The Definitive Storage Thread

This thread will become the centralised place for discussion relating to new Storage ideas. New threads on the subject of storage will likely be closed, or merged with this thread. The previous thread became too messy in the end, so many of the ideas relating to storage are quoted below. If you want me to quote a new storage idea in this post, please PM me, or another sardelac moderator.

Please keep discussions civilised, and within the Sardelac Sanitarium Guidelines. Thank You.

Discuss.

I got a suggestion for the poll *if it at all possible to add this*. Add in a option for "make inscriptions stack-able," I think that many people would like to add that option, and if not put on the poll, might be constantly added as "other."

The tab ideas are nice but IMO, rather pointless for one fact, not many of them. For example the "dye tab" would be rather small due to low amount of dye compared to the materials. The same thing goes for the "Quarter Master Tab," the tab idea would be a better idea if you combine both of these 2 tabs, so that so much room is not waisted on a single thing that has few spots. Along with the Quarter Master items, I suggest special collector items *anguish gemstones, victory tokens, lunar tokens, etc* should be added, as they act the same as the quarter master items.

And the "Mini Pet Tab" would be over populated with spots in order to fit them all in, same with the "Green Weapons Tab". A rune tab could be useful, but not needed if runes become stackable, same with inscriptions. The collector item tab has the same problem, there are too many "Trophies" that you can make an individual spot for each one.

The Armor Tab is an interesting idea, what I suggest for an Armor Tab is that it makes the tab for armor sets, with the number next to the icon shows how many of the set are in there and you have to drag and drop to a different storage area in order to pick out the individual pieces. That might become a little annoying, but it would be helpful with size of that tab. Due to the amount of armors, the best way to make a tab for this would be to make it look like the regular tab, but make the armor pieces stack. This of course could be much easier to handle *at least for players* if that was just the case and no new "Armor Tab" was added.

In short, what I suggest is this:
-Runes and Inscriptions become stackable.
-Armor sets become stackable.
-Dye and Quarter Master Items get a combined tab.

I've done a previous thread about a "private tab" in storage.
Each char would have an access to his own tab in xunlai chest. This represent his "house". This tab should be reasonnably big... A former hero that saved the world many times would have enought room at home to store 4 sets of armor and 50 weapons i think

I think Dye storage would be nice, I would like to see armor and green storage if those things could be done. Increasing mat storage would be good, IMO it should be bumped up to at least 1k... maybe 5k for ectos.

I'm not sure if runes should be stackable. Unless a few sup vigors drop on you, I don't see why you don't just use them or sell them right off the bat, particularly now we have sup salvage kits.

What about:

1. Rune of superior holding (each bag could hold for example 2x as much as it does today).
2. Just make Xunlai storage larger (extra tabs, or let us buy more chests from the xunlai agents).

/Storage Command: /signed

Stackable Runes: /signed. Reason fits well being alongside scrolls.

Minipet Storage: /signed if it's part of the HoM.

Collector Item Storage: /notsigned. Not as important.

Dye Storage: /signed, but with less urgency than the others.

Ability to purchase more storage: /signed, should probably apply to any new types of storage available.

Armor Storage: /signed if it's part of the HoM.

Key/Quartermaster Token Storage: /notsigned. The only key you should ever need is a Lockpick. Also, lots of people exist that purchase Quartermaster tokens, so storage for them is unnecessary.

Green Weapon Storage: /notsigned

Other: Not exactly a storage idea, but it would be cool if through the Xunlai Agent, we could access other characters' inventories (limited to those who have bought storage to prevent pre-Searing abuse) so that transfer of items between mules becomes easier. I believe that if a system like that was created, extra storage may be unnecessary.

Storage really is an issue that needs to be addressed. This a great thread. Thanks for opening it up Celestial Beaver. I agree with all of the storage ideas in the poll, but mostly I think Armour storage, dye storage and stackable runes need to be implemented.

Ah voted before i noticed that purchasing extra storage space idea is using GW gold, not real money.

well i support that, stackable runes (and inscriptions?) and armor storage.

