Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Oct 2020
M
apprentice
OP Offline
apprentice
M
Joined: Oct 2020
Hi,

My feedback on looting.

1. I find myself clicking so many empty container in this game. Is it possible to make bodies or containers that are empty non clickable anymore unless they are quest related when you need to put things in?
2. Some items/containers not being highlighted when "alt"
3. Also, is it possible to have shift-click during looting to auto add to wares? right now, I either have to right click and choose that option, or loot everything and shift-click in the inventory to do that. Would like if we can shift right click from the looting box as well.

That's what I can think so far.

Joined: Feb 2020
Location: Belgium
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Feb 2020
Location: Belgium
Definitely +1

Highlighting empty containers in grey and full in yellow rather than making them clickable/non clickable would be perfectly fine.

And please, think about rationalizing the distribution of loots.

Goblins treasure : 5 chests - 2 empty, 1 with +-200 gold, 1 with +- 20 gold, 1 with +- 5 gold...
=> 3 chests : 2 empty, 1 with +- 225 gold...


French Speaking Youtube Channel with a lot of BG3 videos : https://www.youtube.com/c/maximuuus
Joined: Oct 2021
L
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
L
Joined: Oct 2021
+1

Joined: Sep 2017
N
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
N
Joined: Sep 2017
+1 I keep seeing this in a lot of threads, but I seem to recall that DOS2 was the same, so I doubt they will do anything.

Joined: Oct 2020
M
apprentice
OP Offline
apprentice
M
Joined: Oct 2020
In DOS2, I didn't feel that much since I don't think there are that many "empty" clickables compared to here but I think this can be an improvement of DOS2.

Joined: Dec 2017
F
addict
Offline
addict
F
Joined: Dec 2017
+1

And maybe auto mark vendor trash as wares.

And give us ability to sell and "sell all wares" from ALL of the party, having to drag and drop is a real flow killer and only causes strain on the wrists, doesn't add anything to the game.

Please, Larian, do something about the QoL issues. I know, I asked for it already for D:OS2, but it's really time to get those things sorted out.


#JusticeForKarlach

Petition to save Karlach: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-karlach
Joined: Oct 2021
member
Offline
member
Joined: Oct 2021
Originally Posted by NinthPlane
+1 I keep seeing this in a lot of threads, but I seem to recall that DOS2 was the same, so I doubt they will do anything.
Originally Posted by Firesong
Please, Larian, do something about the QoL issues. I know, I asked for it already for D:OS2, but it's really time to get those things sorted out.

Are you saying they didn't listen to feedback and suggestions when Original Sin II was in development?

Joined: Aug 2021
K
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
K
Joined: Aug 2021
One of the things that they do in Pathfinder is that inventory candy goes into a separate inventory tab and there is a vendor option that allows you to move all of it to the vendor with one click. Would love to see something like this added.

Joined: Dec 2017
F
addict
Offline
addict
F
Joined: Dec 2017
Originally Posted by EliasIncarnation
Originally Posted by NinthPlane
+1 I keep seeing this in a lot of threads, but I seem to recall that DOS2 was the same, so I doubt they will do anything.
Originally Posted by Firesong
Please, Larian, do something about the QoL issues. I know, I asked for it already for D:OS2, but it's really time to get those things sorted out.

Are you saying they didn't listen to feedback and suggestions when Original Sin II was in development?

They did listen, but for some reason which I still don't understand Larian is neglecting the QoL / UX department entirely.

Larian style (it's the same in D:OS2 and BG3) inventory management / looting and bartering needs a total redesign. One that focuses on smoothness of operation first, looks second and then, and only then, use those things to add to the gameplay itself.

Shifting wares around between characters was a major pain in D:OS2, it again is a major pain in BG3. Same as for "ok, I will NEVER use white gear again, why can't it automatically turned into wares on pickup?".

Things like that.

If we could discuss, I would even be ready to work with Larian as an external UX consultant for those issues.

I especially wonder about that because many current games show how one can do the three things I mentioned without being an annoyance or even a hassle.

For starters: the separation between inventories needs to be gone. One big inventory, free for all. This alone would make quite a few problems go away. Insisting on competitive multiplayer here doesn't help much, having two separate inventories could still be an option. An OPTION. Not the default, because my gf and I were swearing a LOT in D:OS2 because of this.

