scatter items hidden or not?

[tyranzero]

you will encounter 'there is a chest over there', inside have some items/weapons/etc.
but the thing is... out of place if I should say.

like for the example:
-there is a chest in the middle of the road. example: in an abandoned place, middle of the forest, etc. who leaves stuff here? (unless incident/reason behind it)
-a monster dungeon & spot a chest inside it. (not the first traveler)(if the monster also use chest, that makes sense)
- *example you can fill*

are you fine with random chests everywhere?
or prefer items... 'dancing' over something? like on corpse, shelf, above stuff, etc. (indication have item)
or hide them all, make player check all that think 'suspicious'. (no indication)

 

[Trihan]

Pretty much every time I come across this in a game, I wonder where chests came from and who put them there. In my game, there's actually a plot reason for it which you'll find out at the end.

 

[tammie]

In ES: Skyrim it makes a lot of sense. There are three hidden chests that are from merchant caravans. In various houses and dungeons there are chests but it is always understood who put them there - residents or past residents. In caves inhabited only by animals, there aren't chests, but there are some bodies that have loot on them. Random chests across the world makes no sense to me.

 

[Spaske]

you will encounter 'there is a chest over there', inside have some items/weapons/etc.
but the thing is... out of place if I should say.

like for the example:
-there is a chest in the middle of the road. example: in an abandoned place, middle of the forest, etc. who leaves stuff here? (unless incident/reason behind it)
-a monster dungeon & spot a chest inside it. (not the first traveler)(if the monster also use chest, that makes sense)
- *example you can fill*

are you fine with random chests everywhere? or prefer items... 'dancing' over something? like on corpse, shelf, above stuff, etc. (indication have item) or hide them all, make player check all that think 'suspicious'. (no indication)

Well, tbh i never thought much about that and i played alot of rpgs... even now while playing dragonquest 11 and i find chests all over the world, not once did i thought "who put that there" but thats me ofc, i see it as chests are just an indication that there is something important to take... or a trap.. "looking at you mimic from DS series.. ><"

 

[Hungry Moogle]

Well, to quote myself from a previous thread:

I use both.

Basically, I use three different kinds of item containers, each with their own distinct properties from one another: treasure chests, cloth bags, and sparkling lights.

- Treasure chests function like they do in most RPGs, their contents of fixed & remain empty for the duration of the game once they've been opened. Their contents are usually large sums of money, equipment, and the more useful inventory items (i.e. things like Hi-Potions, Ethers, Elixirs, items that give buff effects, etc.) and are typically found in places where you would realistically expect treasure chests, rather than lying around in the middle of a forest. Treasure chests are also tied to a side quest where a adventurer who judges a person's level of skill at adventuring by the number of treasure chests they've found, will reward the player with rare one-of-a-kind accessories based on how many treasure chests they have discovered.

- Cloths bags are similar to treasure chests in that their contents are fixed but will disappear after being opened rather sitting around empty like treasure chests. Their contents include sums of money that can range from large to small, common inventory items like Potions, Antidotes, resurrection items, etc. and on less common occasions, the more rarer inventory items such as Elixirs. Also similarly like treasure chests, cloth bags will appear in places like ancient temples & castles, but will also appear outdoor environments such as valleys, mountains, caves & forests.

- And lastly sparkling lights which function similarly to the glowing orbs that appear in Xenoblade. In contrast to treasure chests & cloth bags, sparkling lights' contents are not fixed, more-or-less, and will respawn when the player leaves & re-enters an area. Their contents are either random amounts of money, or loot that is unique to each major area. Another big difference between sparkling lights and treasure chests/cloth bags is that their locations aren't always fixed, most of them are, but a few will spawn at a random rate while others will only appear during certain weather conditions such as whether its sunny or raining.

 

[alice_gristle]

Hi honey, I voted no. 2! I don't really mind chests, esp. in old-school style RPGs, 'cuz they just like, part of the experience. Like, I don't mind random encounters either, they just an abstraction of how fights happen. But, totally, if you can make it so chests make sense, that's a bonus!

I also totally love twinkling lights and stuff that tell me there's treasure! Maybe that's like the magpie in me? If there's something sparkling I'm like, lemme at it! Even more than a chest.

As for the completely hidden option, I usta be into that, but nowadays I'm like, do I hafta check every goddam pot in this village too? What a bother... I mean, I like that, but only if you signpost it really well so I don't end up frustrated!

Soo, ad summam... maybe a mix of twinkling lights and well-signposted hidden things for me?

 

[ZombieKidzRule]

I didn't answer the poll because, for me, it would be a mix.

Like other posters, I occasionally find myself asking why a chest is just sitting around for anyone to find and why is it still there? But I mostly ignore that as just being how it has been for a very long time.

I prefer if there would be a story behind things, but I don't think that is always necessary, depending on location. For instance, if you are in a deep forest where very few travel, there are bones around, and visual references to maybe why an abandoned chest might be there, then I don't think you need to explain anything. Similar to a dungeon or other location like that.

But if it is just a chest sitting near a road on the map, I would prefer something to explain that if it isn't obvious. But it isn't a deal breaker for me.

I also am torn about twinkling lights without a reason too. Like if there isn't a spell or passive skill that is being utilized. I think my personal preference would be a spell or skill that only works in a radius of a certain distance. That way players can't see everything "hidden" for the entire map. They need to explore a bit. I have seen games that utilize this radius system where if you have a spell or passive skill the radius is bigger, but if you don't, you don't miss out. You just need to be closer.

I also don't mind some hidden things that you aren't going to find unless you stumble upon them through exploration. But it shouldn't be anything critical to the story line.

I also don't mind having to check things that would reasonably contain things like boxes or whatever, but I also get tired of checking them all.

For ancient-school gamers, where if an item was in the game it was necessary so you better pick it up, this can be very frustrating when there is an abundance of things you can pick up and really don't need to. Morrowind was my first big experience with this. You can pick up so many things that you don't need. I had a hard time ignoring all of them!

So I actually like a variety of things and not just one hard and fast way of doing it.

Not sure if that helps.