Something needs to be done about inventory space

[Snorky]

People think that those presenting solutions are "defending" the lack of increase and the other "side" thinks that those asking for more are just keeping everything they pickup and whining that they can't hold every item in the game ever. Snipped:

One side believes that with what we have been given so far and good inventory management the game is perfectly fine (manageable) for any activity available.

The other side feels constrained by what we have been given and does not feel like they're being allowed to play as they wish or are feeling stressed (snipped)
I don't think either side wouldn't actually just want more inventory. It takes away an annoyance and gives breathing room not just to collecting but how long you can do certain activities.

The problem isn't as easy as throwing inventory at us though. There is a technical limitation that must be there. The Dev team has constantly been working around it rather than magically "finding" normal inventory whenever money gets thrown. Retainers have limitations on where they can be summoned as do the saddlebags and other "new" inventories. In order to fix this to most peoples satisfaction the system must be reworked at a base level. So rather than bickering about whether we need more inventory or not (I'd personally say we don't NEED it, but I can admit it'd be really nice to have) I'd say the discussion should be whether we're ready for what's necessary to "fix" this problem and whether we're willing to "endure" that while they fix things.
(Snipped). Sure the graphics side can progress, but the important part of all the info and how it's organized as relates to the server has to wait till the standard is set and even if you finish everything else you double your work if you make it work with the current system and then have to port all the new stuff you made as well.
It would remove so many problems. Can I personally wait for it?(snipped)
So what do I expect? I expect they'll finagle some more Glamour plates out of the system, possibly accommodate some actual inventory increases as bandwidth and tech upgrades allow

(Snipped a lot please read the original)

I hope for the best but am perfectly able to work with what we have and while I would LIKE more, I don't think we're particularly being asked to deal with all that much.

I think this post bears reading again. It's not a matter of yes or no inventory. It's when and how that is important. Human nature is there are minimalists and people who are thrifty and save everything. There is nothing wrong with either way of looking at things. I would love more inventory space, but do I think it's feasible given the current server limitations, I don't know. So instead of arguing and calling names I would rather more inventory as a suggestion then to keep the current status quo. This is really not a topic to argue over as more inventory space or better optimization would benefit all players.

[Kuroka]

Its just frustrating if they go "serverlimitations sry" and continue to add token and relic stuff and one time use crafting mats every patch...

[Snorky]

Its just frustrating if they go "serverlimitations sry" and continue to add token and relic stuff and one time use crafting mats every patch...

It is what it is. The servers are older the game is older it's not new. Things can't be done yesterday. This last year there were chip shortages, look at the price of computers they have nearly doubled. Saying you are frustrated is all fine and we'll, bit subjectimg frustrations onto others is well I hate to say it but it's what children do when they have tantrums. It fine to express a suggested wish but some replies here are cringe. I apologize for my bluntness. As the other poster said I don't think anyone would say no to more inventory.

[geekgirl101]

I go through a regular purge every month, checking items to see what are only worth minimum amounts of gil and either throwing them or telling my retainer to sell it. I go through a big purge every 4 months where items I've not yet used I trash - if I aint gonna get 4/4 tokens after 4 months there's no point in me holding onto them on a "maybe" whim. That said I still have fairly full retainers of junk I'm trying to sell and I'm capped on retainers.

Fish is the worst, there's little market for buying fish and so much fish and fish bait, they really need a space of their own especially the bait.

[technole]

They already gave you more inventory space with the choco saddlebag last time, this was kind of easier to do and a clever workaround because it doesn't follow you to the instance servers so those don't take any hit in performance there. but the overworld takes a hit. From a simplest explanation, the instance servers do much more, like the overworld doesn't need to track your movement in the housing districts as much as the instance servers needs to in Eden Savage to see whether you are in the constant AoEs or not kind of thing.

