I would like 99 of these, and 99 of those, and 99 tents to pitch at the hottie.

As I'm starting my RPG gaming again, I'm finding myself back to my old habits of going to a shop and almost maxing out my inventory whenever possible, after purchasing new weapons and such. I usually stock up with pretty close to 99 potions, quite a few tents, close to 99 cure-conditions (tonics, softs, pheonix downs) and the like. I'm not too sure why I do this, but perhaps they do come in handy whenever I'm low on MP and can't immediately cast cure spells or the like.

One reason is that for most RPGs I've played so far, acquisition of money is a joke. Enemy frogs, fishes, and dragons usually carry some sort of money and or items. If this were true, I'd start to slay those damn pesky rabbits in my backyard and start to pay off my credit card. So in a way, maxing out your account is no big problem as money is easily replacable. Supposedly Gil is much harder to earn in the upcoming NA release of FFXII, so you only get Gil from killing human like enemies.

Well, really what else IS there to buy in an RPG? You've got your weapons, your items, and perhaps the odd quest where some NPC will want 10,000 to let you through to a next stage. What else are you going to buy? Food? (Sup Tales of Phantasia) LCD/Plasma TVs? Cars? Houses? (Sup FFVII - Holiday House). I honestly don't really need 99 softs nor 99 tents, but I buy them because honestly there's not much else to buy...

What are your shopping habits like in RPGS?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Spatula, I do the very same thing. Call it a fetish or whatever, but past experiences have taught me that you can use 20 softs and 45 potions in 1 battle. Although, I've already learned how to play these games well enough to never need to use so many support items, I still go around and max my inventory just to simply "have it."

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I remember where once I got infected with some sort of Status Effect once, I would return to the previous town and stock up around 20 or so duplicates of the cure.

If I have a lot of money in the RPG, I usually stock up on High Potions or X-Potions, or whatever items cures your characters, because its almost always faster then casting "Cure".

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I tend to stock up on healing items the most. If I don't have enough money, I still try to make sure that I have at least ten of each important healing item. In terms of weapons or armor, I don't tend to buy a lot while visiting shops. My habit has always been to simply use whatever I find in the game.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

My habit was simple, Buy 10 potion 2 tents and 3 antidotes, for some reason that sufficed through the game (I'm talking about Shadow Hearts btw) I always see myself buying the strongest weapons, although i usually forgot about the armor and misc equips =O

I was speaking idiomatically.

In Suikoden games, spending becomes interesting...Figure you'll likely have around 40-50 active party members, a number of which will need top-of-the-line armor and weapon upgrades. So maxing out a character's weapon is something of an investment of both money and committing to using the character, since you'll run out of money fast if you just try to do everyone.

In my Suikoden V New Game+, I restarted with about 100,000 Potch. I'm not even at the halfway point and I'm broke, because I've been upgrading everyone's weapons indiscriminately. And not even to their maximum levels.

Lot's more stuff to buy (Runes, crystals, potions) and armor is always improving at shops. But that's just it...I like having lots of USEFUL stuff to pick from.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I actually don't buy any healing items in most games, since you can usually find them in chests, closets, cupboards, or off of dead enemies. An exception is tents in most of the FF games, which I will buy ten or so and then restock then when I drop below 4.

As far as armor and weapons go, I will usually keep my primary party members' weapons as up to date as possible, and will buy armor upgrades either as necessary or when something that increases my defense significantly becomes available. I am not going to spent 15 - 20% of my total cash on a piece of armor that increases my defense by less than 5% or something. For my characters who aren't active combatants, I will upgrade their weapons maybe every other town if I have the spare currency.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

In Suikoden games, spending becomes interesting...Figure you'll likely have around 40-50 active party members, a number of which will need top-of-the-line armor and weapon upgrades. So maxing out a character's weapon is something of an investment of both money and committing to using the character, since you'll run out of money fast if you just try to do everyone.

In other RPGs I've played, a character I invested in happened to die or leave the party for various reasons. Now I tend to simply max out the main character since I know that he'll at least be available during the final battle.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I try to get as many healing items as possible-since as someone said, casting healing spells takes too long.

But, on the other side--MP can be deleted by those attack spells, too, so it's nice to have a back-up healer who can use an object--like one to replenish MP.

