Why most items shouldn't be stackable

General Discussion
1

Diablo II differs from other ARPG games because it did a good job of capturing the feeling of items having a weight and substance. When you pick up a full plate mail, it is a heavy object which takes up more room than a single potion. It has a loud audible clang, a bigger sprite in your inventory and on the ground. When you’re moving items around in your inventory, its like you’re managing actual items.

Not a spreadsheet of arbitrary values

Which is what you got in other games like D3, where items didn’t have substance, they had quantity. That’s why runes and potions and so on shouldn’t be a stack of arbitrary quantity. A Ber rune is a valueable little slot in your inventory, not just another number in a pile. We make a necessary exception for ammunition since the game needs you to spray arrows and bolts so fast you can’t click hundreds of them one by one, but it was correct not to turn items with substance into spreadsheets of values.

2

I agree, gems in Diablo 3 got kind of meaningless.

3

Cubing runes as an example, it would be nice (in my opinion) to have the ability to stack chipped, flawed and normal gems up to stacks of 10, or even 5. That way I have my gem assortment ready to go, and it isn’t taking up to 5+ times the inventory space just to be ready for a rune upgrade. Keep flawless/perfects unstackable, I don’t want to cube that high anyways.

Now, I’d also prefer removing the gem requirement for cubing runes, removing the need to collect these lower gems in the first place or the want to stack them. However, everyone seems to want to keep that annoyance just to give lower gems a purpose.

I know stacking isn’t coming. I know removing the gem requirement for cubing runes isn’t coming. A rock and a hard place. I’ll manage though as I did before, but it will be easier with the expanded/shared stash.

4

Yeah, stacking gems would definitely remove that special feel they have.

5

Frankly, I see the reason most items shouldn’t Stack On Top, of themselves is its just not realist to the games world.

Scrolls, AkA Small rolls of parchment cant stack on themselves, why should engraved rocks or gems?

Potions can be stacked(hung really) from a belt. They shouldn’t stack in the inventory, would make zero sense. Why would you need a belt to specially hold potions outside of your inventory(pack back) if a pile of potions took up no more room then 1.

Frankly, I am all for adding a key ring for keys if you have more then 1 key, then I could see at a glance if I have 1 key left.

I have stated before, If you want Gem/Rune stacking, it needs to function how the game already handles stacking small objects. Aka Like Tomes.

Make a few new Objects, Rune Box, Gem Box. They start Empty, First Gem/Rune place Changes the box. Its no Longer Gem Box, its Chipped X Box (1/20), its no longer Rune Box its El Rune Box(1/20). Make the boxes 2x1 in inventory, make them only functional in the Stash. The Inventory icon should update depending on whats inside, SO visially El Boxes have an El rune on the lid, so they are visually different for ease of use and also to reduce likely hood of people swapping them during trades, You would know at a glance if you are getting the Box of Shael Runes because its got its own Icon. Getting swaps for the 1/20 Shael box would still be a bad time tho… Hmm, maybe they Bulging when they are full?

Could also make a Jewelry Box, Similar to the Cube(2x2), but ONLY Holds Jewels, Rings and Amulets(maybe inside of box is a 4x5). Only openable or deposit able while in the stash(so Players cant keep it in the inventory to be always able to throw all the rings the drop in it)

Gem and Jewelry( minus jewels) boxes could even be added to classic. To aid in item storage.

Personally, I would have them sellable by the Act 4 Vendors. Most likely Gems and Runes wont be to significant of an annoyance to store before getting to Act 4, for new players.

Would also make those vendors feel more useful. They look awesome, but currently, they dont really offer a lot for how cool they look imo.

6

I disagree. I be fine stacking only in stash and not inventory, but to not stack in stash is just making game less convenient for mueling.
Unless they add more stash tabs, but I think we have enough stuff taking space like many jewels and charms.

7

It is not possible to stop players from hoarding items. If you do they will look for and find work arounds.

8

Gems are even more meaningless when you don’t even pick them up because its so time consuming to collect and mule.

9

不知道二十年前这么设计是基于何种理由，但是我觉得里面蕴含着一种取舍思维，一个物品就占一个格子，你需要仔细权衡留下哪个，舍去哪个。虽然游戏不是现实，但是我觉得还是保持原样比较好。

I don’t know what the design was based on twenty years ago, but I think it contains a kind of trade-off thinking, an item occupies a grid, you need to carefully weigh which to keep and which to discard. Although the game is not reality, but I think it is better to keep to the original.

10

Yeah, both sides of this argument have good points. Right now I’m leaning on stacking tho.

11

If you actually compared true armor to a rune. I would say in the same space that would be for armor you could store more than six runes in the same physical space as armor vs runes.

The same with gems, if you think that only six gems can be stored in the same space as armor then there is something wrong with your thinking.

What I am talking about here is actual physical space in the real world that would have both armor and magical runes.

12

Let’s get rid of all that annoying stuff. This is uncomfortable, that is uncomfortable, can you skip this, why do we have to make these clicks, and so on and so on. Why not ask Blizzard to integrate a bot so we can turn it on, lean back and watch. Why play a game at all? Hmm, maybe I’m exaggerating, but honestly where does all this lead to? Should be very careful with simplifications.

13

Yeah, true! It is 2021 year, why there is no “win game” button in the main menu? Force the player to perform some actions? This is outdated game design for sure.

14

Oh god, you guys are sounding like the multiple building selection purists who were trying to ruin SC2 by saying it was ‘watering down the game’ allowing people to select more than one building at once.