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

In the environment that POE is supposed to have, I think their ideal system would be something that promotes a fair chance for everyone to grab loot, however the psychology definitely should be the opposite of 'out of sight out of mind'

Why do you propose it should be opposite? What is superior to that effect?

It's at least clear to me, even if there were a permanently allocated loot system the dev's are quite determined to allow all loot to be seen. Which is fine, as the system is still fair, but it causes other issues.

Such as some payers forcing other players to pick up and drop every piece of loot. Out of sight, out of mind would nullify that effect almost completely.

From what I've learned about the POE environment and their 'cut-throat' philosophy I think that its imperative for players to see an item drop and not get it. That loss is psychologically negative, but is coupled to times when they are the ones getting the loot which is psychologically positive.

The only sticking point is how to make looting fair for ranged vs. melee, and how to do it in a way that is least disruptive to gameplay.

So imo the superior aspect for not being out of sight out of mind is that POE's game philosophy sorta requires that feeling temporary psychological panic attributed to seeing an item drop and not knowing if you will be able to get it.

time FFA and timed allocated can be made in such a way that the items are not out of sight, however are distributed in a relatively fair manner. I'm unsure how disruptive of gameplay it'll be... but again, both systems are improvements on D2's system.

Yeah, it’s that thing about ‘cut-throat.’ The timed allocation is fine so long as the allocation period is long enough to allow ranged players or players with low ping the ability to garb loot – after a battle, but short enough so that it doesn’t cause people to slow the pace of combat.

The unfortunate consequence of a badly timed allocated loot system is that generally there will be people not getting loot allocated to them if the timer is too short. If the timer is too long people might wait too long to pick up loot not allocated to them after a battle.

I don’t know how long a traditional battle lasts in any of the difficulties, but I think if a player has at least 5 seconds or so to pick something up it may not be an issue. The only problem I have with loot timers is that it over emphasizes the importance of loot collection. Loot collection shouldn’t be a frustrating part of the game. At least I don't like frustrating game mechanics.

Of course, I haven't tested the mechanic to know whether or not it's annoying.

I would say three seconds is enough. If an item drops even across the screen three seconds is enough to grab it. Then again you have to be paying attention like not playing with your inventory screen or messing around.

I just don't like the idea of 'drop everything you're doing' to get loot.

In the middle of killing an enemy? That doesn't matter, because you got to get the loot or you could lose it.

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Silver wrote:

I just don't like the idea of 'drop everything you're doing' to get loot. In the middle of killing an enemy? That doesn't matter, because you got to get the loot or you could lose it.

That's just a tradeoff you'll have to make. You need to realize that grabbing loot is part of the gameplay in the same way that killing monsters is. It's not a separate aspect or reward like XP. The idea is that you'll be fighting and picking up loot as you go in a seamless action rather than compartmentalizing it into separate phases.

Maybe it's just me but losing out on some loot occasionally doesn't bother me. I just accept that it's going to happen because that's the nature of the game.

I dont really see a problem still lol.If it takes into account how far away you are and your ping it seems like it will be fine.

Just turns it into whoever clicks and reacts the fastest gets the item. seems pro really.

There’s a pretty big difference between seamless and general distractions. Picking up loot is a distraction. It doesn’t matter when the player picks the loot up because they’re going to have to look at it to see if they even want to keep the loot. There may be moments where it’s obvious that the player will keep the loot, however, it’s still a distraction.

This is the normal flow of combat in an ARPG like this –

- Phase 1 – Players engage the enemy.
- Phase 2 – Players battle the enemy, loot drops during this process.
- Phase 3 – Players examine the loot, take what they want then move on.

Free for all loot forces phase 2 and 3 to occur at the same time, which causes all sorts of issues.

Time allocated loot fixes 2 problems that FFA loot causes, but still mixes both phase 2 and 3, causing distractions while attacking enemies. On top of that, it still takes the players the same amount of time to go from phase 1-3, regardless of the loot system in place. Some loot systems just lead to psychologically inferior situations.

Another issue is that loot is essentially the player’s reward for playing effectively. If you allow other players the chance to steal that loot, you’re telling the player that his effective playing isn’t worth anything, because there are no rewards for doing so.

So, you allow co-op play, and the reward for killing an enemy is getting loot, but some players who are paying more attention to killing enemies get punished? I don't think that's right.

You also get this thing called xp and fun from playing too.

Personally ffa is fun. Iv just never found it fun online because of my ping. This system takes it into account though.