The Annoyances of Action RPG Inventories
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What was I doing? Theoretically, I was killing an awful lot of monsters, big ol' hero that I was. Actually, I was obsessively picking up shiny things from the ground until a number of small squares on my inventory screen were full up, teleporting back to town to sell said shinies, then repeating the process. This was not, I realised, making me a better person. I'll stress that I'm fine with a few hours of mindless hacking, slashing and looting (though I'll tire of it before too long), so my objection is not to the basic nature of these games. It's an objection to the fact my hacking, slashing and looting is so regularly interrupted by thankless commuting. And lo, I became annoyed enough with both myself and the game(s) to make some sweeping generalisations. Not novel ones I'll admit, but as we're in digs-at-gaming-clichés mode today anyway. Whee!
Thus has it ever been, thus shall it always be. It's how RPG inventory systems are from Diablo to WoW to Deus Ex, it's always about running out of little squares to keep stuff in. But while story/character-led RPGs tend to be a little more restrained in their loot/inventory treatment, often sensibly employing it to prevent players becoming overpowered, the pure-action likes of Diablo, Titan Quest, Mythos et al actively make storage restrictions an essential mechanic of the game. All that relentless dungeoneering is extended and broken up by regular return trips to the shops. You don't have to to make gm, but oh you will, because you need that sweet, sweet cash for better toys.
