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The Need

October 30, 2019 by Tim

I have a serious hoarding problem in RPGs. A compulsion to collect stuff in a weird FOMO way, like I’m going to run into the NPC that wants to trade a pristine sniper rifle for forty boxes of Tarmac and Cheese, so I’d better be prepared. I’ve always had this problem, and even when I sit there and rationalize to myself all of the reasons I don’t need to collect everything, I still end up hoarding.

My perk choices gravitate towards lowering the weight of consumables, or extra companion carrying capacity out of sheer necessity. I guess I just can’t help it.

The stuff you own, ends up owning you.


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MindParadox
MindParadox
4 years ago

LOL in fallout 4, i do the impossible. Sneak around in the full armor suit one shotting just about everything 😛 All ya gotta do is ignore the entire V.A.T.S. thing thats all based in hip firing 😛 the sheer amount of crap I ended up hoarding in that game is quite astounding, as is the number of weapons and other stuff I carried on my person regularly(had myself in the top o the line armor suit, and my companion in the frame(the armor pieces can be broken, but the frame can’t, and still gives them the +100 to carry… Read more »

Rudfud
Rudfud
4 years ago
Reply to  MindParadox

That doesn’t sound impossible that sounds like the standard Bethesda RPG experience, start out swearing you’re going to do a different build before inevitably becoming a stealthy ranged character in heavy armor, overloaded with loot and one shotting everything.

Diego.alvarenga@gmail.com
4 years ago
Reply to  MindParadox

Because Bethesda is fetch quest + dungeons full of monsters. Repeat. AAnd the simplest combat imaginable.

Bwauder
Bwauder
4 years ago

I understand completely, my characters always seem to devolve to “if it moves there must be a spot in my inventory/stash/store for it”
if only till i can find the nearest trader and sell them the equivalent of a divisions armoury of excess weapons and gear i ummm “found” lying around.
Even when you start a fresh game with the best of slimlining intentions, it ends up with all the junk from miles around collected in one place.

myd
myd
4 years ago

Yup, love the bulging pockets filled with crap.

Jeff CB Jones
Jeff CB Jones
4 years ago

Preaching to the choir. Any fallout/skyrim type game, I immediately go for all the strength, carrying and storage perks/upgrades/contraptions as soon as they’re available. That perk you know you’re gonna get eventually that lets you fast travel while carrying 87 metric tonnes of crap on your back? I love that perk. I dream about it. I slaver towards it in a straight line EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Casi
Casi
4 years ago
Reply to  Jeff CB Jones

And i love that in this game its not locked behind ability or skill requirements. It can be the first perk you pick up.

God i love this game.

Andrew Beeken
Andrew Beeken
4 years ago

This is currently me in Code Vein. I’ve pretty much been maining the Piercer for the best part of the game but I’ve still got Every. Single. Weapon I’ve found, only selling them when I get multiples. I’ve even levelled some of them up. You know. Just in case.

Also my Dark Souls inventories. Look at all these staves I have. Am I running a caster? No. But I might want to cast some spells. Maybe.

Scortch
Scortch
4 years ago

Same here. Every building I would explore in fallout, I had to take multiple trips because I HAD to take everything. While I understand the weight limit system, man it killed me.

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
4 years ago

Same here. Because it’s worth it to have piles and piles and piles of useless garbage, rather than have to try to remember what enemy drops the Red Ember Fang and backtracking just to get it.

You know, I feel like this is a terrible game mechanic that can probably be streamlined somehow.

GUNnibal
GUNnibal
4 years ago
Reply to  Eldest Gruff

Dishonored once found a somewhat elegant solution – divide all loot into ‘stuff I CAN use’ and ‘stuff ONLY for selling’ and automatically turn into money everything from the latter category.
Although, admittedly, the exact same system wouldn’t quite catch on in an RPG. But you get the idea.

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
4 years ago
Reply to  GUNnibal

Yeah, except… well, games sometimes give little flavor text saying things like “This could probably sell well in a shop” or “Completely useless except to sell” and I’m like, “OK, but what if there’s only three in the game and I need it for a high-tier weapon upgrade?”

I don’t throw ANYTHING away, unless it’s one of those games with a limited inventory and you pretty much have to.

The rAt
The rAt
4 years ago
Reply to  Eldest Gruff

I suffer from that thought process, but also another – the “investment” mentality. Something like: “Oooh, I could sell this right now and get money – but right now I already have some money. If I sell it and get more money, I’ll just end up spending that money. But if my money is tied up in (Insert sell-able item here), then I can’t spend it until I have to! I’ll just liquidate my assets as soon as I have a cash-flow shortage.” I then proceed to remember how much I have tied up in sell-able items, factor it into… Read more »

Rudfud
Rudfud
4 years ago
Reply to  GUNnibal

Several RPGs have done that though, and Dishonored is definitely not the first game to have done that. They usually don’t auto-sell your useless items but many have markings or categories for useless stuff that you can sell.

