This is rather a good point. It's always felt wrong to me how many CRPGs reward you for wasting time to take other people's stuff. Nobody ever notices or gets upset, and you only end up lugging tons of crap around that you'll never need.

Of course it's our own fault. We could easily decide not to pick up every single piece of junk, but it's there, and nobody would mind if we pick it up, and we can sell it for money, even to the neighbour of the original owner. It's free money!

If I ever get to design my own CRPG, people will get upset if you take their stuff. Even if they don't attack you (they're not suicidal, after all), it will hurt your reputation if you do it a lot. And merchants won't keep buying crap for which there clearly isn't a market. Also, even the tiniest bit of encumbrance will slow you down a tiny bit. Not by a lot, but if you really pick up everything, then you will be noticeably slower than someone who travels light. Maybe the mainstream will hate it, but that's how I'd prefer to do it.