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

I'm not sure how many people would play a permanently allocated league, Vs. a timed allocated loot league, but I suspect there would be some major differences in population.

The reason I suspect that is evidenced in this thread alone. Even though we might be considered a small group, it's probably somewhat representative of a larger player base.

I believe a group option would be best, but it could go either way. If you're trying to either keep the number of leagues low or to keep loot options unified.

I'm not a designer, I'd hope to be one some day. But as a player, I feel like fair loot is essential to having a good time with strangers, especially in a game that supports co-op play with loot being a major part of the game.

Anyways, we'll keep trying to discuss interesting loot mechanics (if any can be thought of) and hopefully you'll decide what's best.

Public leagues should be very few... perhaps 3 or so. Softcore, hardcore, and then some sort of event league.

This allows the majority of players to play together and interact together in the same 'world.' Without that, the population would potentially drop to a number that disallows you to easily party with other people around your level or liking.

Within that league system parties could implement various options. The benefit to this is that even if I really like one type of system, if there are no better options I could still choose to go with a slightly less favorable option and get to play.

If such things were split into leagues then I wouldn't have that option at all... I'd have to stick with what the same thing all the time even if I was willing to play the other type while my preferred type was unavailable or not practical to use.

Well i would have no problem with different leagues having different looting options. The only thing no allocation system should give out more items. As long as the amount of items remains the same than that is fine.

The way i look at it some people will always play FFA some will always play allocated. Some people will go back and forth. I think this option is best. Maybe set the standard looting system for the default leagues, but let people play in private leagues how they want to play.

Choices and options are good just as long as they are optional and I can choose if I want to make them. People often overlook that this is the most important choice someone can make when they are making a choice. Being forced to make a choice is just as bad as having no choice at all. Many of the recent rpgs have completely lost sight of this in their push to give the players multiple choices and they constantly force players to make very polarized decisions about things the players usually don't care about. Far from making the game more interesting and personal, this system backfires and leads players to make arbitrary and whimsical choices that they have no investment in.

That got off my original point a little. My point is that the last thing I want is to be inundated with several different options menus every time I want to join a party.

I actually totally agree with that. I think that burdening people with too many decisions that they often know too little about to make an informed decision that can actually impact them... is highly negative and can sometimes lead to players actually playing on an uneven playing field.

It's important that all players in a particular league are playing with a reasonable set of first hand knowledge and within rules that are consistent between players... and when too many choices interfere with that it can get ugly.

I however don't feel that timed FFA vs. timed allocation would be a tough addition or too complicated, however I wouldn't add in 3-4 additional methods :P...

Ya that is why a little screen would pop up. There could be like 5 options click a check to the the one you want. If you want a description of exactly how it works then mouse over and text will pop up. I wouldn't be in favor of a lot of different options just a few well varied ones.

To me this choice seems rather simple. I mean we are talking about a game where we're literally making hundreds of choices a session. Should i equip this/does it have better stats/ is that worth picking up? To me this decision seems like a fairly simple one that the player can make for themselves.

It makes sense if you're playing a hardcore league then yes FFA loot is the way to go. A normal League then use the standard system the developers have in place. If you're in your own private league that is when you would get the option to choose. So starting out most people wouldn't even see this choice. Unless they made the effort to create their own league choose one. This also allows for fun variations of leagues on top of the preexisting condition of the league.

Sorry if i was a little wordy there, but do you get what i mean?

I personally think that there should be a party leader menu with dropdown menus. They should be short and simple and provide a description if you mouse-over for long enough. I think there should only be 2-3 options tops... but there easily could be more for private leagues.

I would even go for FFA loot because every system will have its own issues.
I dont really care about the loot , I just dont want them to overdo this.
When you want to much you get nothing ,like they say.

That saying has little bearing on this thread discussion, especially when you’re talking about a central issue like loot. Simply because you believe any loot system will have a problem does not mean that the issues should be ignored. Also, just because you don’t care about loot is not a great argument for dismissing those issues.

Loot is a major part of what makes an ARPG, it’s also a major determining factor in how people play co-op. I think it would be nearly impossible to play this game past a certain level without any loot whatsoever. Also, loot has most if its issues rooted in psychology.

For example, the idea that something is ‘out of sight and thus out of mind’ is true of real life situations and game mechanical situations. It’s a psychological effect that could be used to great effect in a loot system.