Why the need to identify items?

[phlux]

It's not a big issue, but i struggle to see what value the need of identification adds to the game.
Feels like a dated mechanic that doesn't really serve a purpose when i can always portal into town to identify everything anyways. But maybe I don't see it.

Can someone tell what's the point of it?

[Faptor]

It just adds mystery. Idk, I like it on good items, its unnecessary for blues imo

[VYM]

Coz it's good old Diablo 1 vibes for those who understand it.

[tankanidis]

be glad they turned teleport into a spell, you had to lose 1 spot for teleport scrolls in POE1

I agree both of them serve no function as consumables and should become either a permanent item / skill like teleport did

If they want gold sinks its an annoying one to have

[EX01]

At first I thought it was terrible, just clunky.
Now I realise it's like xmas day when you see the gifts under the tree and the excitement of what might be inside.

[Steel]

In a meta sense it's to make item filters less OP than they would be if everything dropped ID'd. In a design sense it's so that you have to "gamble" on what to pick up as inventory space is a resource, and in a player experience sense it's the "opening a present" vibe.

[Sefara Stabs]

I would guess it stops people from making the mistake of knee-jerk item comparison in the middle of combat. Having stop or return to town to identify your loot probably reduces the amount of deaths people take while doing stat math in their heads. Best I can come up with, personally I think that crap is annoying and pointless.

[Prinny]

I dunno why it's a SCROLL but when you find something it's never clear what kind of enchantement are on it, hence the need to identify it. it's still prevalent to this day and not outdated.
When you find a new toy with a weird mark on it, do you immediately lick it or do you try to guess what the stain is before putting it in your mouth? I'd hope for the latter...

Jokes aside, that's the basic logic behind it. you don't wanna be cursed, do you?
While I agree that a paper scroll is a weird pick, I don't agree with it being too outdated to be used. it also help deal with item generation since the random value is determined by "you" in some way and not by the drop itself. So it wont have any issue dropping 50+ items at once since it only needs to read from the item ID once.
That's pretty much the logic behind it.

you can talk to the hooded one to identify all item at once for free. you can't finish act 1 without unlocking him so don't worry about missing the quest.

[tankanidis]

Originally posted by LE TOUCAN HAS ARRIVED:

In a meta sense it's to make item filters less OP than they would be if everything dropped ID'd. In a design sense it's so that you have to "gamble" on what to pick up as inventory space is a resource, and in a player experience sense it's the "opening a present" vibe.

You could still achieve the points you listed but have a manual ID click on item feature / back to base to ID all items in inventory (like how D3 did it)

would save 1 inventory space from having to constantly be used for scrolls

[Revan619]

Bad out dated mechanics that probably should be dropped

[tolshortte]

need a bigger inventory and no unidentified. just a waste of time. we will be clicking with gems and store anyways.

[phlux]

Originally posted by LE TOUCAN HAS ARRIVED:

In a meta sense it's to make item filters less OP than they would be if everything dropped ID'd. In a design sense it's so that you have to "gamble" on what to pick up as inventory space is a resource, and in a player experience sense it's the "opening a present" vibe.

So for the loot filter argument: just make them drop unidentified and auto-identify them on pickup.
Same thing would add the "gamble" what to pick up if you don't want to open and check your bag after every pickup. Inventory space isn't that much of a ressource when you can port back to town without any cost anyways imo.
And yeah, I guess it's like opening presents for some players.. doesn't hit like that for me after the first 100 identifications but fair enough :D

[Dwane Dibbley]

Stay awhile and listen.

[Clarity]

in act 2 theres an npc who does it for free

[phlux]

Originally posted by Dwane Dibbley:

Stay awhile and listen.

I get the nostalgy part, I also played Diablo 1 back in the day.
But as the only reason, it's a bad one. We got rid of alot of things from back then that were bad and kept alot that was good.
There is still so much Diablo 1 in all of these modern ARPGs to remember you of the good old times, why do we have to keep something like this as well?
Having it just for nostalgic value without serving any other purpose is basically the definition of outdated :D

[phlux]

Originally posted by Clarity:

in act 2 theres an npc who does it for free

Yeah, I know, doesn't make the mechanic make more sense. Just makes it even more pointless tbh :D