Looting -- The official thread for discussing the loot system. Updated 18th March, 2013.

I think 2 would be too much, since if I'm not mistaken the timer is currently 3-8.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

I think 2 would be too much, since if I'm not mistaken the timer is currently 3-8.

I think it's a bit shorter than 3 if you're standing on the drop.

The current distance weighted loot timer system unfairly favors ranged players. A ranged player has greater time to react to a dropped item and has lower risk when disengaging from combat.

When playing a tank life leach is very important to survival. So not only does the tank have the shortest item timer they face the greatest risk when disengaging.

Gotta say wrathmar.

That's a first.

The looting in Path of Exile is really the only big downside this game has compared to its competition. Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 both feel very teamworky, because you're just killing monsters together and trying to survive. When an item drops you look at it to see if you want it or if it's a waste of inventory space and you move on. In Path of Exile you're competing with your team mates to try and pick up the good items that drop before they do, to the point where you're grabbing everything and then dropping the items you don't want.

When an item drops, people stop fighting their target and they rush to get the item. This is compounded by your items are currency system, because there's no reason to not grab every currency that drops. Whenever I see my teammates picking up every boss drop as fast as they can, before anyone can even read what it was, it just makes me wish we were playing Torchlight 2.

But, you're the developer and apparently you enjoy the race to grab items. Just wanted to say that the looting system is the only thing that's going to be keeping me from making PoE my main Diablo clone.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

Gotta say wrathmar.

That's a first.

Thank you.

I'm fairly confident the devs have no real plans to change the current system. If they ever do its probably a long long ways off.

However I still reserve the right to gripe about it whenever I get the urge. :)

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wrathmar wrote:

The current distance weighted loot timer system unfairly favors ranged players. A ranged player has greater time to react to a dropped item and has lower risk when disengaging from combat.

When playing a tank life leach is very important to survival. So not only does the tank have the shortest item timer they face the greatest risk when disengaging.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

Gotta say wrathmar.

That's a first.

Oddly enough, and despite all of my contrary arguing in the past. I agree. Whenever a big mob is about to die, I like to jump back so I have an easier time seeing what items are assigned to me. Not so much trying to exploit system mechanics, as much as my eyes (growing older, and in my family eyes sometimes grow older faster than the rest of you) are having a hard time adjusting to "OMG LOOT EXPLOSION" followed by a massive sudden clusterfuck of timers expiring, providing more screen realestate, and causing item names to rearrange themselves on screen. But that's another issue entirely ^-^

One thing I'll disagree with is this part:

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wrathmar wrote:

A ranged player has greater time to react to a dropped item and has lower risk when disengaging from combat.

This is, in my experience, the opposite of true. The melee character is defensively built to sustain close range combat damage long enough to be able to move in and loot an item, whereas the ranged character is defensively built to sustain damage long enough to respond to a hit, and reflexively escape and kite. Considering not all items drop at the end of combat, bosses withheld, but midway through as mobs are dieing. They also don't often drop next to the toon, even melee, as packs are typically spread out and die fast when a party hits them.. so even the melee toon has to run in. But the ranged toon often has to run into an exceptionally more dangerous environment should they wish to nab their loot before the timer expires.

Overall though, I'm groing to be much more apathetic about the issue. I'd still like to see options or an improved timer system.. but really, after this long, I'm just "Meh. I'll live."

My point about ranged players is that they can stop dealing damage at anytime and face no consequences. A melee life leach tank that stops dealing damage risks dying.

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wrathmar wrote:

My point about ranged players is that they can stop dealing damage at anytime and face no consequences. A melee life leach tank that stops dealing damage risks dying.

Indeed, I agree. But it's much more dynamic than that. I suppose the point to be made here is that the range based timer carries benefits and drawbacks that impact different builds in different ways. To put it simply, some melee toons have an advantage by their closeness or distance from dropped loot, some are at a disadvantage. Some ranged toons, the same.