Has there been any word about increased inventory space?

Hi there.

One of the biggest questions about Heavensward that's been on my mind for several months, is whether or not we'll get more inventory space to make up for the flood of new items. I've had inventory space issues for the longest time, and with the expansion around the corner, I just know I'll be in major trouble if there's no increase.

I've heard rumors about a free extra retainer for everyone, I heard they'll increase the armoury chest size a while *after* Heavensward comes around, but were there any official statements about anything like this?

Not what I have heard of... But I think I read that we might get another retainer.

I think there's something wrong with how this game's item management is, if you run out of space from 4 retainers + player inventory. I'm constantly having to delete mats I don't use anymore to free up space.

I'd really like some kind of glamour catalog/library, currently using up over 100 slots of inventory on items I constantly cycle through for glamours, that's even with throwing out a lot of items I like, but rarely glamour.

However for crafting mats, I find I can easily keep most of what I need on 3 retainers, course I don't store mats I can buy from vendors, since they are super cheap to buy. Also with mnk/min/bot/fsh retainers, I can have them gather 90% of all the mats I'll ever need.

One of my biggest concerns atm though, is the armory. With 3 new jobs being added, it's going to be getting really full for people who use all jobs/classes, especially for weapon armory.

I think at the niconico event they mentioned they are aware of the lack of space and they were looking at ways to handle it without making data packets too big (or something like that). I'll find the quote.

Edit:

Found it!

Quote:

---

They are aware that the capacity of the current Armoury Chest is too low. Right now, since there's no way to add to this without increasing the write time to the back end servers, it will take a bit more time to work this out. (Yoshida)

The number of items you can store in your Armoire will increase. (Yoshida)

---

Source

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Riepah

Hi there.

One of the biggest questions about Heavensward that's been on my mind for several months, is whether or not we'll get more inventory space to make up for the flood of new items. I've had inventory space issues for the longest time, and with the expansion around the corner, I just know I'll be in major trouble if there's no increase.

I've heard rumors about a free extra retainer for everyone, I heard they'll increase the armoury chest size a while *after* Heavensward comes around, but were there any official statements about anything like this?

---

The only real complaint I have about the armoury chest is that there's only one ring catagory. It should have two, perhaps right ring and left ring. because 25 slots when each armor set has two rings just isn't enough.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evergrey

But I think I read that we might get another retainer.

---

I think I read that same thing, but I've no clue where I read that. Do you happen to remember? Because I can't tell how trustworthy that source was at all.

If possible, I'd like to know a good bit before Heavensward comes out so I can adjust. If they give us more room, everything's peachy - if they don't, I must cut ties with some of the stuff I store in time, because otherwise there is no chance I can enjoy Heavensward at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MageBlack

I think at the niconico event they mentioned they are aware of the lack of space ...



Source

---

Because certain issues crop up with inventory management... and we have seen it show up...

1) Too many "inventory", as in on-person, spaces means that everytime you do something, it has to be written back to the disk on the server.
2) The retainer only has this limitation while the retainer is open, and the Retainer has 175 spaces plus 20 market spaces and the 13 gear spaces. So clearly it's possible to have more, just the conditions where the retainer is used is different from that of the player
3) Other games have tried to work-around this by having "bags" that open into more inventory spaces, with limitations on the bags that they can only store a certain kind of item, and it just works like a super-stack (eg instead of stacking to 99, it changes the stack to 999, 9999 or something) , this is generally useful when the game has a limited number of types of crafting materials, but FFXIV doesn't do this, so it can't and unlikely won't do this.
4) The entire reason there's limits has to do with latency between the player and the server. Because every time something changes in the inventory, everything in the inventory has to be updated (eg synced to disk) and that results in higher round-trip latency.

Without naming the game, I'll mention off hand what happens when you have too much inventory via "expansion bags"
- There is latency, usually a very very long latency that is incurred every time the bag is opened, this is because the server has to update the quantities in the bag, and it's a huge source of item loss or item duplication when the server crashes.
- When items are used that stack inside the bag and the main inventory, the game client can run out of sync and think you no longer have items to use because the remaining quantity is in the bag, because the item is just in a shortcut bar.
- The same game has pets/mounts that have their own storage space. I think this is more appropriate in the context of FFXIV, as it can work the same way as retainer space, but at the same time, it causes latency in summoning the mounts/companions for the same reason there is latency when the bags are opened.

