Inventory management method is not fun

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TYRI_ wrote:
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CliveHowlitzer wrote:

I was replaying Might and Magic VI and VII and I just loved the huge detailed items, with nice colorful artwork done for them. Nowadays, everything is generally so small, there is nothing done.


This is an ACTION RPG, not a puzzle game. Heroes of Might and Magic is a turn based strategy game.

In ARPGs, gameplay should revolve completely around action, not inventory tetris and the game of 'is that big item worth picking up in my small inventory?'. Inventory management should be very simple and basically a non-issue.

Uhh, Might and Magic VI and VII aren't turn based. They are real time RPGs, with a big emphasis on loot finding and leveling characters. HEROES of Might and Magic is a completely different game.
Sound familiar?
"Danger is like jello, there's always room for more."
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Last edited by CliveHowlitzer#0568 on Aug 17, 2012, 2:24:02 AM
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CliveHowlitzer wrote:
Uhh, Might and Magic VI and VII aren't turn based. They are real time RPGs, with a big emphasis on loot finding and leveling characters. HEROES of Might and Magic is a completely different game.
Sound familiar?


Oh ok, haven't played Might and Magic VI and VII. Thought they were the same series as Heroes of Might and Magic.
I agree with the fact that inventory has to be limited.
But I think the inventory can still be improved with some functions like wallet for currencies or the auto-sort button of TQuest.
I love the inventory system the way it is, I find I only need to go back to town once every zone or two, its not the games fault you feel the need to pick up every single item.

The thing I love the most though is the artwork of the items, plus if items only took up 1 slot I feel socketing gems would become tedious. When I'm in a party I switch gems a lot to synergize with the party and having a tedious gem swapping mechanism would disrupt the action more than the inventory system does now .

Also this is an action RPG, not a pure action game. To me the RPG alone should signal, hey you'll have to stand around a lot and make decisions. If this was a run and gun game so to speak then what would be the point of having inventory at all? And while we are trivializing inventory why don't we get rid of the skill tree and unlock skills on level up because hey the skill tree requires too much stopping and thinking!
R.I.P. my beloved P.o.E.
Comparisons between previous releases and D3’s change to simplified grid space icon sizes are not relevant. Unlimited/free town portals made inventory management negligible in D3. My post isn’t about how much looting can I do before I think I need to head back to town. That has already been addressed when it was explained that in PoE they can adjust the drop-rate and ‘cost’ of town portals to balance the frequency of trips to town for inventory reasons.

I now respect that arranging inventory icons is a fun part of the game for some people. I suggest offering options.

Allow switching between a list system or the current grid system. The list would show the volume (number of grid spaces) each item requires. It display a filled/empty slot ratio (e.g 46/50). Item size and available space is still a factor in deciding what to pick up. The grid system is not taken away from anyone who enjoys that aspect of inventory management. A player could switch from list to grid if the number of used grid spaces is less than half the total available grid spaces to avoid having a need for code based auto sorting of the grid icons. The reason for the arbitrary “half” is there would be no doubt everything would fit in the grid without a need to auto sort it. I have not played long enough to know I have seen the largest item. The ‘bag too full to switch’ threshold would be based on the size of the largest inventory grid icon.

Auto icon sorting could be an added feature of the grid based system. If that feature was added then switching from list to grid would do a check to make sure everything would fit in a grid layout.

Gem management would not change from how it works now. Gems are entries in a list or icons in a grid. Items in a list would still show the dual detail breakout (base item and gem) when the mouse pointer hovers over it. Right-click list entry/grid icon to remove, etc.

The higher detail graphics of the grid system icons are not taken away either. The list system has small icons. When the icon is hovered over with the mouse pointer it shows the higher detail graphics with the item details. It would be possible to allow a larger/more detailed graphic as it is not limited by the grid system icon size. From a development and graphics file resource perspective using the existing grid inventory icons is practical. I’m only pointing out that artwork in a pop-out item detail window isn’t limited to the grid icon size.

Take nothing away. Offering more options attracts more players.
Last edited by poisoniv#0200 on Aug 18, 2012, 3:30:29 AM
This is almost a separate topic so that is why a separate post. Some things to consider about the wallet idea.

The economy is barter based. Instead of currency different items can be traded for different things. They are still inventory items not currency. How much of my limited inventory volume will be used by trade items is part of inventory strategy.

(I’m going to jump tracks to make a few smaller points that lead to a final one. I apologize if I’ve made it difficult to follow.)
It is bi-polar design philosophy behind limiting a player to only carrying 5 swords but 2,000,000 gold pieces. I find a 6th sword I’d like to take back to town and sell but I have to pick one of the 5 I have and drop it. Yet if I dropped the 2,000,000 gold coins in my separate coin bag/wallet I still can’t carry that 6th sword in inventory.

It is bi-polar design philosophy behind having a category of items stack so that 40 items take up the same space as 1 but another category doesn’t stack. 160 scrolls take up as much inventory space as 1 helmet worth 0.25 scrolls? (My numbers are likely off, please focus on the point.)

This type of balancing shows that when designing the game mechanic for inventory management it can be a limitation to game play enjoyment for the player. It says ‘doing this won’t annoy players enough to stop playing but this other will.’ “Bi-polar” because it is both OK and not OK to annoy the player while maintaining that inventory management is important to the game play experience. Where that line is drawn is a necessary part of game design. The choice determines how many people will play the game.

(Back to the wallet idea.)
Implementing a wallet that allowed the items used as currency to not take up any inventory space takes away from the barter economy concept. Instead of “copper” you have “Town portal scroll fragment”. Instead of “gold” you have “Blacksmith’s sharpening stone”. If it is not an inventory item taking up inventory space then it is not barter. It is just currency with more complicated names and exchange rates. I like the barter system. It adds to the immersion into a community of exiles and shipwreck victims making the best of the resources at hand.

A wallet feature would remove currency items from inventory management concerns completely. Having stackable currency items is partially doing that now. Stack count limits determines how much of a concern currency is for the player. Setting how may items per stack is what sets how much of the limited inventory space is used by trade goods.

A wallet is either additional/separate bag space that allows specific items and/or allows infinite stack sizes. If it is just additional/separate space why can’t I choose to use that space to pick up one more sword to sell instead? If I don’t have any currency it is wasted space if that is all can put in it. If stack sizes are infinite what is the point of the having an item that is picked up or taking up a grid space. Just have a label with a count in the UI that increments when you kill or sell something and decrements when you pay for something.
I didn't read every single post, but my suggestion is somewhere in between: when I left click the item and it is suspended, allow me to roll my mousewheel and at least rotate the '3-square' items to fit in along the top or what have you. Now that said, I literally just started playing and the first thing that I googled was q's about inventory management - so if there is a way to rotate the item, hopefully I've figured it out by now and you can all just ignore this post. :)

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