Poll: Preferred inventory mechanism in an RPG.

[cgmetallica1981]

I get easily annoyed when ever I have to much weight on me or all my slots are full, and I'm sure many of you do too. So I was wondering, what kind of inventory mechanism from RPGs do you prefer? The Tetris-style inventory like Diablo's? Encumbrance (Weight) limited? Or item limited?

 

[Chibz]

I prefer encumbrance limited. I dunno, it just seems more realistic.

 

[Trolldor]

I get easily annoyed when ever I have to much weight on me or all my slots are full, and I'm sure many of you do too. So I was wondering, what kind of inventory mechanism from RPGs do you prefer? The Tetris-style inventory like Diablo's? Encumbrance (Weight) limited? Or item limited?

None of them.

I prefer to get rid of mass inventory.

 

[dududf]

weight and bottomless inventory. The messier the better.

 

[Skratt]

I like games with little to no inventory. If I play a game that is inventory dependent, I prefer it to be item unlimited or if it must be item limited make it like WoW with things that stack mixed in (potions and what not). Ultimately the net result is that your inventory is full, and since Oblivion is no more realistic than WoW in terms of inventory, I'd much rather it not slow me down.

I'm surprised that games haven't done away with the random loot drops altogether and focused more on the quests and end rewards. Maybe a random treasure chest or two. Nevermind, WoW does that in Raids and I forgot about that bullshit broken loot system.

 

[PunkyMcGee]

Encumbrance limited.

I hate not having bank/bag space, so item limited is terrble for me, as I tend to collect random things that look shiny. The diablo kind of inventory doesn't work well either for me, also because of the limited space, and because stuff NEVER FITS.

At least when it's encumbrance limited, you can go to your storage chest thing, drop off stuff you don't need that very moment, and get moving again. That is, as long as storage chests don't have an encumbrance limit as well. Then I just end up scattering my stuff all over my house (or something similar) like I tend to do in oblivion.

Pretty much this.
also,i like collecting random mugufins games, too.

but my problem with the limited space one, isn't the same though (i was a bag boy in high school i can make anything fit [nothing dirty in what i just said]). my problem is that large lite things take up more space than a small heavy thing.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Any kind of limited inventory pisses me off in most games. But if I had to choose, I would have to choose the Encumbrance limited. I am not sure why, but it just feels more natural to me than the others.

 

[ShardtheFox]

I prefer the Tetris style, but not if its badly designed. The strength or importance of the items should be reflected by its size and shape. If its a required quest item, make it one square. A huge tower shield should take more.
If a designer goes with encumbrance, then your speed should be affected by how heavy you are, Rather than just halt movement the instant you reach the threshold.

 

[FalloutJack]

Encumbrance just makes the most sense to me.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Depends. Grids usually mean less stuff to store, but it balanced gameplay in Resident Evil 4 by giving enough room to carry weapons, ammo, and supplies. RE5 was just crap. It would take a lobotomized chimp to see the sense in saying a weed takes up as much room as a grenade launcher or a piece of equipment I'm wearing. So, there's less room. However, unlike encumbrance, I can quickly pick out what I need and get back to what I'm doing because it's right there in plain sight.

Honestly, I wish inventory was handled more like my files in Windows. Let me file them, let me switch if I want to see pictures or words. I'll make it a lot more efficient for me.

 

[Pandaman1911]

Tetris style would be useful in a game where there's not as many items you need to use. Encumbrance is useful when you have a fuck-off amount of items, like The Elder Scrolls. RE5 showed me how much I detest item limited. It really depends on what kind of game you're playing.

 

[The Night Shade]

Tetris style is my favorite but it has to be done right

 

[Singularly Datarific]

I really liked the old Deus Ex style inventory, with the graphical representation and the grid with the items taking up their appropriate amount of slots.

 

[karatekid19]

I really like the way that Fallout 3 & New Vegas did their inventories, everything has a weight and you have to manage that amount, which may require you to drop something you may/may not need for something that may be beneficial later

 

[Traun]

Tetris, Diablo 2 had the best inventory system ever. It balanced item size and item importance. It just works best in games. The hell with realism, it never worked in games before.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

el seconded by tetris

 

[Omikron009]

I like weight based inventory systems, but if there was a tetris/weight based one I would be ecstatic. When I first started playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat I thought that was the case, and I was somewhat disappointed when I saw that the inventory could expand as much as necessary to accommodate all of your items.

 

[gostchiken]

Bag of Holding, woot

 

[raikounen]

Tetris, Diablo 2 had the best inventory system ever. It balanced item size and item importance. It just works best in games. The hell with realism, it never worked in games before.

The only thing that Diablo 2 should have had, was the auto sort button from Titan quest: Immortal Throne, which is godly in tetris style inventory systems

 

[DustyDrB]

I prefer no limit. Realism can take a hike in this regard as far as I'm concerned. In Oblivion, I always end up with three or four different storage bases: usually the waterfront house, Frostcrag Spire, the Knights of the Nine safehouse, and the Shivering Isles palace. I always end up hoarding items that I would have otherwise sold, and it bugs me. I hate clutter, both in real life and virtual life.

If there must be a limit, then go with the item limit. Dragon Age did this well. You could have 10000 duplicates of an item, but it only counted as one. It was a unique item limit, I guess in that you weren't penalized for carrying redundant items (like if you had a ton of poultices).

That Tetris inventory sounds awful. I guess some people love hassle?