That's what I thought was fun about Suikoden and Star Ocean. FOOD could replenish HP and such.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Rydia

In other RPGs I've played, a character I invested in happened to die or leave the party for various reasons. Now I tend to simply max out the main character since I know that he'll at least be available during the final battle.

That doesn't happen too much in Suikoden games, though. You can usually tell if a character is going to die/leave the team. They will be the ones who aren't marked as SoDs on the tablet. It is irritating in some games, though. Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 1,2 & 3 all come to mind off the top of my head as major culprits.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

For me, it really depends on what RPG I'm playing at the time.

Any game in the Final Fantasy series, I very, VERY rarely buy any items. Even though I have the money for it. Why? It's so damn easy. You'll find items lying around anyways, and those will most likely suffice for whatever you're going to do until you find a save point. That and I'm usually broke for weapons too. (At least in Final Fantasy VI)

Shining Force series though, I usually stock up on the best healing items for every long stretch of the game. Since enemes tend to kill you in two hits regardless of your HP, I stock up if I don't have a town to go to for 3 or more battles. No antidotes or anything else of that kind though. If a character's poisoned, sucks for them.

Seiken Densetsu 3, I remember distinctly, I stocked up on two things, Round Drops/Pakkun Chocolates/Honey Drinks (depending on how far I am through the game) and Angel Grails. I stocked nothing else. That's just about all I needed.

Games like Fallout/Diablo on the other hand, Massive buying of Healing Potions/Stimpaks like there's no tomorrow.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

My spending habits in RPGs have changed somewhat over time, possibly due to the changing nature of the RPGs I've been playing. In the past, I used to buy lots of healing items, largely because I often relied on them for party maintenance after battles. Of late, I've been spending less on potions etc. as a result of relying on magic to heal my party, as well as using tents/inns more often. This frees up more money to be invested in buying better equipment for my party (which I almost always do when the opportunity arises). But I still stock up a bit on status healing items since status effects can be quite bothersome during battles. I rarely bother with purchasing offensive items like bombs, wands etc. because they tend to be quite weak compared to what most of my characters can do. Either that or they're just too expensive to be worth the while.

If the RPG allows it, I will certainly save up to buy a horse/wagon and a house. Horses are great for quick transport while horse wagons allow you to hoard treasure. Houses have useful storage functions, too. Plus it's always nice to have a plot of land you can call your own and establish as your HQ. I also remember purchasing a ship in one RPG (specifically Ultima VII) for easy sea travel. The neat thing about the ship was that it had a storage hatch I could dump extra treasure/battle spoils in. Very useful when you're low on supplies whilst visiting hostile/foreign lands.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Leknaat

That's what I thought was fun about Suikoden and Star Ocean. FOOD could replenish HP and such.

Doesn't beat Koudelka. You use WHISKEY to revive dead (okay, "K.O.ed") party members.

Since most RPGs give you a ridiculous surplus of money, usually some time before the halfway point, I usually just max out all my items. There's no point in buying potions when you've moved on to mega-potions, but somehow it just doesn't look right unless the quantity slot next to potions says "99" for the rest of the game.

There's a sad lack of games that give you any incentive at all to save up. There's always a point where the best weapons/armour are things you find or make rather than buy, and not much need for money after that except to stock up on curatives (which you usually don't need either if you have a decent healer). I can't think of any RPGs (none that I've played, anyway) where you could actually do something worthwhile with the 15 billion gil you have saved up from level grinding by the end of the game. Your characters' ultimate weapons generally aren't lying around Crazy Wally's Weapons Emporium with a big price tag. And if it's Morrowind, you could just steal the damn thing anyway.

One of the worst offenders for making money useless was Kingdom Hearts. For the first half of the game I was scrimping and saving every bit of munney (or was it munnies? or munny? I forget) just to keep my party in hi-potions and new weapons. Then, after the first time through Hollow Bastion, munney was suddenly useless. The only new weapons and items were ones you had to find through random drops or synthasize or whatever. Enemies started dropping potions so regularly that I didn't need to buy them any more, and I barely had to buy any to max them out when I decided to do so. And...that's it. Unless you're one of those people who actually enjoyed gummi ships and gave enough of a damn about them to bother building some, there's nothing else in the game to spend your cash on. I literally maxed out my party's funds long before the game ended. Hell, Sora had enough to retire on by the time I was finished.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Amanda

One of the worst offenders for making money useless was Kingdom Hearts. For the first half of the game I was scrimping and saving every bit of munney (or was it munnies? or munny? I forget) just to keep my party in hi-potions and new weapons. Then, after the first time through Hollow Bastion, munney was suddenly useless. The only new weapons and items were ones you had to find through random drops or synthasize or whatever. Enemies started dropping potions so regularly that I didn't need to buy them any more, and I barely had to buy any to max them out when I decided to do so. And...that's it. Unless you're one of those people who actually enjoyed gummi ships and gave enough of a damn about them to bother building some, there's nothing else in the game to spend your cash on. I literally maxed out my party's funds long before the game ended. Hell, Sora had enough to retire on by the time I was finished.

