Thursday, February 12, 2009

Why bigger bags don’t solve my space problems

I admit it. I’ve already broken the resolution I made for 2009. On December 31 I published a post where I declared that:

“I will get my bank and bags in better order. The first step is to stop jamming it. I’ll stop keeping tons of junk there “just in case”. The starting point will be a big sellout at AH, and after that I’ll ALWAYS see to that I have at least 10 empty slots in the bank so I easily can clear my bags if I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to make decisions about what to do with items.”

Now it’s mid February and I have yet to see that fantastic sell out. There definitely aren’t any 10 empty slots available in the bank. And I’ve got plenty of strange quest items in my bag, which I have no idea of if they’re still relevant. Do they belong to a quest I still have in my log? Is it a quest I really want to do for some reason, something that will be hard to find again? Maybe it’s the part of an important and interesting quest chain? I have no idea and I’m too lazy to check it up.

So in spite of my good intentions I keep taking panic actions like taking out a few non-soulbound items and then throwing them away in a letter to an alt just to get them out of the way. In the worst cases I get them back a month later, since they never were opened. So in fact I don’t only have a mess in the bank – I even use the mail box as an extra storage for more crap things.

Larísa, seriously, sometimes you disappoint me.

Exclusive bags
Now there is a quite tempting solution to the space problem. You can always buy yourself out of it. Suddenly the need to clean up isn’t as urgent as it was and you’ve found an excuse to postpone that boring homework once again.

Currently there are three available alternatives: Pit Lord’s Satchel, which I roll on every week in OS (no luck o far, but I guess I’ll get it eventually), the “Gigantique” Bag sold at 1200 g by Haris Pilton and The Glacial Bag, which I’ll soon be able to make myself, I’m just a few skill points away from it and I’ve already got the Sons of Hodir rep needed.

Those bags look shiny and epic and of course I’m a little bit tempted. I definitely wouldn’t turn it down if the OS bag was offered to me. But somewhere I realize that two more slots won’t fix my space problem in any way at all. The problem isn’t lack of space. The problem is my attitude.

I don’t deny that there are classes that really need a lot of space. I feel sorry for the poor warlocks and there soul shards, which must be gigantic (something that doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re carrying around an extra shield it surely will take space in your bag. But a little shard of a soul? In my world it’s tiny, like dust, and of course it should be stackable. Other classes need several sets to switch between for different purposes. Hunters have carried around their ammo for a long time, even though this will come to an end now. So I have respect for the bag needs of others.

But when it comes to me, a simple mage, I have no valid reasons why I should need more than the hundreds of slots I already have if you put the bank and the bags together. Honestly, if I was just a little bit more disciplined I’d probably go around with 16 slot runecloth bags in every slot just as well. The more space I get the more will I fill it with junk. That’s how I work.

Real life hamster
And it isn’t any different in real life. Whenever I have moved from a smaller flat to a bigger one, it has brought forward the hamster within me. I keep holding on to all sorts of junk from different periods of my life out of some vague nostalgic reason. And yet I know most of it will probably be thrown away eventually the day when I die. I’m just leaving the decisions about what to throw and what to keep and how to store it properly to the next generation. Is that really a nice thing to do?

Sometimes I think I should get a bit stricter with myself. I just don’t know how to get there. How can I convince myself to devote a night to just cleaning up bags instead of running instances or raiding or levelling? By brute force? Maybe I should switch my 18 and 20 slot bags for smaller bags? Then I wouldn’t have any choice but to trash away and sell things to adapt. And once this was done I could go back to the bigger bags again, now with plenty of space available? It sounds silly, but maybe it’s the only way I can make this notorious junk collector Larísa to comply.

Bigger bags won’t solve my space problems. Only I can do it.

21 comments:

Klepsacovic said...

Available bags: All 22s in bag bar, partial 22s in bank, multiple alts with gems and enchanting mats, a bank alt with anything BoE, and a guild bank overflowing with old stuff like BoE T1, old ores and enchanting mats, and whatever else I have no immediate use for but won't get rid of. My paladin has nothing BoE in the bank, ever. I can't afford the space; I have zero free bank slots.

My bag-bag space problems are somewhat justifiable. I carry healing, tanking, and DPS sets at all times, and tend to use them. My bank-bag problem is a different story. It's filled trinkets: 2% when hit to gain stats, paladin quest trinkets, etc. There is one limit: they must all have some unique characteristic and they must come from a quest (in other words, I can't get a new one if I want). Then there are old tier sets: partial T1, T2, and T3 along with Soulforge (D2) and undead slaying gear. Relatively speaking it wasn't that long ago that I finally vendored the last of my dreadmist set.

