[alr1ght]

(Playing Witcher 2 atm)

Now equip weight actually makes sense, but carry weight limits are just an annoyance. Pick up some good loot? Oh sorry we will now make you walk at half speed to the nearest warp connected vendor so you can dump some of your old items. Want to craft something? Oh sorry, you don't have that item on you at the moment. You have to go visit the warp connected vendor to access some of your crafting materials, then trudge all the way back here and I'll craft it for you. Micromanagement at its worst.

[B.K.]

I hate inventory limits.

[Derrick01]

No but they're a necessary evil. Adding some management and sometimes making you make tough choices is important to me in RPGs. It's not realistic or fun to just run around care free with magical infinite pockets picking up thousands of junk items on the way to a dungeon just because I have no weight to worry about.

Sometimes I think people put too much stock into needing every ounce of a game to be "fun" and that results in people diluting games. In order to have a higher challenge level you need things that stress you and force you to think hard, and that's not always going to be "fun".

[Zekes!]

Yeah I do. Makes me weigh the importance of what I want to take and what I need

[KSai]

I don't mind, it's better than going through a huge list of items. In games that let me store items, I usually have a million items left to rot since selling them doesn't net much of a profit.

[Kard8p3]

The carry weight things depends on the game. If it can add tension in a good way, I'd be all for it. I'm not sure if DayZ has a carry weight(I''ve never played it, sadly) but that seems like a game where it could be a good implement.

As for your crafting point, I agree, That's one of the major reasons I loved Dragon's Dogma, you didn't need to have your crafting items on you to upgrade equipment.

[Kyoufu]

Nope, I dislike it. I do enjoy games with it, but I wish they wouldn't limit my inventory capacity.

[Narag]

Depends on the game. Didn't really care for them in the Witcher 2 due to the crafting. I'm one of the few people that enjoyed it in Portable Ops though as it gave On-Site Procurement some meaning.

[Electivirus]

Nope. I hate being limited in what I can and can't carry around.

[Currygan]

I dont think anyone does...

No but they're a necessary evil. Adding some management and sometimes making you make tough choices is important to me in RPGs. It's not realistic or fun to just run around care free with magical infinite pockets picking up thousands of junk items on the way to a dungeon just because I have no weight to worry about.

having ten pockets full of swords, armor and potions isn't that realistic either...

[BurnOutBrighter]

It means you have to be selective. Looting and tweaking your inventory so you aren't overencumbered is a strategy in itself.

[En Ex]

Never bothered me too much in the Elder Scrolls/Fallout games, as you could work on ways of increasing item carry limits (magic, potions, improving relevant stuff, etc.)

[eosos]

Eh, not really. Fuck them in Skyrim.

[Mac the KNife]

Loved the briefcase in RE4.

[vareon]

I like it in Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3/New Vegas. Makes me feel I am an adventurer.

[Y2Kev]

Holy. Shit. I have written basically the exact same thread and was about to hit submit.

No but they're a necessary evil. Adding some management and sometimes making you make tough choices is important to me in RPGs. It's not realistic or fun to just run around care free with magical infinite pockets picking up thousands of junk items on the way to a dungeon just because I have no weight to worry about.

Not really. I mean, if you had a difficult RPG that forced you to make choices, that'd be interesting. But the vast majority of RPGs just make me spend more time dropping trays and plates from my inventory so I can carry my 9th copy of History of Tamriel part 6.

A few thoughts:

1. Inventory UI design in most RPGs is utterly horrific. It's not fun to manage the inventory, and often it isn't even easy to tell what you have equipped and what the stats of said item are. This makes managing what you want to carry difficult.

2. Safehouses are not easily accessibly in many games. It's so freaking annoying in Skyrim having to teleport to Whiterun and THEN go to the house. That's multiple loading screens just so I can drop off some stupid dragon bones.

3. Fast travel and safehouses have already sort of negated the real weightiness of the "choice."

Let me just have my whole inventory. Or make it so that I can sell items on the spot. Or make me be able to give items to something else to go sell (a la Torchlight). Having to navigate the AWFUL inventory UI of Skyrim so I can access Lydia's neverending trousers is GARBAGE GAME DESIGN.

Sometimes I think people put too much stock into needing every ounce of a game to be "fun" and that results in people diluting games. In order to have a higher challenge level you need things that stress you and force you to think hard, and that's not always going to be "fun".

Think hard? Are we talking about Bethesda games?

[HawthorneKitty]

Yes, otherwise I would hoard every item in sight.

[slayn]

Stop being a hoarder
Games are just trying to teach you a valuable life lesson

[ii Stryker]

No but they're a necessary evil. Adding some management and sometimes making you make tough choices is important to me in RPGs. It's not realistic or fun to just run around care free with magical infinite pockets picking up thousands of junk items on the way to a dungeon just because I have no weight to worry about. Sometimes I think people put too much stock into needing every ounce of a game to be "fun" and that results in people diluting games. In order to have a higher challenge level you need things that stress you and force you to think hard, and that's not always going to be "fun".