Ah, I remember that in Kingdom Hearts as well. I decided to spend an hour leveling up in one of the worlds and I soon discovered that my money had reached its limit. In Kingdom Hearts II, I experienced a similar situation that you described. Enemies in Twilight Town dropped items like Mega Potions and Mega Ethers too frequently for me to buy anything.

How ya doing, buddy?

It really depends on the game for me. In something like a Final Fantasy where I have unlimited inventory space (or close to), I try to max out all of my items. I'll usually use items to heal until magic replenishing items become affordable. In something like Suikoden where I have a limited inventory space, I tend to not buy status affect cures and stick to health potions. I cure in between battles with items and try to save my magic for the bosses.

FELIPE NO

Final Fantasy 1, on the other hand, money was like as valuable as oil is right now, Phoenix downs did not exist and potions heal like 1/5 of your health as well as any cure spells you might have. Ethers were non-existant so you had to have the money to go to an inn. It takes money to save as well. And since magic could not be cast religiously, it was going to be hard to recover any HP without items. That and everything else cost a fortune too, like Magic and weapons.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

If it's a game where you just have an insane ammount of money available to you (Final Fantasy games) i will just max everything out. Buying in bulk makes life easier. Means you don't have to go shopping every two hours for more potions or elixirs. In games where collecting vast ammounts of money is more difficult however (Dragon Quest VIII) i will tend to buy what i really need at the time. I find it impossible to do a proper stock up on games where money is a probem. Weapons are stupid prices so you spend all your money on them and you have nothing left for healing items.

It pretty much just depends on the nature of the RPG for me really

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah, I guess it depends on the difficulty of the RPG in question. Generally, I don't max out my items though. I'll perhaps buy a few spare healing or MP restoration items in case my healer in the party runs out of MP, but otherwise, I usually rely on magic to heal members of the party. Also, running to the nearest town for an Inn is usually more ideal for me than using MP restoration items or healing items. I tend to use normal items as a last resort, really.
Obviously, if there's no healer in the party (this happens in the beginning of some RPGs), I'll use items for healing.

Weapon and armor shops, however, get most of my gold. If there's a new weapon or armor that I can afford, I'll probably buy it. I usually prioritize weapons over armor, but sometimes I may get armor first due to the low defense attributes of some characters.

Also, I have an odd addiction to gold/gil/zeny/munny/$/watev. Essentially, it makes me feel better knowing that I have surplus cash. I'd definitely rather have extra money than a surplus of items. This way, I know I can buy whatever the next best equipment is. If I squander the money on items that I wouldn't even use, then I'd later feel bad about not being able to buy the best equipment for my characters.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It also depends on if its worth it to buy the stuff or not. Like, in most games (or at least most Final Fantasy games) you have enough MP to cast whatever you're going to cast religiously that you don't need any Ethers or MP restoring items. High level heal spells (Cure3 for example) completely negate the need for any X-Potions you might be hoarding. And the all purpose Esuna will negate any need for remedies. Hell, even Final Fantasy 8 made the item command optional.

Most amazing jew boots

I never buy 99 of an item. I tend to go for a number that seems sensible depending on the game. I also take into account the availability of magic spells that may serve the same purpose as certain items.

The only habit I have is that I like to possess at least one of every available item. If I have three of a particular item to sell, I'll usually hold on to the last one, even if I don't see myself using it anytime soon or ever.

Originally Posted by Forsety

It is irritating in some games, though. Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 1,2 & 3 all come to mind off the top of my head as major culprits.

In Grandia (at least the first one) there are a few hints you can pick up. It's always suspect to find that a character levels up more slowly (or more quickly) compared to the others and you know things probably won't last when a new party member just happens to be at a much higher level than you.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Megavolt

In Grandia (at least the first one) there are a few hints you can pick up. It's always suspect to find that a character levels up more slowly (or more quickly) compared to the others and you know things probably won't last when a new party member just happens to be at a much higher level than you.

