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

You've already been told numerous times what is lost. So please stop saying nothing will.be.

I really hate this "cut-throat feel" system. Because people are forced to grab rare items before others get to them, many good items just get sold to merchants. I want a need before greed system or at least allocation time depending on how item suits players in the party.
FFA loot really makes me force not to play coop unless there's no other option.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

You've already been told numerous times what is lost. So please stop saying nothing will.be.

And they are all wrong. An option is an option.

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daphtpunk wrote:

Even if your slightly lagging, or happen to be de-synched when a rare or unique or currency item drops, 1-2 seconds is plenty of time to literally move your mouse and click. Whether your ranged or melee. I can understand the sentiment of wanting to have a 3-5 second timer, but in a game of loot, you have to sharpen yourself to be ready to click by the monsters that could possibly drop an item for you. Just the ARPG way.

It's not the ARPG way, it's the way of games that use FFA loot. Not all ARPGs use FFA exclusively. Any time where you're more focused on grabbing loot than dealing with the rest of the monsters, you're hurting the rest of your team. Instead what happens as everyone scrambles to grab loot, the remaining mobs gib your team and you rage at each other. If you all agree that in order to survive you wait until everything is clear, one person takes advantage of that "truce" and gets the advantage mid-battle. FFA loot is the anti-thesis of co-op. For those that like, they can always make a league for it. It doesn't need to be in every single mode.

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Eleveneleven wrote:

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SL4Y3R wrote:

You've already been told numerous times what is lost. So please stop saying nothing will.be.

And they are all wrong. An option is an option.

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daphtpunk wrote:

Even if your slightly lagging, or happen to be de-synched when a rare or unique or currency item drops, 1-2 seconds is plenty of time to literally move your mouse and click. Whether your ranged or melee. I can understand the sentiment of wanting to have a 3-5 second timer, but in a game of loot, you have to sharpen yourself to be ready to click by the monsters that could possibly drop an item for you. Just the ARPG way.

It's not the ARPG way, it's the way of games that use FFA loot. Not all ARPGs use FFA exclusively. Any time where you're more focused on grabbing loot than dealing with the rest of the monsters, you're hurting the rest of your team. Instead what happens as everyone scrambles to grab loot, the remaining mobs gib your team and you rage at each other. If you all agree that in order to survive you wait until everything is clear, one person takes advantage of that "truce" and gets the advantage mid-battle. FFA loot is the anti-thesis of co-op. For those that like, they can always make a league for it. It doesn't need to be in every single mode.

A FFA loot system keeps people from watching their TV or reading a forum while in a group if they expect to get loot. Having instanced loot promotes lazy, non-competitive play.

Furthermore, I love how everyone acts like that one yellow or unique is THE item they needed. Odds are that item is going to be garbage. You out level items quickly and in the End Game when items are more static, you are probably with a team you trust or solo.

You want an item that is perfect for your character? Pick up that white item that no one touched and craft it....

Completely idiotic if you ask me. I've completely stopped grouping with players simply because I don't feel like trying to instaclick all my drops. At first I thought it was just the group setting that I was in, as I thought it would be way to idiotic to have the only loot option be a timer so fast you can't even read the descriptions of the items before picking something up. Was incredibly disappointed to find it is literally the only option. No more groups for me until this is dealt with. Which sucks because grouping makes the game loads more fun. Now that I think of it, I've pretty much lost all interest in playing except with a friend. Considering my friends and I all have real lives that rarely align for gaming sessions anymore, this will probably mean I won't be playing this game at all. Hopefully they change this soon.

I love competitive loot. Keep it that way.

And if you want to turn on PVP-anywhere and you drop items when you die, I'm game. The more hardcore, the better. Check Eve Online for reference.

All this crap about "free for all loot is mean and scary" is weak sauce. Competitive games last longer, they get you more involved and you build a stronger community. Fact.

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Completely idiotic if you ask me. I've completely stopped grouping with players simply because I don't feel like trying to instaclick all my drops. At first I thought it was just the group setting that I was in, as I thought it would be way to idiotic to have the only loot option be a timer so fast you can't even read the descriptions of the items before picking something up. Was incredibly disappointed to find it is literally the only option. No more groups for me until this is dealt with. Which sucks because grouping makes the game loads more fun. Now that I think of it, I've pretty much lost all interest in playing except with a friend. Considering my friends and I all have real lives that rarely align for gaming sessions anymore, this will probably mean I won't be playing this game at all. Hopefully they change this soon.

Seriously? You're going to quit because you're scared of competitive loot? That's so pathetic.

Sooner or later with this system people will just join groups for loot and not really bother trying to kill stuff and just wait for the drop's.

Saw it in Closed Beta and sure as eggs are eggs will happen a LOT more now it's in OB.

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syzmic wrote:

Sooner or later with this system people will just join groups for loot and not really bother trying to kill stuff and just wait for the drop's.

Saw it in Closed Beta and sure as eggs are eggs will happen a LOT more now it's in OB.

It only happened ever so often and when it did we always kicked the person doing it and privatized the group.

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Plastic_Cup wrote:

A FFA loot system keeps people from watching their TV or reading a forum while in a group if they expect to get loot.

Only for those who enjoy FFA loot. An FFA-only loot system keeps many people from being in a group. Period. Those of us who dislike FFA will NOT join your system. You lose nothing by letting us have our own, AND you improve the game you enjoy, because it retains more players.

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Plastic_Cup wrote:

Having instanced loot promotes non-competitive play.

Non-competitive is exactly what I want. Competitive and 'being on the same team' makes no sense to me. If you prefer competitive, play that way, I'm not suggesting it's removal. But what do you gain from not allowing those who already avoid it the chance to group up?

With a properly designed instanced loot system no extra loot would enter the system REGARDLESS of how fast multiplayer games can be cleared. The instanced system would simply ensure that more casual players who aren't lightning fast a garunteed their drops rather than being forced to play solo because of their slower reaction time. The same amount of loot total would drop in party games whether the system is used or not.

Additionally you wouldn't really even have to make the loot fully instanced. Just increase the timers to like 6 seconds or more so that each player is assured their proper loot, and unwanted items can still be distributed among the other players.

If instanced loot were done in such a way that the current party loot rate were multiplied by the size of the party it would be HORRIBLE, however if you use the EXACT same amount of party loot that already drops but properly divide it you won't be punishing the people for playing in groups.

I loved D2, but the fact is that I rarely if EVER in my entire life got a good drop from any group game because I'm simply not that fast. This effectively means I won't get ANY good gear from any form of group play. Even with a 1-2 second timer, people who don't know what things are worth will end up rushing to pick up random allocated items before they unallocate and end up missing the valuable things.

What about the players who want to grab what they earned fairly at a casual speed and look it's value up later?

"Cut-Throat" isn't always a desirable experience.

My suggested solution would be to allow party leaders to decide whether loot is instanced, temp allocated, or completely FFA.

TL;DR just read this very last thing --^