This is the second weekend in a row that I could not get through the inventory management minigame of Division 2. I went through weapons and salvaged the weapons that didn't have the potential to be perfect. I went through the 150 armor items in my avatar's backpack and combined them, category by category, with the 300 items in the stash, then salvaged the lesser of each item. This took about an hour, all the time I had to play games. As usual.
Division 2 is broken. There were always quirks, such as bad guys spawning behind you or the fact that you have to pop up out of cover to shoot the suicidal enemy that just ran behind you. I mean c'mon--the suicidal guy is on the same side of the cover as you, why can't you just turn your head and shoot him without popping up out of cover? These are relatively minor issues that should be fixed but, if not, the game is still a good time.
Spending most of my playing time on inventory management is not a viable scenario. I work hard when I am working and I expect to play, mostly, when I am playing. Inventory management is a chore which I would far rather not do.
The king of inventory management games is, of course, Bethesda. They have separate inventory items for pans that are different colors, which don't stack with each other. But you know, having 40 different kinds of armor for each slot is almost as annoying.
If I play for an hour, I will collect probably 100 items. Meaning every time I play this game, I have to muck through my inventory and toss all the inferior items. Which takes at least half an hour, often more. This is a bad drudgery to fun ratio.
I have a couple of suggestions:
Remove all limits on inventory, or at least the limits on the stash. This way, if I feel like dealing with inventory, I can. If I don't feel like dealing with inventory, I can put it off. This is the only way I can stand to play Bethesda games, by modding out inventory management. Does not seem to be an option in Division 2.Simplify inventory. Get rid of half the armor, most of these armor sets are not really viable for high-end play so what is the point. All those guns with the same specs should just be the same guns.Get rid of SHD calibration and field research data. The only purpose of these resources is to hinder progress on improving armor and weapons. Not fun, annoying. Do statistical analysis of the inventory items in the game. Anything that is useless, ditch it. Armor that nobody uses, ditch it. Streamline.Get your head in the game. Play the game and see for yourself how boring and time-sucking your inventory management has become. Stay on top of things, because video games are the art form and the cultural apex of our times. This is your legacy. You have a great game, due to your own hard work. Don't let it all go down the drain over something as pedestrian as inventory management.
I'm just going to acknowledge the two most likely troll responses to this post.
I am aware that pacing player progress through game content is necessary. I would rather grind than sort doodads, so take that into account.Second, I acknowledge that I should have learned faith and acceptance from the gatekeepers of goodness. Well, I didn't. I will do my own thinking and I will question things that don't make sense, and so should you. Go ahead and tell me to only pick up items I think I can use, if it makes you happy. I'm not going to do that, because when I'm shooting stuff I don't want to muck through inventory right then and there. I would rather not have to deal with it at all.
Spending precious leisure time mucking through inventory is drudgery, and not at all fun.
I am curious to see what you, the community, thinks about this topic. I might be the only person that hates inventory management games! Well, let me know either way. I would especially like to see thoughtful responses, but I can live with "git gud" and "you don't know anything" as comments if that's what you come up with.
Grey color screen