Inventory is unmanageable

isengrimb16_ESO · June 2014

I get a horse for 1g. About the only thing I spend gold on is feeding that horse per character, increased bag space and increased bank space.

The thing this game needs, really, is a way to filter materials. Cloth, Medium, Heavy, food items, alchemy items, etc.

Blackwidow · June 2014

Vendersleigh wrote: »

I play 7 characters, of which 6 are crafters. The system works for me.

I don't believe you.

There is no way you have 7 active characters and are crafting all 6 crafts and have no bank problem.

Of course you might mean you have your own guild bank or use mules, but to me that is still a problem.

If you claim to be using neither, I just call B.S.

No matter how much storage ZOS let us buy or provide for us, we will all just expand inventory into it.

Again, not true.

There are only so many things we can collect.

Example, i just got rid of one of my mules today when I was able to buy another bank space.

I am now down to three mules.

If i had double the bank space, I would no longer need mules at all.

Unless you have joined guilds advertised as trade guilds for the stores, it sounds like you are in the wrong guilds.

The game is designed to have bad guilds.

People are forced to join guilds they don't want to join just to use an AH. On top of that, the guild bank permissions are a freaking joke.

Cogo · June 2014

Now I am annoyed. I bet if Zenimax gave you all everything you asked for here.

You all would be back here in 1-2 months or less, complaining about lack of space or whatever that makes your game not childishly easy.

Some posts are valid, because their are backed up with a reason. Negative or positive.

I am TIRED of this constant complaints with no other effect then making the game easier for YOU.

@Blackwidow
Guilds are what you make them to be. I never understood anyone complaining the game for a bad guild?

shiva7663 · June 2014

isengrimb16_ESO wrote: »

The thing this game needs, really, is a way to filter materials. Cloth, Medium, Heavy, food items, alchemy items, etc.

There are some great add-ons for this; this is one of the places where add-ons really shine.

meghuskoow · June 2014

Absolutely! Great ideas and would help so much.

Yajnho · June 2014

The guild bank permissions do seem to be real problem. I have been told it's either free reign or total lockdown. That's just silly, but only pertinent to this thread in so much as it makes using a guild bank extremely impractical, unless you own the guild. Not a solution to storage woes.

I have played both wow and gw2 and never had so much difficulty with inventory. WoW makes it easier to gain extra space. GW2 has less space, but the the demands placed on that space are significantly decreased, at least until you are crafting ascended stuff. The point here is that both games limit inventory, but in neither game did I feel like it detracted from my experience. Here it does.

The problems that this game has an unusually high number of components per craft, particularly for enchanting and provisioning. The numbers for the other crafts are not small either. Then add in items you are saving for research. Now add to that a system which is more restrictive about adding space than other games. You just can't do BOTH and call it good.

Personally, I like the overall complexity of the crafting system. I don't like the extremely small percentage of extra storage you get for such a high price. I don't like the unreasonable amount of time I have to spend shifting the inventory around my toons.

Again, a bag that is specific to a craft, and because of that specificity is cheaper per unit space helps everyone and hurts no one. This is not a balance type issue which will give one group an advantage over another. If you want that kind of argument go find a "DK is op" or "BE is op" thread. This is an issue where to many paying customers are spending to much time organizing their closets and not enough time playing.

Bangstin · June 2014

Orizuru wrote: »

Logically, if there are any number of people that the current system works for, then in it is not inherently flawed. A flawed inventory system would work for no one. The problem is there exists a group of players who simply can't or don't want to change their behavior to work within the current system. I don't think this makes them wrong, but it does invalidate many of the reasons people are demanding more storage.

Please , that's makes no sense whatsoever. You can find some people that are ok with all kinds of weird things , that doesn't invalidate anything and it doesn't mean there isn't better solutions.
Stop using the word logically since you don't know what it means.

Iceman_mat · June 2014

Less professions will equal more space. Choose wisely.

-cheers

Elgarr · June 2014

A simple solution which both player and dev benefit off is the crafting tab, you get one basic with 60 spaces, then you pay to increase that size just like your main bank now.

It's enough of a gold sink to give the devs happy (only reason they put it in) yet for those who need to use it (which are those who have majority of stuff in their bank as crafting mats) they won't mind either.

skeletorz_ESO · June 2014

I agree. There isn't enough space. The simple solution to this is to make everything in the materials tab not cost inventory space. Crafting materials get stored for free.

Blackwidow · June 2014

Cogo wrote: »

I bet if Zenimax gave you all everything you asked for here. You all would be back here in 1-2 months or less, complaining about lack of space or whatever that makes your game not childishly easy.

So, if we were given a proper bank system, you think we would still complain about the bank system?

Please explain this pearl of wisdom to the rest of the class.

