Useless/Unnecessary Inventory Items

[Skirge01]

One of the things that always bothered me about RPGs and inventory management is that I never knew for certain whether or not something might be useful again. For example, a key might open more than one door in a single location (castle, dungeon, etc). For this reason, I find that I become a packrat and just hang onto everything and when I run out of space, I HOPE that my decision to drop something on the ground doesn't come back to haunt me. In extreme cases, when I really was unsure, I've even found random chests or crates to hide things in and then hope I remembered which town that was.

 

I'd love for items like this to simply disappear or drop to the ground (and be unable to be found again) once their intented use is completed.

[Nohurtme]

Quest items that don't dissappear can be irritating, in some games I wind up carrying pilies of keys, notes, books, special statues, etc. just because I don't know if it'll never be useful again. Something like a keyring would be nice at least.

[rjshae]

Yes, many games don't perform cleanup of quest items very well. Drakensang just put them under a separate tab, safely out of the way. It was nice; plus you had a ready place to check them.

[maggotheart]

Yes, many games don't perform cleanup of quest items very well. Drakensang just put them under a separate tab, safely out of the way. It was nice; plus you had a ready place to check them.

 

I think I read somewhere that this is what they were considering for PE, same for crafting items.

Edited October 18, 2012 by maggotheart

[Jarrakul]

Honestly, I'd rather quest items just not take up space in the inventory. They can be stored in an entirely different system. Less realistic? Sure, but also less hassle. There's no gameplay reason why carrying that key should stop me from carrying a potion.

[Skirge01]

The fact that it takes up inventory space is definitely part of the problem. That would be solved by a separate tab to store them, but it still doesn't address the usefulness of the item. Think about the way "attribute" books worked in Fallout. After you read the book and your intelligence or skill was increased, the book simply vanished. Realistic? No. But, it let you know for certain that it was no longer needed. I'm pretty sure BG had this with some single-use items (i.e. rings, etc). Once you clicked on them, you received the intended benefit and they were gone. Simple. Effective.

[Gallenger]

Yeah just shove quest necessary items that don't have any value other than being part of a quest line to a special segment of the inventory where weight doesn't exist, problem solved. It'd take a lot of keys and notes placed into a bag to hinder somebody who is used to hauling their home on their back anyhow.

[jivex5k]

One of the things that always bothered me about RPGs and inventory management is that I never knew for certain whether or not something might be useful again. For example, a key might open more than one door in a single location (castle, dungeon, etc). For this reason, I find that I become a packrat and just hang onto everything and when I run out of space, I HOPE that my decision to drop something on the ground doesn't come back to haunt me. In extreme cases, when I really was unsure, I've even found random chests or crates to hide things in and then hope I remembered which town that was.

 

I'd love for items like this to simply disappear or drop to the ground (and be unable to be found again) once their intented use is completed.

[Skirge01]

Yup... I've seen that. I'm not THAT bad.

[Sylvius the Mad]

One of the things that always bothered me about RPGs and inventory management is that I never knew for certain whether or not something might be useful again.

I couldn't disagree more. I really dislike the trend in modern games to tell me exactly what something is for and whether I'll need it. The Junk section on the inventory in DA2 was appalling.

 

The inventory system should not give me metagame information about the things I find. I don't want to know if something I picked up is a quest item - I should have to figure that out myself. I don't want to know that something I just found is useless and I can safely sell it - I should have to figure that out myself.

 

And I should be able to decide how to do that in character. Having the game tell me that something is no longer necessary eliminates a potential roleplaying opportunity. Having the game tell me that something will be important later eliminates a potential roleplaying opportunity.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Yeah just shove quest necessary items that don't have any value other than being part of a quest line to a special segment of the inventory where weight doesn't exist, problem solved.

I really hate this idea.

[Skirge01]

I couldn't disagree more. I really dislike the trend in modern games to tell me exactly what something is for and whether I'll need it. The Junk section on the inventory in DA2 was appalling.

 

The inventory system should not give me metagame information about the things I find. I don't want to know if something I picked up is a quest item - I should have to figure that out myself. I don't want to know that something I just found is useless and I can safely sell it - I should have to figure that out myself.