TL;DR: I know what you mean.

Billy Wallace said...

I have a real life issue similar to this. Tortillas. Yup, the dang things always tear (or more appropriately "bust at the seams") So I was doing a spot of grocery shopping and saw the restaurant sized tortillas. Muy Grande! I got them, of course. I went home, made a burrito, only to have the tortilla not quite meet in the middle when I rolled it. So instead I ate the worlds largest soft taco ever.

But still...get huge bags, ftw.

Anonymous said...

"And yet I know most of it will probably be thrown away eventually the day when I die. I’m just leaving the decisions about what to throw and what to keep and how to store it properly to the next generation. *Is that really a nice thing to do?*"

No, it's actually not a nice thing to do. I cringe saying this but your situation so reminds me of my mother. This is actually a RL issue she has too. We have warned her repeatedly that if she doesn't take care of all the crap before she dies (she's 78) her children are simply going to take it all to the dump. And we mean it.

I actually have the same issues because I can be sentimental about certain objects. But my mother is an object lesson in how it can get out of control if you let it fester. In the game, I force myself at the end of every week to clean out my inventory and fee up space. It can take me as much as two hours, and it's challenging work because I am such a "what if" person. But then I remember my mother and that motivates me.

"And I’ve got plenty of strange quest items in my bag, which I have no idea of if they’re still relevant."

This is your big red warning sign telling you the danger zone is near.

Gevlon said...

"Bigger bags won’t solve my space problems. Only I can do it." Way too few people would accept responsibility for their life. Go Larísa.

To give some positive example, a vision worth fighting for: I have 42 empty slots on my back (granted, my bank is a mess full of stuff waiting to sell). But hey, I've stopped trading with my main, so I could even sell them! I'll do it today!

Anonymous said...

Its a pity we could not merge how we are as im the total opposite, i have a bank alt with full bank slots and Esdras has full bank slots but i hardly ever use them.

Im very much a seller and wish sometimes i kept stuff that i had sold.

Posh said...

Im so like you in this one. I weekly or more times a week. Sitting and micromanaging my bags and bank slots. To get 1-3 empty slots for new gear. I hate to throw away gear that might be usefull at some point. Then there is tabards (Plz make em like pets, blizz.), old sets, season rewards and things and such. Its a mess. I have thought of going to 22 bags as well. But as you said, I have come to the same conclusion, it wont help in the long run.

But I just cant throw it away... :)

Carra said...

A few hints:
-> Sell anything you will not use in a week or so. Prices will only drop or remain even. Those stacks of cloth in your bank? Sell them and buy them again (probably cheaper!) when you do need them.
-> Still have stuff you'd like to save and don't use often? Send all boe stuff to your bank alt.
-> Your bank alt is full? Create a guild just for your bank alt to get a guild bank.

To give you an idea what's in my bags:
-> Tanking gear set
-> Frost resistance set (don't want to forget getting this from the bank)
-> A few potions, bandages and flasks
-> My inscription set
-> A few fun items (all dance trinket, all choo choo train, become an iron dwarf flask, a stack of i'm a pirate/ninja food).

With 18 slot bags, this still leaves about 34 slots free, not bad :)

But the first tip is probably the best: *Sell everything you will not use in the near future*.

Captain The First said...

Get organized! Literally all you have to do is set yourself up in a way you can stop thinking about it and just ACT.

1. Can I do something with the item right now? (Use)

2. Can I delegate the responsibility for this item to someone else? (Delegate)

3. Can I store it? (Save)

4. Sell it. (Dispose)


All the things I run in to get mailed to pre-defined alts. All my ores go to my pally, my druid gets all the herbs and so on and so forth.

I am a packrat myself (I have more darkmoon faire cards then the darkmoon faire), I have a ton of old world mats ranging from primals to hearts of darkness and I never have to throw things away or am ever lacking something I need.

And I am still running on 100% netherweave bags in my bank.

I am not an organized person by nature... but once you set yourself up with a system you mail stuff to the correct alts without even thinking about it.

Granted, I have 10 characters, but once you have a system your bag space problems will dissapear.

Darraxus said...

I have a bank alt with full 16 slot bag that I send all of my valuable crap to such as eternals, ore, etc.

