All Worlds Maintenance (Oct. 24)

[Izzy]

I thought it was awfully weird that I woke up and I had a "server timed out" message. I was in Bastok Mines though.

[Celebrindor]

I was proposing a second storage area that isn't always in memory and is only accessible in the field (like a mobile mog locker basically) - which would suck in the sense that you wouldn't be able to use gear directly out of it. but honestly - how often are you really switching 60+ pieces of gear all the time? you don't need the accuracy stuff in your inventory if you're meriting on non mamool but if you end up going to a mamool camp you'll want it, so move it in. only need the zerg gear for the actual DL fight; so move it in. etc.

otherwise I largely agree with you. they can't actually expand inventory without significantly refactoring the memory map...

but I'd take space period if I couldn't get real inventory.

While I won't dare delve into the techological aspects of the game and its programming/design, I did wish to comment on this. I currently don't use windower macros, mostly out of an internal fear that SE upon implementation of its own windower may consider swatting down the current Windower (likely unfounded, but hey, we're all allowed our crackpot theories once in a while), just when I get used to the Windower Macros. As a result, on RDM I have a complex system of moving 10 or more pieces of gear to cast one spell. Its quite common that I do this, especially if I go from Fastcast Set to Enfeebling Set to max -emnity set to nuking set. And with the introduction of more and more gear all the time, whilst many current pieces are NOT being made obsolete, I consistently find myself wishing I could have 70 inventory slots instead of 60 of actual swappable gear.

Here's a great example: I have two "base" nuking sets- max skill/macc and max damage. For the easier sake of explanation, here are the key pieces (mind you, I'm completely worthless in the ToAU sense, majorly behind here)-

max skill:

Warlock's Chapeau
Glamor Jupon
Genie Gages
Duelist's Tights
Elemental Torque
Wizard's Earring
Appropriate Staff

max damage:

Warlock's Chapeau
Errant Houppelande
Zenith Mitts
Mahatma Slops
Morion Earring
Elemental Torque
Appropriate Staff

This doesn't factor in my permanent gear: Moldavite Earring, Duelist's Boots, Penitent's Rope, Rainbow Cape, Tamas/Diamond rings, Phantom Talthlum. Nor does it factor in some "situational" pieces like ugga pendant, nor my "first nuke max MP" setup including Zenith Slacks, Zenith Crown, Lamia Mantle, Hierarch Belt. Point being? That's 22 pieces of gear NOT INCLUDING a full collection of staves just for nuking purposes, a secondary purpose on my job. Let's add in some future plans of gear of mine:

Sea Cape- still would need rainbow cape, but will replace Lamia Mantle in "max MP first cast" setup, but I'll still need Lamia Mantle for +MDB set, so 23
Apoc Nigh Earring- add to Max MP setup, so 24.
Morrigan's Robe- add to max dmg setup, but must keep Errant for max MND build for slow2, so 25.
Morrigan's Slops- thankfully a straight replacement of Mahatma, still 25.
Grips- Bugard +1 and Staff Strap- haven't played much since their introduction, but these need to be added to my "max dmg" and "max MP first cast" setups, respectively. 27.

That's almost half of my inventory for a tertiary job function. C'mon now. I don't need more storage, and I would argue most people feel the same way. Forget another mog locker and try to devise a way to give me even just 5 more slots in my active inventory. Hell, just admit that PS2 is holding it back and give support for it to the PC/Xbox360 crowd. If this game lives another 5 years, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that people's PS2's are all going to live another 5 years.

Long winded, my apologies, but I figured an example of why more active inventory space while in the field was needed for some. Either that, or start making some gear obsolete so I don't have to keep carrying around so much crap. Or generate NPCs/quests/missions/battles/bribery to merge sets of rare/ex JSE to one. Warlock's+Duelist's to lighten my load by 3 or so would be fabulous.

not that it should or would ever happen.

[bercus]

Bercus I'm an idiot, all this time reading your posts and never noticed we were on the same server.

I was born on Bahamut though.

[Amele]

I was proposing a second storage area that isn't always in memory and is only accessible in the field (like a mobile mog locker basically) - which would suck in the sense that you wouldn't be able to use gear directly out of it. but honestly - how often are you really switching 60+ pieces of gear all the time? you don't need the accuracy stuff in your inventory if you're meriting on non mamool but if you end up going to a mamool camp you'll want it, so move it in. only need the zerg gear for the actual DL fight; so move it in. etc.

otherwise I largely agree with you. they can't actually expand inventory without significantly refactoring the memory map...

but I'd take space period if I couldn't get real inventory.

While I won't dare delve into the techological aspects of the game and its programming/design, I did wish to comment on this....
That's 22 pieces of gear NOT INCLUDING a full collection of staves just for nuking purposes, a secondary purpose on my job. Let's add in some future plans of gear of mine:
...
respectively. 27.
...
That's almost half of my inventory for a tertiary job function. C'mon now. I don't need more storage, and I would argue most people feel the same way. Forget another mog locker and try to devise a way to give me even just 5 more slots in my active inventory. Hell, just admit that PS2 is holding it back and give support for it to the PC/Xbox360 crowd. If this game lives another 5 years, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that people's PS2's are all going to live another 5 years.