However, if someone responsible from Larian reads this:

PLEASE define KPIs for UX.

Examples:

* "How many interactions (clicks, key pressess, button presses) on average go into a single item the player doesn't want? If it's more then 1.2, then the system is flawed. 1.2 means that the player sells 10 items at once via "sell all vendor trash" on average."

* "How often do players feel the need to shift stuff from character to character? If more than 0.1, then the system is flawed. Reason: Only about 10% of items are actually usable at most, having 0.1 times of shifting per item allows for some misclicking as well."

* "How often do players have to click on containers to find an item they actually want to keep OR that gives them a significant value when selling (>= 100 gold)? If it's more than 3.0, the system is flawed. Reasoning: too much empty containers / busy work clicking on nonsense otherwise."

* For later levels (apparently BG3 follows the D:OS2 model for vendor itemization): "How long does it take for a party to do a full shopping trip across all vendors in their act on level up? If more than 4 minutes, the system is flawed. Reasoning: upgrading gear should not be painful, but instead inspire awe and wonder in players."

Using such KPIs the gameplay can be optimized for smoothness and the fun parts of the game.

Last edited by Firesong; 18/10/21 01:31 PM.

#JusticeForKarlach

Petition to save Karlach: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-karlach
Joined: Aug 2014
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Aug 2014
Worthless chests inflate the whole concept of a treasure chest. You should be excited to find one! People use lockable chests to store valuables in them, not for decoration or keeping 14 coins and an ink bottle.

And the vast amount of empty containers and trash loot is driving me crazy in BG3. The original games had a lot of non-clickable containers and that works well.

Joined: Dec 2017
F
addict
Offline
addict
F
Joined: Dec 2017
Originally Posted by 1varangian
Worthless chests inflate the whole concept of a treasure chest. You should be excited to find one! People use lockable chests to store valuables in them, not for decoration or keeping 14 coins and an ink bottle.

And the vast amount of empty containers and trash loot is driving me crazy in BG3. The original games had a lot of non-clickable containers and that works well.

+1

Finding a locked chest, cracking it open, just to find the 14 gold coins and some cheap vendor trash which isn't worth the hassle of even clicking on it multiple times is actually a no-go when it comes to system design.


#JusticeForKarlach

Petition to save Karlach: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-karlach
Joined: Mar 2020
Location: Quebec
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Mar 2020
Location: Quebec
+1

Joined: Oct 2021
member
Offline
member
Joined: Oct 2021
Originally Posted by Firesong
Originally Posted by EliasIncarnation
Originally Posted by NinthPlane
+1 I keep seeing this in a lot of threads, but I seem to recall that DOS2 was the same, so I doubt they will do anything.
Originally Posted by Firesong
Please, Larian, do something about the QoL issues. I know, I asked for it already for D:OS2, but it's really time to get those things sorted out.

Are you saying they didn't listen to feedback and suggestions when Original Sin II was in development?

They did listen, but for some reason which I still don't understand Larian is neglecting the QoL / UX department entirely.

Larian style (it's the same in D:OS2 and BG3) inventory management / looting and bartering needs a total redesign. One that focuses on smoothness of operation first, looks second and then, and only then, use those things to add to the gameplay itself.

Shifting wares around between characters was a major pain in D:OS2, it again is a major pain in BG3. Same as for "ok, I will NEVER use white gear again, why can't it automatically turned into wares on pickup?".

Things like that.

A lot, if not most, of the feedback and suggestions revolve around quality of life improvements.
If they're ignoring those, what's the point of having their games in Early Access?

Originally Posted by 1varangian
Worthless chests inflate the whole concept of a treasure chest. You should be excited to find one! People use lockable chests to store valuables in them, not for decoration or keeping 14 coins and an ink bottle.

And the vast amount of empty containers and trash loot is driving me crazy in BG3. The original games had a lot of non-clickable containers and that works well.

I agree, though I wouldn't want fake containers.
There should just be more items in containers and a convenient way to know if a container is empty without opening it.

Last edited by EliasIncarnation; 19/10/21 12:53 AM.
Joined: Oct 2020
O
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
O
Joined: Oct 2020
+1 Again i have to mention that this is a general probelem with how Larian approach design, "more of everything is better" they just have to take a hard look at their design philosophy, "less is more " is often the better approach.

