Loot hoping, and loot whining
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 19th 2007 at 3:30PM
Cryptos posts on the forums about a subject very near and dear to my heart: loot whining. It is one of my great flaws that whenever I get close to a boss that I know drops something I really want, I can't help but share my excitement with my fellow party members, and sometimes (more often then not, unfortunately for them) my guild members. I'm sorry to say that I'm the guy he's talking about-- I'm the guy that is about to fight Murmur telling the guild, "man I sure hope my pretty dress drops." And it's a sign of how amazing my guild really is that they put up with me talking about it all the time.But then again, loot is basically why we play the game in the first place. Shouldn't I, and players like me, be able to share with our fellow players what loot we're going for, to let them in on the stuff we hope we get? Is it right for this GM to actually threaten to disenchant a piece of loot, just because someone says they want it?
I definitely agree it can go over the top-- one of my pet peeves is people who join a PUG and try to "reserve" not-yet-dropped items, especially when there are others in the party who would obviously roll on it. And for my part, I've already noticed that I should keep my loot hopes to myself-- my guild doesn't really care about me getting every little upgrade I want. But good loot is the reason why many of us play this game, and so it's only expected that we should be excited at the prospect of getting it, and want to share that with fellow players.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Instances
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nails Jul 19th 2007 3:38PM
if certain people in the group can wear it, and it is an upgrade for them, and they decide they would like to have it, they roll Need
if you don't meet the above criteria, you roll Greed
no exception
easy as that
people can excitedly talk about potential upcoming items, or try to reserve them all they want, but the above formula is how the system works, and it works pretty well i'd say
olhado Jul 19th 2007 3:39PM
I hate when people are just in a group and say out of nowhere, "I get this drop if it drops," but I don't think it's that ridiculous for someone to join a group on the condition that if something drops it's theirs, even though that wasn't specifically mentioned in the post. If that's what someone else wants, they can say no to letting the person join, or leave the group.
Omegi Jul 19th 2007 3:45PM
57 counted runs of Crapatraz for a trinket off the last boss. I haven't won it yet and have only seen it drop once. I tend to offer bribes now to anyone that could use it. Perhaps if they didn't make the drop rate so incredibly random there wouldn't be any whining for loot.
Lokse Jul 19th 2007 3:52PM
A few nights ago, I joined a BM group with my hunter. Befoer we'd even filled the group the Druid tank was asking me "Are you going to roll on the Hourglass?"
I said dude, don't count your chickens, it's bad luck and bad manners. And yes I am here for an equal chance at the drop.
...Druid nearly kicked me from the group when he heard I needed the hourglass too, btu we went anyway, cleared the instance, and then the group split apart and I got a whisper from one of the players in the group, who'd wrangled up another BM group immediately. I join, and everyone in the group si the same as previously, except that the druid had been exchanged for an epicced-out warrior.
Hourglass dropped, and I was the only one who needed it. The druid sure was mad when I PST'd the link to him though LOL!
Tekkub Jul 19th 2007 3:55PM
I find calling out an item lowers it's droprate. I never specify what it is I'm after, just that an instance "has an item I want."
"one of my pet peeves is people who join a PUG and try to "reserve" not-yet-dropped items"
I personally just "call dibs" at the start of a run (like calling shotgun in your friend's car). Then I get to whine when someone else gets an item. Noone ever has any sense of humor about it though, even in my own guild. It's not like I'm trying to ninja anything...
Bootsanator Jul 19th 2007 3:56PM
I started running Ramparts at lvl 57 on my priest main. I'm now halfway through lvl 61, and have essentially only leveled in ramps (besides a BF run or two). I have not seen Lifegiver Britches
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=24083
drop, Ever. I have two bands of renewal and a witching band (got the witching first, then was only healer twice), have gotten the staff and upgraded past the staff to the BF mace / offhand combo, got the neck, the shoulders...but no pants.
Stupid chest, drop it already! :-P
Skrilla Jul 19th 2007 4:02PM
@3 you are crazy - arc that many times?!, yet correct about blizz, fix the freakin game pls. i've run botanica over a dozen times for the pally shoulders and have yet to see them drop. the only other 70 pally in my guild got them on the first run, go figure. I'll try a couple more times, then its a complaint to blizz - not like they care or will do anything.
sikntired Jul 19th 2007 4:04PM
Playing the game to get loot is one way to look at it. I prefer not to look at it the game in this fashion.
I take the perspective of loot like this:
If you want to progress end game, be it in arena or end game content, you need loot upgrades to do so. The loot is a means to the end, not the other way around as described in the article.
Just my opinion, but i feel like the people who play Wow for the sole purpose of "gearing up", instead of for enjoying the content, or trying to compete on a higher level (arenas) to win, are probably very unhappy most of the time when such gear doesn't drop, or when their rating isnt too high b/c they just dont want to put that extra effort to perfect their arena strategy.
I play arena mostly. I'm a very competitive person by nature so my goal is to get the highest rating/ranking i can. Gear just comes along with that.
I'm sure the guild's who have beat the end game content share the same idea.
