0.10.3c Patch Notes

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Vhlad wrote:

In reading the replies, I have to ask: Why is one group trying to force a style of play on another group that really hates that style of play? The "we know what's fun and you don't" attitude does little to encourage positive word-of-mouth advertising and financial support.

I can appreciate that people like competitive FFA loot, just as I can appreciate that people like instanced loot. The solution that I so strongly wish for, is to empower current and future players with the capability to choose how loot is handled when they form a group, as well as the capability to filter open groups by their preferred loot option.

You cannot convert people to enjoy a system they don't like. The players who really dislike FFA loot will simply (a) play solo, (b) play strictly with like-minded players, or (c) not play the game at all. Would you rather turn this audience away than support them within the game?

Well said. I completely i agree with this. And this has been mentioned, and quoted, hundreds of times in the "Looting" thread.

Just to reiterate, i think the devs definitely need to pick their battles when it comes to the hardcore audience. They don't want to "WoW" this game down.

But in all honesty, the looting topic is just creating more headaches and unnecessary bickering, especially in public groups, than it is helping the game create a stronger community and a good reputation.

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Klasher199 wrote:

I understand why you have done this and for the most part its better
and for myself and my groups its not we like to spread the loot fairly so when it has no name on the item ever its too confusing as to how we split the loot up.

i beg you please bring back the named loot(and even still keep the names permenant)
some groups play by some rules some groups play by others but allowing the named items to dhow gives more options to share loot in a more fair(and fun) way without filling ripped off

I would like to elaborate on my previous comment.

*I love the less clutter on my screen

*I love the longer timer

*I would love to see names on the items(permently because if there temp. again it engages the problem of clicking the wrong loot as it changes)

too make the loot system perfect i think implementing a filter system where you choose to see what loot drops(eg. yellows, uniques, 6 sockets, and Itemlevel 77+) but i understant this is a HUGE job.

so understanding that i hope that you do bring back named loot(permently on items)and only show it on chissel currency or higher

posibably have a option to turn off and on(also understand that if you make a option it makes it a big job once again)because i know not everybody wants to play party style and enjoys the FFA aspect

And to add just completely turning off user delay for races as it will be a big inconvinece

Cheers

RIP "Loot by Name". Thanks for the party guys.

I liked it how it was before honestly. I didn't think changes were necessary. This change actually weighs towards the "do not want" side for me. I run with a party of 3-4 people in maps and we are all friends. We will call out loot for each other by the name listed. Now, as others said, we will have no idea what belongs to who. Can we get an option for displaying the name or something?

Hi Chris,

I favour the loot option but before that is out :

You should consider this scenario.

Most players who connect locally to their native servers , eg europe, singapore, us can get a good 5-15ms ping if they play alone.

Depending on who hosts the map, the shared ping jumps to 300ish. 250ish imo is considered sluggish considering that you are on good fiber optics and the likes.

I consider over 350ms as an awful playful experience and that is being generous. It takes more time to cast your totem or summons, a spell, not to mention to pick up a loot.


Location examples - Nearest to Furthest in terms of hops?

Scenario 1 (Within City)
Singapore is a tiny city. Map is singapore hosted. 6 singapore based players play together. Ping should be quite good from 15-30ms.


Scenario 2 (Country-wide)
Map is US hosted. 6 USA players from different cities. Ping might jump higher.
(15-75ms) Same applies for Europe since its slightly bigger.


Scenario 3 (Cross-continent)
Map is Singapore hosted. Other 5 players ranging from USA, Europe, China etc connect together. Ping can range from (250ms-350ms). Only the hosted player might get a better ping. Same scenario if map is US hosted or Euro hosted as long as the demographic group is similar. Basically more continent distance, your ping works very hard.


Scenario 3 is the MOST common scenario for everybody unless you are an extremely picky player, choosing to play with local friends and the likes.

You should set the timer to compensate for 300-600ms pings. That's where the latency is most common for your bulk of your players.

