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How Do You Manage Consumable Items in RPGs?

I never use consumables unless their use is assumed as part of the gameplay loop, i.e. SP Potions for the Wizard in Fantasy Life.

But my biggest weakness was gems in Torchlight and Diablo. I continually hoard them to combine and upgrade, but then never end up socketing any.
 
If I don't end the game with 99 of every possible item, I feel like I've failed.

I'll happily let my party die to a tough boss rather than use a single one of my 99 megalixers.
 
I don't play many RPGs, but do many games put in mechanics that pressure the player to use items regularly? Like inventory space, items break after a while etc.
 
If it's a stat raising item, the main character/party leader gets it. No exceptions. Healing items only used by non-magic wielders. Rare party healing items (like Somas or Hero Drinks) saved for the final boss (unless I'm stuck).

Everything else is a case-by-case basis.
 
hoard everything and make the game really harder than it should be

use 25% of everything on the final boss

tell myself I won't do the same mistake in the next game

repeat
 
Macstorm said:
I keep everything forever in case I need it...and then I never do.
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Pretty much.
If I run out of space, I will sell all my lowest versions e.g. potions if I have hi-potions.

Games that don't stack like items really aggravate me most of the time, but in Dragon Quest at least I'll make sure I have a ton of healing items on me just so I can start tossing them without too much worry if I start running out of space midway through a dungeon. As long as the buffer is correct, I can get out without having to make any tough decisions and the dwell on managing inventory for a bit back at town.
 
During my many childhood New Game + playthroughs of Chrono Trigger, I started buying 99 of every item purchasable in shops, because new money.
 
I use them constantly, but rarely buy them. I find a potion in a chest? Cool, I'll use it and save on MP. Find a mp restorative item? I'll use it the moment I need MP. I'll even use items that restore both HP/MP on a regular basis. I do not subscribe to the "Too good to use club."

There are some RPGs I've played where its mandated for you to use items to have an easier time. For example, Rogue Galaxy. I'll go all out with abilities and just finish random battles within seconds due to the insane AoE damage you can do in that game, but that means a ton of MP usage, which means I guzzle MP restorative items like crazy. It's one of the few instances where I'll buy items.
 
In games where alchemy/crafting skills exist, freely use the low level ones, hoard the difficult to make ones. In games without alchemy, keep a 'reasonable' minimum level of consumables (hoard if rare/powerful), and use them occasionally during difficult encounters.

The first game which taught me not to hoard absolutely everything, even without alchemy, was Betrayal at Krondor (yeah, really old game). Several mechanics conspire against hoarders: 1) limited inventory space (considerably so, at times); 2) episodic nature, causing item caches to reset (with a few exceptions) or become unavailable; 3) the notable difference consumables can make in combat (particularly late-game items like the Infinity Pool, but also enhancers like Dalatail Milk, Fadamor's Formula etc.).
 
I typically save them "just in case" and then have an excess of them by the time the game ends. The Witcher games are the only exception I can really think of to this because they're pretty much necessary to progress. I barely use anything beyond a Homeward Bone and some healing items in the Souls games and there's a ton of useful things available in them.
 
I used to horde everything but never do anymore. I just use stuff when I want to. I dunno, it seems simple to state it that way but once you play through one game that way then the desire to hoard anything just evaporated.
 
Hoard, to the point of forgetting they exist.

I remember playing SMT: Strange Journey and having a hard time with Demiurge, as I kept running out of MP. After a few attempts I remembered that I had a stack of Chakra Elixirs (or something) that restore full MP to your party.
 
Aeana said:
Using items is a perfectly valid strategy. They're in the game for a reason.
Honestly, people complain about RPGs "requiring grinding" so much, so the cognitive dissonance between that and the number of people saying they don't use items is blowing my mind.
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Consistent statements if you put it like that, though. Instead of using your items, an additional hour of grinding through the same handful of trash mobs before the boss will also get you past that one hard fight.

What I've learned from watching other people approach RPGs is that status effects and consumables are generally underused.


It takes a game really making it a part of the core gameplay mechanics to get people to even try them (if we're moving away from jRPGs for a second, the elemental interactions in Divinity: Original Sin is a recent example that comes to mind).
 
I do a lot of hoarding, particularly if the item is rare. I do usually end up using those in tough boss fights, so I don't render them useless. Common consumables I will typically use much more often.
 
Usually I almost never use them once I have a healer in the party. However, at the moment I'm playing Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time. Despite all four party members having access to cure magic, there is also a really basic skill that means you use items much more quickly (magic takes time to cast.). This means that in every battle I run through my basic healing potions before using any white magic as it's much more efficient. I suspect this will change as the game progresses and the potions don't heal such a large portion of HP compared to advanced healing spells, but it is funny. Four healers and they've cast two heal spells between them.
 
Horde as much as possible, making sure to always have at least one of every item type.

I will still use items as needed if it looks like I am going to lose, but I try to save all the good items for final/secret bosses.
 
Depends on if he game is hard or not. If a game is actually difficult I'll use them, but if a game is easy I'll only use ones that restore MP.
 