Some posts are valid, because their are backed up with a reason. Negative or positive.

Yet, you post with insults like "I bet if Zenimax gave you all everything you asked for here. You all would be back here in 1-2 months or less, complaining about lack of space or whatever that makes your game not childishly easy."

It would be nice if you showed some respect and posted with facts and reason instead of insults.

I am TIRED of this constant complaints with no other effect than making the game easier for YOU.

Nobody is forcing you to come here and read.

If we started with twice the bank space, would you not be here complaining we have too much bank space.

You may not realise it, but your posts are hurting the game, not helping it.

@Blackwidow
Guilds are what you make them to be. I never understood anyone complaining the game for a bad guild?

The guild system is set up for people to join, get what they want and leave. People have to join guilds if they want to use the AH. ZOS has build a system of using guilds instead of fostering a family type system.

Do I have a nice guild I belong to? Yes. I belong to two very nice guilds. However, we have had members rob the guild bank on more than one occasion because of the crappy guild bank permissions.

The other three guilds I belong to mean crap to me. ZOS set it up so I pretty much hop from one merchant guild to another.

ZOS is very much at fault for the way they set up guild banks and AHs.

Blackwidow · June 2014

Iceman_mat wrote: »

Less professions will equal more space. Choose wisely.-cheers

So, you don't think each character should be able to do at least one craft without the game being a huge pain in the neck?

I am not paying ZOS to play a halfass game.

Vendersleigh · June 2014

Blackwidow wrote: »

Vendersleigh wrote: »

I play 7 characters, of which 6 are crafters. The system works for me.

I don't believe you.

There is no way you have 7 active characters and are crafting all 6 crafts and have no bank problem.

Of course you might mean you have your own guild bank or use mules, but to me that is still a problem.

If you claim to be using neither, I just call B.S.

No matter how much storage ZOS let us buy or provide for us, we will all just expand inventory into it.

Again, not true.

There are only so many things we can collect.

Example, i just got rid of one of my mules today when I was able to buy another bank space.

I am now down to three mules.

If i had double the bank space, I would no longer need mules at all.

Unless you have joined guilds advertised as trade guilds for the stores, it sounds like you are in the wrong guilds.

The game is designed to have bad guilds.

People are forced to join guilds they don't want to join just to use an AH. On top of that, the guild bank permissions are a freaking joke.

Believe or not all you wish but yes I have 7 active characters, 6 of whom each are focussed on one crafting profession (50 provisioning, 50 alchemy, 36 woodworking, 33 clothing, 32 blacksmithing, 28 enchanting). I love crafting as well as exploration, second only to rp, so I collect everything but then delete or sell or put into my guild bank for other guildies what I know I do not need.

As stated before, I have one mule who holds pets, disguises, trinkets, maps.
I have no personal guild bank. All I use my guilds' banks for are to swap items with other people, either at the time (swapping glyphs for decon mostly) or putting in materials, motifs, etc. for others to use later/taking from them.

I find the guild system good, with one primary guild that I have been with for 6 years now, 3 guilds that I have found trust me and I trust them, and one large one purely used to keep track of what rp events are on.
I have found no need for trade guilds as I barter/give everything to others. Being nice to folks has its rewards I have found.

Rotherhans · June 2014

Yajnho wrote: »

This is an issue where to many paying customers are spending to much time organizing their closets and not enough time playing.

And in my case actually the last straw that broke the camels back turning me into a non-paying customer.

Very insightful post, couldn´t agree more. Pity it is drowned out by the usual fanboy/fanhate whinefest on these fora and sadly will go unnoticed by someone actually in charge.

To make it clear.
I refuse to play this game until this issue is fixed.

This is basic gamedesign 101, actually it is basic common sense(but nowadays that´s a superpower anyway):

Don´t aggravate your customer for no reason.

Lodestar · June 2014

shiva7663 wrote: »

Bank Tetris. sigh....

Haha, I was thinking just that. If i wanted to play a bank minigame I would play tetris or candy crush saga or whatever.

Lodestar · June 2014

Cogo wrote: »

Now I am annoyed. I bet if Zenimax gave you all everything you asked for here.

You all would be back here in 1-2 months or less, complaining about lack of space or whatever that makes your game not childishly easy.

Some posts are valid, because their are backed up with a reason. Negative or positive.

I am TIRED of this constant complaints with no other effect then making the game easier for YOU.

@Blackwidow
Guilds are what you make them to be. I never understood anyone complaining the game for a bad guild?

Where do you get off, telling others what is fun for you, should be fun for everyone else, and there is something wrong with them if they don't, and not to post on the forums designed for that very purpose?

Not only are you pressing you will opinion as fact, even when a large bulk of it is made up, your past insulting forum members telling them not to write what you don't want to. Now, your having a go at some perfectly good guilds, and making allegations against them, claiming they are bad.