So unfortunately the only real solutions to inventory space involve finding ways to compress the needed space down.

One way of solving this is by directly connecting the market to the crafting process. eg have your retainer automatically summoned when crafting items you don't have the needed materials in your inventory, and allow the retainer to operate like an extended part of your inventory while crafting. When finished crafting the retainer would then sell any unneeded materials back to the market if they were pulled from the retainer's store space.

Another minor solution would involve adding inventory to "minions" that "help" with DoH/DoL jobs. eg having a Goldsmith minion would let you store anything desynthed from the Goldsmith job, having a Miner minion would let you store materials gathered from mining, etc. They would all "share" a common minion inventory so only crafting materials are stored to a maximum of one stack.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gralna

I'd really like some kind of glamour catalog/library, currently using up over 100 slots of inventory on items I constantly cycle through for glamours, that's even with throwing out a lot of items I like, but rarely glamour.

---

I like this idea, like a bestiary. Have a log that records all armor purchased, found, or crafted that you can look through, try on, then glamor. This would save space in inventories but we couldnt equip it for stats and would still need to have the item if we wanted to equip it. I just wonder if this would make it harder or easier for the write time back to the servers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MageBlack

I like this idea, like a bestiary. Have a log that records all armor purchased, found, or crafted that you can look through, try on, then glamor. This would save space in inventories but we couldnt equip it for stats and would still need to have the item if we wanted to equip it. I just wonder if this would make it harder or easier for the write time back to the servers.

---

It would have to be a different mechanic entirely. Like with the Armoire. Anything you "drop into" the glamour Armoire would have to be completely repaired first, spiritbond reset, and unable to be removed from the Armoire without the "key" (to prevent items from being accidentally thrown away, or account-stripped.) Then when you want to change the glamor of an item you just use the key with the gear you want to switch and you get a more generic catalog of "item available for glamour/item not yet stored"

What causes latency in the game is the actual keeping items in the players inventory. With the wearables, the other players can't see the glamour items themselves (when you examine the player), only the name of the item glamoured onto it if you wait a few seconds. So as far as everyone else is concerned, you're wearing the glamored item. From your perspective you're wearing the glamored item with the stats of the underlying item applied to it. It takes up no additional space because the number of objects you're wearing is unchanged. Likewise if a "catalog" is available, those items in the catalog can't arbitrarily be removed, so there's no disk syncing concern.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Not what I have heard of... But I think I read that we might get another retainer.

---

Yip, I think that's what is happening. Apparently it's easy to add a new retainer than to increase the space on existing ones.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Conradus

The only real complaint I have about the armoury chest is that there's only one ring catagory. It should have two, perhaps right ring and left ring. because 25 slots when each armor set has two rings just isn't enough.

---

Healer, Caster, Tank, Str DPS, Dex DPS, DoH, DoL
That make only 14 rings you need.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Felis

Healer, Caster, Tank, Str DPS, Dex DPS, DoH, DoL
That make only 14 rings you need.

---

They wont be necessarily at the same level and not all healers favour the same stats to be 'optimal'.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KisaiTenshi

It would have to be a different mechanic entirely. Like with the Armoire. Anything you "drop into" the glamour Armoire would have to be completely repaired first, spiritbond reset, and unable to be removed from the Armoire without the "key" (to prevent items from being accidentally thrown away, or account-stripped.) Then when you want to change the glamor of an item you just use the key with the gear you want to switch and you get a more generic catalog of "item available for glamour/item not yet stored"

What causes latency in the game is the actual keeping items in the players inventory. With the wearables, the other players can't see the glamour items themselves (when you examine the player), only the name of the item glamoured onto it if you wait a few seconds. So as far as everyone else is concerned, you're wearing the glamored item. From your perspective you're wearing the glamored item with the stats of the underlying item applied to it. It takes up no additional space because the number of objects you're wearing is unchanged. Likewise if a "catalog" is available, those items in the catalog can't arbitrarily be removed, so there's no disk syncing concern.

