This series takes the Developers Journals and gives you all the information but none of the literary styling of Jeromy Walsh. No background, no thought process, no amusing details. If you want discussion then you are going to have to wait for the Journal Discussed which will hit later week, or possible next if this week was anything to go by!

We all carry things with us every day. Perhaps like me you have a handbag that you carry an array of possibly useful items in. Or perhaps you are like my partner and get someone else to carry your items it their handbag… Either way, you are catered for in this game. And with so many different outfit combinations you can find the perfect armour, clothing, or undergarment to match your backpack! To read all the good stuff go to the full version over at MMORPG.com, but if you just want the facts the abridged version is below.

Equipment

• What you see or what you get (WYSIWYG) defines the equipment system of Chronicles of Elyria.

• The armour and weapons carried by a player or NPC will indicate their desire for combat and their likely skill at it. The examples given were if someone is wearing simple clothing they are unlikely to be much of a fighter, however those wearing a leather vest with a sword and dagger might well have skill in using those blades.

• Because of WYSIWYG if you were to kill the previously mentioned player you would be able to loot a leather vest, a sword and a dagger. You wouldn’t suddenly get the option of a staff and a dress, you loot the items they have.

• This is also true of other animals. You can kill a bear and loot a pelt, meat, bones, other bear parts. You do not get 10gold and a pair of chain boots.

Types of Equipment

• Armour types include:
  • Head – Helmets, caps, coifs, and hooded cloaks
  • Face – Masks and cowls
  • Neck – Necklaces, cowls, and coifs
  • Torso – Clothing, armour, and holsters=
  • Back – Backpacks, capes, cloaks, and holsters
  • Arms – Bracers, gauntlets, bracelets, and bucklers
  • Hands – Gauntlets, gloves, knuckles, and rings
  • Waist – Belts
  • Legs – Garters, trousers, skirts, and leggings
  • Feet – Boots

• Where an item is listed in two slots it means it covers both. For instance wearing a coif takes up both the head and neck slot.

• Where multiple items are listed in a slot you have to make a choice, apart from two see below! For example you can choose to wear rings, or a gauntlet or gloves.

• Armour is asymmetrical so you can choose what to wear on your left hand and right hand separately so one may have a gauntlet and the others rings. This is true of your arms and feet as well.

Equipment Layering

• Two of the item slots can contain multiple items, these are the Torso and Legs. This allows you to equip multiple layers for different professions or climates.

• Torso
  • Layer one – Shirts, blouses, or dresses.
  • Layer two – Jackets, jerkins, tunics, doublets, vests, or some chain shirts.
  • Layer three – Robes or mail.

• Legs
  • Layer one – Trousers or garters
  • Layer two – Armour, skirt or a kilt.

• This means a lady can wear a garter under a skirt, and could wear a shirt, leather jerkin and half-plate mail. Interesting look.

Survival

• Equipment can help or hinder survival.

Weight and Fatigue

• Up to a maximum weight you character will walk all day without getting tired.

• Carry beyond your maximum weight and fatigue will start to build up.
  The more weight the quicker the fatigue grows, and the sooner you will need to rest.

Sprinting and Movement Speed

• Some armour will slow your run speed, others will cause you to gain more fatigue while running.

• Heaviest armour will cause you to become fatigued more quickly when sprinting, or may prevent sprinting completely.

Temperature

• Very cold weather can be resisted by wearing jackets over your shirt and putting on a cape or cloak to keep warm.

• In the heat, avoid layers and possibly also metal armour.

Weather and Terrain

• If it is raining, windy or foggy your movement speed will be reduced.
• Trudging through snow or mud can be difficult, especially in heavier armour.

Drowning

• Heavy armour sinks. If you sink with it this could lead to perma-death.

Gender and Sizes

• One size does not fit all. Equipment is made in gender neutral, for men, for women, and small medium and large.

• If equipment is too large it is less effective, too small you might not be able to equip it at all.

• Armour can be resized by craftsmen.

Inventory

• The inventory for your character is limited. Partly due to WYSIWYG and partly because without bottomless backpacks you have to make investments to take on roles such as gathering skills, they become a meaningful chosen play style rather than something everyone does.

Containers

• All objects on your person, pack animal or other transport must be in a container or held in your hands.

• Containers can be added to a variety of different clothing items. For example a boot could have a hidden compartment for a blade. Bracers could have a writ mounted crossbow. Garters, belts, cloaks, and trousers all with hidden pockets and pouches.

Volume and Weight

• All containers have a volume and weight limit.

• Each containers inventory works on a grid system to keep things in order.

• The number of slots in the grid is infinite as long as the items do not exceed the volume/weight limit so an awful lot of small light items can be stored in one container.

• Large items will take up multiple slots on this grid to give an indication of the volume it can hold.

• You can not put an item in a container if it takes the container over the allowed weight or volume.

Stackable items

• Though the grid is infinite items of the same type will still stack so as to make you inventory easier to look through.

There we go that at is equipment and inventory. I think for me this is certain a feature I am going to need to get hands on with to get my mind around how it feels. The equipment seems familiar, yet deeper. However, the inventory feels like having lots of various pockets and the like might take a lot of getting used to. Though not an insurmountable task. I am a fan of having hidden pockets and blades though, so while what you see is what you get, you still get what you can’t see too… right in the throat!