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

Here SMRD:
http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/factsopinions/factsopinions.html

Alot of people disagree with you, yet you continue to spout your personal opinions as facts.

This droll, misguided list is readily shredded.

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SMRD wrote:

1) pace. when good items fall people will loot quickly.

Pace is jarringly interrupted when good items fall, as everyone starts stumbling and bumbling over the loot rather than focusing on the enemies. Is it truly that enticing to you to have to run *through* the enemies in order to snag (insert absurdly rare drop here) before your "friends" steal it from you?

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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.

If they're not going to try to grab something that fell with your name on it, then why is it necessary to play in a system wherein they could? Indeed: doesn't ensuring that you play only with people who respect this Unwritten Rule *defeat the purpose* of having an FFA loot system at all?

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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.

I don't want your bow. That is to say: I do not care, at all, when a bow drops for you. Conversely, when a bow drops for me, I don't want or need you drooling all over it. It's *my* bow, and *I'll* decide whether I even reveal to you that it dropped, "friend".

If you're so hell-bent on so-called easy sharing, then it's simplicity itself to implement a system for unlocking an item on the ground so that others can pick it up if they so choose (like alt-click or whatever). Extenuating, there'd be nothing stopping the devs from implementing this as a character-level or even account-level flag setting for those players who really do enjoy watching greedy players descend upon their dropped items like starving vultures.

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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.

My play style is not in the slightest bit influenced by the game's theme. You, conversely, seem to see fit to allow this game's dark, gritty theme to serve as an excuse to exhibit dark, gritty behavior toward others. It's a game. Open a window.

Besides: if this game really is the grueling, tumultuous horror scene you imply, then the loot timer runs contrary to that notion, doesn't it? Why are players required to stand patiently for N seconds next to an item before stealing it? Yet I don't hear you railing against this feature. Odd, that.

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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.

I experience no tingling in my naughty bits at the notion that I can steal your Mirror. If anything, I am thoroughly disgusted at the notion that the developers are so hell-bent on purposely and purposefully crafting a gaming environment in which I'm supposedly tempted to steal your Mirror. I gain absolutely no joy whatsoever at the notion that I am permitted, by game design, to act like a colossal jackass. Thus, my own game experience is not at all enhanced. Further, since apparently everyone around me has also been given license for jackass behavior, I am relegated to playing games alone. Thus, no, no one in my games can break the rules; since there's no one around to break them.

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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.

Which they can do just fine in either environment.

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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.

Drama, right. That's what we're all looking for in our computer games these days. Drama, just like in the good old days of Diablo 2. Drama, just like those wonderful adventures raiding in World of Warcraft. Again: those of us who don't want drama -- and we really, REALLY don't -- are just going to play by ourselves. Thus, again, this loot system does NOT foster an environment of suspense, drama, or tension. Instead, it forces us to play alone, or with close, trusted friends; and discourages us from ever meeting or playing with strangers.

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8) excitement. you see more items fall then in instanced loot systems, and you see what others got.

I'm not at all excited by the items that drop for you. Similarly, I have no interest in your excitement about the items that drop for me.

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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.

Again, these are scenarios that are *discouraged* by this loot system, as players will simply seek to play by themselves or only with RL friends.

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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.

Yes, how greedy of a player to want to collect the items that dropped for him, and are allocated to him, before those perfectly reasonable, theme-adhering fellows around them descend upon that item like a ravenous pack of dogs. What a jerk, that guy, right? Screw him. How dare he try to ruin things for everybody else.

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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.

I know plenty about you already, and we've yet to even play together.

Nor will we ever.

I love seeing people's flawed logic get demolished one quote at a time. The only thing better is watching them stumble to recover. *grabs popcorn in anticipation*

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TehHammer wrote:

I love seeing people's flawed logic get demolished one quote at a time. The only thing better is watching them stumble to recover. *grabs popcorn in anticipation*

*shrug* I've ridden this roller coaster before with individuals of his ilk. On this very thread in fact. It's a waste of breath, really, since my ire is no longer directed toward that sliver of the populace who get their genitals all twisted in anticipation of going all Grand Theft Auto on some hapless newbies. It's instead directed squarely at the developers.

I'll admit that I was confused for a very long time about what could possibly be going through their heads. Were the devs oblivious to the chaos they were causing? Were they ignorant of the overt bucking of the trend of gaming maturity and inclusiveness so clearly visible in the gaming industry, in this genre and others? Yes, I get that this game caters toward the sort of player who enjoys spread-sheeting, number-crunching and min-maxing. Yes, that sort of player tends to prefer to dub himself with prideful labels such as "hardcore". But do the devs really assume that these sorts of players must necessarily seek the thrill of *abusing* players who don't understand the game mechanics as well as they do?

Then, at the last, it struck me, like ice water to the face. The devs don't need to make any such assumption at all. The *devs themselves* want that system. The devs prefer that system. The devs possess the driving need to play in their own game in a fashion that allows them to be colossal jackasses to their own player base. That's been their goal all along: to entice new players to their game, just so that the devs, and their like-minded, loyal player base, have somebody to pick on, to inflict pain upon, to abuse.

It's the only reasonable explanation. It also perfectly explains why they haven't replied to this thread in a year. Nobody likes to have their darker side dragged out from under a rock for all the world to see. Hell, I'm surprised the thread hasn't been shut down by now.

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SMRD wrote:

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TehHammer wrote:

I love seeing people's flawed logic get demolished one quote at a time. The only thing better is watching them stumble to recover. *grabs popcorn in anticipation*

choke on it buddy

I care about the god damn game enough to waste dozens of hours trying to explaining something that is beyond most peoples grasp, evidently yours too “Mr alpha”. Take this argument to Chris. Who I guess does not know what he’s doing eh?

That part I just marked in bold says it all.

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SMRD wrote:

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TehHammer wrote:

I love seeing people's flawed logic get demolished one quote at a time. The only thing better is watching them stumble to recover. *grabs popcorn in anticipation*

choke on it buddy

I care about the god damn game enough to waste dozens of hours trying to explaining something that is beyond most peoples grasp, evidently yours too “Mr alpha”. Take this argument to Chris. Who I guess does not know what he’s doing eh?

Actually, the part that *I* just marked in bold says it all.

xaxyx writes the best posts.