My Dearest Game Developers - Please listen to your customer's pleas about bag space

VirtualElizabeth

Dear Game Developers,

I understand your pain of creating a new piece of software - the pains of testing, implementation, marketing etc and so on. I am in the software biz myself (albeit not gaming, but still I deal with customer's needs on a daily basis). Anyone who has been in this game long enough will know when a new software version (or new product) is released there are going to be bugs, hardware/software up time issues blah, blah, blah. But while working through these issues, a company should not overlook customer satisfaction in general.

Time and time again over the last week I have witnessed my friends' struggle with bag space, and at times, even myself. For some, it is now getting to the point where it is significantly impacting their enjoyment of the game. Now, I get Elder Scrolls is different from other MMOs - it is about problem solving and overcoming realistic issues one would face when roaming around a world such as Tamriel. But do you really want to risk lose revenue i.e. subscription fees for the sake of realism? So please, give your customers a break - allow a better inventory management system on the back end or lower the cost of bags upfront.

Besides this, you guys are doing a great job. Thanks for listening.

SybleyStarfire

I agree. I am one that is usually quick to compliment and to roll with the punches and just do what is needed; but this inventory system is horrible. I am actually regretting getting myself and friends involved in the game. I spend far too much time managing inventory. 25% of my online time? I am fearful because I see few crafted items in the guild store - crafters are abandoning crafts because they don't have enough room to store or are more concerned with deconstructing. The guild stores don't have good armor being sold. Didn't see one piece and I'm in a very very large guild. I know I rarely actually craft something that is needed. Just some "whites" for myself every 2 levels. I want to deconstruct so I can level and get upgrade materials. I am hoarding the upgrade material for myself so at some point I can make a set up armor for myself when I have 5 upgrades for each piece of armor. I tried using 3 upgrades and I lost everything. I'm not a gambler. I love other parts of the game; but this inventory system will be the nail in my ESO coffin if it persists much longer.

Tiberius_

Unfortunatlely, we've been petitioning the same thing on Beta forums for months and months, but apparently, ZOS does not want to change the inventory system.

They did make a slight change- characters now start out with a couple free bag space upgrades compared to what they used to start out with, believe it or not.

Cheatingdeath23

I can craft nice armor in white, like you mentioned, but I haven't found enough honing stones and dwarven oil to upgrade things for myself, much less to sell.

Theoretically, each individual can just hoard their honing stones and buy crafted armor and upgrade it themselves. I've stopped enchanting armor until I get it to at least green, because of the risk of losing the enchantment.

Cheatingdeath23

Also, please tell me of a good guild to sell armor in, I can make several special armor sets in heavy armor but it is bound on equip, so I would need to sell it before wearing it.

MkChkn

Guess I'm going to be devils advocate. I like the inventory system. It has made me prioritize my crafting. I'm focused on clothing and provisioning while dabbling in alchemy. I sell all my other mats to fund these.

I've found at level 13 increasing bag and bank capacity to be relatively cheap.

I'd like to see what I pick up using autoloot without using an addon though.

Niminion

After about level 18 I learned, "Stop picking everything up!" I don't need old cooking ingredients, or every races crafting ingredient, or every trait gem, or all the extra potions, and no more harvesting every node you walk across just because the game lets you. I dropped my efforts in woodworking, blacksmithing and clothing to focus on only cooking and enchanting.

Now at 23 with only the fist bag upgrade and I know exactly what's worth looting and when my bags do eventually fill up, just a simple teleport to town. To the bank then the crafters then a vendor then the bank again with a few WTS/WTB messages in there and I'm back to questing with a nearly empty bags and a bunch of gold and some craft ranks after 10-15 min. I don't even use my bank alt anymore, even with provisioning taking a LOT of space because of the way it works AND a full set of "intricate" gear for deconstructing.

