Regarding item loot.

[Pudge]

Originally Posted by Papaver [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It has been apparent since the initial launch of EverQuest PvP in general and item loot in particular were neither well thought out, balanced, nor implemented up to the standards the community desired.

So my question to people that desire a red p99 server is, what would alleviate the majority of your concerns regarding item loot?

Just bounce random ideas around here.

For example, what if levels 1-45 were not lootable, but levels 46-50 were (assuming the attacker was also 46+).

Or what about guild based pvp? That is to say, no guildless characters are lootable, but people that are guild tagged are.

Or how about handing in a tome of discord to set an 'item lootable' flag on your character which would change the tint of the text of your name from pink to dark red (in which case, the attacker can only loot an item if they are also flagged as lootable)?

Or a flag for lootable set during the character creation process which cannot be changed later?

Personally I feel that item loot should be across the board for everyone-- with few exemptions like pvp areas in cities and in 'The Arena' itemloot-free (only pure pvp with no risk of losing items), but seeing as so many people feel so strongly against it, your feedback on what negative aspects are the most detrimental to the game at large would be appreciated.

i know the itemloot thread is long to read, but basically the sentiment is:

coin loot = definitely

item loot = majority strongly against it, minority strongly for it

the only way i can see itemloot working is if it is very limited.. like, "non-lore items only" or "bagged loot only" (inventory slots also non-lootable, so ppl could choose to sacrifice an entire bag worth of gear to carry 1 non-lootable item unequipped)

in general, 0 item loot is the way to go. but i see why a compromise could be fun, as long as there is very little QQ potential (BTW, manastones arent lore are they..?) to answer specific questions:

1) lower levels non-lootable? better but.. still, when you get to camp good items is 50+, so that is when losing an item matters most. the opposite sounds even better.. levels 1-45 lootable, levels 45+ non-lootable. this would prevent twink PKs from ruling the lower levels.

2+3) flagged item loot wouldnt work. smart ppl would never flag themselves as lootable, it is much more valuable to be able to wear you gear than the chance at ganking someone's FBSS. especially in raid pvp, the important thing is winning, not being able to loot someone's shit. groups will roll out with 1 "loot-flagged" player, trying to get this guy the killshot so he can loot. flagging that shit just wont work. even if it will placate the pro-item-looters, it will not result in long sustainable gameplay for the server

4) negative feedback in general: itemloot promotes random ganking by groupmates (temporary "friends" until you are low health) increases fear of pvp and any unknown player in general, requires ppl to run and bag gear instead of fight against the odds, encourages corpse camping, gives an advantage to insta-bagging MQers, and makes the server environment more hostile than most ppl want to play in. ppl want to wear their gear, not run around fearing their gear they camped for 25 hours camp will be ganked at any moment.

hard-core players will play with itemloot in or out. but you will lose many, many ppl with itemloot in, unless item loot is somehow severely restricted. (like, "bagged-non-lore-items-only" restricted..) just look at VZTZ, the population while item loot was in was like 1/3 of what it was when there was no item loot

if i were devs and i really wanted to put itemloot in, i would limited it to the above; BAGGED (which means IN A BAG, not just sitting in an inventory slot) non-lore items only.