cedarbridge wrote:Maybe I'm not seeing it but how does decreasing backpack usefulness resolve the "every department starts every shift with every useful thing they could need in abundance" issue brought up in the OP?
Mainly, it addresses a separate but related issue: Players like being able to carry everything at all times. Personal storage being so high, players who want an item will seek out that item in their area because (frankly) they have no reason to not have it. Reducing personal storage will reduce the amount of things people can carry, and get them more used to adapting to picking up whatever is the most useful to them.
That would make adding in scarcity much easier. Players in a well-stocked area already have to try and optimize; making the area less well-stocked adds more elements.
As it is, I will note: I think toolbelts are fine. If they were nerfed, it'd be nice if they could hold more things in exchange. For example, I think it'd be cool if they could hold Hydroponcis gear - that'd allow botanists to actually make good use of the leather they get towards simplifying their storage space.
RE: CM packs, I think it'd be cool if backpacks did have to be taken off (or otherwise unshouldered somehow) to have items retrieved. However, I'd like to see a hotkey for removing them in exchange - right now, the only method I know of is dragging it to hand. Satchels not requiring that but having lower storage also makes sense; given, something else I think could be interesting is duffelbags being a mix of the two - shiftclick swings them down, slowing your movespeed but allowing you to freely access them without needing hand space.
Those are just throwing out ideas, but still, Might Be Cool.
As it is, I'd prefer item scarcity to be generated as a function of randomness rather than forced scarcity. This principle already exists for some things (ie, Botany needs to hassle Chemistry; etc), and what that tells me is that predictable scarcity will lead to people preemptively knowing what you want, which leads to some jobs just outright expecting you to Know what they'll want. Having randomized scarcity would, at the very least, make things more fluid...
And I'd be interested in seeing some kind of persistent system that encourages players to play less greedily, though it'd probably get some backlash as people get used to it/keep accidentally fucking everyone else over.