---

Ok, cause I wasnt even thinking like a separate inventory, more of just a list of items you have come across/earned. Like a bestiary. you don't have to capture one to have it and its information listed in your "book" you just have to fight one. But I do agree it would need a separate and new interface. I just hope this would help. I know its my biggest problem. I'm a gear whore, I use my character like a dress up doll and play with gear all the time. I'm afraid to throw anything out for fear it will be the perfect item I need to "get that look".

This is why they need to push stuff like this to the clients. Let us save these settings on our systems, then increasing them won't be such a big issue. We have way too many things being handled server side that could really benefit from this.

This game has a massive amount of item storage compared to any other MMO I've played. The problem is you if you managed to use it all. Too much item storage causes lag and latency.

Make a new character.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Imoye

This game has a massive amount of item storage compared to any other MMO I've played. The problem is you if you managed to use it all. Too much item storage causes lag and latency.

Make a new character.

---

Can't trade between characters on the same account.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Imoye

This game has a massive amount of item storage compared to any other MMO I've played. The problem is you if you managed to use it all. Too much item storage causes lag and latency.

Make a new character.

---

Then you haven't played very many MMO's, just off the top of my head, games with more storage, WoW, DAoC, LotRO, and EQ2. Know what else they all had? Shared storage between characters on same account.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Twilite

Can't trade between characters on the same account.

---

Some people actually creat new characters and join their FC to transfer with company chest.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Conradus

The only real complaint I have about the armoury chest is that there's only one ring catagory. It should have two, perhaps right ring and left ring. because 25 slots when each armor set has two rings just isn't enough.

---

It's not so bad when you realise that most rings are shared across an entire group of jobs. I've got every job at 50 and have only used about half the storage slots simply because most of them can share the same ring.

I think retainer inventory space is being increased.

While not inventory space per se, (Found it!)

Quote:

---

All the jobs and classes will be getting new abilities along with new options for cross hotbar users to quickly toggle between pages to account for the new tricks. The team has also heard the requests for more armoury chest space, but due to the database structure of the game and the high number of per-character data, it’s not a simple solution to implement. Players will be getting access to more retainers to help address storage issues, but whether or not more armoury space can be added is still to be determined.

---

http://massivelyop.net/2015/03/07/pa...naoki-yoshida/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gralna

Then you haven't played very many MMO's, just off the top of my head, games with more storage, WoW, DAoC, LotRO, and EQ2. Know what else they all had? Shared storage between characters on same account.

---

Here are some totals BEFORE getting into bankspace and equipment slots. Caveat: some of these numbers are artificially inflated by the existence of special bags with restricted inventory. I'm counting the Armoury, so I'm counting these.
WoW has a current maximum of less than 180 inventory slots. It's possible to have more, but only by using crafting bags.
EQ2's current maximum is 384, and that requires a lot of finagling and is only really TECHNICALLY possible.
EQ1 has 256, though this also using crafting bags, the "real" total would usually be smaller.
we have 475 item slots on our characters.
The big difference between our game and the ones above is that we require more inventory space due to being able to have more than one class per character.
FFXI has the same problem, compounded by the requirement for multiple sets of gear/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AkaneManiax

While not inventory space per se, (Found it!)



http://massivelyop.net/2015/03/07/pa...naoki-yoshida/

---

Thank you!

Hmm.. now I only hope they mean a free retainer for everyone who picks up the expansion. Simply "allowing" us to pay for one more retainer monthly would be a kick in the gut.

If you need more inventory then there are two paid retainers as options. If that isn't enough you need to learn not to be a pack rat. You don't need to store everything you ever find.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MageBlack

I like this idea, like a bestiary. Have a log that records all armor purchased, found, or crafted that you can look through, try on, then glamor. This would save space in inventories but we couldnt equip it for stats and would still need to have the item if we wanted to equip it. I just wonder if this would make it harder or easier for the write time back to the servers.