I discovered that in FF8 when Edea joined. I didn't waste anything on her.

We talk about having room for items. Suikoden made it a strategic point with its item inventory. Each member of the party only had room for so many things, and the items came with a "pre-packaged" number.

For those who haven't played, here's an example:
Needle 4
Medicine 3
Mega Medicine 3

And you can't go higher than those numbers, so to have say, 6 Medicines, you have to use 2 lines.

And like I said, you only have so much room, since Suikoden does the weird thing of counting your armor/accessories as part of your item inventory. (I think there's only 6 slots left)

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Leknaat

I discovered that in FF8 when Edea joined. I didn't waste anything on her.

We talk about having room for items. Suikoden made it a strategic point with its item inventory. Each member of the party only had room for so many things, and the items came with a "pre-packaged" number.

For those who haven't played, here's an example:
Needle 4
Medicine 3
Mega Medicine 3

And you can't go higher than those numbers, so to have say, 6 Medicines, you have to use 2 lines.

And like I said, you only have so much room, since Suikoden does the weird thing of counting your armor/accessories as part of your item inventory. (I think there's only 6 slots left)

I was going to come in here railing about Suikoden, but I figured you'd probably beaten me to it, Lek.

Yea, in most FF games I spend like a pimp on shoreleave day. Tents, ethers, potions... tons. In Suikoden though, I budget for weapon upgrades and runes. They force you to be much more economical.

Most amazing jew boots

I'm generally quite conservative with item buys -- the result being by the end of the game I generally have too much money (Suikoden an exception, sharpening weapons for everyone takes so much). And this doesn't really have to do with buying, but I have a horrid habit of being far too conservative with item use. Like, I'll be in a fight, and I'll consider using that Megalixir or whatever but then I say "no, what if there's a much harder fight later and I really need it?" And then the next fight comes, and I say the same thing. And the really hard battle never comes. When the final battle arrives, I finally say "oops, I never used any of this." And I beat the game with pretty much every uber-item you find in the game (if you can't buy them) still in in my inventory :\

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Denicalis

I was going to come in here railing about Suikoden, but I figured you'd probably beaten me to it, Lek.

Yea, in most FF games I spend like a pimp on shoreleave day. Tents, ethers, potions... tons. In Suikoden though, I budget for weapon upgrades and runes. They force you to be much more economical.

Heh. One of two things I never liked about Suikoden.

Of course, there's always the trick of spending money at an inn to heal, but if you have the money for that, then why not buy the healing items?

In my case, it's because I like to upgrade weapons as well as buy items AND keep healing MP up. This is what I do in a fight:

Go in fighting.
Physical and magical attacks.
Apply HP item when person is under half HP--use strong item if available.
Use those items until they run out.
Use weaker items until they run out.
Use All-party healing items after All-Party attack from enemy (if available).
If not--All-member healing spell.
Use MP items (if available) to return MP to higher numbers.
Defeat enemy.

This is normally a boss-fight scenario, since some enemies don't require much to defeat them. (Unless it's Diablo from FF8--bugger starts to heal you after a while).

After that, I generally go to an inn to rest up and heal--then go shopping all over again.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Looks like most people haven't played Digital Devil Saga or Shin Megami Tensei. You will be begging for money in those games (especially in Nocturne).

This is mainly because money isn't just used for items. In DDS, you have to purchase new skills, and while prices are okay in the begiinning, they get very high later on (easily 1 000 000 macca or even more), while most enemies in the normal game don't drop anywhere near enough, especially if you want to max out everyone on your party. This wasn't so much of a problem in the first DDS, siince some monster dropped special items, sellable from 60000 to 192000 macca, but in DDS2, getting money was pretty hard, since most monsters hardly drop these items anymore, and you were forced to limit yourself to only a few specific skills, instead of maxing out the mantra grid.

Money is even harder to come by in Nocturne, if you suck at the Kalpa tunnels like I do. You don't really need to rely on money to get the good items here, you're better off hunting for gems for that, but you need it to get old demons out of the compendium. While prices are still fair in the beginning, later on it'll get ridiculously expensive, while the money amount that enemies drop is still low.

Jam it back in, in the dark.