MRD
MRD
4 years ago

“It’s okay. I’m over-encumbered but who REALLY needs to run anyway?”

this_is_not_my_name
this_is_not_my_name
4 years ago

Yep. Compulsive behaviour like this is why I avoid RPGs in general. I’m a hoarder in real life, and I’m an even worse hoarder in games.
I have yet to succeed in doing two quests in a row without having to go home first to dump melee weapons, armors and materials that are unnecessary or completely useless to my ranged spell-caster… At least the game has infinite home storage for the hoard. I don’t think I could cope with storage chests having limited capacity.

no thanks nintendo
no thanks nintendo
4 years ago

This is why it’s a first person game. You can’t see how ridiculous your pockets look from that camera perspective. ?

John
John
4 years ago

Ya I have the same problem. There are worse problems to have.

James Rye
James Rye
4 years ago

I have a feeling that a lot of gamers would be happy to just play a game where they run around collecting stuff and keeping stuff and that’s it, that’s the whole gameplay. xD

Alcor
Alcor
4 years ago
Reply to  James Rye

Pokemon runs entirely on this premise.

nealithi
nealithi
4 years ago

I saved all the ship models and Tossball cards. I know there is a quest asking for those somewhere.

Forge
Forge
4 years ago
Reply to  nealithi

Holy crap, I do the exact same thing. My desk is lined with the models, and I make sure I’ve kept one copy of each tossball card in the chest. There may not be a quest, but I just kinda like em.

Sanquin
Sanquin
4 years ago

Same for me in most rpgs. In fallout and skyrim (with mod houses) I always make sure I have chests for everything. Weapons in one, armor in another, clothes in another, medical stuff, drinks, food, misc, ammo, etc. In skyrim, even if I play a character that will never use a bow, I still can’t leave a single arrow behind. In fallout, even though I will never wear 99% of the outfits, I always take them with me if I don’t have them yet, plus ALL headwear comes with me no matter how many I have.

Erik B
Erik B
4 years ago
Reply to  Sanquin

Totally me in Skyrim. I did my best to keep each house with its own stuff. Potions house, armour/weapon house, library house, useless junk house. Yeah, I actually had a house DEDICATED to the things I picked up that I was never going to do anything with, but…..hey….maybe one day this random bone will be useful?

jack
jack
4 years ago

I used to be the same way, for me its probably because I used to play those games where everything you picked up had a use somewhere, like the escape room style games. But I got out of that habit once I started playing games like everquest where the encumbrance limit was fairly strictly enforced. Now I struggle to justify holding onto ANYTHING longer than it takes to find the nearest vendor. “Ugh, its like .1 extra crit rate, is that even worth switching out?”

Kenju
Kenju
4 years ago

Oh god, this is me, this is SO me. I remember in Fallout 3 when I discovered you could drop items in a barrel and then carry the barrel around so items wouldn’t take up inventory space I ended up traveling at a snails pace because I was hauling three barrels with me all over the map (which meant no more fast travel) lol

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
4 years ago

“I better save this elixir for the last boss”
WE ARE AT THE LAST BOSS
“Well, I mean, maybe there’s a penultimate boss after this one?”

I blame my propensity for obsessive hording on the games that *did* have penultimate bosses.

Rex Vivat
Rex Vivat
4 years ago
Reply to  Kaitensatsuma

I used to be like that, but I’m a little better now: I allow myself to use ONE, maybe TWO of my 10 megalixirs in the final boss. I can’t bring myself to use the other 8, tho.

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
4 years ago
Reply to  Rex Vivat

In a weird way it’s hard to encourage item use in games. Game lets you carry 99 items? I will buy then carry 99 of those items to the end credits. Game heals and refills your mana so you don’t have to worry about doing it after a tough fight? *I would rather die than use that Ether* It doesn’t help that many games arbitrarily punish or negate use of certain spells and skills. Got something that Petrifies/Poisons/Stuns/Paralyzes? Hah those only work on *you* you silly goose. It feels like games need to implement a system where item use is… Read more »

Roamer
Roamer
4 years ago

This same logic applies to even 2D in-browser games like Realm of the Mad God…I can’t help but fill my eight-slot inventory with potions for a stat I’ve already got maxed on all of my characters (thanks a lot, speed potions!)

