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

"

Sickness wrote:

"

DisorderedMind wrote:

I very much doubt, anyone reading atleast a quarter of the suggestions or the comments of devs to the topic, will still pursue a fully instanced system, as in which the loot is managed in a different instance-per player, thus invisible to all.

Well for the record, I want exactly that.
If I see another good way to fix screen clutter then I might change my mind.

item clutter is a general issue. it has barely something to do with which loot system is used.

for example: one thing ppl wait for since a long time, are working display filters for white/magic even rare items. the filter white items option got removed, before it even worked once.

if such filters are implemented and work well, you will filter out the white and the magic items most of the time, thus there goes the item clutter with no change in the loot system at all.

after all, if you count how many items are atm allocated by the timer system, and thus are valuable you will come up with about a handful per boss drop e.g. this isnt what is causing the item clutter.

imho fully instanced will only cause more trouble than it solves, even if its optional. (as i said in the original post)
so we have to move away from fully instanced to a somewhat allocating system, which also..or even more works for FFA fans.

this might work if you make the allocation in a way dependent on the actions the players take.
Free For All, would mean in that scenario, that every player competes with another and the way to do so means-> slaughter some mobs / support each other etc. = gain points

the better you play, the more the pay

The items you get as a reward, earned by you and your actions, is hence allocated and be picked up only by you or given to the 'poor' if you decide so.

"

mobutu wrote:

"

Juggernaut448 wrote:

I don't see how it's funny, but alright.

I was ironical ofcourse

"

Juggernaut448 wrote:

...those same people aren't listening to other compromises that could also work.

I'm sorry but i can speak for myself.
For me compromises = options.
So i'm all agreed about that and ofcourse i listen to them.

But those people that say ffa or nothing are the type of people you described in your original post.

Well I'm glad there are people listening to options, loot options would be fine if it were to attract a larger crowd, I can see it happening. I have a soft spot for FFA loot and find the current system to be fine with my personal preference. Again though, to suggest compromises to better fit the whole audience while keeping whatever the developers may want in game is what this thread is for. The problem is I don't think anyone knows what the developers want anymore since they keep changing their mind. I read somewhere they wanted FFA loot to add a competitive looting element to the game, but I don't know if this is true anymore.

People saying it should be just FFA or just IL are all over in this thread. They can always dislike an option and state accordingly why, but they also need to understand there are always pros and cons to each situation.

I honestly don't see why adding an options for FFA or IL loot would hurt anyone since I personally play solo or with my friends. Attracting a larger crowd and becoming (more) successful is what I'd like to see of this game. The only thing negative about it would be that it might take some time to implement.

"

UnderOmerta wrote:

This janky timer system is the worst of both worlds.

Agreed.

Worse, it smells like a hack - a quick fix temporary solution requiring minimal effort but little if any thought as to the long term. One that no one on either side of the argument really likes. I sincerely hope it wasn't the best they could do or... well heh 'nuff said.

I think we should give group leaders some options which they can use to adjust the loot timer. Then people who want FFS looting can have thier own teams and can FFA loot stuff from each other all they want.

"

DisorderedMind wrote:

item clutter is a general issue. it has barely something to do with which loot system is used.

Instanced loot would fix it, so there's that.

None of the drawbacks of instanced loot (and there are barely any IMO. The game was pretty much designed around instanced loot even) even begins to come close to the drawback of constantly seeing nothing but text when playing in 4+ player groups.

I stopped playing public games. because I just want to pick items assigned to me, and I have never taken others' loot because morally I couldn't bring myself to do.

ggg thinks current looting system is more competitive and adds to the atmosphere of being 'exile.' but it is a game, it is not meant to be frustrating for many players, but enjoyable.

they must prioritize fun factor over competitiveness.

ladder system is great, highly competitive and there isn't much complaint, because at the same time it is fun, unlike the loot system.

"

Juggernaut448 wrote:

You said coding FFA loot is simple. Coding IL loot or FFA loot is not simple. Coding itself isn't simple. That's a quote directly from you practically saying coding is easy. Please do not say I lie.

FFA is easier to code cause you dont' have to work your variables in a per party member basis. i just used common sense...and i sayed coding FFA is easy not IL (you implied that i sayed IL is easy...)

"

Juggernaut448 wrote:

Coding doesn't just use common sense. You can't just throw an equation in there and make it work. I can't exactly say which type of system would take longer to code, but just saying that an IL loot system would take longer without knowing firsthand is wrong. Without personal experience, how could you know?

in fact coding is based on equations and variables...but anyway i used common sense to describe how a very basic equation of the 2 systems....noone here has the code that GGG used to tell for sure

"

Juggernaut448 wrote:

Yeah, you kind of did just dismiss it for your own standpoint completely.

And if anything is a better solution than the semi-FFA loot we have now, you'd agree to Xavderion's suggestion as well then right?

i didnt' dismissed my standpoint by saying that loot options should be FFA/IL...this is in my opinion the golden compromise (and many others follow that also)

and we say anything is better than FFA we mean anything....the semi-FFA is a solution yes, i wouldnt' be happy with that also but at least i could join some groups for some exp and socialization....lootwise (or the most effective way to get loot) i will always solo in a xxx-FFA system cause otherwise i'll have to fight 2 RNG gods in the loots (the loot and the member allocation)..

anything is better than pure-FFA doesnt' mean that everything is as good as IL (from the systems that are known to online gameplay)

"

sasapesso wrote:

I stopped playing public games. because I just want to pick items assigned to me, and I have never taken others' loot because morally I couldn't bring myself to do.

ggg thinks current looting system is more competitive and adds to the atmosphere of being 'exile.' but it is a game, it is not meant to be frustrating for many players, but enjoyable.

they must prioritize fun factor over competitiveness.

ladder system is great, highly competitive and there isn't much complaint, because at the same time it is fun, unlike the loot system.

same here ,i just can't be bothered to look after people and make sure that they don't steal, and especially in hardcore where you really need the items/currency

In all honesty just increasing the radius of being able to pick up loot would fix all of my problems. I have ran into countless issues as a ranged player with the number of melee players swarming an item and literally in a loot frenzy ignoring all of the other mobs on the screen. They actually act as an effective Blockade and stop the ranged player from being able to get in range to acquire the loot item awarded.

The current Iteration of the loot system is fine, just double the radius in order to acquire the selected item.

This is part of the reason of being melee makes getting loot so much easier.

"

Dimitrii_ss2 wrote:

"

sasapesso wrote:

I stopped playing public games. because I just want to pick items assigned to me, and I have never taken others' loot because morally I couldn't bring myself to do.

ggg thinks current looting system is more competitive and adds to the atmosphere of being 'exile.' but it is a game, it is not meant to be frustrating for many players, but enjoyable.

they must prioritize fun factor over competitiveness.

ladder system is great, highly competitive and there isn't much complaint, because at the same time it is fun, unlike the loot system.

same here ,i just can't be bothered to look after people and make sure that they don't steal, and especially in hardcore where you really need the items/currency

Its not stealing. The item is no longer yours when the timer runs out. All this frustration will go away by simply changing your perspective on loot to coincide with the actual rules not the ones you make up for yourself.