Just Wondering

[Smaug]

k theres things been done I didn't really understand the reasoning and/or just didn't like but I've lived with them so far. I have a question before going much further in detail concerning this connie debate.

Is vault stuffing that terrible a thing for the game? I know it takes up database space but is it such a problem its causing problems for the game and devs?

I'll admit it, Im a vault stuffer!! Im a vault stuffer!! Am I hurting the game by being one? Am I lowering anyone elses fun by being one?

After answering those I'll explain why im a vault stuffer if anyone cares and why it would probably be the end for me if done away with.

Smaug

[AmonGwareth]

It comes down to the amount of vault stuffing. Did you know that there are vaults in the game that are over 1000% beyond their limit for bulk and some for stacks?

[Deth]

I'll admit it, Im a vault stuffer!! Im a vault stuffer!! Am I hurting the game by being one? Am I lowering anyone elses fun by being one?

After answering those I'll explain why im a vault stuffer if anyone cares and why it would probably be the end for me if done away with.

Smaug

From my understanding of how it works. Yes you could be impacting other peoples game. As the vault is considered personal char storage. It all loads when every your char loads. I am not sure how this impacts other char or local zone server side but I would think that it would have some effect.

Side note I do have to wonder if someone with 1000% vault over stuff can cause lag to other players?As it effects the server very local to where the char is or is it just general server load that is spread out across everything.

[Velea]

k theres things been done I didn't really understand the reasoning and/or just didn't like but I've lived with them so far. I have a question before going much further in detail concerning this connie debate.

Is vault stuffing that terrible a thing for the game? I know it takes up database space but is it such a problem its causing problems for the game and devs?

I'll admit it, Im a vault stuffer!! Im a vault stuffer!! Am I hurting the game by being one? Am I lowering anyone elses fun by being one?

After answering those I'll explain why im a vault stuffer if anyone cares and why it would probably be the end for me if done away with.

Smaug

As I understand it, yes you are. Primarily you are hurting yourself, but you are also "hurting" others as well for two reasons.

1) When you have to load your character, you have to load every item that it in your vault because it is part of your character. Think about how long it takes to load your character the first time after a maintenance/patch for a good example of this.

2) When considering how much server space is needed to run and maintain Istaria, the "footprint" size of characters is considered. That's why you'll often see Amon saying that it isn't how large the stacks are, but how many stacks someone has, that is the issue. As he said, there are some absolutely ridiculously overstuffed vaults in the world right now, both bulk and stack wise. Bulk doesn't matter quite as much, but I'll get to why it does in a moment. Stacks, however, take up space no matter how you slice it. If a normal character allotment is 100 stacks for everything (vault, plot, inventory), and someone turns around to have 10,000 stacks instead, that's a signifigantly larger "footprint" than the person who only has 100.

Think about why Chaos runs into so many more problems than Order does. More people = more chance someone is taking up "too much space".

Now totally unrelated to how much space a character takes up is the effect on game balance that excess storage has.

The design side of it is that with so much being stored by so many people, and having everything so instantly available, there often is a complaint of "there's nothing to do in game".

Consider for a moment what you really would do if you couldn't just go to your guild house and pick up a pre-made set of T5 cargo armor fully teched out with the latest and greatest techs, brand new tools with the crystals to go in the sockets, etc, that are there all for the taking because everyone else already has them. You'd spend hours (days, weeks perhaps) attaining those items yourself, perhaps even with the help of others.

Or consider the character who wants to build a new house on their plot. With thousands of resources stored on someone's character, they simply swap the plot to that person, and "poof" the house is built. Sure, the stock has to be built back up again... sometime. But what's a few hundred cedar boards when someone has thousands stored?

That's taken in to consideration by the design team when thinking about drop rates, spawn rates, how hard a monster is to kill, how spread out in the world to make things, etc.... All so that players do have "something to do". With players having stored way more than was originally intended by the designers, especially on their characters where items are immediately available?

And what value is there in anything when everything is available in such abundance? Consider for a moment why oil is so valueable in the real world, and why that value varies greatly from one country to another. It's because of the demand for it versus the supply of it. In an country like the US, where oil is stockpiled, it is possible for the government to release some of that stockpile and ease prices if they go too high. Countries where there is little to no stockpile of oil are stuck paying whatever price those who have the oil demand for it. Same idea applies to Istaria.

I do apologize for the long post, and I'm sure I lost most people after about the second paragraph. Tried even to go back and trim, but didnt find much I wanted to cut.

For those who want the "Cliff Notes Version":

Vault space needs to be limited to what the designers intended for it to be for game balance.

[Knossos]

As for "overstuffing" of vaults, I would venture to guess that most of such overstuffed vaults are those of "alts" who are not currently in game but which are in the selectable toons of any account at login time. It would further be expected that at game load the selected toon is identifiable as such. Is much of this "vault suuffing overhead" possibly a result of the game loading all alts rather than only the selected toon? - It is not at all convenient to play with a toon having an overstuffed vault and thus there are many many alts not normally playing such as those designated as "mules".

So can any relief be found if in fact this overstuffing is being loaded whether the toon with the overstuffed vault is active or not?

Knossos

[Frith-Rae]

I would also beg of the devs that if they ever get around to more extreme ways of limiting vault stuffing - they do so only AFTER addressing the game's problems (economy, gameplay, other storage items) in other ways..

Yes it creates more lag. But how many players would we lose to sheer frustration at the amount of re-crafting they were doing?

How many would quit because they have to have entire plots (more so than now) of storage units in order to store up stuff to build a room/home/lair/whatever when you get into the higher tiers.

My vault is Overstuffed, but its not with stuff I don't use - its not even with gear (dragon I have two sets -fight, craft...) but with leftovers of crafting from various tiers waiting to get applied to a new chamber in my lair.

Without that assistance it would no longer be any type of "fun" to be crafting and I'd probably leave the game for a REALLY lack of something to do.