I enjoy having some time killing mini game options, and I like the kind of pub atmosphere along with it, but dice in this game is just awful.

Problems -

#1. Too obviously rigged in favor of certain NPCs - you can certainly win gold from playing but have to do so by passing a lot.

#2. Far too many steps involved just for one roll, compounding the problem in #1.
Playing 2/3 was a better system first of all, and second there should be a continue playing option so you don't have to go through dialogue.

#3. Stakes. There should be a better range of them, and it should remember your last settings for each range so you don't have to move the slider from min to max every time - or at least include a "bet max" option.

Yes, dice in this game is a step back from the first. Though I'm not sure I really agree with #1. I never really noticed any of the players being any "better" than others, despite the game forcing you to play them in an implied "player X is better than player Y" order. #2 is the biggest point for why I only played dice to move the quests and get my 20 or 50? experience each act. :p

If you weren't able to make so much money farming mobs for mutagens, meditating 24 hours, farming more, I'd be more pissed, since dice was my main money maker in the first game.

My only comment on the subject is the chuckle I have when NPCs talk about people having skill at the game. Minimal strategy is involved (keep a high pair, three of a kind, etc.) unless the roller controls the dice somehow, which would be considered cheating. If you don't control the rolls, sheer luck determines the outcome.

Of course, it's a mini-game, so...

I'd have liked the opportunity to play Foltest in the prologue.

I'd also suggest, if you have two pair, and the computer has a pair, and one of your pair is higher than the computer's pair, it's usually a good idea not to go for a full house. ;p The odds your one dice ends up being what you want, vs his three dice are not good.

Anyways, the only time I thought the game was rigged was when one of my opponents (no joke) got five straight four of a kinds in a row. But, I'd hardly chalk that up to anything but really bad luck on my part.

I initially thought the whole clumsy addition of the physical act of rolling was there so you could cheat the system, but it's so clumsily done that I'm pretty sure some dev was just high on pot and thought it'd be a good idea in some mellow-induced stupor devoid of any real reason. :/

Yeah, between the added movement to roll the dice and aim them to stay in the hole and the weird camera angle, they took the easy, enjoyable dice game from the first and made it more of a pain to play.

it's not the simple, fun thing it used to be, so I find I skip playing a lot more this time.

I noticed certain NPCs had much better rolls than others, but that it didn't correlate at all to who the game claimed was better. Madame something(can't remember) in chapter 2 @ the brothel camp for example had uncanny rolling "skills".

I actually beat her like 10 times in a row as I was broke and wanted her help for the Iorveth path, and needed to make money so as to get her to open up the passage, and I didn't feel like sneaking through camp like I had the first time. :p

So, I'm going to reassert that there's no real rigging by the game on the NPC's part.

Main thing I got from the dice is that it just wasn't fun. You either lost within the first roll or you lucked into beating a tough opponent in the first game without scumming.

Losing a die is just unexcusably frustrating. On the gamepad what counts as a light touch doesn't seem to be consistent.

The new symbol/roman numeral die face thing just makes it harder to visually see a good hand quickly. Also wouldn't've minded having that thing where it highlights when you have a good hand and says what the opponents winning hand is.

There also doesn't actually seem to be a curve to the opponent difficulty. I lost my ass off on those first two guys and then breezed past the last three. The trapmaker was a cakewalk. It's not like the armwrestling where the tougher guys are actually tougher to beat.

The only improvement over the dice in TW1 is that you only have to beat a person once. That cuts down on a whole hell of a lot of tedious BS.

What would help with the problem of the betting amount is allowing multiple sessions of dice without having to leave the dice screen. A simple "Want to play again?" Would be good instead of instantly shunting you out of the game.

I beat the final dice foe only because he rolled two of his dice off the table.. it was pretty funny, to say the least =)

Foltrest actually played dice poker, but he kept it quiet as its not a high class game. He is the final boss of the dice poker quest in Witcher 1, if you beat him, you will be the dice poker legend.

Except, one should know from the first game that Foltest loves dice poker. ;)

You don't need to go so far as chess. Checkers would suffice for a more strategic game, though, the AI is still a problem.

I like the dice game but have the same problem I had with it in the original Witcher, which is that the game is obviously rigged. When you fight opponents that story-wise are meant to be tough the computer obviously gives them good hands constantly.

It should all be about luck, nothing else. When the numbers are showing there is no bluffing or anything of that kind like with real poker. There is really no skill involved what-so-ever.

You could be right and I've had particularly bad/good luck with certain NPCs, I suppose it'd be hard to tell unless you played and kept track of a ton of games and got statistical with it.