Considering YoshiP's last comment on glamour plate limitations a month ago and it being server capacity issue, it's the same thing here

MMO inventory is in all actuality a difficult process to manage, it's not so much spaghetti code people like to think of it as. Look at it more closely. All of it is server-side and is "following" you everywhere you go. You want to use that potion you put on your hotbar anywhere you go. That hotbar has to check the item exists and quantity everywhere you go. That's the simplest explanation, every toon takes up server capacity, and if i made your block on the server a little larger with 50 more slots, and I also want to get more people logged in the game at the same time. Something has to give. Capacity doesn't come from White Mage's thin air.

You can imagine where the priority is going to go next. Yes, freeing up the belts gives them back some capacity but they already accounted for most of it, along with stat squish to lighten server math and loads. It'll be a combination of things over time if they were to give more slots.

[Arzalis]

They already gave you more inventory space with the choco saddlebag last time, this was kind of easier to do and a clever workaround because it doesn't follow you to the instance servers so those don't take any hit in performance there. but the overworld takes a hit. From a simplest explanation, the instance servers do much more, like the overworld doesn't need to track your movement in the housing districts as much as the instance servers needs to in Eden Savage to see whether you are in the constant AoEs or not kind of thing.

Considering YoshiP's last comment on glamour plate limitations a month ago and it being server capacity issue, it's the same thing here

MMO inventory is in all actuality a difficult process to manage, it's not so much spaghetti code people like to think of it as. Look at it more closely. All of it is server-side and is "following" you everywhere you go. You want to use that potion you put on your hotbar anywhere you go. That hotbar has to check the item exists and quantity everywhere you go. That's the simplest explanation, every toon takes up server capacity, and if i made your block on the server a little larger with 50 more slots, and I also want to get more people logged in the game at the same time. Something has to give. Capacity doesn't come from White Mage's thin air.

You can imagine where the priority is going to go next. Yes, freeing up the belts gives them back some capacity but they already accounted for most of it, along with stat squish to lighten server math and loads. It'll be a combination of things over time if they were to give more slots.

Things like the glamour wardrobe don't "follow your character around" all the time, I'd imagine. There's a reason you can only access them in specific areas or outside of dungeons.

More slots for something like the wardrobe would only be a band-aid fix anyway. As long as there is a limit to something that has effectively unlimited options due to them perpetually developing more armor pieces, yes you'll hit capacity eventually. That's why you design a system that doesn't have a hard item slot limitation.

Also if your argument is about server capacity, isn't it kinda funny they can always find more capacity for retainers that people are willing to pay for, but something to help alleviate inventory issues just isn't in the cards? It's just an issue of priorities on the dev's part and I think they severely undervalue how big getting a proper glamour system is for the playerbase. Plus they have financial incentives not to fix the issue, which also makes it a lower priority after you factor in the business folks who control the purse strings.

Like, seriously, imagine convincing someone on the business end "Hey, can we get some more money to spend on servers so we can probably make less money from retainer subscriptions?" The only way they cave is if they feel like it's affecting the game negatively or it starts to affect mogstation purchases (which I think it's close to that point; can't buy armors and items if you don't have room for them.)

[Claviusnex]

Things like the glamour wardrobe don't "follow your character around" all the time, I'd imagine. There's a reason you can only access them in specific areas or outside of dungeons.

More slots for something like the wardrobe would only be a band-aid fix anyway. As long as there is a limit to something that has effectively unlimited options due to them perpetually developing more armor pieces, yes you'll hit capacity eventually. That's why you design a system that doesn't have a hard item slot limitation.

Also if your argument is about server capacity, isn't it kinda funny they can always find more capacity for retainers that people are willing to pay for, but something to help alleviate inventory issues just isn't in the cards? It's just an issue of priorities on the dev's part and I think they severely undervalue how big getting a proper glamour system is for the playerbase. Plus they have financial incentives not to fix the issue, which also makes it a lower priority after you factor in the business folks who control the purse strings.

