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

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Aixius wrote:

A D3-style instanced loot system would likely require additional server resources to implement

It would? They have a timer currently -- set that timer to 999999999. Done.

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pilnomi wrote:

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Aixius wrote:

A D3-style instanced loot system would likely require additional server resources to implement

It would? They have a timer currently -- set that timer to 999999999. Done.

i too would appreciate either higher timers, or D3-style loot. i already lost some decent rares because i simply.... misclicked

its 2012 ladies and mentlegen

I like it =] How it's set up right now.

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StupidFatHobbit wrote:

In the current FFA-ish loot system, the two become completely intermingled and combat becomes wholly undermined and is subservient to looting. If you don't get your item BEFORE THAT TIMER RUNS OUT then someone else WILL! And god forbid it's a chaos orb or gcp or anything valuable, because half the group is going to abandon combat in order to camp it just in case you fail to make it! Let's not even think about not making it to that 6L in time...

The design decision to have this game on the FFA loot style needs to be be seriously reconsidered in regards to the impact it's going to have on player behavior and public game viability. It is not going to create a "fun, challenging cut-throat environment," it's going to completely sabotage the game experience and leave players in two groups: those who only play with their friends and those who play public games and enjoy thoroughly fucking each other in the ass as hard as possible whenever possible.

The rest will quit out of frustration or annoyance.

This.

Why do the developers feel they want a "cut throat" feel in a group setting? What is the purpose intended? Is it to feel that as an "Exile", it's up to "me" to survive? What about collaboration to defeat a common enemy?

I would suggest an option made available for groups that will offer a fair chance to everyone. Maybe master looter to the group leader, dice roll, etc.

The "cut throat scenario" is understandable in the beginning of the exile (if this is based on such RP thought), but as our toons get more powerful and we team up to defeat a common enemy, each participant should have an equal fair chance at the rewards without compromising the mission.

My suggestion is to create a choice for those participating in group scenarios on how they wish to distribute the loot (sort of like how you have the skill tree so people have a choice to customize).

EDIT to add: I realize this may be an optional feature, so again I pose the question of why spend valuable resources inplementing a feature to less than 5% (based on Chris' post) of the player base? Unless the goal is a quick farm-and-loot encounter with no real objectives, I really don't see strangers enjoying this nor would they collaborate to solve real game challenges/quests.

Increasing the timer by x4 would do a world of wonders.

I say to do something else ...

make the drop as it is .. with time ... but the time until anyone can pick up your loot to start when there are no monster in the area around it ...

so as long as there are monsters nearby .. only the "chosen" player can pick up the item ..
once the nearby monsters has been slain then the time starts and soon anyone can pick up the items ...

the only special case will be when the last monster is a boss or a champion... that's when a lot of items drops ... and before you see and pick what's yours ... other have collect it already :| ...

and I also suggest to increase the time until the dropped items become shared to the entire party ....

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pilnomi wrote:

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Aixius wrote:

A D3-style instanced loot system would likely require additional server resources to implement

It would? They have a timer currently -- set that timer to 999999999. Done.

By "instanced loot" I was talking about a system where players only see the items that drop for them (like in D3).

As for changing the timer into a permanent reservation, the screen is already a mess with the limited timers on loot. Having permanently visually-muted items all over my screen amidst all the stuff I can pick up would be more and more irritating as more stuff dropped.

A slight increase in timer? Sure. A super-long increase? Please no. We're all entitled to the spoils of battle, which is why the timers give us each a chance to grab something from the pile afterward. There's no guarantee that those items will be divided up in any sort of "fair" or "equal" way though; your timer might reserve an Orb of Alchemy while mine might reserve a Scroll of Identify. In that scenario you'd have a leg up on getting that item, but if you don't seize the opportunity then the rest of us get a shot too. Sounds fair to me.

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Aixius wrote:

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pilnomi wrote:

"

Aixius wrote:

A D3-style instanced loot system would likely require additional server resources to implement

It would? They have a timer currently -- set that timer to 999999999. Done.

By "instanced loot" I was talking about a system where players only see the items that drop for them (like in D3).

As for changing the timer into a permanent reservation, the screen is already a mess with the limited timers on loot. Having permanently visually-muted items all over my screen amidst all the stuff I can pick up would be more and more irritating as more stuff dropped.

A slight increase in timer? Sure. A super-long increase? Please no. We're all entitled to the spoils of battle, which is why the timers give us each a chance to grab something from the pile afterward. There's no guarantee that those items will be divided up in any sort of "fair" or "equal" way though; your timer might reserve an Orb of Alchemy while mine might reserve a Scroll of Identify. In that scenario you'd have a leg up on getting that item, but if you don't seize the opportunity then the rest of us get a shot too. Sounds fair to me.

I think your idea of it using more server resources is flawed. With the addition of the timers, it is basically doing this. What they would surely do, is make those items invisible and unclickable while the timer is running. Once the timer ran out they would appear. If the timer was increased to a crazy high number, it would then become "instanced loot"

I do not see this using up any more resources than it does now.

I want people who love FFA to have their looting mode. I would also like what I prefer as an option. It just really bugs me that the dev's have been completely silent on this topic despite the heated debates that happen here.

Well, this thread is now 142 pages long and I can't read the whole thing but, one of more important replies I saw that i was thinking is... GGG take a VOTE.

make a poll on the front page of the website with options on how loot should be distributed...

thats it, let the majority decide.

what makes more sense than that ??

i mean why make a system that a majority is against? that wouldn't quite make sense. we want community concensus to create the best envirnment to attract the most players possible. worry about cut throat when the final product has been out a few months and it is an actual success. there will be enough cut throat anyway with ladder and HC and peoples natural desire to get better loot than others.

For the record, I am against FFA loot. it discourages ppl from playing together period. For the ppl who like it, it should be alot easier for them to get used to getting thier own loot. for the ppl who dont like it, it could be a game breaker and lead to not wanting to play with others or not wanting to play at all. I havent seen one person say i dont wanna play if theres shared loot but, i have seen a few say they dont wanna play with FFA loot.

me, i'll play no matter what, but, i'll play less in groups if its FFA and have less friends...

Even if it is proven that the majority of players want a different system I do not think that the developers will drastically alter the default looting system. I'm ok with this because its their game and their decision. However I hope that the outcry from the fans will at least get them to make another option or a league for people who want instanced loot. I was fine with a longer timer at first but now I really don't want to see all of the names and timers cluttering up the screen. Just make it completely seperate whether we can see the other players items or not. A poll would be cool but I think its obvious what would get more votes.