Stantasio
Stantasio
4 years ago

If you’ve never finished the last boss fight with endgame healing items unused “just in case” are you even a gamer?

Scott
Scott
4 years ago
Reply to  Stantasio

Seems like I barely use the mech ability in Borderlands 3 because I’m always thinking “but there might be a BIGGER boss next so I’ll just grind down the final boss and save it…”

Casi
Casi
4 years ago
Reply to  Stantasio

Ah the bags full of Elixirs in any Final Fantasy that are too precious and rare to use. (Except 7 cuz you can do the W-item glitch so they are always plentiful)

Stephen Nagy
Stephen Nagy
4 years ago

Now see, I’d take it… and first vending machine I found it’d be a couple extra bits in my wallet.

Stephen Nagy
Stephen Nagy
4 years ago

Now see, I’d take it anyways… and first vending machine I find its a few extra bits.

jhpace1
jhpace1
4 years ago

Many anime/manga has “Hammerspace” or “Victoria’s Secret Pocket”, aka the Item Box. IRL most Infantry soldiers carry 100 lbs. of ammo, food, water, equipment, etc. Most backpackers only carry about 35 lbs. when in the woods. Most nonathletic gamers couldn’t carry a 10-lb backpack. But there have been a few manga/anime where the hero(es) end up in a dungeon room with nothing, and it was the team packrat carrying the kitchen sink with them that ended up saving the day! Tabletop roleplaying games, I’m going for the extra-dimensional storage capacity almost as quickly as getting better armor, weapons, etc. Mostly… Read more »

RPGPlayer1
RPGPlayer1
4 years ago

I used to have this problem, and still do to an extent, but back in Oblivion I started using a system, quite simply, “If it’s not worth at least 5 times what it weighs, I don’t touch it.”

Jewelry, potions, small magic items and some weaponry gets carted off back to the nearest local shop or fence. Things like enemy armor/clothing, big weapons, and food are almost never worth their carry weight, so they get left to rot.

Nosferatu
Nosferatu
4 years ago

100% the same! If a game has the ability to console cheat an encumbrance offset in any way…I have no qualms about using it. I don’t like to use the other cheats, but I /hate/ encumbrance. I even refuse(d) to use it in any P&P tabletop game, too. My players usually thanked me…I know I thanked any GM that didn’t use it.

Mitoni
Mitoni
4 years ago

The fast travel while encumbered perk is the first one I grabbed. Also, I’m at least glad you just can’t run, but aren’t stuck in place like Skyrim encumbrance.

Black
Black
4 years ago
Reply to  Mitoni

You’re not stuck in place in Skyrim. You’re unable to run or fast travel (unless on a horse).

Leon
Leon
4 years ago

Don’t carry needles in your pocket. If you trip………

nealithi
nealithi
4 years ago
Reply to  Leon

You’ll be tripping?

Leon
Leon
4 years ago
Reply to  nealithi

No. I just wouldn’t want my ass to land on all those sharp things……….

Casi
Casi
4 years ago
Reply to  Leon

Joke
.
.
.
.
You

Took me a second to get it though 😀

Trevor Sheff
Trevor Sheff
4 years ago

So it’s not just me???

Whew

Alcor
Alcor
4 years ago

Games with carry weight or capacity are my nemesis. I too hoard everything in an RPG. The thing is, that usually pays off, so it’s rewarding enough that I can’t stop doing it. Fighting a superboss in an action game? Usually you can inhale like 20 healing items and be fine. I would eat a king’s feast every dragon fight in Skyrim, which rewarded me stealing everyone’s food constantly. Later I figured out that, IIRC, fish at the time was the best weight to heal ratio of random food, so I started mostly hoarding fish due to weight cap. It’s… Read more »

Thadypus
Thadypus
4 years ago

Considering that in older point and click and classic RPGs you literally had to collect everything that wasn’t nailed down to advance in the game, this seems 100% reasonable to me.

larry putnam
larry putnam
4 years ago

Yeap that is the adventurers problem alright here two bags of holding and a portable hole. form the times I payed D&D back last century, probably form before most of y’all were born. Somethings never change, no matter the game tabletop or video.

Soup
Soup
4 years ago

Honestly The Outer Worlds is the first game I’ve found where this hasn’t been much of a problem for me – because the loot’s just not very useful or interesting in this game. I leave a lot of consumables behind and feel very little desire to steal items. Every piece of armor and weapon of the same type is identical (unless it happens to roll 25% extra durability, woo!) There’s like 10 variations of each consumable type with different names and weights, so many that they’re hard to keep track of and make it annoying to sort through loot and… Read more »

Mike
Mike
4 years ago

your fight club reference is appreciated.