And from another thread.

Cogo wrote: »

Never said I was a guru, just I put the point where I feel I would use it the most.
Oh, I dont have a calculated plan, but the choice is based on my experience the previous level, and ideas how I may change, add, or what skills I am aiming for.

Never respected. And I only played this char since 5 days early access.

Another reason you think the inventory system is fine by any chance?

Blackwidow · June 2014

@Vendersleigh even you admit you use a mule and still say we have enough bank space.

It boggles the mind.

Zershar_Vemod · June 2014

So I made my 7th alt (the other 6 are also pack mules) for the sake of being a pack mule...this is just disappointing.

xaraan · June 2014

I haven't read through all twenty pages of this, so my comment is simply about the OP:

I'm mostly fine with how the bank works now tbh. I craft every profession and have two mules (one simply holding extra stacks of stuff already in bank). I keep all alchemy mats, crafting mats for every zone's material except starter zones, provisioning (only for three specific recipes though, its foolish to try and keep all food ingredients) and all enchanting stones. I'm still not upgraded to the max bank (far from it), but if you are only at 20K, you haven't upgraded much yet.

The only thing I would like to see: treasure maps, pets, trophies and costumes should not take up inventory spaces and go into a category similar to quest items.

srfrogg23 · June 2014

Chrysolis wrote: »

Or rather, inventory is manageable only with extreme tedium. I'm surprised that this issue isn't receiving more attention, considering that every person I've met in ESO is having the same problem. There just isn't enough inventory space for the enormous quantity of items constantly being dropped in your lap; generally I have to spend 20 minutes on inventory management for every 60 minutes of game play, which really just seems absurd to me. I've already thrown a lot of my gold at the problem to obtain max personal inventory slots, though I'm holding off on 20k for the next bank upgrade.

I don't really understand if, or how the current system was designed to work. The shared bank is nice for transferring between alts, but the irony is that I can't afford to have any alts because all other 7 of my character slots are mules. I only keep relevant-level materials (and sell the lower ones) and I have about every add-on dedicated to inventory management. Something really needs to be done about this; though I do like my main character, I don't even currently feel like I have the option to make an alt.

I don't want to present a problem without any possible solutions, so I'll give a few suggestions in case this should be seen by ZOS:
Add a personal bank tab: The shared bank is decent for convenience, yet the amount of inconvenience one suffers through because of the inventory choke hold really eclipses that. With a personal bank tab that was upgradeable, you even have another expense for the compiling gold.

Add a crafting materials tab: This follows the same idea as above, and addresses one of ESO's worst culprits. Frankly, both of these tabs could be added to the game and we would still need to have mules on top of it.

Separate and/or remove the inventory slot use of provisioning items: Provisioning particularly is a troublesome beast; in previous elder scrolls games, typically the reason you weren't that limited to picking up food/alchemy items is because they weighed basically nothing. That's not the case here, where a tomato takes up the same amount of space a greatsword does.

Reduce the gold cost of bank slots: The inventory costs seem manageable; the bank slots are not. 20k is a decent maximum for personal inventory - it doesn't seem like a good spot for less than half of the maximum bank slots.

Increase stack sizes to 200-1,000: Again addressing the problem with crafting materials, this would at least allow for them to be managed without requiring much of a change to the game.

Double bank space: I understand it can be difficult to appease all crowds; those who already spent a lot of gold to increase their bank space would be justifiably angry if the costs were retroactively lowered. This kind of change would allow for those upgrades to still remain in effect while helping to address the issue.

Allow certain items to be "Locked": As not to appear on deconstruction/sell lists, this would at least allow for inventory cleanup to be done with greater speed and efficiency without risking your precious [alternate] suit of armor.

Include a separate, non-burdening category for Trophies & Costumes: These things typically serve no purpose - but, you can't get them again, making for a choice of the lesser between two evils. Since they are utterly non-beneficial, they should be moved to their own category (the way quest items are) which does not use up inventory space.

Guild banks are not a solution for personal inventory - they are a workaround for a select few that don't mind dedicating an entire guild slot just to this. Few people are willing to simply give you one of their guild slots so you can have a bank. If you share, there are huge risks involved. Regardless of that, it should not be required.

For those sure to comment - I'm not a hoarder by any means, I'm quite meticulous about my inventory. This isn't some kind of personal issue, it happens to literally everyone I play with. If you don't agree with my criticisms or suggestions, feel free to add your own.

For my inventory setup, see here:

Chrysolis wrote: »

EDIT: This post is addressing a legitimate concern in a constructive way; please take the endless flaming and trolling to the hundreds of other threads that do not offer feedback with the intent of improving the game.

