Inventory Management

[MordethKai]

Inventory management in this game isn't the worst I've seen but it's pretty terrible. As it is, it impedes gameplay and where it doesn't prohibit it discourages. What we need isn't more slots but better systems. To explain, I'll break it down into categories.


Crafting materials:

I've taken every crafter and gatherer to lvl 70, but I stopped actually crafting long before any of those classes hit 50 and sold all crafting materials. The ARR materials alone will fill up both retainers if you want to have materials on hand, and this snowballs into later expansions. The game needs dedicated crafting storage. The storage doesn't need to be unlimited but it does need space for every material and its HQ counterpart. I love crafting, but inventory management has kept me from doing so in this game. It's not impossible to craft, obviously, it's just a massive headache that is more trouble than it's worth. Simply put the fun I would have crafting does not justify the constant hassle of inventory management it would entail.

3k char limit, continued on further posts:

[MordethKai]

Armory:

I had a conversation with a friend recently who kept asking what class I was taking to lvl 80 next, and I kept telling him I wasn't. I was taking every class to 70, and not because they are the classes I want to play at the time. By the time I hit Heavensward it was clear to me that I had two options; 1 pass on everything except gear for the class I'm leveling at the moment, or 2 Organize what classes I was lvling in groups that share armor so as to toss the old gear asap, and dedicate retainers to equipment storage. In the long run the 2nd option means having better gear along the way and less inventory management in the long term, so I took each class to 50 in groups, then 60, now 70, keeping all gear over the threshold (aside from main) on a retainer, and for a while it looked like 2 retainers might not be enough even then. Even with an organized approach two sections of the armory remain a constant problem, mainhand and rings. With every class unlocked almost the entire mainhand page is used up with equipped items, and since two rings can be worn it needs double the space of other pages. The obvious solution would be to increase the number of slots for each category, but that will only last until even more classes and gear are introduced and it becomes a hassle again.

Here's an idea, one that admittedly would take a lot of work and turn a lot of things on their head, but bear with me. What if instead of an armory all gear was turned into an unlockable, kind of like miniatures and mounts. Consume the gear and have eternal access to it for other classes and cosmetics. This would also render the armory and glamour box unnecessary. It would also be nice if glamours could go by class rather than by gear, so your PLD and your DRK don't have to wear the same outfit, would be the perfect time for such a change. Most importantly, it will remove the hassle of inventory management from gear. On a side note, it would also give an incentive to unlock gear from old raids etc. instead of just being more clutter to deal with.

Raid materials:

If both of the other solutions are implemented this will be less of an issue. At present, all the different 'turn in' items from raids and other endeavors aggravate the inventory issue, and I suspect it's intentional (gotta sell more retainers…). Turning these items into currency would definitely help the situation. Regardless, most of these items besides the most recent get tossed because it's just a hassle due to inventory management, which means less interest in old content.

[MordethKai]

Now to address fanboy arguments:

"Stop hoarding!" this is a common response from fanboys any time someone complains about the inventory system. It's a sad attempt to shift the blame from the developers to the players and ignore the problem. It doesn't address whether or not the inventory management is bad, or simply needs improvement, in fact it kind of admits that it is a problem by giving the solution of 'toss everything you don't need right now'. Seeing how well that works for crafting (a great system I'll never use because I aint no hoarder lmao), yeah, hoarding isn't the problem.

"get more retainers scrub!" The fact that retainers are being sold, and as a subscription no less, makes this one a matter of principle. When looking at how raid gear is implemented along with a lot of other unnecessary things that seem designed to increase clutter arbitrarily, there is a perverse incentive to make inventory management a constant headache. Anyone who buys additional retainers is actually making the problem worse by giving squeenix a reason, a financial incentive, to at the very least, avoid improving the system. When the system being broke makes them more money, it's pretty obvious what's going on. So anyone making this argument, you are the problem. Anyone paying for retainers, please stop and think of the far reaching consequences of your actions, not just yourself.

"they recently added chocobo bags/slots etc." a bandaid to a problem they keep making worse, and not even in proportion to how much worse the situation gets with each expansion (5k new trash items to clutter your inventory at every turn, but hey, you got 5 more slots so don't complain, mkay (hyperbole, but you know what I mean)). It's a token gesture so they can claim they listened while avoiding (and even aggravating) the problem.

Ultimately, there is a major problem, pretending there isn't doesn't help anything.

[Rongway]

Now to address fanboy arguments:

The thing is, it can be a suboptimal system and the "fanboy arguments" can be relevant.

You don't need to hoard the materials for every single recipe in the game if you manage your leveling right. There are certain ingredients that will be useful from 1 to 80; however, the vast majority of ingredients are used for only a short level range. Level all your crafters to the point you can toss everything except the evergreen ingredients. At that point, if you need to craft something that you don't have materials for, you can go out and gather just what you need.

If you are compelled by some preference or personality trait to maintain a stock of every single ingredient, even the ones you would only use once a year if ever, buy more retainers. That's one of the reasons the optional retainer service exists.


Would improvements to the system improve quality of life? Undoubtedly.

Is the "discouraging but not prohibitive" system a critical flaw? Only if you're compelled to keep things you don't regularly need: in general terms, no.

[Risvertasashi]

Just as a tip: You can edit your first post to get around the character limit. For example, write everything, then ctrl X everything but the first sentence or paragraph. Post. Push the edit button. Then ctrl V the rest of the post back into place.

Now on to the topic - yeah, I'm not very fond of the inventory system. More slots have helped take the pressure off a bit, as well as things like the glamor dresser for gear, but it'd be nice to see the system as a whole improved.

[Hasrat]

Personally, after 50, I simply started to see a diminishing need to craft regular items out of the log to begin with. You don't have too very many options at lower levels for exp gains, so you're somewhat stuck stockpiling and crafting. And obviously it's good to have stuff on hand for quest crafting. Maybe a few items for leves. But after a while, I just found myself mostly leveling through moogles. And now the Ishgard restoration is available in those mid-level ranges. And if you're advancing MSQ faster than your crafters, you'll get Custom deliveries available in that range.

By the time I hit Stormblood content earlier this year, I was all but done collecting materials for anything. The quests start using specially provided materials. Even the gatherer quests don't have you collecting regular stuff I don't think. There's just not a great deal of needing to craft any regular thing in those mid levels. And, if you're just wanting to craft for profit, you still don't need a massive stockpile of everything for that, just a handful of things for the most profitable items you'll craft.

I wouldn't call myself a serious dedicated crafter, tho, clearly. So my goals might not really line up with any that would strongly benefit from inventory expansion. Sure, more space would be great. But also, I've been realizing how little I've accessed my stockpile retainer lately.