Like any gear-based RPG, you're going to be collecting a lot of stuff in Dragon Age. A lot. Some of it you'll be equipping, but most of it will just accumulate until you need it. The developers know this. They intend to make more money from you because of it.

Read about it the Dragon Age inventory scam after the jump.

To its credit, the inventory system in Dragon Age is simple. There's no messing around with weight limits or a Tetris-style inventory interface a la Diablo. Each kind of item takes up a slot, regardless of how many copies of that item you have. A suit of plate armor takes one slot. 99 suits of plate armor still only take one slot. Your backpack consists of sixty slots, which seems generous enough. You can hold sixty different things at once.

But Dragon Age doesn't just suppose a generic suit of plate armor. There are various types of material. There are red steel suits of plate armor. There are viridium suits of plate armor. There are various tiers of dwarven-made plate armor. The Templars have their own plate armor. There is the Dragon Blood plate armor you can download for free. Every different type of armor will take up a slot in your backpack. This applies also to weapons. There is no simple dagger. There are probably a twenty different flavors of dagger. Not to mention swords, bow, axes, and maces.

You'll need crafting materials. You'll save up lots of components for the potions and poisons and traps you can make. Then there are the potions and poisons and traps themselves once you've made them. Some come in lesser, greater, and potent variations. Each type of thing takes up a backpack slot.

Then there are the runes. In camp, you can freely swap out enchantment runes that can be fitted into weapons. Some of them are very specific. For instance, cold iron gives you a bonus against the undead. You don't always need it. But when you need it, you really need it. So most of the time, it will sit in your backpack, taking up one of your sixty slots. There are novice, journeyman, expert, and master variants for each type of rune. Each type takes up a slot in your backpack.

Then there are the various crystal fittings for your golem. There are the collars and warpaint configurations for your dog. There are the gifts you use to improve your relationship with the other characters. Each takes up a slot.

Sixty slots fill up quickly. So a lot of this stuff you'll sell, but not nearly enough of it. You might find a really nice pair of gloves for a mage, but your one mage already has nice gloves. But what about when or if you recruit another mage into your party? And you'll want to keep all those consumables, right? Surely the salves that protect against electricity damage or cold damage will come in handy at some point. Then there are the sets of armor that give you a bonus, but you'll only find them one piece at a time. Do you dare sell off those Juggernaut plate mail boots? Or do you hold out hoping to get the hat and breastplate?

In every longer storyline mission, I've left behind items that I wanted to sell. Loot has been abandoned for lack of a place to carry it. I have literally left money on the floor. What's worse, I've had to sift through loot guessing what's worth what, because the prices aren't listed until you visit a merchant.

The first step to solving this problem of limited inventory space is to use your characters as mules. In my game, every single character has a secondary weapon equipped. Every amulet and belt slot is used. Both ring slots are filled. Not necessarily because the character is going to use those items, but because it frees up slots in my backpack.

The second step is to shell out for the backpack expansions. These are an ingame money sink. They partly encourage you to visit various merchants to see if they sell one of the precious backpack expansions. But they mostly force hard decisions about how to spend your money.

But then there's the third step. It's called Warden's Keep and it'll cost you seven dollars to download. It adds a new party camp that includes storage so you can free up backpack slots when you're adventuring. Bioware claims this was created after early reviews complained about the lack of inventory space. But rather than fixing the game by giving everyone a storage locker, they opted to use the problem as a way to make more money.

The bottom line is this: the lack of inventory space is a problem given the way the game was designed. The solution to this problem will cost you seven dollars above and beyond the money you paid when you bought the game. Dragon Age, as sold, is slightly crippled by design. Once again, Electronic Arts pushes the limit for how to bilk you for more money. Here's a wonderful single-player RPG and the publisher is doing their level best to make you keep paying for it even after you've already bought it.

Shame on you, EA.

Up next: The things I wish I'd known when I started playing.

(Click here for the previous Dragon Age game diary.)