Players should use an item when either (1) they can replace the item for a cost which is lower than the cost averted by using it, or (2) the cost of not having the item available later will be greater than the cost of using it immediately.  I don't like it when games punish the player for conserving resources in any fashion beyond the fact that players naturally don't benefit from things they don't use.  I also dislike it when games arbitrarily confiscate conserved items.  Instead of doing such things, games should try to convey to the player the idea that if an item will be needed, it will be possible to replace it, though perhaps at the cost of having to do some otherwise-unnecessary side missions.  If the player can, given time, earn an unbounded amount of in-game currency, an item might be sold in the "arcana" section of a shop where e.g. the first MagicWhatzit costs $1,000; the second costs $1,200; the third, $1,500, etc. rising at a rate which is noticeable but not overly frightening.  Such rules could encourage reasonable conservation without encouraging excessive hoarding, since players could have a sense that if they can avoid using a MagicWhatzit, they can avoid having to run a 10-minute side mission to get another one, but if running a ten-minute side mission would be easier than getting by without a MagicWhatzit, then they should use it.

This ties in with an economic principle, which has real-world consequences as well: if one wants people to perceive a resource as having a significant but not limitless cost, they must actually pay the cost if they use the resource.  If squandering a resource will mean that a players has to spend some of their real-world time running a not-terribly-exciting side mission to get it back, players will have an incentive not to squander it.  If the game were to let the player skip the busy-work, that incentive would vanish.  While it may seem that an ideal game should avoid giving the player busy-work, such busy-work may encouraging sensible resource management in a way that can improve a player's overall enjoyment and satisfaction.

How to prevent the "Too awesome to use" syndrome
I have a keyboard set up with a proper stool so my arms are held straight out, with music at eye level - almost identical to how I set up my PC for good posture.

But while I can use the PC all day with no issues, within 5 minutes of playing the keyboard - I'm just starting - I get stiffness pain at the bottom of my neck, probably one vertebra above the shoulders.

Can anyone advise what is causing this and how to adjust? I think my main posture can't be too bad - I'm not hunching or craning my neck - but wondered if perhaps I am 'clenching' somehow?