---

If they did this, they would no longer be items as we know them. They would just be lit up items in a book or catalog. Once I win, say...a Battlemage piece from Brayflox, that item "lights up" In my gear set catalog and I can use it from there (with prisms) for glamour. The actual item would no longer be stored anywhere. Not on a retainer, not in the armoire..not in character inventory. I think this would alleviate a lot of the clutter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SummerSkye

If they did this, they would no longer be items as we know them. They would just be lit up items in a book or catalog. Once I win, say...a Battlemage piece from Brayflox, that item "lights up" In my gear set catalog and I can use it from there (with prisms) for glamour. The actual item would no longer be stored anywhere. Not on a retainer, not in the armoire..not in character inventory. I think this would alleviate a lot of the clutter.

---

That's not how the game memory works. Somewhere, on your character, information exists to say you have the item or not. You aren't storing that much data on the item to begin with. Most gear only stores wear, spiritbond%, dye, glamor. The armoire removes those details so it's only the basic data to say it exists is there so that reduces the data greatly. If the example above were used there would be a grid for every item in the game that would require a have or don't have modifier. It would instantly increase the data size for every account and at the same time would remove all the other data like wear/spiritbond/dye/glamour/etc that are used to describe the item. Realistically such a system would likely increase the data size for every single character, and it would get worse with every new item added. This idea would make things more cumbersome and more data intensive. It might seem like it would be simple on the user side but the backend is where the problems with memory are to begin with. Right now with limited inventory space there is a controlled and known upperbound of data. Even if we could just exclude data for gear you don't have from the save the problem becomes the linear growth of save files as new gear is added and active accounts get older. It wouldn't fix anything on Squares end at all.

TLDR: this would actually make memory management worse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SummerSkye

If they did this, they would no longer be items as we know them. They would just be lit up items in a book or catalog. Once I win, say...a Battlemage piece from Brayflox, that item "lights up" In my gear set catalog and I can use it from there (with prisms) for glamour. The actual item would no longer be stored anywhere. Not on a retainer, not in the armoire..not in character inventory. I think this would alleviate a lot of the clutter.

---

You would still need to have it in your inventory if you wanted to actually equip it though but yes, this would save a lot of space. It's my biggest issue, I want all teh gearz for glamorz.

EDIT:

In response to Tiggy, I'm thinking something liek the system in Bravely Default (and so many other jrpg's) where you have a list of items you have come across. It would not be in inventory to manage but a list with a descriptor and the option to use it as a glamor. SE has shown they can add many new menu options like PvP, Golden Saucer, Sightseeing log, etc this would jut be another log. Although i could see complications from this not being something implemented at launch and how to back log something like that. It was just a thought on a way to alleviate the amount of stuff stored in my inventory when all I want it for is glamor. It was not a perfect solution, just an idea I threw out there, something to entertain in hopes to inspire a better solution.

I know a beastiary was already contemplated that would include the concept art from Yoskitaka Aimano (Sorry for butchering your name!) and a description of the monster along with stats on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MageBlack

You would still need to have it in your inventory if you wanted to actually equip it though but yes, this would save a lot of space. It's my biggest issue, I want all teh gearz for glamorz.

EDIT:

In response to Tiggy, I'm thinking something liek the system in Bravely Default (and so many other jrpg's) where you have a list of items you have come across. It would not be in inventory to manage but a list with a descriptor and the option to use it as a glamor. SE has shown they can add many new menu options like PvP, Golden Saucer, Sightseeing log, etc this would jut be another log. Although i could see complications from this not being something implemented at launch and how to back log something like that. It was just a thought on a way to alleviate the amount of stuff stored in my inventory when all I want it for is glamor. It was not a perfect solution, just an idea I threw out there, something to entertain in hopes to inspire a better solution.

I know a beastiary was already contemplated that would include the concept art from Yoskitaka Aimano (Sorry for butchering your name!) and a description of the monster along with stats on it.

---

I know what you're getting at but that will still be a list, for ever character, the endlessly grows the older the game gets and the more items added. Every new item would have a global character size impact. The problem with inventory isn't from the player side as there are many ways to potentially display it. It's actually from the character data side. That's why the current system works well for Square. They know the exact maximum size of inventory data and it can never grow past it.

Additionally, keep in mind they specifically said no to a Fate Log because of the extra character memory it would create and this isn't even the only suggestion shot down for these reasons in the last year and a half. It's also likely the reason extra retainers are paid so that it helps cover the cost of additional storage. Any suggestion to add inventory or keep track of gear on a character by character basis has to keep this memory issue in mind or it's DOA.

