Inventory limits? Yes or No?

[notsobig]

I mean the weight limit/number of items that can be carried at once that sort of things in general. So do you like it? I see more or less of these in todays games, sometimes they are only limiting the amount of ammos you can carry, sometimes whole inventory is affected so that you have to keep your belongings in absolute minimum, every game has it's own color but it's always there, kind of. And that force me to believe many people are actually enjoying doing that or feeling some sort of restriction is necessary to make things more realistic? But to me it's kind of boring/annoying to be honest. I must admit some games I played have implemented this very well and I enjoyed that as a part of the game system, but that is very rare case indeed and most of the time I feel overly restricted. This is especially applies to RPG games where inventory is usually very small for the amount of items you find on your way. Most embarrassing moment for me is usually when I find really good item but I'm too low level to equip it or use it and I can't decide whether I should keep it for future use or simply throw it away. And to make things worse usually these items are very heavy or very big! I also fear losing something game breakingly important by wrong decision you know....so in short I wanna keep them all
So what do you guys think about these inventory restrictions? Is it good or bad thing for you? For me fun element always wins over reality therefore excessive restriction kinda ruins....but I think many people have different opinons...which I 'd like to hear.

[Tobeman]

Bah this reminds me of Dungeon Siege. Hated it.

"OOOOH LOOK. Just killed that completely predictable ambush and one of the mobs dropped a toering with +0.00001 ice defense.

Must keep this item and spend the next hour rejigging the layout of the inventory in my bags and on my pack mule to get it to fit in for when I level up and can take advantage of the stats!"

[Kev32]

Gogo Next ambush and "OH NOES TEH PACK MULEZ DIED!"

Followed by a computer crash as ten billion items explode out across the map.

[directhex]

as long as it's done sensibly, then fine

for example, resident evil 4's inventory restriction placed a basic limit on which weapons you could have - meaning you ended up only with weapons you'd actually use, which is only a good thing. compare that with a system like deus ex invisible war, where a rocket launcher and a pack of crisps take up the same inventory space, removing any reason to carry small items

[Fabula]

It can be good, or it can be bad. Depends on implementation.

All games simplify some aspects of reality. Some simplify carrying capacity, others try to keep it more realistic.

With games like Stalker or halo, the lack of inventory and ammo are tactical considerations for you. Do you drop that weapon, for the better one, though it has less ammo? Do you try to carry enough ammo to wipe out an entire army, or do you scavenge as you go along?

So inventory limits?:
Yes, if used to add more depth to the game.
No, if used to frustrate.

[kalniel]

Depends on the style of game.

You always need negative pressures in games, otherwise there is no sense of achievement or satisfaction. You could say that dying is pretty unfun in any game, but without any fear of loosing in some game types there no point playing them.

Inventory management can be a negative pressure in terms of giving you another problem to solve, so that you gain extra satisfaction in getting it right - carrying just the right equipment for the job can be rewarding.

It can also be an effective form of game balance, narrowing the spectrum of power that players will have at a particular stage, giving designers less of a problem and allowing them to spend more time scultping the experience in the direction they want.

[PenguinJim]

Inventory management can be a negative pressure in terms of giving you another problem to solve, so that you gain extra satisfaction in getting it right - carrying just the right equipment for the job can be rewarding.

I agree. It's another puzzle, another obstacle to overcome. While standard puzzles used to be "find the red key for the red door", in a lot of games they have evolved beyond that - so, too, for inventory size/weight limitations.

I find I enjoy the inventory system in STALKER and System Shock 2 (for example), but that I don't miss it at all in HL2 or Doom 3, so it certainly depends on the type of game world, and how well the system is implemented.

[jimbouk]

The first Deus Ex had a good system, things were different sizes and shapes and it was fairly limiting. It really added to the gameplay meaning you were forced to specialise.

Guild Wars has a reasonable compramise with storage accounts at towns/outposts. Altough there are some quirks in the normal storage such as 100 planks of wood taking up the same space as 1 bow...

Maybe game designers can go to far in limiting, or not think about it enough, but I think limited ammo or storage slots adds to a game. Every game should do it to some extent, even if it is just limiting the number of shells/rockets for the 10+ guns you carry down your trousers!

