More details emerge on Void Storage -- 80 slots of space
by Adam Holisky 
Aug 17th 2011 at 11:40AM
The details on the new void storage are as follows:
- 80 slots to store items
-
All items put in void storage will have the following removed from them:
- Enchants
- Gems
- Name of player who crafted the item
The full bit from Kotaku's interview with Chris Metzen and Tom Chilton is as follows:
Another addition coming with the patch is "Void Storage", a new 100 to 150 [See Editor's Note] items slots. Like transmogrification, void storage comes from the Ethereals. Void storage is a pocket dimension created for a player that allows them to store extra items, but there is a downside.
Anything stored in the void is stripped of its enchantments and gems and the name of the person who crafted it, Chilton said. The stripping isn't tied to the lore of the game, either, but is the byproduct of a technical issue that makes this new storage system possible. (Read: Silly databases!)
Editor's Note: Blizzard has sent word that it's actually 80 slots in the Void Storage, not 100 to 150 as originally reported at Kotaku.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back! Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
jakemaheu Aug 17th 2011 11:47AM
Pleasepleasepleaseplease let this bank function across all your characters. I'm tired of going through the grind on each character that hits 85. I'd rather play my main, use the VP for 378 gear, and use the JP for some 359 stuff for my alts.
SR Aug 17th 2011 12:10PM
Those who do not put forth the miniscule amount of effort required to obtain decent gear deserves no gear.
Shadda Aug 17th 2011 12:29PM
Please, please DON'T make this shared by all your characters. I have no issue with bind on account gear, but I'd much rather have 300 extra bank slots than 100.
Daedalus Aug 17th 2011 12:29PM
My guess is, there probably is a cross-character component to it, otherwise, why would they have to strip away gems, enchants, and names? If it worked just like existing bank functionality, one would think the database structures would already be in place, and just get reused.
Sols Aug 17th 2011 1:44PM
I agree with this, but if it was cross-character I wish it included more items (ie. crafting mats) to prevent logging/relogging/mailing/logging/relogging..etc amongst my five toons.
Also, @SR - I would love to know what you think is "miniscule" about the effort required to get decent gear for your alts in WoW. Gearing up alts through the same dungeons, rep grinds, and raids takes a tremendous amount of time and effort... As does writing a constructive comment - you should try it.
KPB Aug 17th 2011 2:00PM
I'm betting reforges and transmogrifications will be removed too. The reason for this is storage space. For your normal bank item, blizzard is storing a copy of each item for each instance that exists of it which is why it can have it's own gems, enchants, reforges etc. This will be simply you have a copy of X and everyone who has X will point to the same copy. Everyone referencing to a stock version of the item rather than potentially millions of copies of the same item.
SR Aug 17th 2011 2:04PM
Tremendous time and effort?
At this time and age? Really? So you're too busy with your life to log on a few hours a day, few days a week, to cap out VP and make some gold to grab JP/VP gear and crafted epics? Granted, it's a lot more effort than posting a snobby half-assed stab at someone else while providing limp counterargument, but it's helluva lot easier than it was in... Ever. And by "decent", I included 359 pieces obtainable through JP.
If you think an hour a day (at most) to run a random troll dungeon is too much effort, then you really, really don't deserve the VP rewards. If it's too "tedious" to raid, then you don't deserve raid gear. This applies 100% to alts, as well, and while it's nigh impossible to keep 6 characters at current raid-tier quality, it's not hard to gear two or three.
People have been grinding for their alts since day one. I'd sooner stab myself than see a paladin's alt warrior that JUST hit level 85 run around with full 378 quality hand-me-downs from his main. As I've said, your alt won't deserve the gear if you won't put forth the effort to gear it.
adamjgp Aug 17th 2011 3:22PM
@SR
A few hours a day a few days a week is a major time commitment. Maybe if you don't have friends to go out with, or social activities to attend, or maybe if you're one of the unlucky 10% of americans, this is possible.
For me, who works 40-50 hrs/wk, who has a family, friends, and other obligations, it is difficult to find 1 day a week where I can log on for a single dungeon. Sometimes I'm not even able to be online long enough to complete said dungeon.
This is anecdotal evidence, and by no means do I represent the 'average' wow'er, but it's my gut feeling that the average wow'er is a lot closer to my circumstance than your fairly-land scenario of multiple hours per day multiple days per week.
Get off my lawn!