Similarly in FFXI they had memory issues as well. They utilized a gear storage option that required you to have an entire set to trade it in. This meant instead of storing each piece they stored one piece of data for the whole set. Would exist in memory as "Dreadworm set of Healing = true" instead of storing each piece individually. Similar to the armoire it could strip spirit bond, wear, and other data from it so that it's a vanilla set even further minimizing the data. Something like that would work well here. Would be a huge reason to rerun dungeons too since I need the whole set to store it away even if I don't plan on using certain pieces.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tiggy

they specifically said no to a Fate Log because of the extra character memory it would create and this isn't even the only suggestion shot down for these reasons in the last year and a half. It's also likely the reason extra retainers are paid so that it helps cover the cost of additional storage. Any suggestion to add inventory or keep track of gear on a character by character basis has to keep this memory issue in mind or it's DOA.

---

I understand the situation better now that you explained it like that, but the question I now have is, why in a game like Final Fantasy XIV, with millions of subscribed players and a fairly large company backing it, do we have to deal with character memory issues and limitations to things in game like WoW's new heirloom window.http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/178...ystem-2-6-2015

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SummerSkye

I understand the situation better now that you explained it like that, but the question I now have is, why in a game like Final Fantasy XIV, with millions of subscribed players and a fairly large company backing it, do we have to deal with character memory issues and limitations to things in game like WoW's new heirloom window.http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/178...ystem-2-6-2015

---

I too wonder why it's such a big deal. To some extend I know data redundancy makes it pricier just due to backup data, but I'm not sure why they are so resistant to expand the system. Possibly this is just an internal thing. Like maybe they only allocated X amount of resources to it in their budget and they can't or won't go past it for the moment. Any changes require rather large infrastructure changes/upgrades to the servers and when the game launched they didn't expect the outpouring of support. One of the major reasons the servers struggled at the beginning was because they expected to go through a period to win players back after the 1.0 debacle. Instead we showed up in droves. So it's possible it's a remnant of that mindset where they don't want to over invest in server resources. That's where WoW may be at an advantage considering they've had such consistently good sub numbers over the years. That gives them a degree of confidence moving forward when it comes to infrastructure. We really just don't have enough data about what their servers are like to really know.

I'm sure ps3 limitations are mixed in there somewhere, but FFXI was quiet creative about that when it came to the ps2 so I'm not totally convinced it's a ps3 only issue.

It's like the 1,000 character limit in the forums. A major annoyance, and if asked why a limit exists in the first place, you would be told it's do to "limit server load" or "memory limitations." Indeed I doubt anyone at SE really knows WHY it's there, but it must serve some purpose so they are going to leave it as is. Removing it could result in catastrophe and the loss of all forum data, or it could result in nothing happening at all. But it's an easy problem to ignore so they will continue to do so.

My point is, it's easy to find excuses for why things are the way they are then it is to fix them. And I'm sure they feel that there should be sacrifices made for having access to more classes. And that includes the same inventory restrictions we have now. We'll live. I mean people put up w/ FFXI's lousy inventory system for years, with SEs lowing an additional 80 slots every few years. So they expect we will put up w/ it in this game.

I worry that our inventory/ armoury spaces will explode now due to 3 new jobs getting added in (AF gear = 6 pieces per job )
So anyone aiming to have all jobs at 60 * including crafters/ gatherers they r gonna have to have A LOT of room for all the new AF job unique gear. So no more 1 gear fits all equipment that saves a ton of room :(

Also it became one of the reasons y i decided to not level up any other class for DoW/ DoM cuz i would run out of room for items which i bring around for crafting & some vanity gear i carry around cuz its fun like that lol.

Can't the amount of items in a stack be increased from 99...since that seems to be the problem (especially with craft materials)?

I think I've seen other MMOs where the stacks go over 100.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kyuven

EQ1 has 256, though this also using crafting bags, the "real" total would usually be smaller.

---

EQ1 has 24 bank slots, 10 slots on person, and 2 shared bank slot or is it 4 now? Then put 16 slot bags in each and you got a lot more than 256.