Last edited by Ormgaard; 20/10/21 10:22 AM.
Joined: Dec 2017
F
addict
Offline
addict
F
Joined: Dec 2017
Originally Posted by Ormgaard
+1 Again i have to mention that this is a general probelem with how Larian approach design, "more of everything is better" they just have to take a hard look at their design philosophy, "less is more " is often the better approach.

Especially when it comes to the amount of mouse clicks.

I'm currently playing WotR A LOT (got like 50 hours since last Thursday on Steam) and Owlcat have solved the unholy trinity of QoL (shopping, looting, inventory management) MUCH better than Larian did with D:OS2 and BG3 - and I think that BG3 (or rather: the Divinity Engine) deserves the same, or even better.

Whats mindboggling for me: Larian apparently has super competent engineers, the Divinity engine is absolutely wonderful. Why on Earth don't they fix their QoL / UX issues? It's not even hard to make it much better, a competent UX person with some experience in engineering can create the specs for those three systems in about two weeks (and thats for an almost perfect system) and implementation of simple clickety click, drag and drop interfaces is much easier than implementing something like the wonderful graphics the Divinity engine provides.

If nothing else: setup a "task force" style team which focuses on the three topics at hand. When they're done have them improve the action bars. Head of this task force MUST be the UX specialist, not an engineer, architect or some overrated (sorry) "scrum" function bearer. Kanban instead of Scrum and life is good.

Then give up on separate inventories for good, even accept that this comes with some (elusive, tbh) downsides. If absolutely necessary keep one shared inventory per real person player at most, but don't see this as a priority.<

Also don't let the game designers interfere. Game design by making user interface awkward is a no go, we had this in the 80s, but this is not how games are supposed to work anymore. If a game designer feels the need to make the user interface worse to make the game "better" then this person is doing something completely wrong.

It's almost bizarre from an outside point of view. I'm almost considering filming the first 1-2 hours of a playthrough and explain every time something is not player friendly / busy work / nonsense and how it could be done better, without giving up on the principle of this being an RPG.

Last edited by Firesong; 20/10/21 12:28 PM.

#JusticeForKarlach

Petition to save Karlach: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-karlach
Joined: Jun 2021
D
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
D
Joined: Jun 2021
+1 to the above, I am simply baffled at how bad the UX and UI is in this game... Please use a single universal inventory with where the player(s) cycle through the character equipment sheets.

Much simpler for everyone, even in multiplayer. D&D is a cooperative game, so why create seperate staches and increase the number of inventory screens ? Simple drag and drop please !

Joined: Nov 2021
H
stranger
Offline
stranger
H
Joined: Nov 2021
As a UXR, I am wondering how Larian uses these forums, as they are rich with insightful data that a thematic content analysis could capture. How are you validating your quantitative measurements? Are you triangulating any of your data? Actually, start with a Heuristic analysis, you’ll solve many problems before you build.

Joined: Dec 2021
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2021
+1

The absolute worst part of DOS2 was the looting tedium and they've ported it to BG3. In addition to all of the above I should never have to spend 20+ minutes clicking around a room to pick up every little piece of vendor trash. Half the lootable items in the game still don't bother to show when you hit the alt key and so many of the small items end up being spend 10-15 seconds finding just the right cursor position to get 1 gold worth of loot. This is not a loot sim. Make it easy for us to scoop up the vendor trash in a given radius.

Joined: Jul 2014
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Jul 2014
Originally Posted by Maximuuus
Highlighting empty containers in grey and full in yellow rather than making them clickable/non clickable would be perfectly fine.

That perfectly describes what I would like to have in the game.

Searching through all the empty containers is just very tedious, while not being able to click on them at all would hurt the immersion.

Joined: Aug 2014
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Aug 2014
-1

The proposed solution would be another dent in the already heavily dented immersion. How could the characters you play tell which chests are empty? In my mind, a better solution would be to have far fewer containers throughout the game. Removing the majority of containers would by itself make the game world a tiny bit more believable. Why do people buy an enormous chest, only to store an apple and an inkwell, while they are able to stuff five suits of armour and thirteen goblin shields in their back pockets?

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5