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

I wonder if anyone ever thought of how to really make it feel cutthroat, versus just reviving an old mechanic that died a long time ago.

If you want to make a scary movie you need to have safe places where the viewer is lulled into a sense of security. That way when something frightening happens it has a really strong impact. If it's constant butchering and abrupt jumps then it feels so over the top it loses the fear factor and almost becomes comedic (very, very dark satire).

I think the lesson here is that if you really want to have a cutthroat feel in the game there needs to be something in the game that lulls users into feeling safe. The loot is cutthroat. Trade is cutthroat. Building your character is cutthroat. Everything in the game is cutthroat. It's so over the top that in reality nothing really feels particularly cutthroat. It all feels very same-y. There is no emotional pull in this game whatsoever, cutthroat or otherwise.

I think PoE would feel more vicious if there were more things in the game that were not actually vicious, so that the really mean stuff can stand out better. I really wish the developers could see this.

325 pages of hating the loot system and GGG has yet to do anything about it, shows how committed they are to their player base.

"

Mertak wrote:

325 pages of hating the loot system and GGG has yet to do anything about it, shows how committed they are to their player base.

Meh.


Half of that 325 pages of pages is filled with people who just want the loot timer removed.

The other half is filled with players complaining about other people taking 'their' drops and want the timer extended.

GGG is has given everyone an amazing game to play for free. Their commitment should not be questioned just because they haven't catered to you.

"

Vooodu wrote:

"

Mertak wrote:

325 pages of hating the loot system and GGG has yet to do anything about it, shows how committed they are to their player base.

Meh.


Half of that 325 pages of pages is filled with people who just want the loot timer removed.

The other half is filled with players complaining about other people taking 'their' drops and want the timer extended.

GGG is has given everyone an amazing game to play for free. Their commitment should not be questioned just because they haven't catered to you.

Not just not catering to me, they are also not catering to thousands of other players, GGG made a promise to put the player first and they have failed with the loot system, they are being stingy about a cut-throat feel that has proven to be hated by a majority, and they have yet to do anything about it.

"

petden wrote:

I still loose my items, because I have an old computer, and my ALT+click spamming skill is crappy. Fuck the cut-throat feel, I don't want to group anymore because everyone ninjas my loot. Grouping would be so much fun, but the loot system disgusts me, it's impossible to group with random people. Please change the loot system to something similar to Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3. Or increase the timer to like 15 seconds. Or make it so you can set the loot system, when you start a group (like in WoW), and we can see, what loot system does the group have in the social window, so we can avoid FFA. Please do something, I hate the loot system right now, I can't play in groups.

Might help if you used the "Z" function, too. Just saying.

"

Worldbreaker wrote:

Funny, we played together (CBT and ABT) for over a year. Very rarely was this even an issue. All you have to do is either:

A) Take everything yourself.
B) Pick up your loot within the given time.
C) Uninstall

You forgot, D) Don't play with strangers.

Which is unfortunately what the vast majority of players will end up doing even if they really like the idea of public groups. Well-designed mechanics reward players for playing the game how they want to play it. If most people like playing with others (which I assume since it is more of an MMO than D3 and Torchlight 2), and most players will feel punished for playing how they like, then that is not a well-designed mechanic.

So anyways, I'll update this later as I keep working on it, but the subject of how many people endorse one side or the other keeps coming up from both sides. I'm going to get some actual firm numbers. Here are the results from the first 25 pages of the thread

TL;DR - There are as many people who want full FFA as there are who want full Instances, and in both cases it's around 10% of the total thread participants. Interesting side note, by that point in the thread, no Supporters have sided with Full FFA but three have sides with Full Instanced. ALL the Diamond supporters are in neither camp, but are open to other compromises.

For Instanced (7):
Oasisbhrnw (Silver), Vandro (Bronze), Silver (Basic), Fruitlord, Malice, PiotrStark, Rhesos

For Timer Extension (0):
None

For Other Compromises (30):
Covert (Diamond), Skivverus (Diamond), Tertium_Quid (Diamond), Wittgenstein (Diamond), Arkwright (Bronze), DarkRookie (Basic), ACLerok, Bartuc, drakkos, eversorgod, Fluffy, Happy_Thoughts, Hartbrot, Kahoder, Killendino, Lichalfred, Medenna, Mitch424242, Narfi, ness, obscenerainbow, p0rt, permaximum, Phouriuh, Rustychops, ShadowTiger, the_jebler, tormenta, zeto, ZhugeLiang

For Keeping Current (10):
Chris (Developer), Zidjian (Silver), tpapp157 (Bronze), Drunk, Hubb, innoruk, Kalyndrel, vahss3, Wisdom, Zephyroth

Endorses Full FFA (6):
andrevv84, Bulkathos, ieatsoap, resira, Vilneus, Zirfith

No Definable Opinion/Just Asked Questions (4):
madwasp, Nopchar, ResidentHippy, Septile

"

DavidJerk wrote:

I really don't care how you do the loot system, as long as you don't cater to the people who want it easier. So loot should still be random. I'm fine with it as it is really. It's a cutthroat world. Play with friends for better results, works for most games. Just don't make it easier to get any loot. The system the OP mentions sounds fine to me. It gives a slightly longer timer for ranged.

Guys, clicking boxes faster does not make the game harder. It does not make the world more "dangerous" or "cutthroat." It's contrived, artificial, and quite honestly, ridiculous.

Do you feel like a "cutthroat" when you click item squares faster than the other half-naked, bloodthirsty, and desperate criminal death machines in your group? If anything, frantically clicking distracts from the cutthroat atmosphere.

Contrastingly, when someone else beats you to an item, do you sit there and think "Man, what a cutthroat that guy is! He clicks so fast and maniacal!"

"

Worldbreaker wrote:

If people are racing there's always a loser

Except that, in default game mode, most people aren't racing, they game for fun and relaxation.
It's a fact, accept it, because if you base your arguments on a false hypothesis then guess what your arguments will be false.

"

Worldbreaker wrote:

Professional gamers go to tournaments and give their effort their skills and their time to win a tournament. Not all of them are given something either, but they did have the opportunity to get something, it was offered for a time but they didn't get a prize due to someone else being better, faster and/or smarter.

Same as the above, false hypothesis equals false arguments (unrelated: I dont give a rat ass for what pro-gamers do etc).

"

GnarlyBurns wrote:

I feel like i'm talking to religious people, the logic is ever so circular and makes no sense.

Agree, like those fanatics are religion-brainwashed so these guys are brainwashed too.

"

Worldbreaker wrote:

Obviously, I hope you pick A or B, but if you are that dense you can't adapt then maybe C is the better option. The only reason I don't want to see any of that in the same league is because now we will have variations on loot drop mechanics and that sets up for a weighted economy.

Again, false hypotesis equals false arguments.
Because there would be absolutely no change for the economy. If 100 items drop in a ffa-system then still 100 items would drop in a longer_time/instanced system.

And regarding the marvelous advice of "quit playing this game and go to d3":
Take a few steps back and see the whole picture: if the pro-sumers and casuals "leave this game and go play d3" all that remains are the hardcore-selfentitled wannabies. Are they enough to keep this game rolling? If the game dies because of your "pro" advice, then won't you, the selfentitled hardcorer, have another chance than "go back and play d3"?
Think goddammit before you give shitty advices.

"

Worldbreaker wrote:

I will leave this thread now, no one is watching it anyways.

Yeah, that's why you posted so much/far because "nobody watches this thread anyway". Go figure