Joel
Joel
4 years ago

The struggle is real, Tim. The struggle is real. I almost feel a physical pang when I have to drop/deconstruct/destroy an item because there isn’t space for this new thing that probably isn’t worth a fraction of what I just threw out.

Ian
Ian
4 years ago

This could just as easily be Tarkov. Mine was nightmarish before this wipe.

TBone
TBone
4 years ago

Ironically, the ad between the comic and the comments was for Kijiji: “Goodbye stuff, hello cash”.

Rex Vivat
Rex Vivat
4 years ago

And that’s why I hacked my companion to have unlimited inventory space in Skyrim, so I can still take everything I find while maintaining a little of the inventory management aspect. Look, I’m not gonna leave all those Dwemer metal pieces just lying around when I can smelt them into ingots, even if I’m playing a light armor build so they’re useless to me and just end up collecting dust in a chest look shut up.

Halosty
Halosty
4 years ago

Honestly I only carry so much junk because I can’t manage to sell it all… I’d be happy to rid my inventory of consumables besides healing entirely.

BeyondDarkness
BeyondDarkness
4 years ago

You’re preaching to the choir Tim. It think that’s 95% of us 😀 75% of my time in Fallout games is spend at 75% reduced movement speed.

Unagiman
Unagiman
4 years ago

I’ve had much the same experience with this game. I take everything that isn’t nailed down, but whenever I get to a vending machine it all goes. I think there was one circumstance where I used a consumable to pass a dialogue check I wouldn’t have otherwise, but that’s been it. As a result I have thousands of bits and nothing to spend them on. But I’m still having fun with the game!

Roborat
Roborat
4 years ago

Yup, this is how I play any game ever; Fallout 4, Skyrim, Borderlands, Diablo, Dungeon Siege, doesn’t matter. I take everything, even if I have to do multiple runs to get it all, it drives my kids nuts when we are doing multiplayer. I have enough gear and weapons in Fallout 4 to equip an army, including several platoons in power suits. I finally gave in and gave myself the weight mods in Fallout and Skyrim.

Ipkh
Ipkh
4 years ago

Too many consumable bloat is a pita in this game. Similar to others in the genre.
Now if only they’d fix the empty bodies with loot glow, that’s way more annoying than an overflowing inventory of consumables.

Mike
Mike
4 years ago

This is absolutely me in Skyrim, Fallout 4, and 7 Days to Die. In FO4 I prioritize by Copper and Duct Tape. If it has or is one of those things, it trumps literally everything else but weaponry. In 7D2D, it’s Duct Tape and Oil.

Merendel
Merendel
4 years ago

hmm. I dont understand this problem. My players inventory is almost always neat and tidy and only contains what I need for the adventure I’m seting out on in an RPG.

My stash or equivelent at my home base of choice however… ya that out masses modest black holes and only goes up from there. I still compulsively collect everything, it just all ends up in a pile somewhere just in case the final boss needs to be defeated by droping a sufficently massive inventory on them.

Herckuleon
Herckuleon
4 years ago

I couldn’t figure out why I kept getting over-encumbered when I only keep the weapons and armor I use, turned out to be the Raptidon meat which weighs a pound.

Sinistro
Sinistro
4 years ago

We are in this together. Also, there IS a quest near the endgame that WILL require items you probably sold 10 levels ago.

Frank Robertson Jr.
Frank Robertson Jr.
4 years ago

I’m the same way. I always say this game is going to be different but then 4 hours later I ran out of space.

Crestlinger
Crestlinger
4 years ago

Best in-game take on this I have seen was way back on Stonekeep for the PC where all your items were turned into drawings on a scroll when they were hovered over it.

deirdrebeth
deirdrebeth
4 years ago

I’m in this post and I don’t like it

but what if I find the perfect X to go with this YYYYY????

TimeViewer
TimeViewer
4 years ago

There was an old D&D minifig this reminds me of, I forget if it was Grenadier or Ral Partha but it was an adventurer with a giant backpack piled with everything including the kitchen sink, the pack was at least 3x the size of the char and we’d use it for people who liked to pickup EVERYTHING…. usually that meant me 🙂

Forge
Forge
4 years ago

Yeah, it’s especially bad when you have to work/sneak/talk/kill your way into a “backroom” that’s just teeming with random loot, and well, it’d be rude to NOT steal all of the contraband from security after all that work. One of the most horrifying results of this behavior has to be “Selling the entire lab to it’s own vending machines”. More than once have I found myself in the aftermath of a bloody/ashy firefight, looting every body, scraping every container, and raiding every fridge, only to shove it all into the cafeteria vending machine for bits. I like to imagine the… Read more »