Long winded, my apologies, but I figured an example of why more active inventory space while in the field was needed for some.

right, I'm talking about ways to give you more space in the field.

how about this: I give you 40 slots that you can only access in the field (like a mobile moglocker) that can hold:
consumable items (food, potions, reraise scrolls)
linkshells
drops from mobs
and gear you don't use but want on you (like warp scrolls)

this moves for most mages (echo drops + sneak pots + invis powder + warp cudgel + 2 linkshells + cookies + reraise hairpin + misc. emergency meds) 8-10 (or more) slots in main inventory easily.

for melee ( echo drops + sneak pots + invis powder + warp cudgel + 2 linkshells + acc food + att food + reraise item + misc. emergency meds + spare toolbags / quivers ) 10+ slots easily.


this frees up all 60 of your inventory slots to actually hold *gear* especially if SE can find a way to have things fall directly from treasure to this new space. you might be able to even move some of the nuking set over at events where you aren't nuking.

[Celebrindor]

right, I'm talking about ways to give you more space in the field.

how about this: I give you 40 slots that you can only access in the field (like a mobile moglocker) that can hold:
consumable items (food, potions, reraise scrolls)
linkshells
drops from mobs
and gear you don't use but want on you (like warp scrolls)

this moves for most mages (echo drops + sneak pots + invis powder + warp cudgel + 2 linkshells + cookies + reraise hairpin + misc. emergency meds) 8-10 (or more) slots in main inventory easily.

for melee ( echo drops + sneak pots + invis powder + warp cudgel + 2 linkshells + acc food + att food + reraise item + misc. emergency meds + spare toolbags / quivers ) 10+ slots easily.


this frees up all 60 of your inventory slots to actually hold *gear* especially if SE can find a way to have things fall directly from treasure to this new space. you might be able to even move some of the nuking set over at events where you aren't nuking.

If that were feasible in the design of the game, I would applaud that for weeks on end. As I stated, I know very little about the techological end of things, so can't comment productively on that.

In regards to "moving nuking set over to events where I'm not nuking"......heh. I'm a friggin boyscout RDM except in meripo where I bring the bare minimums, but try to convince me to not bring at least my joytoy+genbu's shield, if not my entire melee set as well to even an event where I'm definitely not meleeing and good luck with that. Never know when I might get done early and want to screw around for 45 minutes whacking away at things. :D

[Isiolia]

Stuff like that has -got- to be possible, even with PS2 limitations. If they can find memory space to fit Blue magic equipping, Automaton inventory, temporary items in besieged, and whatever else, then there's got to be some way to give us separate space for ammo/tools, meds, etc.

[Viena]

And SE is well-known for blaming things on things like this that make no sense. Like how they say the limit of 60 inventory is due to ps2 limitations. No sense at all. I can still see /bank, /storage, /locker while I'm out xp'ing, so the only difference is whether or not I can access those items outside a mog house. Nothing at all to do with "ps2 limitations."

The difference though is you're only viewing cached data while you're outside of your mog house. You can't interact in any way. A static list is much less memory-intensive than a dynamic one, thus the reason they can still let you view it outside. So yeah, it actually is due to memory limitations on the ps2.

That's untrue when you are talking about lists that use fixed size paramaters like almost each list in ffxi does (that's already wasting lots of memory space).

There are many solutions that could be implemented to allow much more inventory space and make it immediatelly accessible even if limited memory is an issue. There are even more solutions when you can retrieve data from a server whenever you want and have a hard drive as availible cache.

SE has been notorious for giving retarded answers to many of the player's requests so they can avoid putting any work into that. "Regardless of what you think there are many players that enjoy camping kings", "To kill AV you must remove its regen by doing...", etc. PS2 limitations regarding the inventory issue would be another one of those. I seriously don't understand how someone could defend everything that Mr. Wut has to say.

My guesses on why they are lazy enough to not do that are the following:
a) They originally designed the server databases in some way that would require some work to expand that part, and they are lazy to do it. That happened on other MMORPGs.
b) They love having us to pay for mules.

And if they were really using the memory at its limits, the stack sizes wouldn't be 12 and 99.

[VZX]

I'm wondering how easy for them to separate stuff from 80 capacity mogsafe/locker to 40/40 mogsafe/locker 1 and 2 (which both can be expandable to 60)

That way, we can access more item we carry on field right? (extend 60 to 80)

I guess it's doable... they made bolt/arrow heads stackable from 12 to 99 on one of the ver. update w/o so much hassle.

[yrpaine]

am i missing something or is there no ability to use virtual memory on ps2? it does have a hard disk in order to play ffxi, why wouldn't there be a swap file to that could change what's in memory to what's being used, because i'm sure many of the things they have dedicated to memory aren't being used even 50% of the time.

[Amele]

I'm wondering how easy for them to separate stuff from 80 capacity mogsafe/locker to 40/40 mogsafe/locker 1 and 2 (which both can be expandable to 60)

That way, we can access more item we carry on field right? (extend 60 to 80)

I guess it's doable... they made bolt/arrow heads stackable from 12 to 99 on one of the ver. update w/o so much hassle.

stack limits are trivial, it's just flags in the .dat file.

it'd actually be easier for them to add a field accessible mog locker (or make temp item space a little more uh, permanent etc) than it would be to refactor our existing storage.

if you can deal with the idea that to move an item from your mog house to your 'second pack' you have to put it in inventory first (like we do today going from mog house to mog locker) there really isn't much else that would be a problem with it.