Hey,

I'm relatively new to this community, but, since I started gaming in the 90ies, not quite as new to TES games nor MMOs. I wittnessed the rise of both pretty much first hand, and I have been looking forward to seing a blend of the two (ie. a large scale AAA MMO with great personal freedom and "realism") for some time now and the more I learn about ESO, the more I think it might just strike the right balance there... maybe....

One thing always intrigued me about the TES games was the attention to detail, and from everything I know about ESO right now (from various sources) I have some concearns... my question to you would be now, how important are "the little things" to you?

Examples (of which I'm pretty much convcined that they aren't in the game right now):

- Bows/crossbows need arrows and bolts to function and there are different veriants of those in the game.

- The inventory is based on your characters strength, and not a flat out 50 items max.

- Worn jewelry (earrings, circlets, etc.) is displayed on your character and not only cosmetics chosen at character creation.

- There are actual items/tools needed for gathering crafting materials.

That's all I can savely point out right now/think of... what do you think? Are those little things needed?

The inventory system is a mechanic. In a multiplayer MMO like TESO will be, having items in your inventory makes a big difference in combat strength. An extra set of gear... some potions, any sort of consumable that can buff you up... you get my point. Having these things can be all the difference.

That's why it has to be consistent from player to player, not based on something specific to each character. It's not fair gameplay that his templar can carry more potions than mine simply because he decided to make his toon stronger.

No, that's the only point I disagree on. The inventory is a function of multiplayer, and has nothing to do with attention to detail.

The rest, though, I can see them doing. Jewelry probably will be displayed, it is in most other MMOs. I don't know about arrows/bolts, but that might go back to the inventory question. There was an endless debate about this a few months ago, and it went round and round these two points:
1. Needing arrows is realistic!

2. Not really. Carrying stacks of 40,000 arrows so you can do an instance is not realistic at all, ther's really just no point.

Seeing as those things also consume an inventory slot (usually), I can see why they might opt out. Unless you make every class and character require stacks of some consumable to use their weapon... well, you get my point.

Needing a tool to gather... meh. Maybe. I don't see why you should. I can pull weeds without any tools. Chop wood, sure.

the first 2 i would hate to see in the game for reasons that have been stated 100 times already. the 3rd one i could care less either way. the 4th i guess i also dont care about but if i had to pick i would vote yes you should need an item to gather mats

Problem with consumable arrows is that it's an extra resource for ranger type characters to worry about.

Mages and warriors only have to worry about stamina/magicka, which the Ranger also has to worry about.

Yes, you also run into two traps here, arrows need to be cheap and/or easy to craft to not give rangers an disadvantage in the beginning.
On the other hand expensive high quality arrows who do a lot of damage would be unbalancing in favor of rangers in high end PvP and raids where you are willing to spend gold.

Ok, I see the balancing reasons for 1,2 and maybe even 4... but I don't get why circlets and earrings are in the character ediditor.

It makes them part of the character model. Having them change mid game means having models and textures interchangable and separate element of the character like armor. All of which adds to the processing required, which for small things like that can be a bit of waste of resoruces with an MMO.

That's my theory anyway.

Hu... good theory... ah well, maybe that's the differences/restrictions TES purists will have to life with... I just wish it wouldn't give the whole thing such a "half backed" feeling for me... but I guess that's my problem.

To be fair, I was a little miffed in Skyrim when you could only wear one ring. I mean, my character had ten fingers... So how was it realistic to wear jewelry in Skyrim? Even if it was visible on your right hand while you were hitting stuff or casting a spell (in first person view). If a game uses jewelry then I'd prefer it if 99% of all rings are just common bands of metal and 1% are artifacts with seriously cool effects. That way you're not scrounging around for a ring with +15 magicka to improve upon the +13 magicka ring you have... The same goes for necklace.

This game's main attribute is that it still has that TES-vibe. Some concessions are made towards multiplayer, but other than actually needing a pickaxe to mine (which I am used to now thanks to Oblivion and Skyrim, condition is a wonderful thing), I don't see how having extra items clutter up my limited inventory will make me happier about playing the game. After all, if you want to invest heavily in crafting, you're going to need every space you've got to keep mats, not the tools you need to gather them.