Skarlarth said...

I whole heartedly understand your issue and concurr with your analysis. Only I have similar problems on 8 of my 10 toons my main server! :)

I do hope Blizzard makes tabards like Pets on their own tab, that would help immensely.

But I'll give up my CMR and Dal Rend's set when they pry my account from my cold, dead fingers!

But there are a lot of mats I should get rid of... 7/10 toons on Medivh are 70 and over, how many low level mats do I need?

Skarlarth and Co.
Medivh

Green Armadillo said...

I'm more in Klep's boat myself. My bank is pretty full of soulbound, irreplacible sidegrades etc. I trim it down every so often, but I have a lot of problems with storage space.

I have 98 or so slots on my person, and about half of them are occupied with consumables, gear for my two sidegrade sets (spell hit and pvp), tradeskill stuff (enchanting rod, fishing gear), etc.

Some of this is definitely my fault. Then again, I would have told you that it wasn't worth keeping a boquet of roses from 2006. I kept it anyway, and it made the valentine's event much much easier for me.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I know the feeling. I think I still have Easter candy from my first WoW Easter.

I don't mind parting with mats and consumables, as someone mentioned you can always buy or farm them later. However I hate parting with cool gear from the past. I wish there was a trophy case option were toons could put old gear to look at, not necessarily use. A guild wax museum perhaps? I miss my Malefactor's Eye Patch and my Ice Barbed Spear. When the time comes will I really want to part with my S3/T6 gear? Besides, a huntress needs room for her collection of BoP tanking swords.

Anonymous said...

LOL, i so know that problem. Of course if I could bring myself to break up even 1 of my tier armor sets it would all be ok... as it is they don't even fit into my bank anymore...

Anonymous said...

Hello. My name is Syrana and I have a bag space problem.

I seriously do. I keep lots of neat looking gear for guild social events. (The hostess has to look snazzy!) Plus seasonal items, other odd things it's hard for me to get, nostalgia items... and I also will send stuff off in the mail to "give me time" to shuffle around and make room.

And I have had big sales out of my banks.

But the one bank that I don't let get like that is the Guild Bank. I am sooo anal about that. Odd how I can manage the Guild Bank, but not my personal slots. Heh.

Anonymous said...

@Klesacovic: I guess I should be grateful that: 1. I’m not a hybrid class, 2. I’m so new to the game that I haven’t gathered the early tier sets. So nowadays I can actually throw it away without any big regrets. I just trashed the 7.0 pieces that were replaced by 7.5 the other night… so maybe there’s a little piece of hope for me…

@Billy Wallace: giggle! It’s a wilde association, but I loved it!


@Defty James: Oh yes, don’t tell me about it. I’m old enough to have experienced the deaths of a few relatives and even been involved in clearing houses after it… It really gives you some insights. I haven’t been able to bring it into the game yet though.

@Gevlon: I bet your order is superior. It has to be if you’re in your niche of the game. I don’t’ think I have to get that organized, but at least take a few steps in the right direction.

@Esdras: Yeah, the ideal is often somewhere in between the extremes, isn’t it?

@Stoico aka Impadin: at least we admit our problem. It’s the first step, isn’t it?

@Carra: hear, hear… And you’re even at my server, so I bet you’ll check up on me how I’m doing. 

@Captain The First: Yeah, it’s just that initial time investment that frightens me. Or to put it more bluntly: I’m a bit lazy. But I must do something about it. It became painfully clear at the Love-event.

@Darraxus: I’ve got some alts as well but not with quite as many bags. And I tend to panic send them stuff, not in an ordered manner

@Steven: If they did that I’d grow more interested in tabards. As it is now, I’ve only got a guild one and those for reputation. I’m glad I don’t have that many toons that I actually play. Only two. But both are in desperate need of a clean-up.

@GreenArmadillo: Wow: you saved a boquet of roses for three years! I’m glad it payed off!

@Betty: Not a bad idea! What if you could have some kind of storage for things that you don’t have to be able to access immediately. If you payed a certain amount of gold you could have them in some kind of deep vault. And if you wanted it you could get it at like 24 hours notice? It’s not that we need to have the stuff constantly, we just don’t want to delete it.

@World of warcraft guilds: another tier collector… I’m not one of those. And STILL I have problems.

