observations from a novice

[ekolis]

If we're going to go to that much effort then we should just switch to an inventory-by-bulk system and have done with it.

You mean like in Castle of the Winds, where every item had, in addition to its weight value, a bulk value as well, and you were limited in bulk by the size of your pack? (Though I suppose the limit could be something else, such as dexterity or something...)

[Derakon]

Something like that, yes. Current Angband inventory limits are based on slots (with a max number of items per slot) and weight, and practically speaking it's slots that are the primary limitation for most of the game.

Going to a bulk system would introduce a bunch of problems, though. Off the top of my head:

* Currently inventory works on a "one slot = one ability" system, barring spellbooks. That is, you need a slot for healing potions, another for teleport scrolls, one for each attack wand, etc -- even if you only carry one. Shifting to a bulk system would mean that characters would be able to pack lots of "abilities" into a small space, relieving a significant amount of inventory pressure.
* Conversely, swap gear can often be very bulky -- carrying around Rohirrim for pConf, or Theoden for telepathy, for example. You're only sacrificing one slot to do this, so it's reasonable -- under a bulk system, though, you'd be sacrificing rather more.
* Current endgame characters tend to carry absurd quantities of individual items, because they want the redundancy and aren't bothered by the weight. Are we going to disallow that? More broadly speaking, how do you handle the "bulk limit"? Is it a hard limit like inventory slots, or a soft limit like inventory weight? If a soft limit, what penalty do you impose for exceeding it?

I'm not saying that a bulk system cannot work, but it would need a lot of careful balancing work.

[Egavactip]

They should restore the stat they boost prior to applying the boost. So if you're willing to sacrifice a point in a random stat to restore your drained stat, you can.

I tried a potion of brawn last night to see if it would do this and it did not restore the stat--it just provided a temporary boost to the stat.

[Magnate]

I'm not saying that a bulk system cannot work, but it would need a lot of careful balancing work.

++. To me this is in the same league as the supply/demand economics in stores that Cliff has been advocating. Both would, IMO, be really nice improvements to the quality of the game - but the effort to code and balance them would be far more than they'd achieve. That's not to say that I would applaud and support anybody taking either of them on, but neither appeals to me ;-)