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Forums - Gaming Discussion - WRPGs versus JRPGs, or: My mis-adventures in KOTOR

So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.



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darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

The only time i had issue with KOTOR's inventory system was when i needed to access sidequest items (mostly datapads). They didn't get counted under "Quest" items for some reason, so i would have to sift through the whole damn inventory to view them. Otherwise, weapons, armors, and useful items were all classed nicely



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.



Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.



darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

Yes, that does not happen in for example xenoblade at all. I also love the huge amount of useless crystals.



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darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

What you just described... that happens in nearly all RPGs. Most JRPGs have horrible inventory sorting systems and most WRPGs are the same.



Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

What you just described... that happens in nearly all RPGs. Most JRPGs have horrible inventory sorting systems and most WRPGs are the same.

Not really, armour and weapons are generally equippable by someone in the party.  Do you have any idea how much armour I've gotten in Mass Effect 1 that no one could equip due to the class  I choose?  I had all members to boot.  Even then equipables arent't too frequently dropped and you mostly pick up healing items and cash. Only other times you're given useless items is if the "JRPG" gives you some kind of crafting option which rarely involve pure items.



darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

What you just described... that happens in nearly all RPGs. Most JRPGs have horrible inventory sorting systems and most WRPGs are the same.

Not really, armour and weapons are generally equippable by someone in the party.  Do you have any idea how much armour I've gotten in Mass Effect 1 that no one could equip due to the class  I choose?  I had all members to boot.  Even then equipables arent't too frequently dropped and you mostly pick up healing items and cash. Only other times you're given useless items is if the "JRPG" gives you some kind of crafting option which rarely involve pure items.

If I go through the final saves of most of the JRPGs I've played, the list of useless junk items I've collected is not even funny. The non-equipable items are usually useless and very rarely used.The sorting systems are usually pretty crap too.

Now in WRPGs.... oh wait... same thing happens!

I could give examples of WRPGs with good inventory systems but then I'd be cherry picking from a select few.



Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

What you just described... that happens in nearly all RPGs. Most JRPGs have horrible inventory sorting systems and most WRPGs are the same.

Not really, armour and weapons are generally equippable by someone in the party.  Do you have any idea how much armour I've gotten in Mass Effect 1 that no one could equip due to the class  I choose?  I had all members to boot.  Even then equipables arent't too frequently dropped and you mostly pick up healing items and cash. Only other times you're given useless items is if the "JRPG" gives you some kind of crafting option which rarely involve pure items.

If I go through the final saves of most of the JRPGs I've played, the list of useless junk items I've collected is not even funny. The non-equipable items are usually useless and very rarely used.The sorting systems are usually pretty crap too.

Now in WRPGs.... oh wait... same thing happens!

I could give examples of WRPGs with good inventory systems but then I'd be cherry picking from a select few.

May I ask which "JRPGs"?  Except for Star Ocean 3 and Final Fantasy XII, that I've played, all my inventory was filled with healing items, current armour, or items used to enhance weapons/armour/stats  (Which doesn't make them useless FYI).



darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
Scoobes said:
darkknightkryta said:
So me and my friend spent a good hour or so discussing "WRPGs" and we came to a conclusion, most of them have horrible inventory systems. The actual stat/level systems are good.

I'd say that's a pretty common problem in all RPGs. Only a few manage to have an intuitive inventory system.

"JRPGs" have it right.  Though the problem is more or less "WRPGs" just give you way too much drops.  Running through a dungeon your inventory will be filled with useless armours, weapons that your class can't equip, junk items that may or may not be used for smithing something, etc.

What you just described... that happens in nearly all RPGs. Most JRPGs have horrible inventory sorting systems and most WRPGs are the same.

Not really, armour and weapons are generally equippable by someone in the party.  Do you have any idea how much armour I've gotten in Mass Effect 1 that no one could equip due to the class  I choose?  I had all members to boot.  Even then equipables arent't too frequently dropped and you mostly pick up healing items and cash. Only other times you're given useless items is if the "JRPG" gives you some kind of crafting option which rarely involve pure items.

If I go through the final saves of most of the JRPGs I've played, the list of useless junk items I've collected is not even funny. The non-equipable items are usually useless and very rarely used.The sorting systems are usually pretty crap too.

Now in WRPGs.... oh wait... same thing happens!

I could give examples of WRPGs with good inventory systems but then I'd be cherry picking from a select few.

May I ask which "JRPGs"?  Except for Star Ocean 3 and Final Fantasy XII, that I've played, all my inventory was filled with healing items, current armour, or items used to enhance weapons/armour/stats  (Which doesn't make them useless FYI).

Nearly every Final Fantasy game since the SNES days (possibly before but I never played I-III for any decent length of time), Grandia 1 & 2, Xenoblade Chronicles and StarOcean 3 (never played 4 and I only vaguely remember 1 & 2). I mean, just take FFVIII for instance. You collect a range of items in the game, but for large portions I didn't even bother having the item command in battle as I could get by based on Junctioned magic. Actually, at the end of most Final Fantasy games I had a whole host of useless items I never needed to use because I either had an equivalent spell or a more powerful/useful ability already available. The items I actually used (healing potions, elixirs, ethers, heroes etc.) were the very items I would be short of or at the very least tactically rationing. Not to mention that most weapons and armour are useless after a short period anyway.

I make the same argument for the likes of Mass Effect 1, Neverwinter Nights or Dragon Age. The problem isn't something that's exclusive to one sub-genre of RPGs. There's also the argument of how the RPGs organise items. Few manage to get an intuitive system together. They usually just boil down to edited/sorted lists or in the worst case scenario, something resembling an Excel spreadsheet.

Now, I could say the likes of the Deus Ex series or Mass Effect 2 & 3 are examples of WRPGs getting inventory systems right, but that wouldn't be very representative.