If only someone figured out a way to add GM to the game it would be perfect.
Now when you mention, that’s not impossible, and possibly the best solution I have heard thus far, thought that’s a potential idea for another game. Adaptive difficulty is an old trick - resident evils did that, I am pretty sure Naughty Dog does that. They do it with supplies but the same system could be adapted for dishing out camping supplies, assuming the resting would be restricted by camp supplies (and I mean restricted - in a way PoE1 or Kingmaker is). There is no way an actual large scale global resource management can be implemented in an RPG like that without being too punishing or too meaningless. Something that creates a feeling of scavenging for resources to rest, without actual putting players in too much danger of running out (and not telling them of course) sounds like the most ideal solution.
Usually, however, developers prefer to give up and not even try, which in my opinion is sometimes good for the game (POE1 vs POE2)
I still don’t know how I feel about this one. i definitely prefer PoE2 combat over PoE1 but I am not sure how much it has to do with polished mechanics, and how much with just better crafted and varied encounters. Per-encounter design made individual PoE2 encounters more interesting, but on the other hand Obsidian struggled with making good boss fight in that system. DLCs and megabosses somewhat succeeded but they too often turned out into lengthy slogs in order to make a dent in player’s resources. So I think it solved some problems, and introduced new ones.
At least for me, Deadfire is definitely a better game than PoE1. I wasn't even able to finish the first part, which is unusual for me because I usually finish even very long games.
Fighting in PoE1 was terrible and I made a mistake and played on a high level of difficulty.
Not only was the game not difficult in any way (you could win 90% of the fights using exactly the same spells), you were also tormented by hordes of trash as in Diablo.
Add to that the ubiquitous backtracking (limit to 2 rests) and the gameplay is not very pleasant.
The rest of the game elements were also not very interesting.
In PoE2 they fixed most of the problems (apart from the story which was also boring).
I bet the poor sales of Deadfire have a lot to do with the dubious quality of PoE1, the game finally sold on a wave of nostalgia for the old games on IE. Because the game was what it was, most didn't even buy a sequel