The best way I've seen round the idea of realism and storage is the personal replacators you got in Star Trek Elite Forces, genius...

[Ferral]

I like the way Bethesda used weight to limit the inventory in Oblivion, few other RPG's do the same thing. What I like about this system is that when you up strength and other attributes you can carry more. A few of the FPS games out there limit what weapons you can carry, HALO for example allowed you to carry 2 weapons and that was it. Gives it a bit more realism (Granted, they are fantasy / Sci Fi titles). When the inventory is limited as long as it is done properly I think it fits in nicely.

A lot of the shooters allow you to carry one of every weapon in the game, how would someone move carrying all that gear and ammo to go with it and not forgetting the grenades, reminds me of Arnie and Jesse Ventura in Predator and all the other films where huge weapons are shot with accuracy from the hip!

AS for RPG's, having to jiggle inventory round to squeeze everything you want to carry in is pretty good, makes you think on how you want your character to progress so you keep what is needed and sell everything else as well as leaving stuff behind that will be of no use.

Someone mentioned Guild Wars, inventory is similar to Diablo in that sense. However I have found that with Nightfall I have all the starter weapons and shields in my inventory when heroes have been given new weapons. I cannot salvage these items, sell them or even put them into storage. So unfortunately they are taking up slots in my inventory. Every time I get a new hero and upgrade their weapons etc I am losing inventory space AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Think I might send a quick query to arenanet / NCSoft about that one.

[Deadlight]

jimbouk was right about Deux Ex - it was right for that game, but the sequel was 'dumbed down' for consoles, so the inventory system uses 'inventory slots', which was crap, IMO.

...but then, in WOW, your bag's have more 'inventory slots' which seems to be fine. Funny, really.

[Veles]

TBH though, the inventory limits in games like D&D and oblivion are so unrealistic, they may as well say, no limit.

[TiG]

Depends what class you play tho Veles, If you play a caster in NWN2, you soon get annoyed to hell with the weight of the items

TiG

[kalniel]

Someone mentioned Guild Wars, inventory is similar to Diablo in that sense. However I have found that with Nightfall I have all the starter weapons and shields in my inventory when heroes have been given new weapons. I cannot salvage these items, sell them or even put them into storage. So unfortunately they are taking up slots in my inventory. Every time I get a new hero and upgrade their weapons etc I am losing inventory space AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Think I might send a quick query to arenanet / NCSoft about that one.

Why not just put them in the bin?

[Ferral]

Why not just put them in the bin?

Didn't think of that! Must admit that I have never really paid much attention to it! Will give it a shot later on today.

Going back to the weight thing I think it is better to some degree in some games. Like I mentioned I feel it works on games like Oblivion, but also like mentioned you can end up carrying way to much at times. Full set of heavy armour, bow and arrows, shield and 2 swords you wouldn't be able to move once you start adding everything else like potions etc. Also how many pockets would you require to carry everything!

Pack Mule on Dungeon Siege was a good idea, worked really well I felt. Having extra bags etc on games like Guild Wars is pretty good as they don't hold as much (5 for the belt and 10 for a bag). Not as big as the main inventory it is pretty well balanced.

[Veles]

Going back to the weight thing I think it is better to some degree in some games. Like I mentioned I feel it works on games like Oblivion, but also like mentioned you can end up carrying way to much at times. Full set of heavy armour, bow and arrows, shield and 2 swords you wouldn't be able to move once you start adding everything else like potions etc. Also how many pockets would you require to carry everything!

Luckily in Oblivion and Morrowind, the weight of gold doesn't count, otherwise you'd be screwed XD In daggerfall, gold had a weight, as you can imagine this caused some problems. "200k gold for that magic item of awesomeness? No problem, except that I can't actually carry that much gold, it's all locked up at my house"

[kalniel]

Luckily in Oblivion and Morrowind, the weight of gold doesn't count, otherwise you'd be screwed XD In daggerfall, gold had a weight, as you can imagine this caused some problems. "200k gold for that magic item of awesomeness? No problem, except that I can't actually carry that much gold, it's all locked up at my house"

Well that's where the promisary notes came in Forget carrying cash around, get these from the bank instead. Great idea - I miss daggerfalls banking system