I was thinking the other day about how encumbrance doesn't accurately display the limit of one's ability to carry something. I might be able to life 300 pounds as dovahkiin but is there really a good place for me to fit 100 torches? I was thinking of a backpack system, maybe to mod in that would make the game more realistic, as now there would be two limits to how much you can carry, encumbrance and space. A good example is this picture:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/july08/tq.jpg

Of course the bag should be visible on your character too, maybe with the option to drop it if you're all of a sudden in the middle of a fight and need the extra agility. Depending on the size of your bag, you'd have a certain amount of boxes in the grid that is your backpack. Each item would have a certain weight to it too. Once your character reacher either the weight limit or the space limit he/she becomes over encumbered. As you can see the inventory in that game (which I don't know the name of) lets you carry 5 potions for per slot for obvious balancing reasons. I think this is probably the most realistic way to do it.

Now before you throw the whole, "fantasy games are not supposed to be realistic" deal at me, if there is a page in TES lore that states people have invisible bags of infinite space that cannot be held then it is in fact more realistic to have an in-game bag system like I mentioned. Now of course I could understand why people would not like this, even I'd want to carry as much as I want especially when it comes to loot, so what I was thinking was a skyrim equivalent of the horsebags mod for oblivion except with a higher encumbrance rate and more space. Maybe even have an option of adding a cart to your horse for even more space?
I don't actually expect Bethesda to include this so it probably makes more sense to mod it in. If I ever learn to mod, I'll try this.

The second idea I was thinking of was a pocket system much like that in Witcher 2 (here comes the hate :flame:)
In the middle of combat, I don't think people should be able to take a moment, rummage through their belongings and equip/use different items, I mean, who's going to give you the time to do that? Instead there can be a pocket system that basically allows you to equip small items like potions/poisons or scrolls into 5 or maybe 10 pockets (that might show visually on your character too) that you can access in the midst of combat either through shortcuts or pausing and using (I think there should be a real-time animation for this, but that's a different topic). Access to the inventory should be closed off at this point until you're out of combat/put your weapon away.

So what do you guys think about this idea? I would fully understand why you guys wouldn't like it because it seriously nerfs you from a gameplay perspective but I think it really adds to the immersion and experience of the game.

I'd rather have a Bloody Screen... So real...

My sarcasm detector doesn't work too well on the internet
maybe this could be an option in hardcoe mode.

Dear OP,

NO, NEVER, WHY?

Not everything needs to be realistic. The whole by weight thing works fine.

I would like a bag that I can drop just for roleplay purposes. I like the idea of leaving a pack by the entrance to a dungeon so that I don't have to lug everything around in it. It's just a convenience. I wrote about it http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1183728-pack-it-up/page__view__findpost__p__17562597

I couldn't care less. Having carryable bags would be nice, but only if they're in separate slots and not permanently fixated onto different types of clothing/armor. How realistic would it be to see the introvert NPC who spends all day at home carrying around four pouches of crap on him at all times?


I got the reference. :rofl:

1. the Magic Satchel
2. I don't want to see a giant freakin back pack on my character
3. I don't think that my Daedric greaves have pockets

Bag of Holding anyone?

No matter what kind of backpack system is used there is no way one can put 2 sets of armor, 3 big weapons, few hundred arrows and potions/poisons, not to mention other equipment and loot (aka crap) I carried around in TES3 and TES4 in one back pack, so realism is out of question either way.
also, we don't need pockets, we have quickslots

The hot key slots are designed to mimic the idea of pockets and items kept in other accessible locations. I wouldn't mind some visible representation of that, but it really isn't needed.

I would love a more minimal encumbrance limit by default and then the ability to buy sacks, rucksacks, and other portable storage which could raise that limit. Of course, there would be a limit to how many of those you could use. And of course, the point of multiple options is so that I can pick the ones most appropriate for my particular character. Some will wear a backpack while others might have a small pouch with a few sacks. Walking back from the dungeon with sacks of loot that have to dropped so I can equip a sword would make things more realistic but I'm sure many people wouldn't like that.

"Making the game feel more REAL"

One word: Permadeath.

Which I also don't want.

Nothing as "Real" as a pocket, I say. Thats actually the name of Slavoj Zizek's new book on "the Real". Its gonna be called "The Pocket and the Secrets of Concealment".

No & no

. Nothanks just the same.