The High Inquisitor: How Can Bags Carry All Our Crap?
Posted by 
pixiestixy on Friday, October 9, 2009 - 42 Comments Tags: Lore, bag slots, bags, bigger on the inside, bottomless bag, carry, endless pockets, game mechanics, heavy, high inquisitor, inventory, lore, reagents, slot, space, weight
pixiestixy on Friday, October 9, 2009 - 42 Comments Tags: Lore, bag slots, bags, bigger on the inside, bottomless bag, carry, endless pockets, game mechanics, heavy, high inquisitor, inventory, lore, reagents, slot, space, weight
The High Inquisitor is a new regular column at Project Lore that seeks answers to the greatest mysteries of Azeroth. Each week, the inquisitor will attack a previously unanswered question and attempt to explain the unknown. But she won’t rest until all plausible explanations are explored. The best, most probable comment(s) will be highlighted with the next edition’s inquisition.
First off, a look back to last week's question on why dwarves are portrayed as drunk Scots.
Azurienatei had this answer that may explain: "In both Irish and Scottish lore there is a type of fae, something between a leprechaun and what we think of as a dwarf, that wears red clothes, is heavily bearded, and often likes to trick humans in taverns and inns by drinking unattended ale. Given the demographics and of course the penchant for drinking these creatures were eventually molded in with dwarves."
Most of you seemed to agree that WoW hasn't strayed much from the stereotypical view of a dwarf, which has evolved over time. Thanks for the input!
Now onward to this week's inquisition! Last week was somewhat of a philosophical view on a topic that could be at least somewhat explained with real life folklore. So this week, let's take a look at something that, at least when thought of through a realistic magnifying glass, would be pretty much impossible; Just how do us WoW toons carry all that crap around in our bags while criss-crossing the world and fighting our enemies?
Here's a look at what I have in this 22-slot Dragon Hide bag:
Super-Scientifically Estimated weight: 452 pounds. And that's just one bag! Now multiply that by 5, and also consider all the armor and weapons we carry on ourselves that's NOT in bags. That's easily a TON, literally, of stuff we're carrying around. All without feeling any effects whatsoever.
When put into a game mechanics perspective, it's certainly a matter of making it easier for a character to get around as they level or go about their business without having to stop at a bank or vendor every 10 minutes. But let's think beyond mechanics and decide whether the question could be answered with lore/in-game explanations.
Consider the Bottomless Bag and Pack of Endless Pockets. Sure, they each have a limited number of slots, but not necessarily a specified amount of space. Could it be that, like a magician's hat (or Time Lord technology for all you Dr. Who fans) the bags are bigger on the inside? And if that's the case, then perhaps it's true for all equippable bags. But there's still the matter of the sheer weight of all our gear. Even if it fits in a bag, it's still incredibly heavy! Or is it? If the size of an item is compressed, then you could conjecture that the weight could be, too. Perhaps this also helps explain why a giant lance fits in the same slot as a tiny vial of poison.
Or perhaps the answer lies not in the bags, but in the super strength of adventurers. Our toons are all so strong and fearsome that we manage to carry everything on us and it doesn't effect our fighting whatsoever.
So here's where you all come in! Do you accept either of my possible answers? Have a better proposition? Let me know, and I'll feature the best comment(s) next week.
First off, a look back to last week's question on why dwarves are portrayed as drunk Scots.
Azurienatei had this answer that may explain: "In both Irish and Scottish lore there is a type of fae, something between a leprechaun and what we think of as a dwarf, that wears red clothes, is heavily bearded, and often likes to trick humans in taverns and inns by drinking unattended ale. Given the demographics and of course the penchant for drinking these creatures were eventually molded in with dwarves."
Most of you seemed to agree that WoW hasn't strayed much from the stereotypical view of a dwarf, which has evolved over time. Thanks for the input!
Now onward to this week's inquisition! Last week was somewhat of a philosophical view on a topic that could be at least somewhat explained with real life folklore. So this week, let's take a look at something that, at least when thought of through a realistic magnifying glass, would be pretty much impossible; Just how do us WoW toons carry all that crap around in our bags while criss-crossing the world and fighting our enemies?Here's a look at what I have in this 22-slot Dragon Hide bag:
- 49 Drakkari Offerings
- 15 Vrykul Bones
- 12 pieces of Salted Yeti Cheese (yummy)
- 8 Core of Elements
- 8 Dark Iron Scraps
- Sayge's Fortune #29
- A Horde LANCE (I refuse to believe that this would fit into a conventional bag!)
- Green Brewfest Stein
- 933 (!!) Frostbite Bullets
- 2 Dalaran Fireworks
- 9 Sewer Carp
- A lone piece of Frostweave Cloth
- Tabard of the Explorer
- Frost-Rimed Cloth Gloves (Need to sell!)
- 20 Heavy Frostweave Bandages
- 14 Slabs of Salted Venison
- Tabard of the Ebon Blade
- 6 Relics of Ulduar
- 891 Terrorshaft Arrows
- 4 Knothide Armor Kits
- Grom's Tribute
- Brewfest Dress
Super-Scientifically Estimated weight: 452 pounds. And that's just one bag! Now multiply that by 5, and also consider all the armor and weapons we carry on ourselves that's NOT in bags. That's easily a TON, literally, of stuff we're carrying around. All without feeling any effects whatsoever.
