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

I really can't say if I like this system without seeing it for myself to be honest. As someone who likes allocated looting, I would want the allocation time to be a bit more (say 2-3 seconds) and the timer on the screen really clear: [yellow]RARE AXE 3 SEC REMAINING[/yellow] or [gold]GEM OF ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION 2 SEC REMAINING[/gold].

Plus I wish there was a way to make sure everyone is busy killing instead of holding alt to see what items are on the floor.
These loot/drop plans need a massive test in beta phase. We are ready for it.


After I experience it in reality i can say more....
PoE & Grim Dawn, the two kingz.
Hungarian H&S fan at your service.
this is an awful "compromise" id hardly call it a compromise at all, it still gives exactly the same issues which is why some people are against FFA and does nothing to stop the spam pick up button fight against the people your "teaming" with

if you want a cut throat system then fine keep it to the cut throat league, the normal league should give the party leader loot options

such as

random

dice based

auto invent distributed

not sure of 1 word for next 1, but say if the maruder has had 3 drops in a row he has a decreased chance for the next 3 drops

all items which get dropped should be mentioned in a system chat window, im fed up playing with noobs i dont know who lie about what the drop was only to find them selling it straight after we finished the run

im sure theres plenty more, but this still means any range class is going to get screwed over regardless of a time to get to the location, what happens if we are still surrounded and a rare drops? im a brittle DPS dealer im not running into a group of mobs so ofcourse it goes to the melee dealers, funny picture after every decent drop regardless of what we are all still fighting everyone says F it and runs to the drop location

it will just mean that alot of players will only party up with people they know and trust and thats not good for any game
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eversorgod wrote:

... but this still means any range class is going to get screwed over regardless of a time to get to the location, what happens if we are still surrounded and a rare drops? im a brittle DPS dealer im not running into a group of mobs so ofcourse it goes to the melee dealers ...


Quoted because I agree and would like for a dev to respons to this :)
I didn't like this system. I wanted free for all loot to stay but instead of this system better bring allocated loot. I hate those arcadish countdowns on the screen like "1 second remaining" "Start" etc. It will just kill the immersion.

Why didn't you think something like boss and super-monster drops jump out completely randomly (both direction and distance). With this way everyone would go for the needs.



Or you could implement cursed items into the game which curse the players (permanent attribute, mana, health etc. loss) on pick up. Just a small indication of the cursed item on it's text which cannot be differentiated quickly.

Or telephaty like skills for ranged characters.

But this is not the right way imo.

He who fights with monsters
might take care lest he thereby
become a monster.
"
Why didn't you think something like boss and super-monster drops jump out completely randomly (both direction and distance). With this way everyone would go for the needs.



If it originates from the boss and has random direction and distance, it is still mathematically better for the melee characters though, although an algorithm can be made to make it more fair.

"
Or you could implement cursed items into the game which curse the players (permanent attribute, mana, health etc. loss) on pick up. Just a small indication of the cursed item on it's text which cannot be differentiated quickly.


I'm sorry, but random shit that destroys your character is stupid imho :) Still have nightmares (jk) from the Black Death zombies in Diablo 1 that permanently made you lose 3 health if they hit you. There was no indication that it was going on, and by the time you figured it out it was too late. Or cauldrons activated by other people in the same level that made you lose attributes lol~~

"
Or telephaty like skills for ranged characters.


If every character has this, it would be a fair system, but still isn't my personal choice though!
Yes, my first suggestion needs some simple rules for how random the jump out effect will be but that's pretty much it.

Second suggestion; that's why you have to be careful while picking up items. You won't be able to just click-click-click with this feature.

Third suggestion; probably not GGG's personal choice too because i pointed that out before.

But really, if they won't go for free for all loot they should consider my first suggestion.

Just I don't want immersion of the game to be killed. Even I'm OK with allocated loot if GGG can't find a proper solution for both sides.
He who fights with monsters
might take care lest he thereby
become a monster.
I have to agree with Rhesos on this one.

2-3 seconds doesn't really sound like it would solve anything for a ranged character. They will have to suddenly break off combat and risk death charging directly into deadly groups of enemies just to get some loot. And if the if the drop happens behind a wall of enemies, you can forget about it unless you have leap slam or teleport or whatever.

I much prefer to concentrate on just playing the game, killing and trying to survive - then collect loot when there is a lull in the action. I don't want to have to spend the entire game on a hair trigger waiting to pounce on loot in the middle of a tense fight.

Then again, this is all just theory as I haven't played the game yet. Maybe it's just not much of an issue in game. Somehow I doubt that though.

