Does an inventory limit in an MMORPG make sense?

Posted by Philipp on Game Development See other posts from Game Development or by Philipp
Published on 2012-10-15T15:44:09Z Indexed on 2012/10/15 15:54 UTC
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game-design

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mmo

I am currently developing a simple 2d MMORPG. My current focus is the inventory system.

I am currently wondering if I should implement a limit on what a player character can carry. Either in form of a maximum weight, a limited number of inventory slots, or a combination of both. Almost every MMORPG I ever played limits inventory space. But plausibility aside, is this really necessary from a gameplay point of view? Maybe it would in fact improve the game experience when I just let the players carry as much stuff as they want.

tl;dr: What is the game development rationale behind limiting carrying capacity of player characters?

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