Posts with tag loot

Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press.

At one time or another, all of us who play WoW long enough have been "asked to pass" on loot. Usually it all works out OK. Either you pass or you don't, and everyone goes about their business. However, the situation is bursting with the potential for drama -- as we see in the following email.

Hello Scott,

Great blog, I'm relatively new to WoW (joined my first and current raiding guild in the beginning of Cataclysm) and have due to some unfortunate situations become guild leader. I had to learn and adapt quickly and your blog has helped me a lot. Recently, I had to deal with a situation that seemed very dramatic from my PoV and needed my attention as GM.

The guild was doing a more casual Dragon Soul run. We normally have raids for raiding members only and we use EP/GP there. This run was set up and led by an experienced raid and guild leader that is part of our raiding team. I did not personally attend -- normally I would lead raids.

They used the Roll system to distribute loot. However, there were a few members of the progression raiding team that attended this run. Some of them still interested in some rarer normal drops. While it was not required, it seemed to be common behaviour to pass for these main raiders when they needed an item.

At some point, an item that one of the main raiders actually needed dropped, and was rolled on.

This is where it starts.

Matthew Rossi recently wrote a piece on the spoils of progress, detailing, among other things, his covetous streak and how it translated into a love of raid farming, including heading back to old content, farming out legendaries, and generally stealing stuff from monsters.

He mentioned how he loved it when raids go into farm mode, loved seeing his numbers increase and eternally upgrading his loot. He even loved farming through old content he could solo to get drops the loot gods never blessed him with the first time around, or the second, or the third.

And it hit me that, while Matt and I both enjoy raiding, we enjoy it completely differently. I read his piece, and barely agreed with 20% of the things he said he enjoyed! This is not a criticism of Matt, not at all, it's simply an observation, and testament to the vast variety of playstyles catered to by WoW.

I enjoy a lot of aspects of World of Warcraft, and one of those aspects is the actual playing of the game. I like combat, whether I am tanking or DPS, the active working through of encounters and even the unfolding of trash pulls. I like learning what new mechanics do, how fights unfold and how they can be successfully completed. I love all of that -- but what I also love is the period after mastering content.

I shamelessly admit it here. I love when content goes on farm. I was ecstatic as Firelands went from hard to easy. I love feeling my gear improve, seeing my DPS or health go up, looking at my avoidance and mitigation and realizing that yes, I actually can get passive unhittable just through gear. (I'll miss that when the two-roll combat system comes out.) I like going back, months down the road, and tearing Baleroc in half like wet tissue paper. Remember me?

Part of this is simply because I like WoW best when I'm killing stuff. I don't like to sit idle in Stormwind or Orgrimmar, and I'm not terribly moved to stand around hawking my crafting wares or playing the Auction House. These are fine activities, to be sure, but they're most certainly not what I like to do in the game. No, the reason I played seven years ago is the reason I play now, because I like to hit things in the face with the largest possible things I can.

And taking their stuff -- I mustn't forget how much I like taking their stuff.

New loot frames! No more having to stare at your chat frames and scroll up and down to see which player won what item. Loot rolls are now condensed into a loot roll frame that appears in your screen. It lists the results of all the items that went up for grabs in the instance and who won them.

If you look at the screenshot above, you can see the roll numbers next to each player and what roll types were used. The player who won the item is listed at the top. You can expand or collapse the menu to see the list of players who rolled and what roll type they used, such as need or greed.

The only downside to this new feature is that I couldn't find a way to move the frame around. But hey, I'll take these new loot roll frames any day. What about you?

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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If you've been following the Mists of Pandaria beta at all, you may have heard that questing players discovered that they were only getting one choice for quest reward items. Many recent MMOs such as SW:TOR use this model; it's generally agreed that the system of multiple possible quest rewards is yet another "bad player trap," like Ghostcrawler described lots of talents pre-Cataclysm. Players can miss out on quest rewards accidentally, and since there's no in-game way of switching your quest rewards, well, that can be a headache (especially since reports say that GMs are no longer switching quest items for you).

When asked about the issue on the beta forums, Ghostcrawler offered a pretty reasoned explanation for the change. He says that most quests with green rewards will only give you one choice (that matches your current spec). However, there'll also be vendors in every zone from whom you can buy sets of gear that aren't quite up to the item level of quest rewards in that zone, so you can fill in itemization holes or help bolster an off spec a little more. Quests that offer blue rewards will usually offer rewards for any spec your class can be, giving you some flexibility when it comes to rare rewards. Also, Mists of Pandaria questing is more non-linear than Cataclysm's, so you'll be able to hit up a different zone in the event that you need gear for a specific level range.

Ghostcrawler's full response (and an image of one of the vendors) is after the break.