This^^

[Murrah]

Loved the briefcase in RE4.

.

[Razek]

Some games do them right, some do them bad. While I think it's needed in WRPGs, it could have been done much better.

Loved the briefcase in RE4.

RE4s tetris system was very well done in that it actually allowed for bigger items to take up bigger space. These limits are placed in game to give a more realistic feel and approach, while simultaneously adding in another challenge factor for the game play. The problem is, they fail at the first part, which is the realism. It's not just about weight, it is about size as well.

Also, now that memory limitations are no longer a problem, the 99 count limit should be abolished. Let me carry near infinite, not arbitrarily cap the amount of same type items because it was common practice in 1998.

[jediyoshi]

Not a big fan of finite health either, gimmie all dem infinites stats.

[Tambini]

I always use the console to increase my weight limit in Bethesda games.

[alr1ght]

Loved the briefcase in RE4.

I agree with that, but I never really hit the limit.

[WernhamHogg]

Loved the briefcase in RE4.

Damn it, beat me to the post. Besides RE4, I'm usually annoyed by inventory systems.

[Y2Kev]

Can anyone name a recent game that was "challenging" because of inventory limits? I'd like to play it.

Because a much easier question is, "Can anyone name a game that is fucking annoying because of inventory limits?" The list is huge.

[Zefah]

Only when it forces meaningful decisions. The Witcher 2 is an example of bad inventory limitation. All it did was prevent you from carrying around a lot of tradeskill stuff. Wasn't very meaningful in the end.

[Derrick01]

having ten pockets full of swords, armor and potions isn't that realistic either...

No but it's better than the magic pockets. I've complained for a while that these base RPG games (meaning without mods) are way too lenient in weight limits. It's very easy in the fallouts to get 400-500+ pound weight limits which may as well be infinite at that point, but they're not going to make it stricter because of casuals. But that's why we have mods.

[Tain]

Making tough decisions is fun, so sometimes I do, yeah.

[plasmasd]

Inventory limits are fine. But let me use a "take everything button" and put it in some magical cubbyhole where I save my game. Take Skyrim - transport that shit to one of my houses so I can spread it around on the floor when I get there and need something to do.

[Y2Kev]

Oh, I thought of one! Dark Souls/Demon's Souls. They make you choose armor type and encumbrance is a big consideration.

I'm blanking other than that.

[More Fun To Compute]

Yeah, I want to manage and browse an almost infinite collection of every piece of junk that I saw on my adventure. Never drop or pass by any item.

[Sophia]

Having to navigate the AWFUL inventory UI of Skyrim so I can access Lydia's neverending trousers is GARBAGE GAME DESIGN.

Thank god for SkyUI, huh? I don't think I could play Skyrim without it.

[Coxy]

you should have infinite space for crafting/quest items and equipment and shit, just limit ammo and/or healing items at most

[alr1ght]

Oh, I thought of one! Dark Souls/Demon's Souls. They make you choose armor type and encumbrance is a big consideration. I'm blanking other than that.

They removed the carry limit in Dark Souls. Was a nice change. I have no issue with the equip weight system in the Souls games. They make sense.

[Haunted]

I totally hated them until I realised that they actually taught me not to be so obsessive about what I'm picking up.

The time I would be wasting by taking additional trips to vendors is actually more valuable to me than the money I'd get from picking up (mostly useless) shit. As you get stronger/richer in RPGs you change your pickup habits to lengthen the stints inbetween vendor runs - I'm thinking of it as simply another part of visible progression. Whether that's not picking up anymore ammo/weapons you won't use in Fallout or no more grey (then white, then blue) items in Diablo or whatever.

If that's just me rationalising a bad game design mechanic that's so ingrained in some genres that it feels weird to leave it out I don't really know, haha.


But the above said, I also have no problems with games that completely avoid this issue by giving you a quick and painless way to avoid vendor runs altogether, like Torchlight's Pet system, for example. It means I'm playing the game a little differently but neither is inherently better than the other, I think. I'm not enjoying Torchlight more than Diablo II because of it. Is picking up more shit items and selling them via the pet instead of not picking them up altogether really higher quality time spend with the game? I dunno.

[Y2Kev]

They removed the carry limit in Dark Souls. Was a nice change. I have no issue with the equip weight system in the Souls games. They make sense.

I'm thinking of the armor limit (lose ability to run, lose ability to roll, etc) more in Dark. Which is way more meaningful of a choice than, "Damn, I guess I have to run to the merchant again to sell this 4 pound chalice I had to have!"

[TWILT]

Nope. I hate being limited in what I can and can't carry around.

Agreed.

