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

Can't say I like the loot system.

I'm 99% certain I will never play with random people in this game because of how the system works, regardless of the fact that I can have settings to kick people who 'ninja' items. Since this game relies heavily on rng (like all games) that one amazing item can drop and some random person can ruin my day just because I wasn't "fast enough" to loot my item.

No thanks.

"

implement the option to switch from FFA to instanced loot when you make a party

probably the best solution.

I currently refuse to party at all. I absolutely am not interested in fighting the rest of the party for the loot instead of the monsters.
Even in the beginning of the open beta when my friends still played there was always that nagging feeling of "am I ninjalooting?", "was that my item or that of somebody else?".
I completely do not enjoy the current system. So here is one more vote for instanced loot.

My signature explains everything.

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Kalakunka wrote:

I currently refuse to party at all. I absolutely am not interested in fighting the rest of the party for the loot instead of the monsters.
Even in the beginning of the open beta when my friends still played there was always that nagging feeling of "am I ninjalooting?", "was that my item or that of somebody else?".
I completely do not enjoy the current system. So here is one more vote for instanced loot.

Correct me if i am wrong but, isnt there PARTY exp bonus which is huge?
Starting area with party member %30
Per additional member %50, total %230 for 6ppl party?

i feel more comfortable while im playing solo but i dont wanna lose my exp gain at86 level which is already hard to ding

"

EdgeVII wrote:

"

Kalakunka wrote:

I currently refuse to party at all. I absolutely am not interested in fighting the rest of the party for the loot instead of the monsters.
Even in the beginning of the open beta when my friends still played there was always that nagging feeling of "am I ninjalooting?", "was that my item or that of somebody else?".
I completely do not enjoy the current system. So here is one more vote for instanced loot.

Correct me if i am wrong but, isnt there PARTY exp bonus which is huge?
Starting area with party member %30
Per additional member %50, total %230 for 6ppl party?

i feel more comfortable while im playing solo but i dont wanna lose my exp gain at86 level which is already hard to ding

no there is no exp buff anymore..there is not a exp penalty also tho..so you get more exp cause you kill things faster

Well thanks to all the "better" players for explaining me that I am a second tier player not welcome to play this game, just because I dont like the way the system punishes me for fighting the monsters instead of fighting over loot.

The way the free for all loot system is now is why I solo only in this game. I don't want to compete for the loot while trying to survive against the monsters in a party. I'm much rather solo play and not have to worry about this aspect of the game. The two friends I got to play this from facebook are rarely on anymore as they do not party either. Out of all the other aspects of this game, the loot system is the one I like the least.

The loot-system is realy bad.

I have 2 chars on 70+ now and i think about to stop playing that game because of that loot-system.

Atm i have some friends i play with (only 2), but when they leave, what should i do them?

Grouping with random people isn't an option for me.
I play because of the loot. Thats my motivation.
In a random group, i dont get any loot, because im am a Range-DD...

So -> no motivation for playing...

GGG, i have realy no idear why you stick on such a real BAD loot-system?
Give us the option to choose what we want!

"

Augino wrote:

Well thanks to all the "better" players for explaining me that I am a second tier player not welcome to play this game, just because I dont like the way the system punishes me for fighting the monsters instead of fighting over loot.

Don’t let the ‘leets’ get under your skin. The devs are going to changing the system to be more player friendly. While waiting on the patch you can do what I am and play solo. The loot system is not the only issue with co-op currently. Co-op difficulty needs some major adjustments. The game was designed and balanced around solo, so if you want to play the game how it was intended try beating Piety without a team.

"

TremorAcePV wrote:

I'm going to explain how the current loot system works. One. More. Time.

Now, I don't know what the third thing is that goes into it, but I came up with this understanding of the loot system based on posts by GGG. So dispute it if you want, but it's how it works.

I understand the concept behind the timer, and with some minor tweaking based off of their own server statistics, GGG could optimize the timer based on distances and lag times etc.

The real problem - the one that GGG "Can't win" is that they have introduced a new concept with the timer - the concept of "named loot".

GGG didn't create the problem with the timer. It was always there. It was there beceause enough players wanted a more even distribution of drops. That will not change - ever.

What the devs want seems to be clear. What the players want is clear too, despite the cacophony. They want both. GGG could peek at the people posting and see out of both sides who supports them more, but I suspect the answer again is both.

Is GGG really sacrificing the vision of their game to give the players both? GGG has given us both hardcore and default. They have given us both pvm and pvp (Though I do hope pvp has more options in the future). FFA and non-FFA is just another choice.

I recall Chaos runs where people took turns- if it was your turn, anything that dropped was yours if you wanted it.

........

Now let's analyse this without any opinion.

If the players are evenly divided on this and even in their support for the game, then pleasing one group while annoying the other could lose GGG half their financial support.

Giving the players the choice of a few options at game creation shouldn't bother anyone should it? (ignoring the game slowing mechanics for the moment).

If the players are equally divided, then just as many people will choose to create and play in FFA games as non FFA won't they?

If the percentage of players choosing one side is seriously lopsided, than that too should tell GGG a few things.

Is one side more likely to support GGG over the long run? Is one type of player more dedicated? Is the social gamer or the hardcore gamer more likely to allow GGG to continue adding content and develop their game over the next ten years?

I don't have any data, but my gut instincts tell me that both types are likely to stick around for a well designed game.

If GGG can find a way to let the players choose, they can please both, and they will have twice the support and twice the game.

Personally, I'd like to see act 4 and 5 and 6 and more.

The timer was a good first attempt at finding a solution. I find the current incarnation exasperating at times - exploits aside.

After another month of playing, I suspect I'll have enough trustworthy people in my friend's list to not have to worry about FFA ever again. By the same token, there will be non of this "loot tension" nonsense in our groups, no matter what GGG decides.

My solution to this whole temporal chains in a tea cup fiasco?

1) Brainstorms a variety of solutions
2) freely raid the various "loot" threads for possible inclusions
3)Whittle them down to say the top 40 ideas.
4)discuss code/game mechanics feasibility and drop those that are too cumbersome.
5)take the top 10 of what's left and have the server send them out as a PM survey to all actively playing accounts.
6) take the responses and compare them against the Devs vision for the game long term and factor in how it might affect the company long term.
7) make a choice and roll it out on the Alpha server (with no disclosure agreements if they feel it needs it)
8) take the feedback from the Alpha server - mull it over and make a tough call.
9) move on to other important issues like why the new pants micro-transactions cause so much desynch.


So far, I've been very pleased with GGG's thoughtful manner of handling game design. I don't expect that this issue will be any different.