Additional storage should be the last thing A-net should implement, other options would always be preferred.

The main problem I see is with armor.
A typical character has one or more armors and several headpieces available.
Most of my characters have at least 4 headpieces.
Since armors are a gold sink I'd say A-net should implement some form of armor storage so more people will burn their gold on armor.
Make armor selectable as total set and as separate pieces.

Next: dye storage.
Would be nice but main reason is the large gap between the trader buying and selling prices.
Each time you sell a dye to the trader and you buy the same color later your loss will be 90 gold for most dyes.
I would prefer closing this gap and not adding storage for dye.

Stacking runes: I do like the idea but it would disrupt the rune trader too much.
People would keep runes till those are expensive or even worse, start buying low / selling high even more than they do now.
Additional storage should not create market opportunities...

I do see value in a green-item storage.
Make a slot for each specific green so players can collect all without losing to much inventory space.
Same for mini pet storage.

And since this is about solving problems for people who don't have enough storage, put a huge price tag on the storage.
10K at least, probably more.
For armor storage, consider implementing a new NPC for the guild hall, priced at 100K besides NPCs in towns.
If you don't like the price tag you probably don't need the extra storage that bad.

gogo armor storage ;o

So yeah, armor storage is my main problem. I have three main chars, and they all have armor sets that need holding. So maybe something in that department.

As always, my answer to more storage is:
If we get more storage, we'll fill it anyways. So the best way to solve storage problems is to remove storage need. That is done with:

- Traders that keep the items so we don't need to hoard them. This would be perfect for weapon upgrade traders.
- Item unlocking, so each item of a certain type is only acquired once, and then can be obtained much easily later one. This would work for armor, dedicated miniatures and books (so we can read Zho's Journal anytime without having to keep them)
- Better market system: So we don't need to save item to sell them later, and directly sell them as soon as we get them. The Xunlai Marketplace would be the best option for weapons, tomes, and the like.

I think if like items of equal value could all be stacked that would greatly reduce the need for additional storage.

PS: Are we talking on the individual character or Xunlai storage? or Both?

Although I would like it, I personally think the collectable storage to be unworkable in practice.
I have one char dedicated to each chapter just for collectables and then I have an overflow char and storage full also. I am sure I dont have every type either so we are talking maybe 200 different items.
could you have a tab for "fav" ones? maybe, but then the issue will just come up about there not being enough space again.

the same answer to the green storage.. too many unique greens for it to be practical IMHO.

i said OTHER.

I dont think we need or will ever get more storage. We finally have crafting storage and multiple tabs, I dont think we will get much beyond that.


However... Inscriptions do not stack- this is annoying to me. I merch req 9 15^50's every day... its just not worth my time to keep that stuff anymore.

Aye, thats extremely annoying, I find myself creating storage chars that have half of their bags filled with inscriptions because;
1] I don't want to bin them if they have their uses.
2] I havent got round to selling them or offering them to the guild/alliance
3] They are all duplicates that could easily be stacked.

Inscriptions are the worse, and so are mods ><

Above all else I want to see Armor storage, I could see dye and mini's set up such in a way like the material storage window, but armor storage would be most important, particularly if you have multiple characters.

Storage DEFINATELY needs improvements, this is one of areas where GW looks very poor.
Reasonable storage updates I'd like to see, any single one would make a difference, and more=better:


1>> Buyable Universal storage slots/tabs as a gold sink.
Personally I'd happily pay 5k per central storage slot / 100k per storage tab, but the prices should be accessible for the majority of players, for all those in need.
An increasing price model could be used, for example selling whole tabs of extra storage:
1st for 10k, 2nd for 25k, 3rd for 50k, 4th and every further one for 100k each
Additional Personal character's storage could be sold this way aswell, I think every playable character needs at least 1 tab of personal storage, for stuff for use just for him/her - mainly Armor sets and weapons.