VirtualElizabeth

@Niminion I totally see how reducing to just two crafting skills might be the way to go. For me enchanting and provisioning might be the two I give up. I enjoy "dressing my barbie" too much to give up clothing and armorsmithing

OZGODUSA

The problem is there's far too many raw materials that can quickly fill up both inventory and bank space. When you deconstruct (so you can level) you end up with more inventory materials. The way I do it is I have 5 bank alts all storing different materials. I for food/beverages, one for armor, one for weapons etc. It's cumbersome whenever I have to swap materials around but keeps my bank free.

LastLaugh

I agree somewhat, although as Niminion said, there are ways to mitigate this.

I'd also really like to see the inventory of my bags as thumbnails, rather than as a list.

I appreciate that this is probably a much lower priority than other issues some folks are experiencing. But it would be nice to see it addressed at some point.

Eris

I think that their math is based on the money people made during testing. What that math does not reflect is the amount normal people make during regular game play. Play testers are often good at the game and spend a lot of time trying to find ways to gain advantage. This is good and something that devs use to benchmark things, but sometimes they have to remember that casual players just wanna hang out and don't really go out of their way to be super exceptional.

This is why some of the play testers are 50th level 2 days after the game goes live and others are casually cruising through the starter areas still.

thismudtasteslikechocolaterwb17_ESO

The bag space limit in this game has a similar function to how other games limit the number of crafting classes you can have on each character, and limit how much harvesting you can do.

Rather than say "you can onky have one crafting class and harvest one type of material", which would be very anti-Elder Scrolls, the developers have simply said "feel free to be all things on all characters, but good luck with that until you have upgraded your bags".

I much prefer this approach, as it gives us players more options.

People having issues with it should maybe reconsider how they play. This is not a game where everything is handed to you, or where you absolutely have to do everything the game technically lets you do.

If bag space is such a game breaker, make some changes in how you play the game - play to fit within this games systems rather than asking for this games systems to be moulded around how you want to play.

VirtualElizabeth

thismudtasteslikechocolaterwb17_ESO wrote: »

People having issues with it should maybe reconsider how they play. This is not a game where everything is handed to you, or where you absolutely have to do everything the game technically lets you do.
.

I can see where you might find this plausible and I actually found GW2s system a bit too easy when it came to crafting. Everything was handed to you - no fighting for mats etc and you could advance 20 levels or so just by crafting. I found that system to be less challenging in the end. But if I have four alts just for storage for three crafting lines I say that's an issue with the system. It's not like it's two or three people complaining, I am seeing it over and over and over and over.

Honestly I love this game and really don't have issues with the growing pains of getting the game to run smoothly. But this inventory issue is going to continue on after the bugs are fixed. Some people might lose their patience and just stop paying. Anti Elder Scrolls or not, making money to sustain the game should be important. Frankly I don't want ESO to be free to play either - I want to contribute what I can to help keep the excellent content coming. But in the world of gaming when the "next big game" is just around the corner - keeping the customer happy should be a high priority.

Woenprom

90-100 units character's inventory capacity is enough to play entire evening without returning to the city.

Everything is fine and balanced here.

Laura

Am I the only person who picked maybe one or two professions and sends everything they find that isn't related to that profession to friends? I have no issue with bag space but then again i don't pick everything that is nailed down.

In skyrim just because you COULD pick up a spoon doesn't mean you SHOULD pick up a spoon. Or that iron shield or that wheel of cheese etc...

Just because you CAN pick up stale bread and maggots doesn't mean you SHOULD pick up stale bread and maggots.

just my two gold

The only thing I think should improve on bagspace is that pets should go to some special bag (maybe quest bag) and so should maps.

knightblaster

Laura wrote: »

Am I the only person who picked maybe one or two professions and sends everything they find that isn't related to that profession to friends? I have no issue with bag space but then again i don't pick everything that is nailed down.

Maybe you are.

Some people want to do more than 1-2 crafts.

Yshaar

Woenprom wrote: »

90-100 units character's inventory capacity is enough to play entire evening without returning to the city.

Everything is fine and balanced here.

I support this. I do not agree with the op and any petitions.

Good that zenimax stands it ground.

Give this time. You will earn gold and will soon buy more bag space.

theoak1ey

I think the main problem people are having with bag/bank space comes from provisioning, which is down to the sheer amount of ingredients you can pick up.