Ghostcrawler is back on the blog with a comprehensive look at how the new loot systems are going to work in Mists of Pandaria. This newest blog post reads like a lesson in loot design and is valuable if you are interested in the development process of these systems. One of the most interesting things to come from the new design is that there will be no rolling on loot in the Raid Finder, eliminating the "callous jerk" problem. The game chooses who gets the loot, not any of the potentially trollish players (not to offend any actual trolls in the raid, taz'dingo, etc.).

While rolling for transmog stuff is definitely an issue when the game decides who gets what, Ghostcrawler flat-out states that Raid Finder is not the place for vying for transmog loot. There are other places for that. This new personal loot system will be used for world bosses as well.

Ghostcrawler also revealed the bonus roll system, where players will be able to earn tokens from various factions in Pandaria to spend on (among other things) a bonus roll when attempting to get loot off of a boss. This system will award tokens through tasks and dailies, giving people who prepare for Raid Finder a bit of an advantage if they choose to spend a token earned. Faction rewards, enchantments, epic items, and factional gear can also be purchased with these tokens.

The valor points system is also undergoing a revamp, with points taking on a new role of upgrading existing gear, but the final system is not really ready for much discussion. And, yes, the explanation for AoE looting is priceless. Hit the jump for the full post.

Loot drama is most often the biggest and juiciest type of drama. Lots of different guilds handle loot distribution differently, though most either do need/greed rolls or use master looter paired with some sort of external system. Sigtyr on the official forums brings up the loot council method, where a few individuals in the know get to decide who gets what piece. Sigtyr certainly feels that, despite objections from the peanut gallery, this system works the best for his group.

This discussion raises a good question: Is there such a thing as the "best loot distribution model"? When Star Wars: The Old Republic launched, Bioware seemed to have gotten a whiff of loot drama in games like WoW and even EverQuest (where anyone could loot anything, anywhere), devising a new system that is in use in its normal-mode operations (the SWTOR equivalent of a raid). There, most loot is auto-assigned based on class and spec. Personally, I've found that model to be frustrating because, among other things, it doesn't select against someone's receiving the same piece over and over again. Overall, I think that system fails because it takes the option away from the players and makes gearing up through operations as frustrating as needing on a piece of gear in the Raid Finder.

The video above is slightly NSFW-ish for some strong language -- but man, is it a hoot!

Torrg over on the official forums posed a very nostalgic question:

What was your first epic world drop?

Sadly, my first purple was something I couldn't use. I was leveling my very first character to 70 during The Burning Crusade, a night elf druid, and I was doing some quests in Tanaris. I was just outside of one of the hives of silithid working my way in, sneaking around in cat form trying to avoid as many of those horrid bugs as possible, when I backed right into one of the suckers. It was an epic battle as I fumbled with keybinds, running around the mob trying to Shred it (OK, perhaps I wasn't the brightest druid out there).

Somehow I came out on top -- and what do you know, the creepy crawler dropped a Gut Ripper. I was crushed when I found out that I couldn't use it, so I sold it on the Auction House for a couple of hundred gold. That kind of money is a decent chunk of change for a new player in their 40s, but with the daunting cost of flying mounts and training later on, it wasn't much more than a drop in the bucket.

So what was your first Professor Plum?

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Cryptozoic's newest expansion for the WoW TCG, Crown of the Heavens, is a Hyjal-based return to the peaks of Kalimdor with satyrs, dryads, demons, ogres, and more monsters than you can comprehend. The Alliance and Horde represent with new allies and celebrities as well, but it is the monsters that take center stage in this mountaintop brawl.

With new trading card game expansions come new loot and mounts included as common, uncommon, and rare cards in expansion packs. The common loot card for Crown of the Heavens will be the Vicious Grell companion pet. This little satyr monster, who reminds me of key-toting Pusillin from Dire Maul, is a one-time use companion pet that can be given away to friends if you have an extra code. The uncommon loot card in the new set is the Magical Ogre Idol, which transforms the player into a two-headed red ogre mage for 5 minutes. The item has a 30-minute cooldown and reminds me of a fun archaeology find.

The rare loot card for Crown of the Heavens is the Corrupted Hippogryph, a ground or air mount that can be traded in game if you do not learn it yourself, much like the Spectral Tiger. The deep green hippogryph is going to be a rare find -- see how many you can spot after the TCG expansion launches on Feb. 7, 2012.

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Cryptozoic, makers of the WoW TCG, is showing off new cards, artwork, and game systems from the newest TCG expansion, Crown of the Heavens. This set prominently features Hyjal and its guardians, meaning lots of dryads, ogres, and satyrs and more demons than you can shake a stick at. A demon stick. Monsters are still the name of the game, however, since we're in the monster block.

