My issues with the game

[dragontology]

First of all, I love the game. But, there are numerous issues. Fortunately, no show-stopping bugs as of yet, but, let's get started.

1. Vendor bug sells the wrong item, and high quantities can't be bought back. Okay, I suck at games. I play on Easy. I'm not ashamed of it, I'm loving the story. But, I don't need most of the aid items I pick up. Really just need the Adreno. When you sell an item, the items to the right all move over one, if there are any. Well, if you sell a lot of items really fast, the cursor will jump to the first position. It sounds like a non-issue because you can buy them back, ostensibly at the same rate... but there's a limit. So, a glitch caused me to sell over 125 Adrenos, and a "feature" let me only buy back 3 of them. Big oof.

In the first place, the game shouldn't be selling items you aren't telling it to. That's a bug. That said, it would be nice if we could 'protect' items somehow. Anything you don't want to sell, press a key in inventory to protect it. A lock icon appears on the item, and you cannot sell it. It doesn't show up in the vendor screen at all. Some items can't be locked if you need to sell it, for whatever reason, but most things could be locked, under the proposed feature.

2. Repair costs are hidden. If you repair one weapon or piece of armor, sometimes the cursor will go to the next one, but no repair cost will be shown. You can still perform the repair, provided you have the parts. The solution is to back out or change workbench mode (go to tinker or break down), then go back. The costs will show.

This one's just a simple UI bug.

3. The retirees quest on Byzantium. Sorry guys, saw the twist coming a mile off. I saw the twist coming as soon as I stumbled into the area, before going up to the street. I've seen

Spoiler

Soylent Green

, and other movies, read other books like it. But, that isn't the issue. The issue is, the gift shop you exit through drops you into hostile territory, and all of Byzantium goes hostile. I can fast travel from the elevator, and the elevator space isn't considered hostile territory, but, that feels like cheating. Also, the elevator shaft is located at the edge of hostile space. Look, I get why all of Byzantium wants me dead. I just learned their big nasty secret. But, it's also kind of poor game design to have the whole town turn on the player with seemingly no recourse. Especially since I CLEARED that area. There should have been a Byzantium ID I could have used to have my disguise suit activate in the restricted area. I mean, they specifically tell you that you can't go back when you get there, though I admit I did not try.

My solution here is to put an NPC near the exit, before you take the elevator up. He's some kind of low level official who says something like, "clearly we underestimated you" or "you being here was a mistake" and he tries to worm his way out of it. Naturally, you shoot him and he has the badge on him. Or, he offers a peaceful way out, though I'm not sure what form that would take. Maybe he's not real big on the Board and is willing to hand over the ID in exchange for your peace. I dunno.

4. This one's more of a gripe. If an item is in someone's house or business, or a faction location, and it's owned by them, it's stealing if you get caught taking it. I get that. What I don't get is, items that are still in a civilized area (like a town) but aren't in anyone's possession, like an alley or something, a lot of those are treated as owned (by whom?) and it's kind of aggravating. But not always. Byzantium is great for this. Loads of crap laying around and about 2/3 of it is free for the taking. The other 1/3 is owned by... Byzantium itself? Edgewater stuff seems fine to take as long as it's not in a building. But in Stellar Bay, just about anything left laying around anywhere is off-limits. And then there's a lot of stuff in homes and businesses that you can just take freely. And on top of that, the looting mechanic is so precise. I realize there's a perk that governs this, but either way you have to be right on the thing.

This is just something that needs to be reworked. I suspect the amount and quality of loot will be balanced over time, as is normal with games like this. A nice feature would be a sort of auto loot mechanic. Look, I'm never not gonna pick up money, ammo, or Adreno, so why not automate picking it up if it's not owned by an NPC? Like the suggestion above with the lock to protect items from being mistakenly sold, I'd like to see an "always grab" icon added to items we like. A hand icon appears over the designated items, and whenever you get close enough to pick up the item, you simply scoop it up automatically. Some conditions can apply, like maybe you have to highlight it. So you're not gonna suck up secret items, or items in bins, just loose stuff. Swing the cursor over it and it's yours.