[0.803] [Suggestion] Don't allow teleporting of items

Personally, I like this.  Having played quite a bit of Heroes of Might and Magic, which doesn't allow this, I've found that arranging meetups for heros to swap items with each another can be a real pain. 

All the money, materials, etc your heroes find is instantly shared, why not items?

I'm with LintMan. I'd actually go farther and have a "Kingdom Treasury" where all the loot is placed instead of your individual characters, and you equip everyone from there.

Yeah, I don't mind being able to transport items.  It feels unrealistic, granted, but it saves you from the silly micromanagement of sending your extra merchants or whatever gallivanting across the map just to get bracers from your eastern border to your western one.  This has always been a pain in the Heroes of Might and Magic series, as LintMan points out.

Maybe there's a middle ground?  After researching caravans, for example, maybe you can then send items across the map, taking X number of turns to get there based on distance.  Don't show a unit or a hero carrying the item, just transport it silently and in the background, as if you got some lowly peon messenger to do it, only without the micromanagement.  That way, there's not an unrealistic instantaneous transportation thing going on, but there's also not the same frustrating logistics problem.  You could even set the item to "auto-equip" once it reaches its target to further reduce micromanagement.

I don't know if that's really on middle ground so much as just a step or two towards middle ground. What strikes some as annoying 'micromanagement' can be fun strategic decision making for others.

To me, a real middle ground would be more like making global teleportation dependent on learning a spell (and possibly building a Repository/Treasury thing in your capital as a pre-req for being able to cast that spell). That way, until you hit that particular level of being 'overpowered,' you can have fun following up on Amazing Quest X by making sure that Awesome Item Y makes it back to sovereign/champion in the field or your best-fortified storage site.

While this is true, I really don't know how having to move units to adjacent squares to give them stuff can "fun strategic decision making". You either move your giver to the receiver, receiver to the giver, or meet half way. That's about it for the "strategy" around item trading this way.

Could just make it like MoM where you have a tiny transportation fee.  It was 20 mana to move an item from a found location to another location IIRC.

My vote is for just allowing it, but if there has to be a penalty, make it small.

You could make it depend on the quality of the item, I suppose. Higher quality, higher cost.

this and the post above it. its a world full of magic so a tiny magic OR money cost to move stuff around would be keen.

I also don't like the super-swapping across the map.  Accessable from a friendly city "vault" or having the sender use some of his/her spell points would be good.  Troops can actually carry found equipment, they just cannot use them.

The current way ruins immersion.

The realistic way is a PITA.

What do we do? 

I'd say if in doubt, do it the MoM way.

of course the cost depends on the Mana System, 20 mana in MoM was maybe more (or less) than it will be Elemental?

although since this isn't MoM, I could live with the idea of a Caravan research or a spell to allow it.

Agree on all that...Age of Wonders:  Shadow  Magic had an exceptional system where item transport cost "mana" based on the distance b/t two characters.  The current E:WoM system could be significantly exploited as just prior to combat you could trasnport  all you best equipment to the commanders of the army attacking.  Unrealistic and potetentially time consuming. 

Couple good ideas already mentioned here in post: a researched spell to transfer items (that cost each item) AND, operating in the background a "runner" that would take a certain number of turns to transfer items b/t two parties based upon their distance apart. This "runner" would not be a character controlled, just a mechansism so the items transferred don't become immediately available (grayed out) until a certain number of turns transpire.

It can be fun because it makes you look hard at a large map and weigh the 'time-value of asset transfer' vs. the value of keeping the asset-holder and intended-asset-recipient on other tasks. In the late game, transferring a simple enchanted bastard sword might not be worth re-routing any champions, but such a transfer in an early game could make a big difference in the long-term value of the receiving champion.

Also, making item teleports hard or impossible can add fun to a late game where a quest for a Very Important Item led the questing champion very far from your realm's centers of strength. If that's a truly major late-game quest and you know that getting the Item back into the hands of your sovereign or non-adventuring champion is necessary, then the quest itself is more interesting because you need to think about whether to send some support groups into the same general area where you expect to find the Item.

The idea of exploitation will creep in as more and more useful and powerful items surface in game.

What surprises me is how I can offer a new weapon to a Recruit but I cannot turn around and offer their old weapons/gear to another recruit etc etc...

I guess I could sell those items off, but haven't tried that yet...

I would vote to have a small transport fee incorporated and have to be moved by a/any caravan.

I have yet to find a reason not to Research Caravans at this point.

Hopefully a cost will be required to transfer across a distance, and that process will prevent a champion who's engaged in combat from then being able to transfer items -- both fighting and transferring would be actions, of which only 1 can be done per turn.

I would think in the case of transferring to another champion via spell, the recipient would also be required to spend their full move as they are standing there acting like an antenna for the transfer.  Should help cut down on shenanigans