Since Crown of the Heavens is a set based on Hyjal, there are bound to be a ton of familiar friendly (and not-so-friendly) faces showing up. What does that mean, you ask? It means awesome artwork done by Cryptozoic's amazing art team of some of your favorite characters.

First, you should see some of the awesome new demon and satyr cards coming with Crown of the Heavens. Cryptozoic had a really cool writeup about the new monster heroes coming in the new set, including a Daughter of Cenarius named Arisella and Iso'rath, servant of the Old Gods. How cool is that? You can play with Iso'rath as your monster hero.

Every so often, we tackle the subject of loot drama in the Drama Mamas column. Usually, it's a story about how someone else caused the kerfluffle and how to deal with that kind of situation. But recently, someone wrote in after causing quite a bit of loot drama himself. He didn't realize it, and the raid leaders definitely handled the situation poorly by not stating the loot rules at the beginning of the run and informing the player that he could only get one loot drop and allowing him to roll on another. So really, it was drama all around.

Drama often happens when someone wins a roll and hands it over to a significant other, against stated loot rules. Have you ever done that? Is it just a token of affection? Or was there a threat of personal repercussions if the transfer wasn't made?

Have you ever let a PUG or someone of lower rank in the guild roll on an item and then made up a rule on the fly if you don't like the outcome? Have you made a loot decision based solely on how much or little you liked the player? Have you rolled need on something you didn't need specifically to grief your group? Have you ever ninjaed an item and then quit the group?

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Thanks to @Proenix00 on Twitter, we now know that the new Eye of the Legion pet and cosmetic item Demon Hunter's Aspect are rewards from the WoW TCG. Datamined from the new patch 4.3.2 files, these new items have been fueling some talk as to whether Mists of Pandaria would include more Legion-inspired antics or if the launch events leading up to the new expansion would be demonic in nature. The Feldrake mount does not appear in the list of items in the screenshot we have, but it could be possible that the Feldrake mount will get subbed in.

We do not yet know which TCG expansion that these items will be available in and whether or not the Feldrake is the equivalent to the Timewalkers Mount that is labelled [DNT] in the screenshot above. Hopefully, it will all be revealed to us soon. The Timewalkers Mount sounds to me like it might be more akin to the new chromatic dragon mount models found in the previous patch. At this point, we do not have concrete details.

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Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!

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Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm.

Loot drama rears its ugly head yet again this week.

Good morning Drama Mamas,

I was recently joined a guild run (not my guild) of Dragon Soul on my mage. I have never really had problems raiding on my alts. My main is in a semi hardcore raiding guild, and we were 8/8 in the first week of dragon soul. So on the off days I like to raid on my priest or mage. I really didn't think much of raiding with nine other people all from the same guild. It doesn't happen often, but guild runs typically go a lot smoother than complete PUGs.

When I joined the raid no clear loot rules were announced. I typically just wait till the first boss is killed to see how loot works. So we killed a boss and a piece of loot dropped that I could use (a wand), and the master looter in raid chat said main spec roll and linked the piece of loot. I ultimately rolled the highest; however, I got a bit suspicious how long it took for the master looter to award me the loot. The guild didn't say anything after they gave me the loot and I said thanks. I am pretty appreciative when I receive loot.

Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same.

There's a whole lotta loot going around these days, if you haven't noticed. New loot, loot that looks like tentacles, armor pieces, armor set pieces, transmogrification gear, upgrade gear, heroic gear, Raid Finder loot ... you name it, it's dropping. As players complete the Dragon Soul raid on every difficulty, they are learning what a nightmare loot can be in a raiding environment. Let's make loot a bit more manageable, yes?

Loot addons are a fun category of addon to talk about because they don't really clog up your screen or add much to the user interface in a notable way -- well, until you open up a chest full of loot and you get to clicking.

teksLoot

Yes, teksLoot still works. Sure, it hasn't been updated in almost a year. It's still one of my favorite addons, dammit. I'll be using teksLoot until it horribly falls apart in my hands, reduced to a small mound of dust at my feet ... clinging to the last, hopeless rolls I will make in the Raid Finder for that cool sword off of Madness of Deathwing.

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests. Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading, the Matticast.

A new month and a new patch means new raid bosses to learn! It means new mechanics to learn, new players to work with (for some of you) and new challenges. I'm pretty sure that it's safe to say most of us were getting a little ... burned out on Firelands.

The opening bosses should present a nice warmup for the rest of the instance. We'll start with quick healing setups for Morchok and Warlord Zon'ozz. The Raid Finder iteration of these bosses shouldn't be a problem for you if you already have a history of raiding. Normal versions might present a bit of a step up.