However, having spent most of the evening going out of my way to level it to 50 tonight (which lets face it doesn't take any near the amount it should compared to other crafts) I had a good clear out and apart from keeping a few ingredients for the better recipes I managed to clear 48 spaces so I can't see myself having any more space issues

Taurus498

Moderators, the large number of multiple threads on Bag/Bank Space really need to be merged please.

In regards to the OP, I think Bag Space is fine. It's the Bank Space for Crafting Ingredients that is woefully insufficient.

If you want to see the hard numbers on why this is the case, then have a look at my post here in the main Bag/Bank Space thread: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/583487/#Comment_583487

Destabilizator

Taurus498 wrote: »

Moderators, the large number of multiple threads on Bag/Bank Space really need to be merged please.

In regards to the OP, I think Bag Space is fine. It's the Bank Space for Crafting Ingredients that is woefully insufficient.

If you want to see the hard numbers on why this is the case, then have a look at my post here in the main Bag/Bank Space thread: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/583487/#Comment_583487

Seriously, that post of yours? Why are you hoarding all the mats? It looks to me like cheap way to get attention. You keep only the current, relevant mats, why would I need Iron Ore when I can make and use Orichalcum armor and weapons? Sell what you don't need, keep the relevant stuff. Someone wants you to craft them gear? Well they have to bring the mats, you can supply gems.

So per crafting profession in bank = 1 slots for refined mats (raw mats go in your bag, when you have 100 stack, refine it and store in bank). x slots for racial stones to save money, y slots for trait gems, z for tempers. Transfer trophies and maps to alt and you have plenty of space to work with.
When you reach higher tier of craft, sell the mats you have in bank or roll them to mule.

I'm doing all professions at once and gathering everything (will probably stop doing barrels and stuff, as my Provisioning is 50 and the mats I find are for lvl 35 recipes when I'm not even 30, stupid system...) and the biggest space hoards are from items I keep for research. Got 110 (100+10 horse) bag and 90 bank, not really an issue.
When my bags get full, it's usually good time to take a break and go unload.

Taurus498

I would assume that the vast majority of people would like to hoard the mats they collect so that their current and future alts can use them, instead of having to collect them all from scratch again for each alt.

Again, this limited Bank Space is an issue for the very large number of people that play more than one character during the entirety of the games existence. If you plan on just playing your one character and never alting ever, then yes the current Bank Space is probably fine.

Lets say we decide that we will keep the raw mats in our characters Bags and not in the Bank, that only frees up 35 of your Bank space, which means you still need at least 171 space for your Bank.

Also, micro-managing mules would become very tedious very fast, so that's not really a valid solution to the very limited Bank Space problem.

I really don't understand why some people are getting angry with those of us that want more Bank Space for our Crafting Ingredients... would it really ruin your game that much if they increased it so that we could fit most if not all of our Crafting Mats in our shared Bank? If it would ruin your game then please tell us why?

Sharee

listen to your customer's pleas about bag space

I'm a customer, and i think it's fine as it is.

OZGODUSA

Taurus498 wrote: »

I would assume that the vast majority of people would like to hoard the mats they collect so that their current and future alts can use them, instead of having to collect them all from scratch again for each alt.

Again, this limited Bank Space is an issue for the very large number of people that play more than one character during the entirety of the games existence. If you plan on just playing your one character and never alting ever, then yes the current Bank Space is probably fine.

Lets say we decide that we will keep the raw mats in our characters Bags and not in the Bank, that only frees up 35 of your Bank space, which means you still need at least 171 space for your Bank.

Also, micro-managing mules would become very tedious very fast, so that's not really a valid solution to the very limited Bank Space problem.

I really don't understand why some people are getting angry with those of us that want more Bank Space for our Crafting Ingredients... would it really ruin your game that much if they increased it so that we could fit most if not all of our Crafting Mats in our shared Bank? If it would ruin your game then please tell us why?

That was my thinking too. I was trying to make things easier for when I level my alts. Pre gather the mats for them the first time round. My workaround of having 5bank alts is tedious but does the job for me at least.