2>> [my idea back from 2005, would be still of great use today] An update giving every character a personal storage tab working only for items Customized to that character - a personal wardrobe, an armory. Swap your armors and weapons as you change your builds with no annoying searching for them through multiple mules.
This type of storage would be very safe for economy as it can't be abused by any hoarders of goods (in 2005 big numbers of forum gw fans thought protecting the economy was the reason for very small storage and trade limits)
It would also encourage players to customize their weapons more, and craft more armor sets - great positive effects on economy.
I would certainly craft some more sets myself, just because I would get space to store them.


3>> Stackability of identical mods and inscriptions.
I'd love to keep a stack of Measure for Measure inscriptions everytime i go PvE, now I either have 1 or 0, no room for keeping more so they just get destroyed. All those +15^50s and +5Ene's, and +30s, too good to just trash but also very common, they end up on random items everywhere on mules and their heroes, impossible to keep track of what you have this way. Stackability would be godly - 1 mule for mods would be enough, and it would be clearly visible that you have, for example 19 15^50s, 4 sword +30s, 3 scythe +30s and zero staff enchanting20% without having to relog and check all mules and their heroes...

Or just add an npc trader for mods and inscriptions, so keeping all those would be as pointless as keeping runes/insignia isnow.


4>> An Automated trading system (like Xunlai Marketplace) /bah, /obvious.
This would be a wonderful thing that would eliminate the need of keeping certain common items intended for future use like tomes or mods, and would greatly reduce the volume of the 'for sale' part of inventory.


5>> A specialized MINIPET storage solution.
Those cuties take stupidly large amounts of storage space, I have so many I can't even say if it's 30 or 40, can't immediately say if I have a duplicate of one or not, can't easily access one I'd like without having to relog to a mule and back...

And they're very simple items, considering storage, they're always the same, so storing data about one should take far far less space than 'just any item' storage slot.
The solution to save the actual minipet storage data somewhere in the account's file on the server is to create an ordered list of all minis in game (with reserved space for a number of future ones) and assign just 2 bits of data to every position on the list.

This is very similar to what they did with the Event Hat NPC, 1 bit per hat unlock. But with minipets you can put one in or take out of the box, the 2nd bit of data is for recording if the mini is dedicated or not.
Everything else is just interface work - is it an extra storage tab or portable inventory item that opens a window where you can drag and drop your minis, the Incubator Kit way.


6>> More specialized storage - less server space/bandwith usage than more universal storage tabs; just like the material storage and the suggested Minipet storage.
Dye and Skill Tome storage falls into this cathegory, they're highly useful stackables, their storage solution would have to be done in a similar way to the material storage.
And it's also a very much needed kind of storage. I keep all the 11 dye stacks in xunlai chest so every character can access them and easily test dye mixes on various items, I do that a lot. Skill tomes library also takes a significant portion of my central storage - every character needs a quick access to skills when needed, without leaving groups for multiple relogs for tome mules.
Various Consumables could also use a specialized storage tab, there are lots of different kinds.


7>> /storage command or an interface button to open the xunlai chest while in a town/outpost that has it. It's minor but would be a very helpful time-saver. I'd love it.


8>> And last, extreme and desperate request, when all others fail:
Sell the Ultimate Storage Upgrade in the online store.
One definite centralized storage solution for all dedicated GW players.
A significantly better option than buying char slots for mules.
If this is about bringing more money to Anet, it should be Fat, and done really well to be a commercial success.

It should include multiple central account-based universal storage tabs or upgrade the existing ones to be much bigger. For extra hotness the upgrade could include some of the more specific storage solutions mentioned above - the ability to open other characters inventories through Xunlai chest interface, the minipet storage tab/box/pokeball, a dye and skill tome storage tab and personal wardrobe for every characters armors and weapons.

I would certainly buy that, as I've already bought 3 character slots just for creating storage mules, and I'm really not satisfied with such a primitive solution requiring lots and lots of relogs to find something or swap an armor set...