Like, seriously, imagine convincing someone on the business end "Hey, can we get some more money to spend on servers so we can probably make less money from retainer subscriptions?" The only way they cave is if they feel like it's affecting the game negatively or it starts to affect mogstation purchases (which I think it's close to that point; can't buy armors and items if you don't have room for them.)

I suspect additional retainer subscriptions are not as common across the player base as many people think. I posit that designing a bottomless crafting bag and a glamour system based on unlocking styles as opposed to actual gear could in the end increase revenue if appropriately priced. In buy to play games such as ESO and Fallout 76 they are enough incentive to get players to pay the monthly subscription. In FFXIV they could make them available in addition to retainers. Speaking for myself I would certainly pay a couple of bucks extra for a bottomless crafting bag and glamour system that does not require me to keep the gear around than the retainers that don't fix my problem with the current inventory restraints.

[Arzalis]

I suspect additional retainer subscriptions are not as common across the player base as many people think. I posit that designing a bottomless crafting bag and a glamour system based on unlocking styles as opposed to actual gear could in the end increase revenue if appropriately priced. In buy to play games such as ESO and Fallout 76 they are enough incentive to get players to pay the monthly subscription. In FFXIV they could make them available in addition to retainers. Speaking for myself I would certainly pay a couple of bucks extra for a bottomless crafting bag and glamour system that does not require me to keep the gear around than the retainers that don't fix my problem with the current inventory restraints.

Making people pay for a properly function glamour dresser is a no-go. I wouldn't even entertain the idea and frankly it's a terrible one.

Again, you just have to look at the competition. Even WoW doesn't charge for what is their equivalent of a glamour dresser with endless storage. Making people pay money to fix problems they created in the first place is a surefire way to burn up whatever goodwill a company has gotten over the years. Jump Potions already catch a lot of flak for this, but they've still made efforts to fix the early game MSQ (they've done a good job imo) and it's a little more difficult to just cut out things that end up being story relevant, as well as the fact what is and isn't important there is very much up to interpretation.

Charging for a fix to a purely system based issue would be insane. They gave us a flawed glamour system with a lot of frustrating limitations in the first place. If they turn around and charge money for something like that, people will see right through it.

[Fellgon]

they could create a bag just like the epic bag of holding of D&D, with infinite inventory space, a bag, thats inside ur inventory.

[technole]

Things like the glamour wardrobe don't "follow your character around" all the time, I'd imagine. There's a reason you can only access them in specific areas or outside of dungeons.

More slots for something like the wardrobe would only be a band-aid fix anyway. As long as there is a limit to something that has effectively unlimited options due to them perpetually developing more armor pieces, yes you'll hit capacity eventually. That's why you design a system that doesn't have a hard item slot limitation.

Also if your argument is about server capacity, isn't it kinda funny they can always find more capacity for retainers that people are willing to pay for, but something to help alleviate inventory issues just isn't in the cards? It's just an issue of priorities on the dev's part and I think they severely undervalue how big getting a proper glamour system is for the playerbase. Plus they have financial incentives not to fix the issue, which also makes it a lower priority after you factor in the business folks who control the purse strings.

Like, seriously, imagine convincing someone on the business end "Hey, can we get some more money to spend on servers so we can probably make less money from retainer subscriptions?" The only way they cave is if they feel like it's affecting the game negatively or it starts to affect mogstation purchases (which I think it's close to that point; can't buy armors and items if you don't have room for them.)

Glam wardrobe is another workaround to always-follow situation. That's why only being available at the inn where it's instanced lessens the server load entirely. YoshiP's Q&A said if they expanded it they would take a hit if too many people in the field would swap more plates, it was kind of a response trying to say we know it's not perfect, but this works. It's kind of like a glamour retainer in a sense, has to pull elsewhere. He did say they would look into more plates but he couldn't guarantee anything.

Retainers has always been accounted for since they started the game, and they likely have done the math saying if they gave away say a free retainer this is how much money they will lose from premium payments. For over 6 years I've always paid for 4 up to the max of retainers depending on crafting/gathering mood and sales.