 

And I should be able to decide how to do that in character. Having the game tell me that something is no longer necessary eliminates a potential roleplaying opportunity. Having the game tell me that something will be important later eliminates a potential roleplaying opportunity.

 

You've apparently read WAY too much into my original idea. Nothing was mentioned about telling you whether or not something is important, nor about whether it's quest related, nor whether or not there's any value to it. The only part you got right was that I said once an item is no longer necessary, it would be nice if it just disappeared or dropped. If you want "in character" for that, then let's take the key example and say your character is smart enough to look at the key and the lock and notice that it was clearly made specifically for that lock and there's no possible way it could be used on another one. If you play a dumb character, you lose this ability.

[AlphaShard]

I think we could have different ways to organize the miscellaneous notes, keys and odd objects. You don't have to have a tab that says quest items. You could have a section for notes you find a key section and a misc tab for non useable items.

 

But then I like bags of holding.

[MichaelStuart]

I prefer items not be marked as important.

That being said, If a item is important I rather it not just be lying around with other old junk.

[Grand Heresiarch]

Gotta echo Sylvius on this, there is something to items not simply migrating to the "this is important" part of your inventory. Inventory management is a pain, sure, but thats for a reason, so players have to ask themselves if it is safe to get rid of something. I think the player keep will be a help in this regard, but I think agonizing over the useless items that may serve a purpose later is a part of the game. If quest items simply migrate to the quest item inventory (not what the OP wrote but what others advocated for) there is no questioning what is important and what is not, you are simply told, and thats a shame,

Think about PS:T. When you got the Lady of Pain rag doll. It seemed like it ought to be useful but when you use it at first it does nothing. Only when you worship it in the hive do you get mazed. If it immediately moved to the important stuff section of the inventory you would know it does something. Instead players were left wondering if the doll did anything at all and had to experiment to see if they had wasted their cash.

Yes its a pain and cluncky to have to manage your inventory, but also essential to the experience.

[Ieo]

Yeah just shove quest necessary items that don't have any value other than being part of a quest line to a special segment of the inventory where weight doesn't exist, problem solved.

I really hate this idea.

 

There's exactly one reason why I wouldn't like a separate quest inventory: Pantaloons.

 

 

Note: We will have a player house AND stronghold (optional). I think there's plenty of room for packratting. I really do like the mystery of some items you run across that may or may not have an immediate purpose. Have an auto-sort can actually be a spoiler.

 

......Now that I think about it, I originally wanted a separate crafting inventory, but if there are rare weird things dropping from certain enemies, maybe I'd rather not know their importance yet. Hmm, dunno. Undecided on that.

 

 

You've apparently read WAY too much into my original idea. Nothing was mentioned about telling you whether or not something is important, nor about whether it's quest related, nor whether or not there's any value to it. The only part you got right was that I said once an item is no longer necessary, it would be nice if it just disappeared or dropped. If you want "in character" for that, then let's take the key example and say your character is smart enough to look at the key and the lock and notice that it was clearly made specifically for that lock and there's no possible way it could be used on another one. If you play a dumb character, you lose this ability.

 

 

Well. I'd like to think any item after "use" (quest turn-in, key use), the item simply vanishes like a consumable. There should be a key ring, though--didn't BG2 have a key ring?

Edited October 18, 2012 by Ieo

[Starwars]

I think some people are looking at this from a rather... extreme point of view.

 

To use a crude example, keys. This game will most likely (hopefully) have a special section for keys, a key chain or whatever. But it's simply annoying in some games where you would have used a key that is part of a quest and don't know whether you would have to use it again. Now I mean annoying in the sense that you have a little key that is taking up an entire slot of inventory space (which doesn't make sense in the first place).

 

Having "junk items" like in DA2 is the dumbest idea ever, and incredibly stupid design-wise, but that's not what the OP was talking about at all.

 

I would *love* for the world to be filled with mysterious items, like the Lady of Pain doll mentioned above for example. But what I don't want to wonder is if I should keep this mystical mcguffin of plot-advancing, because it may or may not be used in the plot again down the line if it doesn't have *another* purpose. If New Vegas had used a classic inventory, the Platinum Chip for exampe would be a prime example of this type of item.