[Chairman Yang]

Can anyone name a recent game that was "challenging" because of inventory limits? I'd like to play it. Because a much easier question is, "Can anyone name a game that is fucking annoying because of inventory limits?" The list is huge.

Deus Ex/Deus Ex HR force some interesting decision-making because of strict inventory limits. In general, though, inventory limits are garbage design. They add tedium without any real challenge or strategy.

[Sega1991]

Carry limits exist in a weird space. I think that if you can carry enough that you forget you have a limit, then you shouldn't have a limit. The worst is playing a game and it suddenly pops up "You don't have room to hold this" but you forgot and were just picking up every random piece of shit you found.

But in games like, Halo or whatever, where you are constantly aware that you can only hold two things at any given time, that works.

Resident Evil 4 and Diablo skirt that line. I definitely forget about the carry limit in Diablo sometimes, but I was always aware of how much room I had in my inventory in RE4. Both games are roughly the same system.

But in an Elder Scrolls game or whatever you seem to be able to carry enough shit that when you hit the limit it's a real hassle to sort through what you want to keep. Just make your bag bottomless at that point.

[Sophia]

Carry Limits that include key items (HELLO RESIDENT EVIL 1 THROUGH 3) tend to bother me more than Carry Limits so generous that they may as well be endless.

[encephalon]

It depends on the game. For classic Resident Evil games, it was absolutely necessary to provide the right type of experience. JRPGs ... not so much.

Carry Limits that include key items (HELLO RESIDENT EVIL 1 THROUGH 3) tend to bother me more than Carry Limits so generous that they may as well be endless.

That's kind of the whole point.

[The Albatross]

I don't love it, but it's just something to make you consider what you pick up. In Skyrim, I choose light armor or work on armor & stamina skills so that I can carry more. It adds a lot of value to having things like houses, etc., to store your loot. Otherwise you're just a walking dresser and weapons chest.

[Y2Kev]

Deus Ex/Deus Ex HR force some interesting decision-making because of strict inventory limits. In general, though, inventory limits are garbage design. They add tedium without any real challenge or strategy.

I have to admit I don't really remember DXHR's inventory system at all. I have to youtube it and look. Be right back!

Okay, it's like RE4. I see what you mean. I think games with much smaller inventories are actually much less annoying than ones with huge limits that include crafting items and such. Like, really? My mushroom extract has weight?

I'm not even considering games like Resident Evil 1-3, where of course I think it's quite an important limitation.

[Haunted]

I'm thinking of the armor limit (lose ability to run, lose ability to roll, etc) more in Dark. Which is way more meaningful of a choice than, "Damn, I guess I have to run to the merchant again to sell this 4 pound chalice I had to have!"

I think here's the crux for the player.

Did he really had to have that chalice? Should the game encourage him to pick up every little item?


I guess the drive to not pass any sort of pickup is part of our OCD and min/maxing tendencies as longtime RPG players. >_>

[PhoenixSFT]

Having recently played Witcher 2, Dragon Age Origins, and Dragon's Dogma, I only like inventory limits if they are reasonable. Geralt can carry a lot of shit in Witcher 2, and mostly stuff like weapons and armor weigh a lot. Common herbs you can pick up weigh nothing.

DA:O and Dragon's Dogma, on the other hand, have small weight limits that drive me nuts, plus all items are listed as ".21 weight" or ".01" and it's annoying to dump items. If it becomes something I have to do every half hour or 45 minutes, it's tedious and should be done away with.

[Derrick01]

I have to admit I don't really remember DXHR's inventory system at all. I have to youtube it and look. Be right back!

It's that grid style where you can flip the items around to try and cleverly fit everything, like RE4. I did like that style although the upgrades kind of ruined it. If I can fit a pistol, a grenade and rocket launcher and have room for the ammo and health/energy items and grenades as well then it's too much.

[toddhunter]

Limits for weapons and armour is good.

Every herb and spice in the witcher 2? Nope, mod that shit so misc items are all zero weight.

Best of both worlds then. A must do for DA:O, skyrim or witcher.

[blame space]

i want to keep everything. i mean why should i have to choose.. video games aren't real.

i always just throw stuff somewhere else.. i might as well just have access to it. i mean it's pretty ridiculous the amount of things we look past in video games but then oh wait yeah how could they carry that much! it's unrealistic!

like those new vegas mods that make it so you have to drink water ever ten minutes or whatever. hey you can just stop time whenever you want we're not exactly recreating reality here.

[Fancy Corndog]

It makes sense in games that are poorly designed, like Skyrim. I think if a game is designed well then it shouldn't need to limit you.

I like Skyrim, but I don't give a shit about playing it.

I do appreciate the role-playing element of it if it's done right. But not being able to pick things up, or essentially being made unable to pick things up (walking 1mph at some exact threshold is the same as capping inventory as far as I'm concerned) is silly. There are also ways to get around the RP element, like with some kind of mule mechanic.