Bags! Blizzard Discusses Inventory in Diablo III - Hellforge

You may have understood the reference in the title, but the Sword of Truth is a terrible series.

Diablo III's new bag system has a number of players up in arms over the lack of the 'tetris inventory' that graced previous Diablo games, Titan Quest and Hellgate: London. Far from being regarded as a pain in the ass, these players see it as a 'minigame' of sorts, as if the game itself didn't have enough to offer.

As you may or may not know already, Diablo III features not a Tetris inventory like the previous games but an inventory identical to World of Warcraft's bag system. Every item takes up a single space, while certain items (such as potions and gems) may be stacked to specific limits.

Blizzard's community manager for the game, Bashiok, recently chimed in on the usage of bags in the upcoming game and explains how, like in World of Warcraft, players will start off with a small bag that they can gradually upgrade and fill more bag slots with by finding new bags that drop from monsters as loot.

He begins with an explanation on the importance of creating a user interface an accessible learning curve.

Upgrading storage size is a great reward, and can be much better than any incremental weapon/armor upgrade. (Kills/min could easily calculate out to be much greater without having to stop to clear inventory as much with a bag upgrade as compared to a damage increase from a weapon upgrade.)

Building off the last point, it helps add the sense of your character becoming more powerful and gaining more from the time spent playing.

Increasing the storage size over time/play experience is a great way to scale the player's sense of the game's complexity.

Beginning with a small and limited amount of space teaches the player early on that inventory management is an important part of playing the game - and sometimes generating income.

Making and keeping the player aware of their limitations can also help keep a better sense of structure and focus. Being overwhelmed is sometimes as detrimental to a play experience as being bored.

Also keep in mind that while we're obviously dropping bag upgrades off of monsters now, we could choose any number of alternative ways to get them to the player. Or maybe a combination of different ways. Whatever, I just wouldn't focus on the 'how' of them being delivered right now.

Some people have jumped to the conclusion that the "alternative ways" to which Bashiok refers can only mean acquisition through real money transaction-based system. This is highly amusing because Blizzard has mentioned nothing of the sort.