Another vote for keeping them basically forever. Getting to Zeromus with a ton of Elixirs was a pretty good feeling, but I realized I had made the game much harder than it needed to be =(
 
Sir TapTap said:
Few games are designed to explicitly require item use...and they really shouldn't be. Why would you design bosses around consumable items the player isn't guaranteed to have? THAT'S what bad design is. And any reasonable game has alternatives, a very big part of RPG design IMO, to single use extremely rare high quality items.
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I'm not saying rare. There's plenty of games that you can easily finish without even touching simple hp potions after you unlock your first healing spell.

What I've learned from watching other people approach RPGs is that status effects and consumables are generally underused.
Click to expand...
Because status effects and stats alterations are usually badly designed and unusable against bosses. I want to say the vast majority of SMT and Persona players use them regularly in those games.
 
I don't use them unless I can buy them in which case I buy 3 times what I may need and still won't use them unless my other option is to replay the last two hours.
 
I...may have a problem.

In Skyrim and Fallout, I hoard consumables at my home, only taking with me what I think I'll need. Usually a few Stimpacks or Health Vials, maybe a Stealth Boy or something that might help for an upcoming quest - a Fire Resist Potion if I'm going after a dragon, for example.

The problem lies in how I hoard my stuff. Everything has a place. In Skyrim, all my potions are kept in a specific cabinet. All foodstuffs in another in the kitchen area. All crafting materials in the basement. Jewels, precious stones in a lockbox. Ingredients in a specific satchel. Stuff I've collected while questing that I don't need but can sell for profit? That goes in the chest in the entryway for when I need some extra cash. Weapons and armor in specific chests and dressers in the armory. Regular clothes? You guessed it, the the dresser next to my bed. I've effectively turned Skyrim into a organization simulator.

What's even crazier? This obsessive compulsion does NOT spill into real life. The unfinished part of my basement is a mess. Have a few shelves up, but quite a bit is just in boxed and stacked on each other, or in old tupperware bins hid under the stairs. If Skyrim was any indication, you would think that I'd have everything in individual labeled bins on shelves around the room, but nooooooo. I'm only organized in a videogame...

Hm, it seems I may have just had a minor break, it would seem. Sorry about that!
 
Aeana said:
Using items is a perfectly valid strategy. They're in the game for a reason.
Honestly, people complain about RPGs "requiring grinding" so much, so the cognitive dissonance between that and the number of people saying they don't use items is blowing my mind.
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Well, you already said it yourself:
Aeana said:
I don't use them, and then complain about having to grind on message boards.
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I'm the worst in management. I'll have a ton of items and never use them. I am your typical pack rat, RPGer.

Unless I'm doing the Final Fantasy Job Fiesta. Every penny is spent on potions and phoenix downs.
 
SamVimes said:
I'm not saying rare. There's plenty of games that you can easily finish without even touching simple hp potions after you unlock your first healing spell.

Because status effects and stats alterations are usually badly designed and unusable against bosses. I want to say the vast majority of SMT and Persona players use them regularly in those games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, outside of SMT/Etrian Odyssey, I almost never invest in status effect skills and items that affect the enemy, although I'll still take buffs for my own party. That's because FF, Dragon Quest and loads of the others have largely decided that bosses being immune to anything bar basic attacks and magic is a good idea, and thus investing in poison, sleep or death magic a waste of time. Plus basic enemies usually only take two or three hits to kill, so it's quicker and cheaper to invest in increasing the speed, strength and accuracy of your basic attacks instead as that'll also help you out with every boss fight in the game.

I love the way EO handles status effects. Every creature has a certain chance of resisting it, and the more you try, the more chance of it sticking. Also, it has 'binds', where you can effectively tie up an enemy body part and seal special attacks associated with that part, or bind the legs to stop it fleeing, or the head to stop magic. All of the above works on the party too. That means that status effects aren't a binary thing that either ruins boss fights or wastes points spent in skills- a party member trying to poison a boss over several turns will struggle at first but gradually reduce it's resistance, eventually succeeding and cause massive damage for the run of the poison. Once the status effect sticks, the target's resistance level returns to normal. There's always the freak chance of getting it off immediately even against high-resistance bosses though, so it's often worth a go.
 
Icefire1424 said:
The problem lies in how I hoard my stuff. Everything has a place. In Skyrim, all my potions are kept in a specific cabinet. All foodstuffs in another in the kitchen area. All crafting materials in the basement. Jewels, precious stones in a lockbox. Ingredients in a specific satchel. Stuff I've collected while questing that I don't need but can sell for profit? That goes in the chest in the entryway for when I need some extra cash. Weapons and armor in specific chests and dressers in the armory. Regular clothes? You guessed it, the the dresser next to my bed. I've effectively turned Skyrim into a organization simulator.
Click to expand...

Okay, I need to get this game if it lets you organise your items like that. I can treat it like one giant attache case and arrange to my heart's content! Oh, how satisfying it must be.
 
If it's easily replaceable, I'll use it. Otherwise, I won't. The exception for this is items that permanently boost your stats, which I'll use only on the main character.

This all goes out the window if it's a game where inventory space is severely limited, like Earthbound.
 
In the past I kept everything and ended the game with everything. More recently I use items, especially on any replay. Since every game I play I can beat without 99% of items, I eventually got to an "aw fuck it" stage and started using them.
 
If rare - not use

if uncommon and I have more than one - use

if commom and I have more than one - use

if I have only one of that item - not use

:p
 
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