EDIT 2: Updated & added other peoples' suggestions to the list. Thank you for contributing.

I haven't personally had any issue with the rest, but I like the idea of having a non-burdening tab for the costumes/trophies. I'm not too keen on getting rid of my trophies, but they tend to take up a bit of space that could be used for other things. I know some other games have taken to this design philosophy and I think it is a good idea.

Lodestar · June 2014

Blackwidow wrote: »

@Vendersleigh even you admit you use a mule and still say we have enough bank space.

It boggles the mind.

Keep seeing this over and over. The current system id "defended", by imaginative reasons the devs intended it to be this way, by people who play one character and sell everything at nearest opportunity, to avoid overwhelm, people who use guild banks and/or mules, or any combination. And when you call them out on it, they throw "hoarder" or stop trying to get everything your own way.

The ONLY good counterpoint has been that, there was limitations on the database. even then, that just means something needs to be addressed.

JohnD212 · June 2014

While I understand the convenience of sharing one bank vault between all your characters, there should be some shared slots but also some unshared. There just isn't enough room for a 2 or 3 toons to take on different crafting professions. I just grow tired of always having no storage.

TheVindelator · June 2014

Crafting is what crushes your inventory. It's very frustrating.

lasma799 · June 2014

Most of the posters agree that storage is a problem. The ones that don't have their own personal guild bank or are lying through their teeth. Provisioning, alchemy, and enchanting alone can easily take up every single slot in your inventory. If you carry an extra armor set for a different occasion, then it's even more of a problem.

If you read through most of the post, inventory management IS a problem a majority of players have. I find inventory problems much more problematic in this MMORPG than in any of the many other MMORPG's I have played.

Vendersleigh · June 2014

lasma799 wrote: »

Most of the posters agree that storage is a problem. The ones that don't have their own personal guild bank or are lying through their teeth. Provisioning, alchemy, and enchanting alone can easily take up every single slot in your inventory. If you carry an extra armor set for a different occasion, then it's even more of a problem.

If you read through most of the post, inventory management IS a problem a majority of players have. I find inventory problems much more problematic in this MMORPG than in any of the many other MMORPG's I have played.

I neither have my own personal guild bank nor am lying. I understand that inventory management is a problem for some people; it is not for me.

Allyah · June 2014

lasma799 wrote: »

Most of the posters agree that storage is a problem. The ones that don't have their own personal guild bank or are lying through their teeth. Provisioning, alchemy, and enchanting alone can easily take up every single slot in your inventory. If you carry an extra armor set for a different occasion, then it's even more of a problem.

If you read through most of the post, inventory management IS a problem a majority of players have. I find inventory problems much more problematic in this MMORPG than in any of the many other MMORPG's I have played.

Most of the players agree that storage isn't a problem. The one's that don't have horrible guilds or are lying through their teeth. Provisioning, alchemy, and enchanting can easily not take up every single slot in your inventory. If you carry an extra armor set for a different occasion, that is going to take up 7 slots of your inventory.

If you read through most of the thread, inventory management IS a problem most of the forum posters have. I find people who cannot manage their inventory even with advice from others on how to manage it much more problematic in this MMORPG than in any of the many other MMORPG's I have played.

ers101284b14_ESO · June 2014

I only use my bank and my personal space and have had no issues with managing my inventory.

Gillysan · June 2014

Most of your issues are answered here.
http://www.esoui.com/downloads/cat20.html
along with Minion for managing the addon's.

Specifically the following out of the 30 addon's I use.

Advanced Filters
Guild Store Search Extended - calculates some extra info: max, min, avg unit price
InventoryInsight
Item Saver - mark a red dot to the left of an item in inventory
X4D Bank - replaced Mules Management, must have!!!

X4D Bank is really great but I turned off the auto stacker, it was giving me problems. Found Stacked addon does a much better job.

Your other issues involve your grey matter.

brandon · June 2014

The inventory needs fixing like you said I'm constantly within 10 slots of being full and I can't make alts to play because they are all mules thanks to the bank being full

Daraugh · June 2014

The inventory and bank space is a huge problem for me. My husband and I end up mailing stuff to each other just to juggle the other items already taking up space. It took me two hours this morning, to shuffle all crafting mats to the right toons and free up some space. What's worse is it's 10 more bank slots off the bat than it was in beta. I just want to play, craft and pick stuff up, not fiddle with a game of storage. What is the point anyway? Why limit space?

Provisioning and enchanting are out of hand. Most of my main's bags are runes or ingredients. Two runes shouldn't take as much space as a cuirass!

Lotro has a handy idea for when you're out and about, overflow bags. Stuff goes into the overflow, expires in an hour (except for log-out) and can be shuffled as needed when you're in town.

At the very least, a full bank per toon plus a shared bank would help.