Issue handled easily if you would get a potion of cure light wounds instead of a cloth belt, a potion of cure moderate instead of a tarnished wedding band, etc etc etc.....
Honestly though. I play a gimpy fighter. I can get into two Dungeons maybe three if I'm lucky. Got no gear to speak of, and yet, I can find another non caster to trade and buy a few potions from, and I am never in a situation where I need 30 something potions to complete a goal. If you are in that situation you are someplace you should not be.
While a touch annoyed at the practice of Removing stuff before implementing the replacement (To me this is sort of like coming out with a new brand of tire, so to prepare, people go steal all the wheels off your car, leaving you on blocks for a month before the tire shipment arrives), I'm actually MORE affluent in potions now, then I was when you could go buy them. So many people selling them (though most need to take an economics class or 6 so they can understand marketing and margins), Otto actually turns people away.
Play smarter, don't be running around with the "Beer Hat" on so you can swill down potions like an extra in the movie Beer Fest, and not being able to buy the potions from a store becomes a non issue. Speaking for a few others (hmmm funny, all non casters non sneaks), we're actually getting along quite well. People wouldn't need so many potions if they weren't all out trying to swim in the deep end before they are qualified to dog paddle (Check some of the screen shots lately. 17th level, 18th level, 15th level, Wait....there they are, two or three 6th to 8th level people tagging along. Or worse, a 2nd.).
Right now it's at about that point where the lightweights are getting annoyed with the crafting, the herd is thinning so to speak which is a good thing since that will open the door to those more seriously interested in it.
Hell combined with the new rest system, I actually do Better, since I play a lot smarter now. Still don't know what people are crying about in regards to the rest system, if you time your crawls right, you can actually rest more often without having to run for the nearest tavern. I don't think the new systems are demoralizing at all. Being a gearless Fighter in a server of Sneaks with more Sneak then Mask, and Casters that One shot Pit Fiends is demoralizing. Having to actually work at a trade that's basically, insanely cheap, with a captured audience later to sell the stuff to, seems like a pretty good deal.
Yeah there is a cauldron in the drain, actually considered using it with one of my Ban's but there are IC reasons for that PC as to why I'm not doing it. May change soon though. Still waiting for some rebuild/move stuff from the DM's so I can ditch feats and skills that are no longer in use by the server. Not like any other 'Ban can step up and give it a go I suppose.
The root complaint in this thread seems to me to be more related to MONEY, is Easy to Get, and it was EASIER, to Buy 50 billion gallons of Potions, then it is to Find a crafter or craft it themselves. Have to say, I don't really miss those potions since really, couldn't get them at those places anyway and when I bought a potion, it was usually something from Bervis.
Uping Potions as Treasure though, would take up this slack everyone keeps talking about.
Last word, Up to me I'd make it more difficult to weed out all the wimps. But then I would also make casters Use components so they don't spam spells with multi thousand GP value gem's as a power source. Over all I think the crafting system is on the right track but then I am used to a PC driven economy. It's not that difficult.
~Rex