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

I have 3 thoughts/ideas

1) Maybe you could do a blend, like 50% of items are player bound for 5-10 seconds, and 50% are free for all.

2) Maybe keep it free for all, but instead of having items drop during a fight, make all non-white items only drop from containers, which unlock and spill their contents when the last monster in a group dies. This will make battles go more smoothly.

3) Allow a custom paid league that has 100% of items assigned to players, so that people at least have the option of playing how they want.

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ShadowTiger wrote:

3) Allow a custom paid league that has 100% of items assigned to players, so that people at least have the option of playing how they want.

Wow, that is a really good idea. I'd gladly pay just for that.

From my experience with range characters in games such as D2 is that they tend to have very few disadvantages, yes they are squishy, but mostly just against melee attackers which they tend to cut to ribbons before they can even be hit. I always felt that missing out on some of the loot was a trade off for the safety that their range attacks granted them.

I never really noticed missing out on much loot anyways...While the tanking characters are busy clearing the crowds the range characters can easily move behind them and snatch up what drops while they are drawing monster aggro. Provided that the monsters are doing enough damage for the tankers to even notice.

Personally I don't see much of a problem with FFA loot but if the goal is to get people to group up and go through the game in a party rather than just doing solo "MF Runs" it might be better to adopt a drops system similar to Guild Wars where every thing that drops gets assigned to a random party member and only they can pick it up for...I dunno what it is, 5-10 seconds or something. Yes the ranger may miss out on the "Vicious Bow of Angry Death" but he may get another item that the player who did pick up wants to trade for. There is no need for timers on screen just a simple greyed out name for those who may not pick it up will suffice, after the grace period expires it's color changes to normal and its first grab wins.

Not every bow should go to a Ranger nor every wand/staff to the Witch as I'm sure we will all being using all the classes and be looking to gear them up.

Final analysis: FFA loot in the parent leagues seems fine to me. More restrictive looting rules may have a place in special league play...

The drops should not be random. It should be by the most amount of damage done or by the person who made the kill. The clock should start when the selected player hovers over the Item.
It will cause a lot of hate to work with some players who are hogs and try to take anything they find. There are a lot of players who don't care about a fair game.

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Medenna wrote:

The drops should not be random. It should be by the most amount of damage done or by the person who made the kill. The clock should start when the selected player hovers over the item.

I disagree, for a number of reasons:
First, any sort of non-random loot allocation will inevitably bias the game towards one sort of playstyle or another. If it's by "damage dealt" or "killing blow", the bias goes towards glass cannons... and the "hate" you mention will show up naturally for anyone playing a defensive character who partners with said glass cannon, as said glass cannon will get proportionally more of the drops.
Second, of course it causes hate to work with players who try to take anything they find. Why prevent them from discovering this?

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Skivverus wrote:

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Medenna wrote:

The drops should not be random. It should be by the most amount of damage done or by the person who made the kill. The clock should start when the selected player hovers over the item.

I disagree, for a number of reasons:
First, any sort of non-random loot allocation will inevitably bias the game towards one sort of playstyle or another. If it's by "damage dealt" or "killing blow", the bias goes towards glass cannons... and the "hate" you mention will show up naturally for anyone playing a defensive character who partners with said glass cannon, as said glass cannon will get proportionally more of the drops.
Second, of course it causes hate to work with players who try to take anything they find. Why prevent them from discovering this?

100% agree with Skivverus on this one.

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Skivverus wrote:

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Medenna wrote:

The drops should not be random. It should be by the most amount of damage done or by the person who made the kill. The clock should start when the selected player hovers over the item.

I disagree, for a number of reasons:
First, any sort of non-random loot allocation will inevitably bias the game towards one sort of playstyle or another. If it's by "damage dealt" or "killing blow", the bias goes towards glass cannons... and the "hate" you mention will show up naturally for anyone playing a defensive character who partners with said glass cannon, as said glass cannon will get proportionally more of the drops.
Second, of course it causes hate to work with players who try to take anything they find. Why prevent them from discovering this?

yeah the winning blow would become a stand off towards the last sliver of health on an enemy "the (pixel generated character here) isnt dying as quickly..." everyone must be waiting for cold downs... lame sauce

i am for free for all loot, i think its nice to stole item from someone who is not very faster ,its a part of a game.
Example,he has nice unique sword but he think too much to pick ,but i dont need soo much time to think and i got new sword ,next time he will be faster.

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Bulkathos wrote:

i am for free for all loot, i think its nice to stole item from someone who is not very faster ,its a part of a game.
Example,he has nice unique sword but he think too much to pick ,but i dont need soo much time to think and i got new sword ,next time he will be faster.

it doesnt come down to who's faster its usually who has a better ping... so FFA loot would suck its so annoying in other games...

And what if the other player was a ranger and further away from you? Because you are closer to the item you will have the advantage?