It is the same old RPG onion since Daggerfall?

[ClanRanald21]

As I've played the Elder Scrolls since Daggerfall, missed Arena thank God, did not have a AA battery powered PC at that time. I think something above all else rings out across all the formats of this genre. We are enticed into dungeons, ruins, mines, caves and castles to go kill, loot and gorge ourselves on booty, gems and precious things. Yet 5 minutes in we can carry no more? What's the point. In Daggerfall you could transfer stuff to your wagon waiting outside, OK you had to keep going back to the entrance to put it in your wagon but at least it was worth going back inside for more. We had 3D dungeon maps to revolve so we could understand what level we were on, now internal maps just melt into each other like confused snot.

I think it is about time that the RPG community got together and decide where we go with this old onion. Game producers and players alike. I think there are a few options like, keep it real, just take what you can carry, swap for better and dump the junk, or if you are like me take it all and sell it! The latter means such tedious trips back and forth to your local sheisters? Or how about a guardian angel pawnbroker who sits on your shoulder through gameplay and offers you gold for the stuff you just procured?

What does every other RPG gamer think? What's the best solution?

[IsharaMeradin]

Get one or more "bag of holding" type of mods and take it all with you. Deal with the stuff whenever. Downside, the merchants just never have enough gold. And when they do, they're on the verge of becoming "infected" with an overflow bug.

[ClanRanald21]

Yep, I agree the best mod I ever came across was the Simple Portable Tent in Oblivion, gather everything around once everyone was dead around you, set up the tent and go sharpen, revitalise and store all, but is that realistic, I don't think so, I think the point I am trying to get to is killing and looting the only way to advance in RPG games?

[anjenthedog]

Or justt use console mode to add carryweight to your character

player.modav carryweight 5000

permanently adds 5000 weight units to your current carryweight. (the value added is up to you. 5000 was simply an example.

 

Be aware that no matter how you add carryweight (via an amulet, ring, console tweaking, or even some sort of cart or whatever, as the number of unique items in its (or your) inventory gets large, access time for your inventory will increase. I'm carrying about 12K right now. Access time for my inventory is ~15 seconds or so.

[ClanRanald21]

Oh dear, I think we have missed the point, I know the Bethesda console commands inside out for the last twenty years, what I am trying to say is why people like you need to use the console to carry off your well earnt gains to progress. Is that realistic?

[anjenthedog]

I guess if I stretch my brain out enough, I can kinda see what you're saying. But the fact is, none of this game is realistic (except perhaps in some ways, for instance the ~quasi-realism of the land and sky. Shrug. Shocking as it might sound, games aren't real (tongue in cheek, please don't take that as a snide comment, it's not) . You want real, go for real life. Granted with the lockdowns, we've been under house arrest for a year now, so what I'm saying is just so many words, but eventually that will end one way or another.

 

People like me "need" to use console commands or magic amulets or whatever because there were limits placed on carryweight (for instance) by design to slow progress, just like levels slow progress or leveled equipment.

 

idk, perhaps I shouldn't even have commented. It seems rather pointless in the end, since I'm not really a "gamer" in the first place. I was just burned out on my old job, housebound from the job's 24/7/365 on-call status, and then covid hit along with the long term effects of an old injury and here I am. The last game I owned prior to this was FFXI, and with that game, the reason I started playing was that the woman I began a relationship with in 2005 was hooked on it. By the end of 2007, and with that old injury (workplace assault, Nov 30, 2007 in fact)) she bailed, and I was bored out of my wits (the player community, 3/4 of the reason I enjoyed it, was dispersing to WOW and shooter games) and by early 2008 I was done. And before that, it was Commanche, if you're old enough to remember that one (mid 1990s) . TBH, if I wasn't partially crippled I'd be doing far more interesting and productive things with my life.

 

die hard "gamers" won't like what I'm about to say, but if you're healthy and pre retirement age, get a life. Computer games are not life and becoming so wrapped up in them isn't healthy. There's so much more outside these consoles and computer screens and imo "you young whipper snappers" are doing yourselves a long term injustice by being so caught up in them.

 

My 2 cents no offense intended.

[ClanRanald21]

I guess you are right, I think I am trying to answer my own question by asking this. It is fantasy and escapism, better than drugs and alcohol but only till 8pm though?

[anjenthedog]

Well, if you're responding to me, Although I may come off as cocky and/or self-assured, I'm actually far more humble in real life, and I honestly don't know that I'm "right" per say, and it's likely someone could easily come along and dispute it with some specific example that shows a flaw in my generalization. It's just my opinion. You can decide for yourself if it applies to your life.

 

Anyway, in response to

 

 

It is fantasy and escapism, better than drugs and alcohol but only till 8pm though?

 

heh, I have no idea. Maybe? Maybe not? My consumption of alcohol is limited to a hard cider a couple times a year, and my former love of a certain tobacco alternative has been tempered by cost over the past year of unemployment and the fact that it's black market here, (so often of questionable quality and potentially containing moulds or other things one isn't expecting to ingest), and the rest of that particular menu is something I won't touch with a ten foot pole. I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and have personally known about a half dozen or so that are dead today from them, and several dozen more who ruined their lives.

 

Now I sound like a total boomer dad. My apologies.

 

With regards to "better things" I was thinking more along the lines of recreational activities like throwing a frisbee and hiking and camping and riding bikes and running and swimming and learning to do carpentry and chiseling and stacking stone, and painting, and learning (or mastering) a musical instrument, and so on and so forth... And of course, the rarely acknowledged face-to-face comradery, which is (IMO) being tossed into the bin of obsolescence with the growing dominance of online play and smart phones and similar isolational activities (erven if they may not feel that way when you're talking to someone half a world away while playing some MMO, or chatting online in a forum or via IRL)

 

Nothing's wrong with escapism or fantasy, as long as it's kept in its own place (IMO). I try to balance this game with watching nice dull (not really dull but many would consider them so) documentaries. I have a real love of them. History, science, medicine, self-reliance, cooking, various "blue collar" pursuits like the two I mentioned already, and on and on. Learning has always been a joy to me. Even here. I worry that younger generations are exposed only to this and cartoon fantasy (ie the whole Stan Lee universe and the utter lies it teaches about life, humanity, love, etc) For me, it's my vicarious way of enjoying thing I used to do for real.

 

ok, nuff. I've easily broached the dull and boring (Jesus Christ, boomer, die already you boring old man) post level, so I'll stfu now and drop back to lurker status.

 

Best wishes. I do understand where you're coming from. These games, as fun as they can be, are shallow and often miss the forest for the trees, regurgitating the same pseudo-AI over and over, just couched with different words, different characters, and different scenery, with silly game mechanics (like carry weight) one would think should have been addressed once-and-for-all 20 years ago. In the case of Skyrim, a great deal of effort has gone into the "visuals" and I'll admit, that's a large part of what keeps me here, since the results are astounding, but the fundamental content (NPC interplay, NPC count, actual city size, quest complexity, etc) is less sophisticated than many games that are 20-30 years older, which afaik is one of the underlying complaints you *seem* to have been making. I have no idea how game developers will fix that. Or if they even care to. Or if they can. I can't blame them either. It's what gamers clammored for.