Maybe it's just me. Maybe I felt something that everyone else has already been though. For me, the best part of the 3.0 demo was the impression of tangibility that it left.
In most games, items are and feel like data. If you kill something, a loot box shows up and you click "loot all". Everything is transferred to your inventory and you move on. Your gear is just items in your bag. Your mounts and vehicles are just sitting there, waiting for you to click them into existence with you mouse. Things are bought and traded on the market or auction and they transfer over to you instantly.
The 3.0 demo on the other hand, was wildly different. I know they've talked about persistence. They've talked about grabby hands. The pieces of the puzzle were all there, but I didn't put them all together till tonight. The rover was spawned, that was normal. But then it became a thing. It needed to be loaded up for transport. It needed to be hauled to a different spot. They didn't just teleport over there and spawn the rover from their Aquilla.
It didn't stop there. An item needed to be picked up. It didn't need to be picked up and placed in an inventory though. It didn't turn into a quest item in your inventory that disappeared when you turned in the quest. It was a physical thing. It needed to be carried to the rover. It needed to be placed into the rover. It stayed there where you could look at it until the rover was destroyed.
Maybe I'm over thinking this. Maybe I'm just too rooted in the old school MMO process of placing the oddest things in your inventory. To me though, this was an amazing step in the right direction. I love the idea that things in this game might be more than just an icon in your inventory. I love the thought that maybe some things exist that can't be magically shrunken down and thrown in your 100 slot inventory.
I can only hope that the game keeps heading in this direction. For instance, I want to be able to own a big benny's vending machine. However, I want it to really exist in the game. If I want to move it, I want that to require loading it up in my ship and transporting it. I love the idea that maybe, just maybe, I won't just be able to pick it up and put it in my inventory.
Am I reading too much into this? What do you think?
In most games, items are and feel like data. If you kill something, a loot box shows up and you click "loot all". Everything is transferred to your inventory and you move on. Your gear is just items in your bag. Your mounts and vehicles are just sitting there, waiting for you to click them into existence with you mouse. Things are bought and traded on the market or auction and they transfer over to you instantly.
The 3.0 demo on the other hand, was wildly different. I know they've talked about persistence. They've talked about grabby hands. The pieces of the puzzle were all there, but I didn't put them all together till tonight. The rover was spawned, that was normal. But then it became a thing. It needed to be loaded up for transport. It needed to be hauled to a different spot. They didn't just teleport over there and spawn the rover from their Aquilla.
It didn't stop there. An item needed to be picked up. It didn't need to be picked up and placed in an inventory though. It didn't turn into a quest item in your inventory that disappeared when you turned in the quest. It was a physical thing. It needed to be carried to the rover. It needed to be placed into the rover. It stayed there where you could look at it until the rover was destroyed.
Maybe I'm over thinking this. Maybe I'm just too rooted in the old school MMO process of placing the oddest things in your inventory. To me though, this was an amazing step in the right direction. I love the idea that things in this game might be more than just an icon in your inventory. I love the thought that maybe some things exist that can't be magically shrunken down and thrown in your 100 slot inventory.
I can only hope that the game keeps heading in this direction. For instance, I want to be able to own a big benny's vending machine. However, I want it to really exist in the game. If I want to move it, I want that to require loading it up in my ship and transporting it. I love the idea that maybe, just maybe, I won't just be able to pick it up and put it in my inventory.
Am I reading too much into this? What do you think?