@Syrana: I’ve never done much of the season stuff until now, when there’s titles for it. And suddenly I get all sorts of dresses and stuff. I really don’t know what to do with it. It remains to see if I can convice myself to toss it away. I doubt it. But most of the time when I’m playing I’m doing stuff which requires me to have gear with stats on it. Like raiding. So will I ever use it if I’m really honest with myself?

Anonymous said...

Don't feel too bad. I have all 20slot bags in my bank tabs and on my character with the exception of the OS bag and the stupid default backpack I can't seem to get rid of. I have all of 5 slots open. Hell on Hodir dailies.

Oh, and I have 5 guild tabs between two alts that are completely filled. As well they're equipped to the max with 16 slot bags and each have at least 3 tabs of mail with all 12 items in each. Some of the stuff in the mail I've been sending back and forth for months now. When it's returned to me from my alt not accepting it, I take the items and send them back. I prefer to think of this as the StorageUSA method where I pay a couple silver each month to continue storing it ;)

Anonymous said...

i always have bag problems. starting from 14-slots days to now. no matter how i upgraded, i never have enough space.

my lock is my main so one bag space gone for soul shards. i have gears from mc days. i know i'll have more spaces if i don't hang on to those old T gears. but i still want to hold on to them for memories. i also like to collect fashions. if i spring-clean them i won't have space problems. i know, it's me!

hound said...

I used to have a bag problem until I wound up with six alts and four guild bank tabs. If push comes to shove I'll make another guild and buy some more tabs.

My level 72 warrior has a full set of Battleforge gear from her vanilla leveling days and also a "fun" set that consists of the Brewfest dress, two glowing tankards, a caster's "helm" (three swirling stones)and slippers. Then there's the DPS set and the tanking set and small sword collection. Then the DPS and Tanking trinkets, some TCG items, a bunch of tabards...

In real life I also have boxes of stuff from as far back as Junior High School. My closet is full of old clothes I hope to fit into someday after I lose some of the weight I've picked up over the married years.

Oh, and thanks for leaving a comment and you'r welcome for the link love. I used the address you gave and the updater seems to like it.

Pangoria Fallstar said...

I used to have problems too, but now my bank is just for seasonal items and my off spec gear (which I upgrade), and side-grade gear. I have one bag dedicated to leatherworking, and 2 bags dedicated to AH inventory.

As for my backpack, that has one 20slot for Hearthstone, fishingpole, lure, flint, wood, different totems depending on situation, different trinkets depending on situation, and spell reagents.

Then I have one just for trade gathering (leathers I skin, raw meats I find). One bag for quest items, one bag for foods, potions etc.

Anonymous said...

Great post.

Honestly I'm terrible with my bags. I do have the OS bag, and a whole bunch of other huge bags, maxed bank slots and a guild bank at my disposal with 4 tabs...

Aaaand

my bank is full
all but one guild tab is full
my alt's bags are full
I'm constantly juggling around mail
My bank alt is swamped

Plus, I'm a Paladin, so I have a million sets, it feels like: Spell crit set, spell haste set, tanking set, DPS set, my RP set (even though I'm not on an RP server...) lol

My tanking set has now even branched out into way more bag space than before... I have some items for when I can raise my defense cap higher and therefore can switch items out, etc and so on it goes endlessly :(.

I even worked out that I'm carrying fourteen trinkets last night. Fourteen!!! :(

Anonymous said...

I'm a warlock, and I usually limit myself to 16 shards in my bags. That means one of my netherweave bags. I've never been able to commit to a specialized bag because... "I can't use that space for other things, if I need to."

I'm a robe collector. I've managed to throw out robes that are green drops. If I really want them later, I can find/buy them, right? ...Right! *shifty look* But I have quest robes, I have rep robes... I have newbie robes and seasonal robes (or dresses). I have two bags of "outfits". Yes, I play on an RP server... but I rarely sit around town and RP. I just can't get rid of my pretties!

On the upside, my personal bag space usually averages about 40 empty slots before we head out. One bag for "utility" items, one bag for shards, the rest are empty.

...I'm getting ready to purchase a fifth bank slot (I think it's the 5th, hm, maybe 6th. 5k pricetag) and it's not for a full sized guild. This guild bank is used between TWO players. Myself, and a friend. We have one tab for enchanting/elemental. Leatherworking/potions. Metals/Gems. Herbalism/Cooking. And uh... "No Touchy", which is full of rep turn in items, overflow enchanting stuff, lockboxes, "soon to be upgrades" boe items...

It's sick.

Good luck with your endeavor.