Bags

[Deleted]

i have played World of warcraft from the start and seen bags geting bigger and bigger but the main bag has always ben a 16 slot bag i often wonder why blizz newer make that bigger

[MoanaLisa]

Because the size of the default bag was set to 16 as probably one of the very first things done when coding the game. Given the era that it was designed in, it was very likely hard-coded in, not set as a flag anywhere, and then lots of other code was built that expects to see 16 slots there. So if you change the default bag size, then everything that looks at that little piece of code may break. On top of that, adding extra slots to that bag would likely affect the default template that gets used when a character is set up and created in their database. You start to change that and you're messing around with stuff that has years of code built on top of it and is very specifically sized and the limits on that sizing are apparently extremely tight.

They've as much as said this without going into the details. But the bottom line is that messing with hard-coded stuff that was likely set up 10 years ago can break all sorts of things that have been added since then.

My two cents.

[Thage]

Build off what Lisa said, it's something they want to look at and change, as they agree it can be a bit restrictive in a world of 24+-slot bags. They have to do carefully and conservatively, however, or they risk fucking up a whole lot of things with the game's base code (rule number one of coding as my code-monkey cousin tells me is that it's always the little shit that ends up fucking everything up when you don't realize how tied into the code it is. I know, anecdotal cousin evidence, but it's still worth considering).

[zeropeorth]

Maybe, instead of coding an in game store and a bnet launcher, those teams could've found a solution to increasing default bag (or make it a slot you can change out that just starts at 16); -then- worked on the launcher and a place in game you can spend more money

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Besides the coding issues, a major gameplay aspect of the bags is to limit how much one can carry on his/her adventure when out in the world, therefore requiring choices to be made on what is left behind and what is taken.

[Thage]

Maybe, instead of coding an in game store and a bnet launcher, those teams could've found a solution to increasing default bag (or make it a slot you can change out that just starts at 16); -then- worked on the launcher and a place in game you can spend more money

I'm pretty neutral on the ingame store and launcher, but I can see why both would be worked on: the ingame store is primarily there because Blizz is shifting their business strategy in the Asian markets to free-play with a cash shop, since pay-to-play is no longer a viable business strategy over there and hasn't been since free-play games became so prolific. The launcher is mainly there for convenience, so you can talk to your friends and get updated info on shit while you pick a game (or just hang out in the launcher talking).

Both of those are, I'd wager, a lot easier than picking through decade-old code to update a UI element that could cause a domino effect that breaks a lot of other things if changed wrong.

[Zenny]

Maybe, instead of coding an in game store and a bnet launcher, those teams could've found a solution to increasing default bag (or make it a slot you can change out that just starts at 16); -then- worked on the launcher and a place in game you can spend more money

I think those two things are more useful then 8 extra bag slots.

[MoanaLisa]

Build off what Lisa said, it's something they want to look at and change, as they agree it can be a bit restrictive in a world of 24+-slot bags. They have to do carefully and conservatively, however, or they risk fucking up a whole lot of things with the game's base code (rule number one of coding as my code-monkey cousin tells me is that it's always the little shit that ends up fucking everything up when you don't realize how tied into the code it is. I know, anecdotal cousin evidence, but it's still worth considering).

It's probably a contributing reason why new character models have taken so long as well. Everyone concentrates on the art aspect and that's bad enough but I don't see how new character models don't have some impact on those original character software templates from 10 years ago that we're still largely using today. Especially if the new models include things like sliders for facial features, height and whatever. Then there's the I/O aspect of how the server talks to your client and all the rest.

All of this stuff is extremely foundational in nature and was created very early on and not changed much in the meantime. And your cousin is right; simple things usually have the worst unintended consequences. That said, new character models are pretty likely an opportunity to not only clean up the look of the game to some extent but also fix some other long-standing issues revolving around toons generally and how they work in the game. Which brings us back to bags.

Again, most of that is speculation but it's based on a few decades of real-life experience in how large software systems work.

Moderator voice: And please do not turn this into another discussion about the store. There's enough of those already.

[Rivin]

Blizzard has said that in order to change the backpack, they need to remove the current one and replace it with a new one that's modifiable. Before they can do that, they have to create a system that will save the items in everyone's backpacks, otherwise they'll be destroyed. So, while it's perfectly doable, it will take time away from other projects and the current backpack is really not a big deal so it's not worth doing yet.

[Otimus]

I'm no coder or anything, but looking at it from a logical standpoint, I don't see why they can't, for example, add another bag slot that's "invisible", and when you go to a vendor, it empties your bag's content, then gives you a new bag, which replaces the old 16 slot, with the previously invisible slot (which then itself becomes invisible to the player). Unless there's an inherent problem with adding an extra slot, or something. Could be a gold sink, even, to "upgrade" your bags to be bigger with different amounts of money.

[Vereesa]

I'm no coder or anything, but looking at it from a logical standpoint, I don't see why they can't, for example, add another bag slot that's "invisible", and when you go to a vendor, it empties your bag's content, then gives you a new bag, which replaces the old 16 slot, with the previously invisible slot (which then itself becomes invisible to the player). Unless there's an inherent problem with adding an extra slot, or something. Could be a gold sink, even, to "upgrade" your bags to be bigger with different amounts of money.

I'm not sure bag space per se is the problem here, just storage space in general. And that's largely due to the fact that the Void Storage failed to deliver - mine was filled to the brim within 10 minutes of logging into 4.3 and has been ever since...

[Z3ROR]

I think Blizzard can use their time better to find a way for us to use less inventory and bank space.
Ideas:
- Tabards-tab like the pets and mounts
- Make sets become 1 slot instead 16 slots for each complete set.
- With above feature: Add setslots to Void Storage as well to make it easy to switch between sets.
- Vanity items stored like pets and mounts.

That may decrease the space needed a lot and that means we don't big bags anymore.

[slime]

I think those two things are more useful then 8 extra bag slots.

And also bring in revenue.. which argueably... a few more bag slots wont.

[Ugadin]

I think Blizzard can use their time better to find a way for us to use less inventory and bank space.
Ideas:
- Tabards-tab like the pets and mounts
- Make sets become 1 slot instead 16 slots for each complete set.
- With above feature: Add setslots to Void Storage as well to make it easy to switch between sets.
- Vanity items stored like pets and mounts.

That may decrease the space needed a lot and that means we don't big bags anymore.

I completely agree with this. Anything to reduce the amount of items we "have" to carry around.

Also, with all the issues that are clearly associated with making the backpack bigger or upgradeable, why wouldn't blizzard just make bigger bags for the other 4 bagslots? Does it really matter weather you're getting the extra slots from your backpack or bigger bags?

[Z3ROR]

Blizzard said once that they can easily increase more bag space, but that they rather not wanna do that, because if they do then the same problem occurs 1 expansion later again, and again, and again........

[RicardoZ]

I'm not sure why it would need to be bigger. Has something happened to low level toons that requires more bag space than before?

[Ryve]

I'm not sure why it would need to be bigger. Has something happened to low level toons that requires more bag space than before?

You're implying there was ever a time when the backpack and 6-8 slot bags gained early on were not an issue?

[Sunnydruid]

I believe Lore has covered this several times in his "PST weekly episodes" as the first post stated, it's "hard coded" into the base of the game. Which would require a huge task of digging way way way into the coding of the game to change this.