Bonus section: Suggestions that suck, imho:

--green weapon storage - there are hundreds of them, they are saved on the servers just like golds, with full weapon stats info, they aren't [green item #0263] like minipets, much harder to compress that. Also there are many players who don't use greens at all (I use only on some heroes). So it's also not a helpful storage solution for many.
--stackable runes/insignia - what's the reason for wasting ANY storage slots for any runes/insignia, when they have a trader npc, when you can just put them on heroes and salvage when needed from their indestructible armors? For hoarding needs I had heroes with 5 sup vigors in the past, do you plan on making a bigger stack of them than all your unused heroes can hold?
Making runes stackable would also enforce removing their variable inherent merch value, killing a nice source of extra cash of mine (salvage any major/sup rune, id it and sell separately to merch).
-- specialized storage for niche junk like collector items, quartermaster tokens, keys. Those item types don't take more than maybe 4 storage slots on my whole account. People should just exchange them quick and not store large variety of them, like 1 of each. And use Lockpicks - the universal key solution that works.

QFT the Yawgmoth post from Ophelya Bright & Midboss Afterlife (the last is not a GW player anymore but still interested in game mechanics... he finds the idea of the Auctions House GREAT! since he now plays LoTR OnLine where AH is a major features there... maybe he will return back to GW... who knows...).
I voted for all the reasonable implements of the Xunlai Chest...
I have not signed the green one just because they're too many & the collector stuff... usually u store not a great variety of them, so nps... u cna put them on a mule
I agree on the use of the lockpix only (well at least i do that, so no need for keys for me).

BUT!

I have to say that ANET will never do this changes, coz selling slots at €9.00 each... is way more convenient for them to make us happy.
Anyway...
let's hope!

I completely forgot about that >.>, yeh too true, it won't be done if you look at it in that light.

Wait... don't we want people to buy/sell items to keep the economy alive? If there are more (free) storage tabs, then people would never sell any of their stuff. Whereas now, running out of storage forces people to let go of some of the things they don't absolutely need.

I voted for more storage anyway

But utomized items have no relation to that.
One big part in storage problems is saving armors once you make them.

With 15 sets of elite armor, I really could use some of that armor storage. Who doesn't want a virtual closet for their characters when they feel like dressing up!

I voted for "no more storage".
Because, the way i see it, storage problems, and how you deal with em is part of the game, and more importantly, the economy

But there are plenty of Ideas that i think could optimise the way space is used.

One of my own is that:
Upon talking to the xunlai agent, a menu very similar to the one tolkano brings up when registering an account name.
The user may the proceed to select a particular character, and then open up, and modify the items that the particular character is carrying from any other character.

The benefits primarily are that logging out/in is unnecessary, however it is my belief, that storage will be utilised in a much more natural manner, and thus will provide greater incentive for players to fill out character's inventory to greater capacity, due to the reduced inconvenience of having to once again access the items.

Another idea that isn't on this page, possibly due to the fact that it isn't strictly storage related is: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10071643

But, given that both ideas are intended solutions to the age old problem of finding places to store the stash of souveniers, ever growing faster than a pulsating growth of an afflicted, i think they're worthy of inclusion

For the most part, I agree with Yawgmoth with a few exceptions/additions.

First, the buyable universal storage would need to sold in the online-store to account for the additional sever space needed to house all of the new storages people would undoubtedly buy on the first day available. I would gladly fork over $3.99USD for another 20 Xunlai spaces (on a new tab) rather than use in-game currency, or $9.00 for an additional mule that I'm not going to play because I already have eleven slots (one of each profession and a dedicated PvP slot). This of course would have to have a max limit to keep from creating too many hoarders, maybe 7-10 boxes at a maximum.

Second, a trader or storage solution for weapon mods would seem like a good idea, but I think that it would be a little infeasible due to the sheer quantity and variety in quality of weapon upgrades. I believe that there are around 200 individual upgrade types (inscriptions, prefix mods, and suffix mods) with 2-3 grades of quality for each one, meaning that a storage or trader for those would have to keep track of nearly 600 different entries. But stackable, yes, I like stackable.

Third, an Automated Auction House system would be very nice, but I would suggest making it an isolated area (a new town in the Battle Isles?) away from the rest of the players that want to play, rather than trade. (Just think... no more spam in Lion's Arch)

A specialized mini-pet solution would be very nice but would have to be done in a way that it can only be accessed in certain areas (exactly like the festival hat maker) and has a limit on the number of mini-pets that can be out at one time (one per character with no duplicate minis out) and should ideally not include green minis.