[philby]

I just don't want to be able to pick up "trash" items that can only be sold and take up space. just give me the gold instead!

[Larkaloke]

I would prefer if the only time an item disappears is if it has been used up. Surely, if my character gave the item to the NPC or used it in some other fashion (poured water out, planted seeds, what have you) then those items should no longer be in the inventory. There's no reason a key wouldn't stay in the inventory, though. I actually like figuring out at what point it's safe to drop various former quest items; and I like deciding whether or not my character would drop them. I also like figuring out rather something I picked up actually is a quest item or if it's just something strange, even if that leads to some characters accidentally selling off quest items. Makes things a little bit more interesting, I think.

 

It seems that, with a house and stronghold, there should be plenty of room to store old quest items as souvenirs, so you could not carry them around but still know where to find them if you realise that you have need of them once again.

 

There should be a key ring, though--didn't BG2 have a key ring?

 

No, but it would be nice if it did. A key ring sure would come in handy.

[Hormalakh]

I used my stronghold in BG2 (the thieves' guild) for this very reason. I had everything organized: keys in one desk, possible quest items in another drawer, books in the safe, weapons that I may use in a bookshelf, etc. I was a very organized adventurer.

[Solivagant]

One interesting point to bring up is the ground floor. Will it be more than just a trashbin? Will items persist over time and then be taken as in TOEE? I liked how they handled it. What I dont like is dropping 20 swords and have them all occupy the same spot on the floor.

 

Agreed on the keyring, I think even Ultima 7 had it? Not sure now. Maybe it was only with Exult.

 

As for separate tabs, The Witcher series does this and it works well, however in a more proper isometric RPG where you can really define your character, I'd like to have the opportunity to miss on a quest for dropping an item.

 

EDIT: One of the worst parts of NWN1 was having quests DIRECTLY tied to an item. If you didn't pick up a dead troll's head, the quest journal wouldnt even acknowledge that you had killed him!

Edited October 19, 2012 by Solivagant

[ogrezilla]

I'm all for separate inventory or automated inventory cleanup for quest items. If I don't know if I can drop items that I don't need any more you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to check a guide to find out. I get the arguments against it and I can accept them as long as we aren't stuck holding 100s of keys and whatnot.

Edited October 19, 2012 by ogrezilla

[Hassat Hunter]

My points (some repeatal from other threads);

 

* Yay to keychain.

* Notes would get scribbled in the journal, and 'used up' in progress.

* Books could be stored in the stronghold library. As soon as you stored one copy you can just read it there any time you want to. And not in a "take book to inventory, use" kind of way but just selecting the title from the bookshelf

* Don't think there are any other 'common' questitems? I think the rest (bar any common missed, do mention) should just act like regular inventory items. And yes, if that leaves some items use ambigious, the better...

[ogrezilla]

My points (some repeatal from other threads);

 

* Yay to keychain.

* Notes would get scribbled in the journal, and 'used up' in progress.

* Books could be stored in the stronghold library. As soon as you stored one copy you can just read it there any time you want to. And not in a "take book to inventory, use" kind of way but just selecting the title from the bookshelf

* Don't think there are any other 'common' questitems? I think the rest (bar any common missed, do mention) should just act like regular inventory items. And yes, if that leaves some items use ambigious, the better...

that sounds good to me. Its just the stuff I'll end up with a ton of that I wouldn't want piling up.

[Shevek]

Some minor stuff, like a key ring, is ok but that should function like "bag" for keys (and it should take inventory space). It should, similarly, have limited space. A scroll case for papers would also work... oh wait, BG2 already had those...

 

Ultimately though, I dislike dumbed down inventory systems. A separate quest inventory makes no sense at all. The way I see it, if you want a book in your stronghold library, get it and place it on the shelves yourself just like you could in BG2.

 

Edit: I would add that there is something positive to be said about handling individual letters or books or keys as individual items. Placing these in drawer ot box or something somewhere and being able to go to that place and retrieve said goods gives me a sense of being part of the world in a very immersive way.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Shevek