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

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wrathmar wrote:

What is going to happens is that people will cry and then quit playing. The beta testing group is highly dedicated to this game, the average player who read about the game and decided to give it a try...not so much.

I do think this is a pertinent point. POE is aimed at oldschool hardcore D2 players who have a lot of time on their hands & are interested in paying cash for cosmetic upgrades to the vanilla game that will give them no actual benefits whatsoever. Now there's niche & then there is POE's target audience.

However, it is not the main argument I would use in favor of loot options. For me the primary focus of the loot options is to make multiplayer a more attractive & customisable experience as I feel it is interaction that keeps games alive.

Time will tell whether enough people are interested in POE for GGG to make a buck, but for all our sakes I would like the game to appeal to as many people as possible while still maintaining that 'feel' that it does so well. I don't think loot options encroaches on that.

It's true, everyone here is dedicated but I urge us all to think of the big picture & how the game will be received by 'the great unwashed'. There aren't enough of us to keep the game going, there has to be more players & for there to be a community those players need to at some point play together. The tumble weeds rolling through the Message Boards shows that something needs to be done about multiplayer.

Making the game a little less niche, whether it be adding looting options or w/e doesn't necessarily mean it's dumbed down or 'noobish' it may just mean that it changes a few things that didn't cater to the tastes of otherwise interested & 'hardcore' players.

Maybe just make it so the countdown only starts when combat ends and keep it a static number or something.

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Reedman wrote:

Maybe just make it so the countdown only starts when combat ends and keep it a static number or something.

Interesting idea, but it wouldn't work.

When does combat end ... when the melee players have finished the targets next to them or when the ranged enemy are dealt with ??

To hard to define & I'd hate to try code it into the game.

Personally, I like the current system as it is.

Interesting that some people favor free for all looting as a human element. I would assume that everyone who enjoys using forums to debate opinions would find the chat system sufficient enough for this aspect, but if I made that assumption I would be ignorant.

I may be biased against free looting when I express my next opinion here, but this human element seems to stem from the same competitive mentality that harbors simple item greed. Personally, I see no need to determine if a person is 'good' or 'bad' (especially using this environment and method) everyone should be coerced to stand on equal ground, at least initially. A competitive environment could then arise upon a mutual competitive intent.

Now, the problem here is those who have no competitive intent are put off when it's found to be a prevalent theme in the group they have joined. Which, of course, is common as players often push against the rules of the game as much as possible, so if the game allows them to do something they see little reason not to do it.

Thanks to recent posts made here (notably Aixius') I think I have a better understanding of the stance of those who favor free for all loot as the only option. Feel free to correct me here, but it seems as though some players enjoy their multiplayer interaction as another factor to the random systems prevalent in most RPGs (critical hits, item modifiers, etc.). As is well known, these random factors are made appealing by using the negative experiences to exemplify the positive ones. If these free for all players knew everyone was deliberately joining free for all games over other looting options, they would know what to expect from these players and thus their intrigue over the unknown is diminished considerably.

If this is the case, then this problem is a lot more complicated than I thought it was and I don't see being able to choose different loot options when creating a party as the best solution.

I trust Grinding Gear Games to make an appealing solution, and if they decide to leave it as is I will still enjoy Path of Exile as a great solo game with an added trade/chat benefit.

Of course the game will be social, interpersonal if there were looting options.
You can't say that the game is social only with ffa. That's fud preposterous bulshit.
The problem is right now with the ffa you can play multi only with trusted people, who are trusted because they can follow a SET OF CUSTOM PARTY RULES.
The loot options maintains this system but ADDS the possibility to play a stress-free public multiplayer with anyone. Social included.

Also you can't say that all the newcomers after ob can go to hell and play other games if they dont like ffa because without a relatively large player base the game cannot be maintained. and all you pretentious "elitist" players are a small minority who cannot do that.

in my opinion one good system is this:
get rid of the timer and istead post the name. this will give you the best of both worlds, ffa+instanced. there's no reason to complicate the code with ridiculous variables.
This way the game will be highly social and interpersonal, you can see all the loot, can still play with trusted people, get a stress-free public multiplayer, ask for what you want etc etc

That might as well be instanced. So no.

And yes, I can say that anyone who does not like the GAME simply because.of the loot system is more than welcome to leave. There.are already ways to get around the system if one wishes to do so.

Pub parties are exciting, to me, because of the current system. If I want to switch it up, or if none of my friends are online, I play pub. You can do the same if you wish.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

That might as well be instanced. So no.

And yes, I can say that anyone who does not like the GAME simply because.of the loot system is more than welcome to leave. There.are already ways to get around the system if one wishes to do so.

Pub parties are exciting, to me, because of the current system. If I want to switch it up, or if none of my friends are online, I play pub. You can do the same if you wish.

I think this is the kind of attitude we don´t want to have if we hope to PoE to go big.

I allready said this, othe people too, a game is not maintained by the hard core players, and again, this is not an opinion, this is a fact.

So, if GGG don´t care about the casuals who come to the game to test because it´s free, and then leave only because the loot system is flawed, the game never gonna reach the status off a profitable one.

But, as for me, i go with square0 wen he says: "I trust Grinding Gear Games to make an appealing solution, and if they decide to leave it as is I will still enjoy Path of Exile as a great solo game with an added trade/chat benefit."

This game was designed for the niche hardcore crowd. This game was not made for casuals. There are plenty of games that can cater to their needs.


If a casual would like to play this game, they are more than welcome to ask questions to get the answers they need. Our community has proven that we are more than willing to help.

So aside from using pick-it bots, ice wall, and a minion build with stacked movement speeds buffs how do you get around the FFA (timer) system?

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SL4Y3R wrote:

This game was designed for the niche hardcore crowd. This game was not made for casuals. There are plenty of games that can cater to their needs.


If a casual would like to play this game, they are more than welcome to ask questions to get the answers they need. Our community has proven that we are more than willing to help.

I really don´t know if GGG want only a "niche" of players Slayer. They look like smart guys who wan´t to make a game who can stand for a long time, and a game dont stand alone in the back of the hardcore players. Again, this is not an opinion, this is a fact.

The backbone of income of any game aren´t the hardcore. We have a clear example right here right now in the CB. The hardcore player´s aren´t the ones who have the biggest support titles.

And casual, newcomers, fresh meat, call whatever you want, not gonna leave the game because they not gonna receive answers, they gonna leave because of the loot system.

I mean, i don´t want it to happen to PoE, because im here and gonna stay, and i don´t like it the loot system as it is right now, but i putting things into the big picture, and a big portion of "testers" gonna leave it.