ambient containers throughout the land

[bilbous]

Is it really true that containers that occur on the maps such as the boxes and table near harnquist have all their contents loaded to the local client on map load? Wouldn't it be better if the contents only loaded when someone actually opened them and then only for those people looking? Is it the same for the storage that loads when the game loads? I can see how there might be some delay in displaying the contents the first time they were accessed but then you would have a locally cached copy for when you opened it the next time that session, or even a subsequent session. The contents could be reduced to a hash that could be checked to see if the contents had changed in the meantime and if they hadn't then no new loading would need to occur.

It just seems to me that the majority of these containers are rarely opened and so do not need to have their contents loaded ever. I have left a few things in them from time to time and they never seem to move. I left a stack of arrows in one of the boxes beside that table well over a week ago and they are still there.  I have left more in a box near the explorers forge and expect they will still be there tomorrow, unless someone seeing this decides they want them for whatever reason.

Perhaps I am just missing the logic or am mistaken as to what actually happens. As far as I am concerned out of sight is out of memory. My client won't need to know what is in storage if I never open it in a session. As far as that goes my client doesn't need to know what there is in any category that I am not looking at. I am willing to wait for the list of useless quest items to show up if I choose to click on that category the odd time I think I need one that is not currently useless.

[Aensor]

As far as i know the content gets only pushd to the client when you examine it.

[LigH]

It would indeed make no sense to send all contents of all persistent containers per map while loading the map. It would waste a lot of network transfer time without any use for your client or player, and until you get to examine its content, it could have been changed already by anyone.

I am quite sure that the client only knows the content of a container you just even opened. I wonder if it is even notified when its content changes after you looked into it; you would probably have to open it again or try to change its content to see the new current content, except for items being processed while crafting.

Could be tested easily: Open a kitchen table and ask another player to put something it. Try the same with e.g. the crate at the merchant table near Harnquist's forge, which is no crafting container and won't process contained items. And the same with a furnace - who of you will be notified of the apple inside turning into ashes, only the one who put it in, or also the one who looked into it before the apple was put in?
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P.S.:

Just tested - everyone who looks into the same container is notified of updates immediately. As long as he looks in. I guess the server registers a callback when a client opens a container, and releases it when closing the view.

[bilbous]

I see, what was that about full storages prolonging start up time, particularly with many items that have lengthy names. Was I the only one to hear that?

[weltall]

The loading list fine only serverside and its persistant. Storage is loaded and kept with the char but not sent to the client till requested