When put into a game mechanics perspective, it's certainly a matter of making it easier for a character to get around as they level or go about their business without having to stop at a bank or vendor every 10 minutes. But let's think beyond mechanics and decide whether the question could be answered with lore/in-game explanations.Consider the Bottomless Bag and Pack of Endless Pockets. Sure, they each have a limited number of slots, but not necessarily a specified amount of space. Could it be that, like a magician's hat (or Time Lord technology for all you Dr. Who fans) the bags are bigger on the inside? And if that's the case, then perhaps it's true for all equippable bags. But there's still the matter of the sheer weight of all our gear. Even if it fits in a bag, it's still incredibly heavy! Or is it? If the size of an item is compressed, then you could conjecture that the weight could be, too. Perhaps this also helps explain why a giant lance fits in the same slot as a tiny vial of poison.
Or perhaps the answer lies not in the bags, but in the super strength of adventurers. Our toons are all so strong and fearsome that we manage to carry everything on us and it doesn't effect our fighting whatsoever.
So here's where you all come in! Do you accept either of my possible answers? Have a better proposition? Let me know, and I'll feature the best comment(s) next week.
Reader Comments (42)
"Not to mention the fact you can now pull a multi ton pachyderm complete with two riders each having bags of purchasable merchandise and a seemingly unlimited supply of funds from which to purchase others merchandise out of your ass in less than 1.5 seconds."
This made me laugh.
To the article:
IMO, it's the same way that our characters can support giant plate shoulder pads, and never get a backache debuff. The suppliers for us heroes enchant everything to make it less heavy, and in the case of bags, crazy deep. You yourself could probably fit in one. Of course, each supplier makes their bags a different level of deepness, so the higher the quality, the more you can fit.
What I want to know is, how do you keep all your mounts and pets fed? What about cleaning up after a mammoth!?
i like to think my bags are bigger on the inside, just like the TARDIS. I also wonder how in the world things that don't wear clothes have things like money or weapons for me to loot. sure, I could get some light leather or worg leg, but money? really?
Hey its still better then it used to be, used to be we could carry 96 full size elephants(or kodo depending on side), and all 96 could be waring their own plate armor if they where epic elephants... Now a days we just learn how to shit out a functioning elephant (maybe from those 40 pies we eat during questing yet never using a restroom)... Calculate the weight of 96 elephants all waring armor's weight.
"By way of Booty Bay" said it well:
"You want realism? I'm a walking corpse and you're a talking cow, just enjoy the game!"
I've always wondered about that too. But then i realize that whats weirder is that when you loot something they dont always have things that they should. Like a boar with out a liver or other organs, does that make much sense? No. Or maybe Blizzard would like to explain how a possibly 3 to 4 foot sword just got inside the belly of a buzzard I just killed. Or possibly even raid bosses. I just saw the boss weilding a 2h mace but somehow he doesn't have it at the end of the fight anymore but instead he has a crappy little healing dagger. I'm not exactly sure how we explain it but everything thing just goes alittle smoother if we continue with the Don't Ask Just Accept It policy.
Oh c'mon, it's fun trying to answer silly questions that have no real answer at all!
hahahahaha
Me and my friends ask ouserselfs this question a lot of times xD
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Building on Taskun's concept of an Item Realm, it is obvious that all bags whether owned by Vendors, Players, or 'Mobs' share a similar dimensional location. Its like one giant Guild Bank that we just don't have access to except through the bag slots. Repair costs and AH cuts go in to pay for vendors giving us money back for trash items.
@Talcoya - You've fallen prey to a common misconception of what a 'Mob' actually is. A 'Mob' is nothing more than a cleveryly disguised bag. After you beat on it like a pinata long enough it bursts at the seams and spills out randomly grabbed items from the item realm. Don't feel bad we all fell for this Blizzard trick at one time.
Hmm... I'll go with another geek-inspired answer - this time from the Star Trek universe...
Gene Roddenberry was once asked "How does artificial gravity work on board the Enterprise?"
He answered: "It works very well, thank you".
Its all very easy to explain, and has been covered by other fantasy genre's before.
In good old AD&D you could get magically created bags - Small in physical size, but the inside of the bag occupied a different dimension/plane of existance, so size and weight of items wasnt an issue.
This makes sense with WoW bags too.
To make high level bags, do you not have to use MAGICAL reagents to craft them? Thus making the bag magical too?
I love WoW, but seriously... Get over the bag space thing... It's a game, not real for gods sake!
So with the Doctor Who idea your basically saying all of our toons are Time Lords and by extension we are in fact Time Lords ourselves?
Some items do not even fit through the opening of your average bag, so the only logical conclusion can be that the items shrink when they go into the bag.
I have seen Rick Moranis shrink stuff, so it must be possible.
Well, the aswer is incredibly simple. Each bag has a dedicated amount of pocket universes that are referred to as slots. Each pocket universe can only hold one type of goods (such as a stack of bullets or an ogre head) and is accessed though a tiny portal (slot). Since you do not carry a pocket universe, but a mere portal, such a bag is incredibly light and flexible.
In other words: a wizard did it!
@Wolfwind:
What? Did your characters not help Thrall escape from Durnholde, or witness the Culling of Strathholme, or any other event via the Caverns of Time? ;)