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

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iamstryker wrote:

I make no apologies whatsoever for my opinions. If you didn't notice I put in my post that I was not trying to be argumentative with Chris but was just leaving my opinion/feedback.

I love how your “feedback” is telling the lead designer his opinions are incorrect.

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iamstryker wrote:

Chris never came into the forums. I was responding to his PM to another player. Logic is the only thing that applies with me. I reserve the right to be wrong about anything which happens plenty. I leave my opinions and feedback as I see it.

Therefore, if someone else posts publicly a private reply it is any different? Logic. Many of us have stated over and over the reasons why FFA loot is in the game, DOZENS of hours of just my time alone on this topic and you still don’t get it at all. You just want “options”. We explained repeatedly why options would not work, the lead designer actually, stats something to the same effect and well, he must be WRONG? Logic, where art thou.

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iamstryker wrote:

If a person makes a claim about something then they should be prepared for another person to ask for evidence..

Chris you have a lot of explaining to do! We need evidence! No. Common sense is more than enough here. Removing player “tension” from loot takes something away from the game.

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iamstryker wrote:

when its was anounced that your main weapon was tied to all damage and your damage was also tied to your main stat. The devs should have been more careful in their design process and not dumbed the game down.

WHOOSH! I give up.

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iamstryker wrote:

If you reread my post you will notice that I asked a lot of questions. I was being serious in asking those questions and not in telling him he was wrong. My goal is understanding his position and the reasoning behind it which currently I don't.

and evidently never will, as many of us have been saying the same things for months.

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iamstryker wrote:

I have also never ignored any of your "reasons for FFA" I see absolutely none of them as good enough to justify this result. I see more harm then any so called good that this system accomplishes. Options are great when it comes to most areas of the game, theres even an option that appeals to a very small portion of the player base. But when it comes to this option theres all of the sudden a big problem with options. Chris never explained any issue with this option or with options in general, just a statement that options are usually bad.

How many options are applied to OTHER players? these are what's bad. you want a choice to avoid the “meta game” entirely - also bad, its not there because people like it, its there because its good for the game. (see below)

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iamstryker wrote:

So why is my common sense and logic telling me something completely different than yours? My common sense says "People are actively avoiding loot tension, so why is this system so important?", "People play in public games less because of this system, doesn't that hurt the game?", "Where's the pay off for this apparently important system?", "There sure is a lot of negative feedback, where is the responses from the devs over the issues brought up?" "If this game is primarily single player then why is FFA so extremely important to keep around as the only looting option?","Why should pvp be a requirement in public games?","How exactly would the game be hurt if I could just extend the timer another 10 seconds in my public game?"

These reasons have been discussed, listed and brought up OVER and OVER. AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, yet you still ask. What is going to change?

1) pace. when good items fall people will loot quickly.
2) gives you a reason to make friends. when you travel with friends the usually won't try and grab something that fell with your name on it unless you walk away from it.
3) easy to share. I’m a bow users and a bow falls with someone elses name on it, they can just leave it there for me to take since they don't use bows. or sometimes people will say they are looking for certain items, we can let them loot those items without effort.
4) it fits the theme/style of the game. you are an exile... sure, people DON'T really roleplay, but it really does fit the game well.
5) if you have loot “rules” that everyone agreed upon, you have the option of breaking those rules at will when nobody is looking - temptation will always be there.
6) in ladder races sometimes the top players are all in the same group, and competing for rank and loot, but still need to help each other.
7) drama. seriously. Hey! he stole my boots right before I could get them! I hope he dies. anything worth talking about in the game is good for the game even bad things.
8) excitement. you see more items fall then in instanced loot systems, and you see what others got.
9) added difficulty for large groups. less overall loot and difficulty in seeing who took what means that ninja looting is easier etc. harder to keep track of anything.
10) danger. when people are competing it is added danger to loot while fighting - more than once I have seen greedy players will run up to grab something and die.
11) immersion. you can see what people type in chat, you can see how they fight, and you also can see what they loot/pick up. you can tell plenty about a player from these things, and to do so you need to pay close attention to loot while fighting. - you feel more “in” the game with them by sharing all elements.

There are probably several more I’m forgetting, but here are just a few things that would be lost in an instanced system.

in an instanced system:
a) you don't need to make any friends, and nobody has a reason to friend you - the general public is almost the same.
b) you can play while watching tv and only using one hand when all you do is click on monsters
c) you can't see what anyone else got - so even if they just picked up a perfect item for your character you can't make them an offer or try and beg for it. etc.
d) to share loot you have to pick it up and drop or open a trade window in town.
e) no difference between large groups or solo - just advantages of following powerful players.
f) if someone in your party is a jerk there is nothing you can do to retaliate.
g) its not realistic that some items are invisible to all but one player. - minor thing, but what if monsters were instanced too?
h) no advantage to being in front and killing everything then to be in the back following and just looting.

I don't have time for this anymore, expect no replies.