Item collections

[jetcitywoman]

I did a quick forum search and didn't find this question, but I'd be really surprised if it's never been asked before. There's something about the SW games that appeal to the little hoarder in my head. One step beyond the joy of getting treasure dropped by monsters and completing quests. I don't know if it's the intriqueing item descriptions or the pretty graphics or what. But it's all I can do NOT to collect all those iron bars laying around, hoard the gemstones, collect cake, etc.

 

I know in the Geneforge series there were some quests where you had to go find items for an NPC, and those were fun. I missed those quests in the other series. But even one step beyond that, wouldn't it be fun if there was a tally of your net worth at the end of the game, or some surprise rewards for collecting "x" number of some specific item?

[Mosquito---Slayer]

I don't know how you will accomodate that in the story though.

It's hard to say that one set of adventurers having 29 bars of iron and 17 cakes is better than the ones with 5 bars and 8 cakes.

[jetcitywoman]

Hmm, I wasn't thinking in the competitive sense. Just some reason for hoarding all those shiny little doodads.

[Dikiyoba]

You'll just have to do it for the warm, glowy feelings it gives you, and maybe the knowledge that after your adventurers retire they'll become the best bakers the world has ever seen.

 

Dikiyoba's game compulsion is to pick up every single item possible. Thanks to Avadon's junk bag, it is now very easy.

[jetcitywoman]

My compulsion is to just pick up the shiny or unusual things and pile them up in little corners of the dungeon. It just seems sad to me, I guess, that none of the NPC's share my admiration for such things. Also stuff like those sparkly iron bars just scream to be used for something.

 

I guess I'm thinking of a mashup between Geneforge and Nethack. (Upon death of the player, you get a neat headstone that states your net worth at death plus a tally of all the baddies you've killed. Plus personal challenges.)

 

I liked the junk bag too, but it sort of worked in reverse of the way I play. I need a large inventory to hold my coveted little widgets. If you put them into the junk bag, it's too easy to accidentally sell them and then if you later discover you needed them for a quest you're out of luck. Maybe we just need a new player class: Hoarder.

[Karoka]

Then he/she will have 5 times the item space, and they can throw any item at an enemy with the damage depending on the item's weight * strength. PERFECT!

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: jetcitywoman

My compulsion is to just pick up the shiny or unusual things and pile them up in little corners of the dungeon. It just seems sad to me, I guess, that none of the NPC's share my admiration for such things. Also stuff like those sparkly iron bars just scream to be used for something.

warning: don't play minecraft or you might never leave your house again

[Celtic Minstrel]

Sounds like what you want is basically achievements.

[Necris Omega]

I did have the strange fascination with collecting every "unique" item I could find and stashing it in Hawke's Manse...

 

I also stashed any "cursed" items in the trash pit.

[Dintiradan]

Yeah, the first SpidWeb game I played was the A3 demo, and I had no idea what items would be useful later on. So I kept one of every item in the game in my party's quarters in Fort Emergence. Later, when I bought the games and played through A1, I was dismayed to find that most items are meant to be sold or ignored, and all my efforts for the demo were in vain.

[Necris Omega]

Eh, for me it was less a case of, "Ooh, this might be useful!" and more of a, "ooh, this is interesting!" kind of thing. My own little trove of shiny things.

 

Then again, some of it WAS for later use, like all those bolts I saved before getting a decent crossbow, but... meh, boring.

[Randomizer]

Try beta testing where you pile up items wondering if they are going to be needed for a collection quest or should I sell them because I really need the money. In Avadon I had to go back through the game to find all the arcane scrolls I left behind because I thought they were useless.

[Niemand]

Originally Posted By: Necris Omega

I did have the strange fascination with collecting every "unique" item I could find and stashing it in Hawke's Manse...

Yep, me too. I was quite alarmed when I discovered the hard way that the game could only record a limited number of items per town and that the excess would vanish.

My BoA party ends up looking ridiculous, laboring along under mountains of spare gear and a few hundred pounds of potion ingredients. I look at throwing things away, but for each item think something like "This sword is pathetic at my party's level. But it has the highest extra damage against demons of any sword! I might just need it. . . "

I also make sure to have a potted plant handy at all times. They're just so nice and decorative looking.

[Skwish-E]

In geneforge, I paved the floor outside of the magical forge with gemstones. Then one time in Avernum 5 I tried to see how big a pile of skulls I could make by picking up every skull I found and dropping it in the corner of the portal room.

[Goldengirl]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Yeah, the first SpidWeb game I played was the A3 demo, and I had no idea what items would be useful later on. So I kept one of every item in the game in my party's quarters in Fort Emergence. Later, when I bought the games and played through A1, I was dismayed to find that most items are meant to be sold or ignored, and all my efforts for the demo were in vain.

Similarly, the Geneforge 1 demo was my first Spiderweb game. While I didn't go as far as hoarding everything, there was one specific line in the item description for trash that said that Sucia Island could use a garbage system. So, thinking there would be a quest or some sort of reward, I specifically collected all the trash in the island and stashed it in a corner of Vakkiri, where the Taker spy was.

There was no such quest or reward.

[Alorael at Large]

Originally Posted By: jetcitywoman

I know in the Geneforge series there were some quests where you had to go find items for an NPC, and those were fun. I missed those quests in the other series.

Those are a Spiderweb staple. They appear in Avernum 1, and while I can't remember, I wouldn't be surprised if they were in Exile, too. Jeff loves collection quests, and he loves changing what requires collecting.

—Alorael, who assumes that gems, bars, and non-usable scrolls are high likelihood collection items. Hauling them around has gotten much better with the recent inventory-doesn't-encumber system, too.

[Necris Omega]

Originally Posted By: O tempora o mores

...and he loves changing what requires collecting.

That's the rub for me. I all too often end up stockpiling, say, Iron Bars in hopes they turn out to be worth a mint to the poor struggling smith on the edge of civilization.

90% of the game and enough Iron to build a railroad from Draco to Remote later...

[Arch-Mage Solberg]

I'm just gonna say that I hoard gems, alchemy ingredients, ore, and special and/or unique items. I really don't know why...I just do it. (NIKE)

 

Post #597

[Harehunter]

Sounds like we have a pack of pack rats, packing everything they can pack. In Exile you would actually have a six pack of pack rats.

[Necris Omega]

This is part of what made BoE so hard for me - I loved to hoard things, the weirder, the better.

 

Unfortunately, items with custom graphics couldn't be transferred beyond the scenario they were in. These weren't just unique in name, they even LOOKED unique! Awesome! I had to have them, and keep them forever and ever... and no, couldn't do it.

 

Drove me nuts.