Been playing Diablo-2 with the PlugY tool that gives unlimited pages of stash. Then I noticed that it has an option to swap out the whole thing for a fresh new empty stash. If you have unlimited space, why would you toss pages and pages of accumulated stuff for an empty bag? But here's the fun part: I've used that feature. Pretty cool, huh?

The storage space is unlimited, as many pages as I care to use. Gems on one page, weapons on another. After playing a while, the page assignments filled up, and I had to refine my categories. Weapons got split into melee and ranged. Melee weapons got split into 1-handed and 2-handed.

At each one of the epochs where I broke a category into subcategories, pages had to be shuffled around, things moved from one place to another. Over time my category system became crowded and fragmented. I had a page full of assassin weapons, but hadn't found any paladin weapons. I had two pages for torso armor because they were so large. I had a separate category for sets which was in need of some re-organization, perhaps by level requirement.

The accumulation of those imperfections had me dreaming of a much better way. I wanted to start with a clean and slate with my new and improved organizational map. And eventually the pressure to do so became worth more to me than the value of all my accumulated stuff.

Garage sale! I sold off a bunch that I thought would bring a good price, picked up what little of my favorites that I could carry, bit the bullet and called in the bulldozers.

There was something there that was more valuable to me than the possible future uses of that stuff.

Quote:Original post by AngleWyrm
There was something there that was more valuable to me than the possible future uses of that stuff.

My guess would be that the hassle of trying to categorize and store new loot began to outweigh the feeling of reward for finding it. Combine that with the fact that the 'possible future uses' of the vast majority of that stuff is approximately zero, and I can see why purging your entire inventory might seem desirable.

It also highlights the dangers of relying heavily on loot as a gameplay reward.

In Mass Effect, the inventory system was a list, with what amounts to category tabs. By the time I was half-way through the game, the list was so long that I cringed at the thought of actually needing anything from it.

And in Two Worlds, the mounts came with additional storage. By the end of that game -- wait, no: It would be doing a gross mis-service to the word 'end' to say that Two Worlds ended. It just stopped. Anyway, by that time I had six horses at camp, storing various reagents, traps and bombs, gear I couldn't wear yet and the like.

Looking at these examples, I wonder about the Source/Sink model: Are the NPCs really the sink, or is it the players? Because at least for me, I wind up with what amounts to a stream of incoming stuff throughout the game, and rare opportunity to direct that stream into anything useful.

Have you ever played Titan Quest?

There's a tool you can use with it called Titan Quest Vault, which lets you organize your items into categories / pages. I think if such a feature existed in-game, a tag and search system would be nice.

A lot of people (relatively) used that tool too. Trying to collect every item and share their database.

Quote:Original post by Dae
Have you ever played Titan Quest?

I played the demo, and it's got a lot going for it. Mobs drop what they're using instead of random stuff. The skill system is easy to comprehend and fun to work with, adding bonus upgrades to equipment is a simple combine operation, the graphics are spectacular, and even the presentation of stats as base+mod is useful. Even spent a big chunk of change just changing the color of my tunic to match some magic armor.

But I didn't like being homeless. The idea that I must carry everything I own in a tiny little pack, and wander from one quest to the next across the country.

And looking at it from this angle, it seems more like an attempt to cap the river of loot. Would it be too much to ask to give the player some other options for where to point that endless stream of income besides just throw it away? Seems like there's a tricky grey area between fun expensive purchase and 'will you be needing wheels with your car?'

Quote:Original post by HunterCyprus93
Fable has a nifty little system, despite the flaws it has.

A system that has filters in it would be nice. Maybe you just entered a Fire Dungeon and need to equip your Fire Resistance armor. Instead of sifting through all of your gear, you put Fire Resist as a filter and run a search on your inventory. The resulting list would show only your gear with that stat on it.

Nice idea! Makes me wonder what else could be done. Maybe band-boxing a bunch of loot instead of click-fest.

[Edited by - AngleWyrm on September 12, 2009 5:45:40 AM]