It must be a misunderstanding on my part of what some folks are trying to say here, but I don't agree that anything (including "immersion") should ever be a higher priority than good ol' "fun" in any game. Immersive mechanics like item durability (and every gameplay aspect) should somehow contribute to making a game more interesting and fun to play - not serve as an end in itself. I could design a game about my day in the office where the player would be really immersed in the experience of sitting in my cubicle. They'd feel like they're really using up office supplies, and really managing my Microsoft Outlook email box, and really avoiding my boss. And nobody would play that game. Sure, silly example, but the general idea is there. But maybe I'm old-fashioned.
Originally Posted by chocolate
And speaking of the carrying out thing, NPCs should be stopping you from just pocketing something and walking away. Like if you put a chest from an empty house in your pocket and start leaving the house, if the owner sees you with the chest in your inventory or they see the chest not where it belongs, they should take it and put it back and possibly get the guards if they found it on the player.
...If a game had a glass sword that you could permanently break by smashing the chest it was in, with no indication it was in there, it would just feel like the game was going out of it's way to find arbitrary ways to punish you.
