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

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Chris wrote:

Players who wanted an allocated looting system will hopefully be happy that this system mitigates item loss due to latency and travel distance.

It doesn't, at all. I didn't even think that's what that timer was. Most of the time it ends right about the time I finish reading the item's name. The item is looted by some selfish melee before I even cross a quarter of the distance to it. Whoever made the timer seems to be making two assumptions; that I can instantly drop what I'm doing and run into AOE spam or a huge group of monsters the moment something drops, and that I have a ~500% run speed bonus. Neither assumption is true.

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Chris wrote:

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tpapp157 wrote:

An allocation time more on the order of 5 seconds may be more reasonable.

The idea is that there's still an adrenaline rush and that the player has to be alert and aware of what items are dropping.

There is an adrenaline rush...

Because of the intense rage I feel seeing the asshat marauder loot his third rare bow while my archer's inventory is still empty.

I like personalized loot better than a system where the closest character gets all the good stuff. That or the timers are considerably higher to unlock the item to the other players.

A suggestion would be either to up the timers or to don't allow looting/starting timers until the fight is over.

simple way around the looting issue for ranged players don't join parties with people you don't know personally.

better to play with friends you know since good friends will pass each other stuff that the other needs. timers make no difference and you don't have to get upset over a melee grabbing up ranged items.

cut throat looting in random player games will become whoever gets their BOT working fastest (yes even this game will be rife with bots soon. since keystroke/pixel bots are likely already being created to work with PoE)will be feeding the RMT companies. and when that has become the norm you'll be able to watch how fast the game loses players "like watching a gas gauge go down on a drag-racer"

people wont be all that interested in public games when the bots make getting ANY drops impossible regardless of how good the player may be. hard to compete with something that has millisecond speed and already sending a pick up command before anyone even see's the drop happening.

You will be causing alot of players to not want to bother with coop play if loot remains competitive. Even the short timer just flat out does not work.

Everyone should be rewarded evenly for their efforts, as well as rewarded for having gear that influences those drops (Increased drop/quality). I can't think of any reason whatsoever that most people would want to join a random game where some asshole is going to grab all your stuff before you do. Some people actually like to you know...kill the monsters before worrying about what previous ones dropped. Compounded on to this is the fact that inventory space is severely limited, and even if you are quick to click your item you could end up with a full inventory and lose it anyway.

Also when I play with my family and friends (because it's fun to share in this great game with them) We get really turned off by having to remember what items were supposed to go to whatever player. It's pretty damn frustrating.

FFA needs to be an option in the party menu, and let all the people that like it join other people that also like it. For the rest of us carebares that just want to play and have a good time, have loot allocated and whatever does not roll for us specifically would be invisible. In fact make it just like D3. You would need to tweak the system a bit though to not just randomly give things to people like it is now. It should evenly distribute "currency" type items and rares to all members in the map.

This timer business can work, but it is still not the optimal way to please both crowds. I really hope you take this into consideration. Coop PvE should be rewarding, not a headache.

Forgive me for being a late-comer. I just bought a beta key over a week ago.

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tpapp157 wrote:

That sounds like a really good compromise to me. The allocation time seems a little short off hand though. The first monster you kill in a large mob may drop something nice but often you can't quite grab the item because you need to take care of the other monsters first. An allocation time more on the order of 5 seconds may be more reasonable.

the allocation timer is WAAAAAY to short. This type of system is defeating. If drops can't be designated to a certain player, then the timer needs to be extended.

I'm not going to risk potentially overkill death penalties (soon to be implemented) OR let other people die around me because of my own greed.

As it is, my husband and I find ourselves saying "did you see whose name was on that?"

Personally, this type of system will definately keep me out of public games to avoid fostering really negative feelings towards people who - while I'm back kiting & shooting my bow, taking care of the rest of the mobs - stop fighting and dive in to steal my drops.

Give us options: pvp, ironman, cutthroat, hardcore and 'normal', W/E - each with different loot styles.