See? This is exaclty what people want.
However I wish a bit longer about 5 sec.
BTW thank you for accepting users requets and keep up the good work!

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Chris wrote:

I suspect (and support) that players will still grab items if the other players aren't making any effort to get to them quickly. To some extent, removing the names is to try to reinforce that they are items for your whole party, not just for the person who happened to get the first chance at them.

Though I agree with your second sentence and overall I like this better, your description is not very accurate, it's more like:

Players will run for your items, no matter if you are making an effrot to got to them.

That's a big difference. And that's why the loot system is unsatisfying. In a public group it feels kinda unpleasant to see other people running to "my" loot. It feels kind of awkward when an alch drops for me a distance away and I see someone else running for it, often much quicker than I do.

Before this patch the overall feeling was that other people really don't care to whom items are allocated.

With this patch the subtle difference is: you get the feeling other players really don't care that something is not allocated to them.

Either way there is still that awkward, sometimes unpleasant feeling, of seeing other group mates running for loot that is clearly dimmed on their screen, and which they clearly know is not allocated to them.

I understand that most people don't mean ill, they just don't care, but when it comes to online functionality, the way it's designed often gives people a sense of an implicit message. True, that implicit message will be relative to each person's perspective, but as the designer/developer you can aim to design things in a way that removes this type of friction.

You definitely improved things by removing the player names, but I just wanted to point out it's not accurate to say that other players grab items "if"... There is no condition, there is no consciousness one one part about the other part, that would be those players who are conscious about others and prefer to stick to their loot. There is a big difference, people rush loot, no matter if it's currently allocated to someone. The UI allows basically to communicate a message that other people really don't care that you might not be able to get to your items in time.

Solution? I know you don't want to do it but honestly the exictement is simply getting the loot. You could have a non FFA mode where player names are shown and all loot is permanently allocated. You could have that as an option for the party leader, for those that like to remove all the tension about running for your loot. And honestly, I would probably go for that, because the only thing I dislike is the idea that people play in their "bubbles". I want to see what drops for everyone so there is a sense of shared experience, but I don't think it would trivialize or lessen the excietement in any way for the loot to be permanently allocated.

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Chris wrote:

Version 0.10.3c

• Allocated items no longer show a countdown timer or player name. They are still dimmed out while they are allocated to someone else.

This is very bad change, all I wanted was for the name to be shown even after timer ends. Now it will much harder to share the loot when in friendly party, because only the one for whom the item drops will know the drop is his and if he misses it no one else will know.

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Charan wrote:

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Auromir wrote:

I don't see how increasing the loot timer with a full second makes this any more "fair" towards anyone. Aren't you just caving in to the complaints from people with slow reflexes?

Or people busy killing, y'know, playing the game.

Or people like me, playing from Australia on the US gateway and barely scraping up 250 ping.

This change is hardly caving. Caving would be going full allocated. This is a compromise, and if you feel that compromises are caving, then...eh, good thing not all the players are so resistant to change, because change has as much potential for improvement as it does degradation.

__

I play in parties with friends only, so I'll be able to give some feedback regarding these changes from the perspective of someone who's never dealt with so-called ninjas. Soon.

"Caving" is such a terrible word to use. It facilitates the wrong mindset.

This is not about ensuring the integrity of some vision or maintaining an intended style of play. The people who greatly dislike FFA loot don't do it. They've already broken the system, either by soloing or playing exclusively with others of like-mind. What the concern should be, is how to better support the players who are avoiding the FFA system (and encourage them to group with people they don't know, play more, and enjoy the game with less tension), without harming the play experience of others who sincerly enjoy FFA loot. A setting that players can adjust seems to be the best way of making the game more enjoyable for more people.

Small step in right direction. Keep it up.

Still doesn't fix issue of people using third party programs like PickIt to pick up white items like 6 socket gear, 5L+ gear, etc.