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

My biggest problem with the current system is that the timers simply don't compensate for lag well enough, it's almost certainly related to desync and the server's ability to listen to what the client is saying. When I immediately click on an item that drops in my name (especially at range) while in a Europe gateway instance (and about 150ms ping), I often will sit on the item for 2 seconds before picking the item up, leaving plenty of time for ninjas to take it. Clicking repeatedly on the item doesn't help. It seems to be completely related to the server ignoring the client's request.

Increase the timers and make people like me happy. It is a problem with ranged far more than melee, when you're close, the server knows you're close and trusts the client more, the further away you are, the less the server trusts the client, and that's a major problem for ranged characters.

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TehHammer wrote:

My biggest problem with the current system is that the timers simply don't compensate for lag well enough, it's almost certainly related to desync and the server's ability to listen to what the client is saying. When I immediately click on an item that drops in my name (especially at range) while in a Europe gateway instance (and about 150ms ping), I often will sit on the item for 2 seconds before picking the item up, leaving plenty of time for ninjas to take it. Clicking repeatedly on the item doesn't help. It seems to be completely related to the server ignoring the client's request.

Increase the timers and make people like me happy. It is a problem with ranged far more than melee, when you're close, the server knows you're close and trusts the client more, the further away you are, the less the server trusts the client, and that's a major problem for ranged characters.

Ya, the only real problem I see is the mechanical problems of picking your allocated items up. If they fix that the system should be fine.

Also, I don't have a problem with increasing the base timer slightly to help with melee players picking up items in a giant loot explosion.

My advice for if you mostly get bad public game experiance than make your own public game. Be a strict leader and ask players to play as team and not steal orb from eachother. I think youd be surprised what small amount of leadership does. Now if player just keeps steeling and not really playing in the right spirit you have every right to kick him from your group. I bet you wont have to kick many or any untill your group fills up with like minded people. Then make the group private and have a good time. If a player leave, make it public again or advertise in local that you are LF1.

So far the group community is tight, fair and helpfull. In groups where people arent playing as a team just leave and find another one. In groups I have led so far I'd only had to call out one player, and he left himself. Didnt even have to kick.

Maybe im just the few lucky ones that get good public groups where the loot system is a perk and not a bad thing.

Wish you all good time in Wraeclast (im leaving now to actually play and stop the forums lol :p).

If we ever get a true vote for optoinal loot system where you can pick instanced, shared, FFA, group or whatever, you'd get my vote for us to choose and have options. But I would then personally use the shared loot option for the public parties i create :)

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akete wrote:

My advice for if you mostly get bad public game experiance than make your own public game. Be a strict leader and ask players to play as team and not steal orb from eachother. I think youd be surprised what small amount of leadership does. Now if player just keeps steeling and not really playing in the right spirit you have every right to kick him from your group. I bet you wont have to kick many or any untill your group fills up with like minded people.

So your solution to a broken system is force the party leader to do a bunch of tedious and not fun work to attempt to get a decent public group. Having to constantly watch every player instead of actually playing the game is not fun.

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Then make the group private and have a good time. If a player leave, make it public again or advertise in local that you are LF1.

Again, this is about PUBLIC grouping, the second you throw your group into a private party you are avoiding the problem. You are also going against the Dev's design by doing this to avoid loot tension.

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So far the group community is tight, fair and helpfull. In groups where people arent playing as a team just leave and find another one. In groups I have led so far I'd only had to call out one player, and he left himself. Didnt even have to kick.

Great, the community is extremely small in a closed beta. Open beta starts in 9 days and attracts the worst people imaginable. You kicking people out of groups means you are punishing players that use the loot system by the designers choice. Every time you do that you are going against the designers vision. The fact that you kick anyone in a public group due to them picking up items means you actually don't like the FFA system, as what should be happening is that everyone should be stealing loot, trying to get others killed, blocking loot, etc...

This thread /sigh

It would be really nice if at the very least GGG could update a comment or two on this issue, as its been a year since they last spoke. Its quite obvious that ALOT of people are unhappy with the current loot system, and although i could give two shits what they choose to do about it, its apparent that the player base has some serious gripes.

Anyways , good luck guys.

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JoannaDark wrote:

This thread /sigh

It would be really nice if at the very least GGG could update a comment or two on this issue, as its been a year since they last spoke. Its quite obvious that ALOT of people are unhappy with the current loot system, and although i could give two shits what they choose to do about it, its apparent that the player base has some serious gripes.

Anyways , good luck guys.

Yeah, this has been a touchy subject for as long as I've been beta testing (Fall 2011).

Honestly, the simplest way to get feedback about this issue is to issue a poll to the player base. Numbers speak larger than any conjecture, either on the part of Chris/GGG or the fan base.

It's obvious that what Chris/GGG wants (cut throat looting) may or may NOT be what the majority of the player base desire. The only way to know for sure is to issue a poll on the forums and let the registered players vote.

Simple.

Current 1 or 2 secs timer is ridiculous;
You're fighting a group of champion, they don't all die at the same time, you have to stop damaging mobs, just to make sure you get your own loot (Even more so if you're ranged and melee are mass clicking the item waiting on your timer to expire)?

Yeah broken mechanic, works with friends, not with public party.
Game is awesome but this is a big let-down, this is D2 FFA mess all-over again, we're in 2013 add some looting rules please. Better than what is currently ingame.

If they want cut throat feeling, add the ability to go hostile on each other without notice and death means 2 items randomly dropping from your inventory/person.

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Alesana wrote:

If they want cut throat feeling, add the ability to go hostile on each other without notice and death means 2 items randomly dropping from your inventory/person.

Whats funny is that i still havent so far heard a solid explanation as to why FFA looting would add *fun*.
All i heard so far is people getting all tingly and happy for stealing someones elses loot.
And that is griefing/Ninjalooting/bullying whatever one prefers.
Ive thought alot more and i cant fathom why/how FFA looting would add something positive to PoE when OB starts.
All i see in my contemplatings about FFA looting is how badly it ruins the game in many ways.
And griefers defending it with tooth and nail despite obvious flaws.

Let the Cuthroat people play in their cage, i dont mind.
They can steal/gank eachother however much they want.
Aslong as they dont join the league/party im in.
What i dont wanna see when PoE moves on in its development cycle, is enforced semi-cutthroat league rules on us casuals that are getting griefed by *FFA bullys* in public games.
Just let players have a choice of game rules:

Cutthtroat: FFA Loot, Ganking and so on
Casual: Non-FFA Loot, Non-Ganking and so on

I would like a poll, a questionare, and demographic research on this.
And the best time would be after new players have played some in open beta, so as to make sure the right demographic group of players is in order for the poll to be viable.
Like many others here already asks for, though i dont know how reliable it is due to multible voting due to many accounts people owns.

Almost 300 pages of people saying that they want the system changed.... FFA looting was a flaw in D2, Short timer only works with friends. Would be interested in a dev response.