Regarding the magic pockets, I get using it for keys and such out of combat. But in combat, if Billy has a potion of speed and he's halfway across the room, Sally can't easily ask him to hand it over. After all, she's got Dror Ragzlin breathing hot breath in her face. Ultimately, it makes a bigger difference than you'd think in the overall difficulty level, carefully parceling out which companion gets which consumables.
I did not think to include that since I never used it. In combat swapping stuff has been something I have avoided from play through one. Great idea.
Like, I don't use barrels or fog cloud tactics, and I avoid using certain elixirs
I partially agree with the use of barrels. I hate when I watch people sneak around placing barrels like no one would notice. Using barrels where they are is a valid tactic. Carrying a barrel to a close location to create a choke point a valid tactic. Having barrels in your backpack seems silly to me. On elixir's I am torn. I think they made them to long lasting. I understand the reasoning for coding simplicity. Maybe if you made them vanish with any short or long rest they could be better.
People seeking a challenge generally don't want to artificially restrict themselves to get any sort of challenge, they want to test themselves against the game, within the game's own rules and mechanics.
This last line made me laugh at loud. the concept of Ironman Gaming has been around for DECADES. Devoted players would want to up the challenge of a game and would create rules for playthroughs challenging others to stepup and try. Add to this that stepping outside a games mechanics is often what leads to the best RPG play. When you use and exploit every game mechanic there is a term from back in the day, we called it min/maxing.
Maybe your position is true among younger gamers. Not sure why as this is just a test of will power over the game. For old school gamers however the Ironman style challenges is a time honored and revered tradition.