Sarenia

I mitigate this by spending every gold piece I have by increasing bag and bank space, but thousands of gold is precious.

I mitigate it further by using mule alts. Since my bank is so full, I have to frequently empty items to my mules.

Anybody doing more than one or two crafting professions is seriously helpless under the onslaught of crafting components. We _need_ a craft bank of some sort, that holds ONLY crafting items, but has a lot more space than the regular bank.

My main is a tailor, woodworker, and enchanter. Between runes, traits, styles, and crafting resources those 3 professions alone devour my bank, and it's only getting more hopeless as I level.

It's impractical for me to store those items on mules, because I need them accessible, and transferring them over every time I need to make something would add hours of tedium on top of the mess I already deal with.

Morthur

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Sharee

Im not sure if you realize this, but there was an official reply to this issue in the beta, and it said the limited bank space is specifically meant to limit people's ability to pursue multiple crafts at once.

Basically, instead of imposing a hard limit on the number of crafts your character can learn, they imposed a soft limit that hinders you, but does not prevent you from learning everything eventually.

And i very much prefer this instead of a hard cap.

Shaun98ca2

You know surprisingly they INCREASED both bag/bank slots LOL.

I know this can be extremely frustrating for many people.
Best thing to do to make a bad situation better is learn to work around it. A few tips.
1. Hold onto ONLY what you REALLY need. So Blacksmithing you have an item for each race and an item for each trait. I focused early on 1 trait I actually WANT to use so I hold onto ONLY that item same for race.

uuuggghhhhh I guess it was just 1 tip. You can use that for all trade skills really get rid of crap and hold onto what your really gonna use, and use more focusing.

Taurus498

I have a feeling that the only people that are saying that the current Bank Space is fine, are those that are either intending to only play one character for the entirety of this games existence, or are Gold Sellers who are probably making a descent profit from the unfortunate people buying gold to increase their Bank Space limit.

Also to those that are saying that the current Bank Space is fine, can you please just try making at least another two characters in the other two alliances and get them up to.... lets say level 10, and have them specialize in crafts that your main doesn't specialize in, so that between all 3 of your characters you are using every craft, and then get back to us with how much space you have in your Bank for your crafting mats.

@Sharee That would be a real shame if that is in fact the official stance on this issue, as this game won't be able to retain players if they aren't able to make alts which are able to specialize in different crafts. Because as it currently stands, the limited Bank Space does not make this feasible.

Morthur

.

Sharee

Morthur wrote: »

Sharee wrote: »

Im not sure if you realize this, but there was an official reply to this issue in the beta, and it said the limited bank space is specifically meant to limit people's ability to pursue multiple crafts at once.

Basically, instead of imposing a hard limit on the number of crafts your character can learn, they imposed a soft limit that hinders you, but does not prevent you from learning everything eventually.

And i very much prefer this instead of a hard cap.

Sorry to break it to you mate but I'm already training every trade skill on my one character - so the soft-cap totally failed it's purpose. The only thing the crappy inventory system does is make it a bit more tedious to train every profession at once because I need 6 or 7 mules and am forced to relog a few times before and after crafting.

The only people that are really gonna suffer are people with multiple "mains" that like to craft.

Come to think of it, perhaps ZOS will soon be selling extra character slots for RL-cash and then the entire thing would start to make sense. But as it currently stands it's an ineffective soft-cap on professions for a specific group of players and pure tedium for all the other players.

I don't see how this could be considered "good" by any stretch of the imagination.

<shrug>

I simply told you what zenimax told me. And judging by the amount of peope asking for more bag space because they can't fit in all the crafting materials(without realizing that is the whole point), the soft cap is working as intended.

You personally may already be training every trade skill, but that's why the cap is soft - it does not prevent this, just makes it more difficult.

Zargorius

Bah, I'm levelling Blacksmithing, Enchanting and Woodworking, have no problems with bag/bank space. The people complaining are those who want to be able to do everything at once - something that is not supposed to happen. I find the available slots more than sufficient if you are in the right mindset. YOu can't keep everything, deal with it.