet.

Epic and legendary sound so. Normal. I say go with something that is just fun to read and see and just fits the game.

[Bouss]

As Eisprinzessin pointed out, convention exists for a reason; you don't wanna get too esoteric with your naming. "Health Elixir" would work though imo.

The use of "Epic" and "Legendary" was, I guess, appropriate to the mythological context of TQ, which is not to say it wouldn't be entirely appropriate for GD. As far as alternatives go though, I got nothin'.

[GSGregory]

Originally Posted by Bouss

As Eisprinzessin pointed out, convention exists for a reason; you don't wanna get too esoteric with your naming. "Health Elixir" would work though imo.

The use of "Epic" and "Legendary" was, I guess, appropriate to the mythological context of TQ, which is not to say it wouldn't be entirely appropriate for GD. As far as alternatives go though, I got nothin'.

At some point going with conventional names is just generic and boring.