I've been playing MMO's and RPG's for a while. And after EQ most MMO's have eliminated Encumbrance. Encumbrance was something Daggerfall had. Most of the other TES series had a version of Encumbrance.

I think it is a great tool for bringing back that RPG feeling to MMO's. I admit it can be annoying. Though it is more realistic. Which in small doses can make a game fun.

What do you think? Should encumbrance be in TESO?

Lately in MMO's Encumbrance has been missing. I was remembering back in the day in EQ when your character's strength determined how much you could carry. Of course your strength also determined what type of armor you could wear. Another reason caster's weren't wearing armor. They simply didn't have the strength for it. Though monk's who had solid strength wouldn't carry around a bunch of weight as it made their attacks and dodges less effective.

RPG tabletop games also had encumbrance. As it is only logical. To limit how much weight character's can carry.

Thinking back to TES games Daggerfall had encumbrance and so did most of the other TES games. So I was thinking it might be a good idea to bring encumbrance back.

Again I admit it could be annoying. But it also brought up the need for things that many MMO's just have no use for today. For instance. In Daggerfall one of the first things I would buy is a wagon with a horse to pull it around. This wagon was a great travel mode. Though I could understand it being slower than a horse meant for riding. Though it could carry more than a riding horse. Who might be able to be equipped with saddle bags. So that he can carry some encumbrance for players. Though it explained how we got that treasure horde from killing that mob, to the store, so it could be sold.

Encumbrance also was a reason caster types made bags that reduced weight in say D&D. It also was the reason for mages to summon bags that reduced the weight in them in EQ. Weight was also a major factor for such a game to have summoned weapons. Which is another nice thing TES games seem to have.

Encumbrance also slowed down a character's movement after he became weighed down. Or when his health was almost gone. Which made managing it pretty important. As it is hard to run away from that lion, if you are weighed down.

Which led to other things being there, like endurance. You could only run so long. As you only had so much endurance. And since it seems this game will have something like endurance for blocking and such. I think they would fit together nicely. Having such endurance could also lead to another logical mini game. The drinking challenge. Which would explain why bigger people or dwarves can hold more liquor. The more endurance you have the more liquor you can usually hold. Although other's can get better by training their alcohol tolerance skill. Which again was in old EQ. Which led to the game having your character get drunk. When he had to much

Again these skills also explain why say casters can cast spells better than others. They have more intelligence. So they have more mana. Clerics have more Wisdom so they can cast spells from their god, that other caster's can't cast.

Which is the point of such logical skills. It gives the game a more realistic feeling. Yet it adds more fun to the game, by giving everyone new skills to work with. I also miss races like elves being able to see in the dark. Sure you could cheat around it by adjusting your monitor settings. Though I was a person who played my human, needing a torch to see at night . I also think it might be a good idea to require players to go EQ old school and have to buy food and drink. I miss the stupid message you need food badly. Which also meant mages and clerics could summon food and drink. And that these abilities were actually valuable.

And these days MMO's have gotten so stagnant that many of the old school ideas are coming back. To make games seem fresh and original.

Also encumbrance explains why people really like Platinum coins. As not only are they worth more. They weigh a lot less than say 1000 copper coins. Which essentially have the same value.

Maybe it's time for Encumbrance and it's friends again.