Brian's Feedback to Looting (quote from reddit)

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Brian_GGG wrote:

Hey guys, just wanted to throw in my feedback on this issue. We're well aware there there are a lot of different opinions about contested loot in POE, and while we're pretty happy with the current implementation, it is far from set in stone.

Fundamentally, POE is a game about tough choices, about making your way in a harsh world with few initial resources. This is a theme that runs through the whole game, from the starting areas, to the cryptic early NPCs, to the lack of respecs, and the quickly ramping difficulty. Having quasi-FFA loot definitely falls right in line with the general cutthroat, competitive aesthetic of Wraeclast.

However, we pay a lot of attention to feedback, and we absolutely recognize that the current system is pretty brutal on some players, especially new players, or those with slower connections of computers. I know exactly how it feels to have loot snagged out from under your nose, having played Diablo 2 for many many years. It's a frustrating experience that often makes you question why you're even playing in the first place.

Conversely, in a good group that has some basic "gentleman's rules", the current FFA-timer implementation VASTLY speeds up the pace of game play. We've tinkered around with a lot of different loot timers, and we've found that when we extend them, even by a little bit, the pace of the game drags considerably. You want to just be moving along all the time, going from pack to pack, blowing stuff up. The last thing you want to be doing is standing around every time some stuff dies, waiting for all your little bars to decay.

When everyone agrees to play by a fundamental set of rules, be they real "FFA" or "leave stuff alone that's not yours", the loot tends to average out pretty well anyway. Groups can also verbally punish or shame a player who appears to be abusing the drop system, and you do decide who you party with.

Ultimately, we believe that having an FFA-based system is good for the general health of the game. When you play in a group with completely player-bound, invisible-to-others loot like Diablo 3 or Torchlight 2, you really get the feeling that you're playing in a bubble. The other players with you might as well be bots, and there is little shared or vicarious joy in lucky stuff that drops. That's something we're definitely trying to avoid.

POE has proven to be extremely popular since our Open Beta release, far popular than we could have expected, and so we're obviously catering to a pretty wide audience. A certain portion of that audience is put off by the cutthroat nature of loot distribution in the game, and we're not deaf to those concerns. This is an issue that is going to be going through a lot of internal discussion in the weeks and months ahead.

Thanks for the understanding and for the great feedback. I really appreciate all the time people have taken to post here, as well as their passion for the game!

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JoannaDark wrote:

You know - it kinda bothers me that anyone from GGG would post there, and not here, in relation to this overly exploded issue.

But w/e.

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JoannaDark wrote:

You know - it kinda bothers me that anyone from GGG would post there, and not here, in relation to this overly exploded issue.

But w/e.

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anubite wrote:

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JoannaDark wrote:

You know - it kinda bothers me that anyone from GGG would post there, and not here, in relation to this overly exploded issue.

But w/e.

They have said all the things Brian has said, in the past on these forums. Nothing Brian has said is new or something you couldn't find with a persistent forum search.