Noyou Aug 17th 2011 4:16PM
It isn't as much about effort as it is about time. Some people have limited amounts to play with week to week. The other thing is some of us get seriously tired of running a dungeon 5-10 times to get 1-2 pieces of gear to move on to the next dungeon....yeah, not so much.
Snuzzle Aug 17th 2011 4:29PM
Please please PLEASE make this cross character. I want to be able to finally have ten real character slots, not "nine plus a banker"!
Ice Aug 17th 2011 5:26PM
Sorry guys who want cross-char.
This is MMO and grind IS part of the game whether you like it or not.
Sure, its not as bad as vanilla gearing (40 man raid with lot of X class and only one X tier item drops every 2 months?) but lets face it, there has to be some elements still to keep people playing for long and keep em intrested..
Doing everything with just one char and just throwing gear from that wouldnt work. Dinging alt to 85 and suddenly having full T12 epics from other alt with tier tokens to share? really? Whats the point then.
I know theres some uses like old plate lying around your clothies bank for some bizarre reason but thats minimal..and bizarre
SR Aug 17th 2011 5:38PM
"A few hours a day a few days a week is a major time commitment. Maybe if you don't have friends to go out with, or social activities to attend, or maybe if you're one of the unlucky 10% of americans, this is possible."
By that logic, all 25 of my raiders who show up to raid every raid night every week have no social life.
As others have stated, this is an MMO. Making it sound as if the couple hours' worth of commitment is tremendous is just excusing your ineptitude in dedicating a fraction of your day to obtain gear in general.
To make one character's contribution reward that person's every other character, in my opinion, is not only insulting but makes the whole process of obtaining gear even more pointless.
zweitblom Aug 18th 2011 4:48AM
This might be shocking news to you, but, yes, acquiring gear ultimately *is* pointless. That's why it is called a game. You are supposed to enjoy the EXPERIENCE, and not regard it as an ersatz-job and just look at the paycheck.
SR Aug 18th 2011 2:49PM
Oh, don't bring that nihilistic thought in here. What's the point of having a job, then? We're all going to die someday, so none of this would matter, right?
Point taken to extreme, but I'm not in the mood to nitpick. Just like how your 13-year old son won't receive a 100k paycheck just because you're the VIP of a company, neither would your alts. As redundant is the dungeon running and farming raids, it's still what little of "rite of passage" we have left. I don't want even MORE idiots advertising in trade about having an ilevel of 376, taking them to a BH, and having them pull 9k DPS. Whatever mechanic that we have that will require a player to spend more time with their character, the better it's going to be in the long run. We're lazy enough as-is.
Noyou Aug 17th 2011 11:52AM
Hmmm. Takes off all gems and enchants? That kind of sucks.
Cyno01 Aug 17th 2011 12:12PM
Yeah, ill probably not be putting actual gear in this. Its awesome to put on my T4 and have all my +4 gems in it... But most of whats clogging my bank is holiday stuff, which this sounds awesome for.
Anton Ochs Aug 17th 2011 12:21PM
I'm sure they would keep it, but the engine design doesn't support it (sadly)
Daedalus Aug 17th 2011 12:33PM
Why?
It sounds like the void storage is meant to be used in conjunction with transmogrification. (Or just playing dress-up around town, or something...) By definition, gear that you're putting in there would be stuff that you can't use any longer because the stats on other gear is better. If you're only interested in the appearance, why should the removal of things that don't affect the appearance mean anything?
Now, I can understand people saying they have off sets, pvp sets, etc, but I don't think this was designed with making that easier in mind. My guess is, they recognize that if you have separate armor for 5 different specs on one character you have to sacrifice on space for other things, and they're not looking to change that.
Lynden Aug 17th 2011 12:42PM
This is also done more as a space saving method than a game engine restriction I think.
Blizzard already mentioned a while ago that they wanted to make bags bigger but that it takes up so much data.
This way they only have to keep a list of the item ids that are in the void storage rather than keep track of gems, enchants, character id of the creator, etc.
I guess part of their reasoning for this decision is that you'll never equip it anymore anyway with the lookalike process.
Minstrel Aug 17th 2011 1:08PM
It's just a "skins bank" to store the stuff you want to use for transmogrification. As such, it will only be things you never planned to "use" or else have retired because they're obsolete.
Gems and enchants should be irrelevant on such pieces. Stuff you still need to keep gemmed and enchanted should either be in your bags or in your real bank.