Items That Are Too Good To Use

[Forsaken Lover]

This is a rather peculiar thing I have noticed myself doing, and I've seen others do it as well in LP's. The LP'er HcBailly even dubbed it the "too good to use club" which is where I got the inspiration for the topic title.

In RPGs, especially JRPGs, you will get items and you will horde them. You will find an Elixir and be like "oh yeah! That's awesome!" And then it will proceed to languish in your inventory because "I might need it someday."

For me, I always take this approach with Magic/Mana restoring items as well. In a lot of games you can't buy them so my game plan is to do everything possible to restore MP during normal gameplay without having to waste the item just in case I eventually find myself in a really long fight where I need to refill my MP. True, eventually I might feel more comfortable about using Ethers or whatever but it's only in the later game. Early game, I am as stingy with them as I am with Elixirs.

Do you do this?

[Ayen]

No. If I don't use an item chances are I don't know what it does, or forgot I had it.

[blackmage_nuke]

I'll use them if I have a limited inventory or I have more than half the maximum holding amount (or if Im desperate).

[Psychotic]

Yeah, I hoard Ethers. I actually used one in my FFVII LP and got chewed out by the audience for it xD

[Pike]

This used to happen to me a lot in Super Mario RPG...

Also in FFTA I definitely horded all those really good "nullify all law" and so on cards xD

[Mirage]

I am stingy with them to begin with, because I don't know how rare they are going to be. I usually use anything when i get towards the end of the game.

[Ayen]

Yeah, I hoard Ethers. I actually used one in my FFVII LP and got chewed out by the audience for it xD

For using one Ether?

Wait until they get a load of me...

[Skyblade]

Is the item a consumable that you can run out of?

If the answer is "Yes", then it is too good to use.

[Shauna]

Yeah, I hoard Ethers. I actually used one in my FFVII LP and got chewed out by the audience for it xD

I think chewed out is a slight exaggeration.

[VeloZer0]

I tend to never use any items that you can't buy.

[Formalhaut]

I tend to never use any items that you can't buy.

Same here. Only on exceptional occasions will I think to use something I can't get back easily. Ethers, Turbo Ethers, Mega-Potions, X-Potions, Elixirs, Megalixirs, heck even battle items like grenades you can't purchase more of.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah, I hoard Ethers. I actually used one in my FFVII LP and got chewed out by the audience for it xD

I tend to be stingy with items but I've gotten better about using them when necessary. I like how Shin Megami Tensei IV got around this, you're only allowed to carry a certain amount of each items. You can carry about 2 of the game's version of the Megalixer so you tend to use them more often since you do find them a lot in chests.