Lootables throws its hat in the item database ring
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 15th 2007 at 4:00PM
Apparently when Wowhead's million dollar sale hit the news, other website folks paid attention. First WoWDigger announced their bid to get in on the action, and now another site, Lootables (tipped to us by Birgitte, one of the creators), is going to give making an item database a go.My first reaction was "who needs another one?" but after messing around with the site for a few minutes, it doesn't look half bad. You've got your standard item search, and one feature there I've never seen on other sites is the ability to do searches by what drops in each dungeon-- yes, on Wowhead and Thottbot, you can look up dungeon bosses to see what they drop, but whenever I'm trying to figure out what instance to run, the first thing I do is check WoWWiki to click on each of the boss names in one place and see what they drop. Having everything in the dungeon at a glance is pretty nice. (Update: Wowhead can do this) The other big item of note is that Lootables actually links to each of the other databases in its listings. I didn't see a place to put comments (which are a huge draw on the other databases), but considering all the comments about the item are just a few clicks away, maybe they decided they didn't need them. You can also use the colored boxes near each item to "store" it in a dialogue on the right sidebar, and the site remembers what items you put there, so item comparison is super easy. Very nice feature.
And the last thing I noticed that separates Lootables from other databases is that they've actually created leveling guides for all the professions, complete with links to all the recipes and items you need. Creating an item listing is one thing, but showing clearly how to use those items is definitely helpful.
Birgitte also said she was looking for feedback, so if you guys have it, let's hear it. The only real suggestion I have is to come up with some way for us to see the items-- so far, the best these databases have all come up with is to use user-submitted pictures, but surely there must be some way to both avoid legal pitholes with Blizzard and show us what the items look like.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, News items, Guides
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bragh Aug 15th 2007 4:09PM
Found Lootables from a link on wowwiki a week or two ago - great site. Really like the leveling guides - have used the blacksmithing and enchanting ones already - and the comparison feature is very handy when trying to figure out what gear to go after.
Makros Aug 15th 2007 4:39PM
I like the idea of profession leveling guides, but I would most like to see a comprehensive list of recipes/formulas for each profession that is or can be organized by level at which you can learn it AND where it can be found.
I know most databases tell you where each recipe/formula can be found or trained, but I am more interested in a sub-divided list that will tell me (without having to click each individual item):
1) all the recipes/formulas that are learned from a trainer
2) all the recipes/formulas that are purchased from specific vendors (grouped by vendor)
3) all the recipes/formulas that are static drops (and where they drop)
4) and finally, all the recipes/formulas that are world drops (sub-divided by BOE v. BOP)
Again, I realize all this information is out there, but I have yet to find a forum in which this type of information is neatly catagorized.
Avrail Aug 15th 2007 4:21PM
Wowhead does have a filter that lets you find items that drop in a particular instance or a zone for that matter. See the "Drops in..." filter.
Trunade Aug 15th 2007 4:44PM
Don't know if it's because I'm on my work computer, but lootables is loading pretty slowly/locking up. I've had to close it in task manager twice so far.
Hunglikehors Aug 15th 2007 5:02PM
Hey #3 - check out wow.crafterstome.com/ for that database.
It doesn't have the other stuff thott wowhead or allakhazam have, but it's a great site for craftables, and the source of their learning.
irwin Aug 15th 2007 5:01PM
Wowhead lists what drops in an entire dungeon - just look at the dungeon's page... for example, Mana Tombs: http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=3792
Kuroshiro Aug 15th 2007 5:25PM
Just saying "Random Enchantment" for greens isn't going to cut it. For example, searching on any mail armor with at least +60 stamina only returns epic Shaman gear, other than Inferno Forged Leggings, which is also epic. However, any reasonably high green "of stamina" is going to have more than 60 stamina on it. (For example, the Skettis Helmet of Stamina, which is level 67, has +78 Stamina.) Of course, Allakhazam and Thottbot have the exact same problem, and Wowhead doesn't even let you search that way as far as I could see.
So what the heck's the point in YAWIDB (yet another wow item database) that doesn't even provide that much more interesting functionality (and in Lootable's case, LESS functionality because they don't even list the variant info at ALL, unlike the others) and only has prettier flash/ajax-iness?
Sorry guys, good try, but it needs more work.
Tego Zanduba Aug 15th 2007 5:33PM
You do'nt actually link to them -- you re-link to the wow sale article instead.
http://www.lootables.com/
Birgitte Aug 15th 2007 6:55PM
Thanks all for the feedback ^^ I am one of the creators of the site and as mentioned in the article we really appreciate all the feedback you guys give us. The site has been WiP for over 5 months and we only just launched it a couple of weeks back, so it's really good to hear what's working and what's not.
To #3 those are really good suggestions - lists of the static world drop recipes and faction recipes are already up on the site, but I can definitely see the point in the trainer, world drop and vendor recipes having their own lists as well.
#4 We tested the site on many computers/browsers and haven't found this problem - so it'd be really helpful to us if you could send us more details (on your browser, version, OS etc) to contact@lootables.com
#7 We do realise that random enchantments aren't searchable - the reason why we chose to exclude them was because of the severe impact on search result time - but maybe we can include an option for the user to decide this - it's definitely something we will look into.
To your point about Lootables having less functionality than the big WoW databases out there we can only agree - it was never our intention to become a substitute to any of these (hence the links to them for each item). What we were intending with the site was to provide WoW players with a really easy yet very powerful (at least we hope so ^.~) search tool to find items, and also let you compare them.
Personally, I wanted a site that gave me a good overview and then the ability to look up further information on all the big sites out there - as I like different aspects of the sites already out there for different items - and sometimes one site doesn't have info but another does. Hope that works for others too ^^
Once again, thank you all for the feedback - keep it coming.
Areis Aug 15th 2007 7:32PM
only thing i miss - search by stat
Pzychotix Aug 15th 2007 7:44PM
Resolution is set to 1280x960, or some other big resolution. 1024x768 is still the most commonly used resolution. Don't make visitors have to scroll left or right just to use the full functionality.
Lacks a comment system.
Lacks the ability to click through and see the individual spells and/or effects of an item. Nitpicky, I know, but it's useful.
On the plus side, item comparison is nice.
Rob Aug 16th 2007 3:58AM
First impression of the site: it thinks Warglaive of Azzinoth drops in Tempest Keep. Uhh, yeah.
Samhamwich Aug 16th 2007 7:55AM
Very nice looking site, it's hard to make something look so nice and still be able to run smoothly. For my item needs I'll be using this site for sure, i love the easy searching for the items in each instance. I also would love to see a list of recipes sorted by profession and if they drop/where they drop. I found it annoying on wowhead to search for forumlas, then click each one to find out where it dropped.
The profession guids are awesome, and very handy. I'll be recommending this site to alot of people, I use wowhead for my questing needs, and this site for my item information needs. Very nice!
PS- I think the comment system would be useless for items only. They usually just end up fights for which class can use them..... comments are only useful for a site like wowhead where you can get quest information.
Anyway, love the site, bookmarked :)
Talitha Aug 16th 2007 12:24PM
It would be cool if, on the "shopping list", the rundown would show the prices for the total price of buying that item. For instance 54x silverleaf would be xxG.xxS.xxC in the auction house. That would be awesome.