There is an inherent need to PvP with a Teams ruleset, something that isn't true with FFA rules. This is why item loot makes more sense with FFA - it gives you a reason to kill players.
No item loot + FFA = Killing people for no benefit, simply to kill them. Degenerates to pure griefing over time, especially for sub-50 PvP.
Item loot + FFA = Killing people for potential gain, with a risk/reward dynamic. Creates a culture of brigands/PKs and anti-PKs. A fun ruleset given a large enough population to sustain it.
No item loot + Teams = Killing your enemies on sight, otherwise they will kill you. Fighting for survival and zone control.
Item loot + Teams = Same as above, except the winning team gets stronger over time and the loser gets weaker. Encourages imbalance.
Item loot simply adds nothing desirable to the Teams ruleset. It's an FFA PvP rule that doesn't belong on a Teams server. Further, there doesn't currently exist a large enough demand for an item loot server to sustain a reasonably high population on one. This isn't 1999-2000 where we have half a million EQ players to draw from for RZ, enabling it to sustain itself. We've got a few thousand players at best, the vast majority of whom aren't inclined to PvP at all, much less item loot.
In the end the argument is as simple as it is irrefutable: Teams needs population more than anything else. Item loot significantly reduces population. Therefore, item loot is a bad idea for Teams.
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