1. #1
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    RPG Carry weight

    Just a thought more than anything. In a lot of RPGs I have played that have carry limits it only applies to the player, yet any sort of container has unlimited space.

    For instance the boot/trunk of the car in fallout 2, or the chests in Skyrim and the Bethesda fallout games. Especially with newer games offering crafting systems it seems the inventory limits are at odds with players being creative. In all of Bethesda's recent titles you collect mountains of materials that at the time have ambiguous application. Then later on you find out the snake toothbrush bristles you found make the best ammo in the game but you sold or dropped them to free up space.

    I suppose my point really is: should RPGs think harder about how they manage your inventory as far as items that aren't immediately essential go? Or do other players enjoy the risk/reward factor of lugging about tons of items they can't really say are useful or not?

    As a side note MMOs don't really seem to have the same stipulations, although I suppose most if not all the items aren't as rare.

  2. #2
    I loathe the weight system with a passion, it was the single most annoying thing in fallout for me by far ...

    Just let me carry about what I want... because seriously I wouldn't be able to carry about 10 guns including a rocket launcher and a flamethrower and god knows what else - but that peice of paper I just added on top of my 10 huge guns has now crippled me as overweight xD

    I just don't like it.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    I agree Maelle, in Skyrim for instance you collect dragon parts which are pretty heavy. Going by the fact there is basically a dragonscale crafting skill at the end of one of the skill trees I would assume it is going to be useful later on. However up until the point I recently bought I house I had to make do with getting my companion to carry it all around and even then I ran out of room.

    Which then leads me on to having to spend 5k to keep stuff just in case as opposed to improving my character now

  4. #4
    Deleted
    I actually like it how TES and Fallout have solved it. Even if you're overburdened, you can still move, just not run and as far as selling useful stuff goes, in Skyrim you can't even sell quest items and they weight nothing.. and ingredients are usually very light, you can literally carry hundreds of them. Oh and you can just fast travel to your house or hideout and just store them into a chest if you have doubts about them becoming useful later on.

  5. #5
    Immortal jackofwind's Avatar
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    just sell all your dragon bits in the early game - you'll get more than enough materials to craft your armor and you can use the early funds to buy a house and store your junk.

  6. #6
    It depends on if they want realism (notably, stats like strength impacting this carry weight) or convenience.

    I'd prefer it if they kept inventory limits while making storage much much easier and accessible. Perhaps like a portable bank, called upon by magic. There's a lot of ways. Easier transportation to towns (and ways back, which TES does not have, unfortunately), crafting not being tied to locations, etc.

    There's no catch-all solution. It's what fits in the game. TES is focused on immersion, so convenience isn't really all that much of a priority, while WoW is focused on as solid of gameplay as possible, with less focus on immersion.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ita View Post
    Oh and you can just fast travel to your house or hideout and just store them into a chest if you have doubts about them becoming useful later on.
    You can't fast travel when overburdened. Pretty sure you couldn't in fallout 3 or New Vegas either.

    When all is said and done even a basic solution like one of the main people you are working for giving you storage early on would go a long way.

    Also I ended up with over 100 kilos in materials. It happened in New Vegas aswell. Would be sat there thinking I have hardly any armour or weapons yet I am near carry limit. Then I realised it all adds up.

    Another solution would be a chest like Rincewind has in Discworld, a bit like what you mention Caiada. It goes without saying something like this would be more serious that it would be in a Terry Pratchett novel

    Personally I don't like it when collecting crafting items starts feeling like a chore. It is certainly nice that games are starting to allow players to feel more creative, however I don't find it fun hoarding items when I have no idea what they do.
    Last edited by mmoccff815c062; 2011-11-15 at 12:12 AM.

  8. #8
    Merely a Setback Sunseeker's Avatar
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    I have a love/hate relationship with weight systems.

    I do like them, especially in games that are trying hard to simulate fantasy realism(ie: bend the rules, not totally break them). However, the idea of specific weights for each item is IMO, problematic. I think my favored system was the one in Sacred 2, each item had a specific number of "slots" it took up in your inventory, which made your inventory similar to Tetris if you wanted to take the time to organize it. You could either fit a TON in there, or nothing if you just let the bricks fall where they may.

    I don't like them for their obvious negative effects, but I like how Skyrim has gone with a "you can't run, you can still walk" instead of Oblivion's "you can't move at all!" The limitation to fast-travel sucks though.

    As for unlimited boxes, again, I like having that storage space, but I do think there should be SOME kind of limit. No idea how to balance it though.
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