I've been gaming for 8 years and one thing I've noticed is that people are becoming more greedy and selfish and growing into bigger a$$holes with each game I play. So, let people have options to play that way if they choose to.
I would NEVER steal something from anyone, but I've had it done to me plenty because I choose to stay in the fight so that none of us die before I worry about loot.
Call it mother-hen syndrome if you want, but I don't think this fosters a co-op environment and surely makes it more difficult to make 'friends' in a game.

With the loot system in this game not being currency based, not having an AH (which is fine by me), drops then become REALLY important. I think allowing people to steal them from you is taking it too far.

I just joined the beta not knowing how the looting works and after finding out the loot is competitive based this is a severe turn off that will probably make me consider not playing the game. If there's one thing Diablo 3 did right it's how loot was distributed to each player individually. Your best bet would be to just have 2 party loot options, one that keeps loot free for all and one that distributes individually or allocates items randomly.

My only concern with this currently proposed 1-2 second timer is that it may cause a player in a party to quit fighting in the midst of a battle so they can grab someones loot before they get a chance to do it. I can imagine some players being in a party, and simply waiting for other players to kill a mob and take others stuff while that person is still fighting to stay alive. It may force players to risk death (for themselves and the party) just so they can run across the screen in the middle of battle so some greedy person doesn't jack their loot.

Maybe that is a scenario that you guys are O.K. with, but in theory it sounds like it could really tick me off if it happened.

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Chris wrote:

We initially announced that looting is free-for-all in Path of Exile. Players would be able to see and pick up any items that dropped.

It's important to us that Path of Exile has a cut-throat feel where players are not only competing against monsters, but also their fellow players.
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As we saw here and here, many players really objected to this.
...

Players who wanted a free-for-all looting system will hopefully be pleased - with this system they can take any item they want if the allocated player is not paying attention to the drops.

This is a concept based on feedback only. It's not locked in stone, but we like the direction it's going in.

What do you guys think about this suggestion? Please don't just post "allocated sucks", or "I won't play if it's free-for-all".

Hello Chris,
I suggest a hostile toggle (usable anywhere with no penalties) added to aid with the free-for-all loot system

because your ideals fit this perfectly
"where players are not only competing against monsters, but also their fellow players."

and it does not matter that "many players really objected to this." because it is your game
and if the player doesn't like it, they can quit or not play at all

Thanks.

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Qian wrote:

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Chris wrote:

We initially announced that looting is free-for-all in Path of Exile. Players would be able to see and pick up any items that dropped.

It's important to us that Path of Exile has a cut-throat feel where players are not only competing against monsters, but also their fellow players.
...

As we saw here and here, many players really objected to this.
...

Players who wanted a free-for-all looting system will hopefully be pleased - with this system they can take any item they want if the allocated player is not paying attention to the drops.

This is a concept based on feedback only. It's not locked in stone, but we like the direction it's going in.

What do you guys think about this suggestion? Please don't just post "allocated sucks", or "I won't play if it's free-for-all".

Hello Chris,
I suggest a hostile toggle (usable anywhere with no penalties) added to aid with the free-for-all loot system

because your ideals fit this perfectly
"where players are not only competing against monsters, but also their fellow players."

and it does not matter that "many players really objected to this." because it is your game
and if the player doesn't like it, they can quit or not play at all

Thanks.

I'm sure that will work out great for him if most players play something else because of forcing an elitist loot mechanic on everyone, instead of a toggle option for FFA or allocated loot. /sarcasm off.

- Remove the variation-by-distance from loot timers.
- Set the timers to just above 5 seconds.
- Add a blue item filter option just like the white.

Important details:
Since GGG say they want "momentarily reserved" loot, there is no reason (and rather the contrary) for players other than a loot's reserved owner to know what it is. That sparks plenty of obvious social issues.
Therefor:
- Hide the name+rarity of reserved loot until timer ends.
This easily differentiates the loot from non-reserved to the view of other players, while letting them know something dropped and where.