Additional specialized storage for consumables (dyes, tomes, keys, alcohol, party favors, sweets) would also be nice, but not everybody needs or even wants these types of spaces. So my suggestion would be to make these available in the online store for $1.99USD each (with the exception of the dye storage--that would be upgraded to your acct. for free with the next online store purchase (because most people would want that) ) or buy them all as a set for $7.00USD.

And finally, with respect to the storage for items customized to the character (the greatest suggestion to date), have it begin as a new regular Xunlai tab (20 slots), but link it with the Kind of a Big Deal title track (we really need some kind of reward other than bragging rights!) and each rank of the title expands the area in this custom tab by 10-15 spaces. So, in theory the characters that need the most storage space (the oldest ones with the most game experience) would get the most storage space without giving hoarding space to players (hoarding typically has a negative effect on market systems).

P.S. (Edit) A new interface button for Xunlai would also be a really big help! On an account with nearly 2,000 hours, one has to ponder just how much of that time has been wasted trying to find/walking to the Xunlai agent/chest. And if an Automated Auction House were to be added to the Battle Isles, just get rid of the Xunlai (with the exception of early towns for new characters to buy their Xunlai access) if you add an interface button, because you won't have a need for that gathering spot for trading.

Um yea...

I've categorised all my tabs,

Collecter items, More collector items, Upgrades, weapons, Material storage..

Unfortunately there isnt a spare set of slots for armour as one can see.. more tabs plz plz plz plz.

Storage is only half the problem. Trading needs to be made easier.

But yeah, if they're going to give out all these collectible mini-pets, entice you to collect armor, and other gold sinks, why not have some way to store them that's better than the current options? Maybe a "Mini-Pet" merchant like the festival hat merchant?

Exaclty.

You must remember that.

Just more storage will be filled again.

We need ways to remove the need of storage:

- Unlocking for things that are usually acquired once per character or account and never again (like we already have with skills, heroes or hats)
- Traders for things that are acquired once in a while, and we may change later on, and expendable things (like we already have with runes, materials, dyes and scrolls)
- Better player-player trade systems. Something that allows to trade without relying in external systems and that allow to trade with everyone regardless of districts and regions.

I believe you have just solved the problem ;D

However if there is a minipet guy, just as there is a festival hat maker, wouldnt that affect the price of minipets?

I don't think so, since dedicated minipets (the ones you'd have to show the Minipet Guy) aren't worth as much anyway. That market might drop a bit, but remember, A-net is not responsable for keeping the in game wealthy wealthy, the are responsable for making a game that is fun and accessable for all.

That may be a prob... I try to explain with 2 examples:

1) The minis guy works like the hat guy (a clone for 10 golds).... dedicated minis market is destroyed, everyone keeps walking around with a naga/vizu/zhed dedicated (who cares? i payd just 10 golds + the fee the guy asked me... like 1k? or even much less?) /notsigned

2) The minis guy asks YOU a much higher price (10k... more?) to clone ur dedicated mini... is good if u want to clone a mini for any other chara of ur account, but it's not fair to pay more then 10 golds for something that u already paid... and in some cases u paid a lot! If (like i do for my hats) i destroy it after i put it in "store_my_hat_or_minis guy"... i have to pay a lot of money everytime i decide to change the minis i want to join me... /notsigned

I think it's better to have a guy or a special chest, somewhere in GH or HoM that simply stores the minis (a chest is the best).

And something like a wardrobe for my armors Dedicated for each character!!!

Not for miniatures with 'unlimited' sources.

And for those with limited sources,dedication is already altering that price.

Once there is only one left of a certain miniature, its price would be insane.

That's why an unlimited (yet VERY small and slow) source for those should be added too, like annual contests, Wintersday gifts and so.

But for the rest, there would be no problem, since they keep coming from Birthday presents and Reward chests.