One interesting option would be to let the party leader set loot rules (only while in town) to either FFA or assigned loot. Then likemined people can team up with each other and everyone is happy.
Since party member can be spread out across instances, it would make sense to only assign loot to characters in the same area as the drop.
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Chris wrote:
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. We do not feel it is an option to arbitrarily hide items from players who have not been allocated them.


I realize GGG wants a cut-throat feel to the game, and I respect your decision to make it as such. However, you must take a step back from that vision and look at the overall game-play aspect of what you implement. Cut-throat doesn't always equal fun, and in some cases it can mean disaster. I'm not saying this idea is a bad one, but let me point out what I believe are potential issues.

"
Chris wrote:
- All white text items are free-for-all.


All white text items being free-for-all creates the issue where melee players in a team have essentially first dibs. Should they get first dibs if they're doing the same amount of work as a ranged player? I honestly don't believe so. Essentially, a melee player next to the action can be very choosy about a white text item. And I'm pretty sure white text items will have a larger role in this game, unless I'm mistaken.

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Chris wrote:
- All magic/rare/unique/currency/gem items are allocated to a nearby player for a very small amount of time.


The problem here is "small amount of time" the thing is, this is an Action game. Now, generally action means dealing damage, combat, and general battlefield maneuvers. I do not believe that picking up an item quick enough is "actiony" I actually think it's a little frustrating. It's forcing only ranged players to be quick on the draw. Melee players will never ever have the problem with this because they will always be close to the action. Ranged players pretty much get the short end of the stick, if a good item drops for them, they must run to it, thus breaking their fighting. They must also attempt to venture into enemies, were they may be weak to defend themselves from. The main point of this is that it breaks up the game-play and causes players to scramble for loot just as much as free-for-all.

"
Chris wrote:
- All players can see the item, and a countdown of how much time remains until it's available to anyone is shown.


I've never truly liked the idea that all players can see each other's loot. The problem with this is it can cause in-fighting and group break-up. here's a scenario - Melee player A finds an awesome bow, Ranged player B begs player A to give him the bow, and then insults tend to ensue. That's just a basic example, but, if this doesn't matter, that's my only main point about this.

"
Chris wrote:
- The allocation time is intended to be very small (enough time to compensate for a little latency, reaction time and travel distance). We're thinking a base time of something in the order of 1 second when standing next to the item.


I'm confused about this one, does the item pop-up next to the player it was allocated to? If that's the case then no less then 5 seconds is really necessary. Otherwise if the player must run into a horde of enemies to get the item that was allocated to them in order for them to even have a chance to get the item. I think that just isn't fun. It breaks the combat up too much and causes players to use less real-strategy.

"
Chris wrote:
- The time would be increased by the time it takes for the character to run to the item. An item allocated to a ranged player might unallocate after two seconds, for example.


I think that the allocated time to pick up any item, should be much more reasonable then a few seconds. I also have an issue with a timer being on every other item drop. It breaks immersion even more so.

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Chris wrote:
- It's important that the time is low enough that the player can only get the item if they are paying attention and make an effort to immediately grab it.


I guess this is where design philosophy and general game-paly "fun" kind of clash. Because, I feel like design philosophy should be pushed to its limits, but either it works or it doesn't. In this case it's really hard to say that this will work out well. It would be frustrating for ranged players to rush into a horde of enemies. I'm also skeptical about the whole "being attentive to the items that drop" thing, sure players should be attentive to items that drop, I simply don't feel it should be a game-play mechanic in and of itself. Especially not for a game that requires the player to obtain gear to progress. A game that allows intentional co-op.

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Chris wrote:
- The allocation times can be lower or non-existent in hardcore or cut-throat leagues.


This is fine, actually they should simply have the FFA loot scheme period.

"
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.


I feel either the loot timers need to be increased or maybe this can be worked on a little more. If I think of one I will post it.

Thank you for taking the time to post this Chris, I appreciate hearing what GGG had to say about loot and I hope that you guys can ultimately find a solution that works in the best interest of the game and its players. I will help the best I can of course and I hope this feedback helps.
Happy Days Abound.
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Silver wrote:
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Chris wrote:
- The allocation times can be lower or non-existent in hardcore or cut-throat leagues.

This is fine, actually they should simply have the FFA loot scheme period.

I don't know, I'd still ike to be able to play a ranged/squishy hardcore character for fear of death, without being at a massive loot disadvantage. FFA in cut-throat makes perfect sense, since there will already be fierce competition between players, and if you can just (try to) kill someone for their loot.

FFA loot and parties are sort of at odds with each other. Parties promote concentrating on cooperation and teamwork in combat. FFA loot promotes competition and griefing your party members while ingnoring combat.

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