/end rant
Kyle Jul 20th 2007 1:14PM
I have the same thing going. I've been trying ALOT to get the Sun Eater out of heroic mech, and after 20+ runs, ive gotten every single epic in there atleast twice simple by greeding, and whenever i'm not in a group with a certian friend, it drops. He's a rogue and has two of the gem puts them on in front of me, but i'll never give up on that sword!
Skrilla Jul 19th 2007 4:07PM
the solution to this problem is setting master loot - you don't like that, then go group w/ someone else. i can't stand when someone ninjas a need on something they should be passing on.
Jim A Jul 19th 2007 5:02PM
I was on a SV run with my guild for Kara fragment... our mage had run SV 34 times with his Pally, and the Helm from the gnome boss had never dropped, and had run it about 12 times with his mage and it had dropped 4 times. He asked if we wouldn't mind swapping out the mage for the pally, and especially since it was a guild run, we were like WTF... why not. So there we were... a Prot tank, a hunter, two resto Shammy's and a Holy Pally... thank god for totem pets.. otherwise we'd still be there right now. However, his helm dropped... he almost fainted and then back to the frost mage for uber pawnage of the last boss.
Matthew Rossi Jul 19th 2007 4:17PM
My tauren war has been running Sethekk Halls for the Crow Wing Reaper since March. At this point it's not even an upgrade anymore, I just WANT the thing. Yet every single time that crow dies he drops capes.
Levi Jul 19th 2007 4:19PM
If you don't like greedy pick-up players stealing your loot, maybe you should run stuff with guildies.
If your guildies are greedy, maybe you should find a new guild.
I'm just the opposite with drops, though. During raids if we come to a fight that needs more healing, and I get asked if there's anything I need for a boss, my response is almost always "I have to check..."
Urthona Jul 19th 2007 4:25PM
Haha. This is all so backwards to how my guild did things.
At the beginning of the evening, I'd call for what everyone wants/needs, and when I heard a decent overlap of players who needed items from a certain instance, we'd all head there.
That way everyone knows everyone's goals prior to getting there, and we can cross our fingers collectively at loot time.
But yeah, PuGs are a different story entirely.
Vass Jul 19th 2007 4:32PM
"And for my part, I've already noticed that I should keep my loot hopes to myself-- my guild doesn't really care about me getting every little upgrade I want."
Maybe you should think about looking for a new guild. End game is all about upgrades - and most of them are minor. You have to squeeze out every +mp/hp/agi/str/etc that you can. You get small upgrades on 10 people, and that can add up to a big difference on a boss.
Vass
Charlie Jul 22nd 2007 1:57AM
I find it healthy to talk about loot. Its fun to just link stuff and say "omg thats sooooo cooool", etc etc.
But, there is a time and place for it. I think where it gets on peoples nerves, especially guildies, is in raids. When people are talking about loot instead of focusing on pulls, or even worse, boss explanations, even during the fights sometimes! Thats when we tell our guildies to shut it. It distracts from what they and our guilides need to be focusing on, and it can create drama.
But if were on a break, or if were in a 5man, i have no problem if people talk about loot.
Erbodie Jul 19th 2007 4:31PM
I have run SH and SL over 30 to 40 times to get respectively hunter's gloves and the sonic spear. Never dropped for me, in any of the pugs I was in. I ended up respec'ing from Armorsmith to Axesmith to craft my own weapon out of SL frustration (now have the Mooncleaver) and got hunter gloves out of the last boss in Hero Mech. So I have sympathy for people who really need an item, and try to "negotiate" with other pug members who might roll on an item they have been trying to get for a *long* time.
One way of managing the loot issue in heroic instances is - if you have an enchanter in the party - to keep shards until the end so that you can figure out who should get them depending on who got which loot at the end. The people who did not get any item should be first in line to get void chrystals or shards.
Darkwarder Jul 19th 2007 4:35PM
I agree with 12. Lately when running with the guild or an allied guild, we kind of know why we're going somewhere before we set out: a person may be looking for rep., to finish a quest, or looking for an item. Everyone that joins knows what's up. That's the best part of not running PuGs, no drama.
BillDoor Jul 19th 2007 4:36PM
In my guild, we always celebrate each boss kill by linking the drops in guild chat. Not so much for 5-mans, but certainly for Kara or a heroic.
Sedair Jul 19th 2007 5:00PM
In a game where your placement in a group/raid depends (let's just say 70% and 30% skill) upon the loot you work hard for and strive to get how can you expect players to not be excited about trying to get something from an instance. I agree that spending your time claming something before it drops, if not stated before joining a party beforehand, is improper etiquite as well as going to be shot down in any party I'm leader of.
The reason I say stating before joining a party is better is because you may have something better to do or something you have already got planned and YOU were ASKED to join the group by another person trying to PUG you. In that circumstance, requiring an item to be solely yours may be the only reason to make the instance run worthwhile to you and if you are looking to have to battle it out with 2-3 other people, it's not worth your time, especially if they aren't your guildies/friends. It's not being selfish, just for a casual player you only have limited time to spend in game so you have to make the best of the time you have so you do get invited as a viable option for that raid you are wanting so badly to see.
To any GM who states that he's going to DE an item in front of someone who plainly needs it is downright rude and not fit for the position. It does take a special person to hold a group of players from different backgrounds and different interests towards the same goal, especially if that group is older, ie more set in their ways and not accustomed to taking direction from someone.