I would like to see the "armor storage" implemented as for PvP characters. Press J and choose one of the armor you unlocked for that char. No more armor storage issue.
Add a new kind of PNJ in big towns : the Librarian. He would trade Tomes. No more tome storage issue.
Let us preview dyes before we buy them. No more dye storage issue.
For weapons, a pannel like armor's... It would allow your character to use any customized item on your account, and to use any shield/focus regardless of its location.

Collector's items doesnt matter, keeping them is a choice that will cost you some storage, its fine as it.

For Minis... I'm definitly against a specific storage. Minis cost a slot ! They're, by essence, a waste of space. Thats why ppl abandon them...

/signed

Since I bought NF, those have been the hands down quickest way for me to lose storage space.

Sell them, use them, trash them. Same for runes.

all im saying is that all of the ideas are brilliant and i hope Anet will address this topic and change the way storage is done... and tust me strage really wont be a major blow to the GW economy

Storing keys, collectable items, quest items, books like materials can be quite nice.
But non-stackable items like inscription, mod component, might be hard to manage. Same to weapons, minipets, these things might well need a seperated strage spaces, but it might well mean to merely increase normal storage size just because if everything is well categorised, people would reduce the use of current storage (No category, can be messy or tidy depending on how we sort items) we are using today (Not a typical problem though).
So making specific storage system for stackable items and increase current strage size might be a good idea

And regarding to armour strage, purchasing armour storage per set (5 pieces a set, can mix different armour types) might well solve armour storage issue.
Let say if one has 50 sets of armour, s/he can buy 50 armour storage for that specific character from storage NPC, so s/he can store up to total 50 x 5 = 250 pieces of armour parts; and can buy more for future use.

I've yet to see this suggested yet (I did a quick search, correct me if I'm wrong), so I'd like to put it out there.

Why shouldn't heroes be able to carry anything, I mean they've no reason not to. They fight with us, and carry the weapons we give them, why shouldn't they pull their own weight and haul a few items around?
I suggest to implement a hero belt pouch that can be bought from either normal merchants for a small fee (1k should be fine) and hero skill trainers for a couple hero points (5 should do, and it becomes a sink for those who are UAX and have hero skill points left over.)

I've done a rough paint job to illustrate my idea.


Basically, when you enter the inventory screen and click a hero, your trash bin is removed and you then see the hero belt pouch, it should be able to hold 2-5 items (I'd like some of your input on this as for balance) and function just like any other pouch, but it's only accessible when you have the corresponding hero's inventory selected

I have to say that the one thing I really feel a storage need for is Armor! For that I'd prefer a tab to be bought for each character (i.e. that only that character can reach, as opposed to the material storage). Even just the regular tab space of 25 slots (4-5 sets, depending on headpiece) would greatly help out, as I'm the kind of player who has (or am getting) at least 2 armor sets for each character, which does build up fast if you have 8 active PvE toons, aiming for 2 more for the full set

A tab such as this (either 25 slots or more, but not locked into sets, I want to be able to store my auras and various GWEN armor pieces aswell) can very well cost a bit (say 25-50k), and either hold only armor pieces, or only items customized to the character that bought it.

And of course I know I can keep mules, but it really sucks to have to switch characters just to switch my ele between regular and farm armor, ranger between running/standard/beastmaster etc...

Considering that the Hall of Monuments practically encourages us to collect armors just for the sake of collecting (and thus money sink), somewere to store the armor while still being reasonably available (and I do not consider mules to be "available") feels warranted.

/Tanner

Tanner83's idea is pretty cool, a unique tab for each character that can store up to 5 pieces of each type of armor for that character. Ie. there are 5 Headpiece slots, 5 Body Armor slots, 5 Glove slots... etc.

I'm actually detered from buying too many different sets of armour just because of the storage problem (I already have 2 characters full of 'junk') which means that unless I continually change Runes/Insignia which can start to get expensive then I always go into area with a disadvantage.

I don't think Anet wants you to have more storage because Anet wants you to purchase extra characters to use as mules for storage. I am actually ok with this as they have to make a buck some way and since there is no monthly fee it is not unreasonable. I only wish that there was an easy way to access all your character inventories at once.