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Thoughts on RPG equipment

This is strictly about single-player games, and although it may happen in other genres, RPGs, especially "diablo-like" ARPGs, are the biggest offenders.

Prelude

I'm playing "unnamed ARPG" and, early in the game, while progressing through the main quest line, I find a cave with an over-leveled boss. The game tells you that the boss is going to be a challenge, but, after mowing down hundreds of enemies, it's refreshing to have to try hard.

I beat the boss and as a reward, I get a piece of equipment which is a clear upgrade over what I have. Unfortunately, the equipment has a minimum requirement of 5 levels above my current level. It is very likely that I just wasted my time.

The Problems

  • Not getting a reward that you can immediately use feels bad. One could argue that in a utopic game the reward is beating the boss itself after understanding the mechanics and playing well. This ranges from very much harder than dropping a usable reward to impossible to do with many bosses, especially in ARPGs.
  • It discourages exploration of the current area. Time is limited and once you understand that it is likely that every hard encounter will drop equipment for a higher level, it makes more sense to just skip to the next intended area.
  • It clutters inventory space. Storing unused equipment in a storage box also doesn't help because comparing drops with current equipment requires the extra step of checking the storage. Often in these types of games min-maxing is encouraged by the developers and sought by the players, so, it should be made frictionless.
  • I've read that "anticipation makes it so that when you can use the item it feels better". I largely disagree, it can happen but there needs to be some agency for it to work. One example that comes to mind is a situation in which you have a "broken" item and you have to do certain steps to fix it. It's much different than asking the player to grind levels.

My take

  • Attributes soft requirements for almost every item. It makes sense that I can at least wield a sword even if I have low strength at the cost of doing less damage, slower attack speed, using more stamina, or whatever penalty fits.

    There can still be weapons with more stringent requirements but make it fun, complex (i.e. avoid requirements like "kill 2 billion demons"), and meaningful!

  • Scale equipment with attributes. This fixes the problem of not being rewarded for early-game exploration and the need to have the same item with different stats. No more "Longsword +1" and "Longsword +45".

    Farming for better stats on the same item, however, is fun for many players in such games so it should be kept in the game, just relegated to the end-game content.

  • Inventory cluttering should be largely dealt with by this design, but, of course, inventory management is still a part of these types of games so it won't magically get better for whoever doesn't like it.

  • Most importantly, try to do as little as possible in defining how a player should play the game.

    I feel like a lot of issues arise from forcing the player to play the game in a specific way. Embrace allowing the player to make choices that define how they will experience the game.