True but then again Gollum was a one of a kind rare spawn mob. It wasn't like there were fields full of Gollums everywhere now were there?
As for the OP's question... Yes I think epic loot should drop off of all mobs but very, VERY rarely. like 1 in 1,000,000 or more rarely. I'm not saying that a single person would have to kill a million mobs but a million mobs would have to spawn for one to spawn with an epic loot item. You would have to be very lucky to be the one that happened to kill that millionth mob spawned of that type.
If you are playing a game that would be "boring" if it wasn't for a rare chance of getting some sort of gear drop, maybe you should consider playing something that is actually fun.
My name is Big Hat Logan and I stand for freedom from fish biscuits.
paid for by The Anti Fish Biscuit Distribution League
Exactly, why would you play a game that is boring only to hope for that carrot being dangled in your face actually dropping?
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
One of the reasons we have so much trouble moving away from a lot of these ridiculous game mechanics is because people have grown so used to them that they are considered normal or even necessary by many, despite how odd they are.
Oddities are often overlooked if they make a game more fun.
A loot jackpot is commonly considered fun (unless the loot is poorly balanced; like if it's a best-in-slot item where players feel forced to grind for it.)
Much like animals carrying treasure: although it can be cleverly designed around, people don't mind being rewarded when they kill a lion which clearly wouldn't be carrying a Sword of Slaying.
I completely agree. The mechanic I was referring to is loot that serves no purpose at all other than to sell to a vendor.
I guess it's psychological. Instead of giving you a bit more money and removing the junk drops, they leave them in because it has higher impact to sell that junk and get 50 gold let's say all at once, instead of getting the same sum over the period of time in which you killed stuff. Makes it feel more worth, to see a big number at once.
But why not make it useful? In UO, EVE, AC... there isn't (or at least wasn't the last time I played each) a single item that dropped that couldn't be used in some way. "Junk" still had a purpose. For example:
reward turn-in
refine or smelt down to materials
crafting component
Devs can do their jedi mind tricks or psychological voodoo or whatever and still make the loot relevant to the game.
EQ's spider toes and rat navel lint set a ridiculous precedent (why would any NPC buy these?), which was followed by WOW's grey loot which you *could* use if you were extremely desperate but was really just for vendoring, and then it just became a standard feature to have crap loot that isn't usable in any manner whatsoever. It's just randomly named trinkets that currently exist just to add inventory management and inject a non-stat system of downtime to the game.
It aer bizarre.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I've gotten some gold/orange drops in Tera from regular mobs. Really "made my day" so to speak.
Same here!
It's been so long since I've seen a random mob drop something of value, and with TERA's cross-character bank system, it made it even more valuable, because I knew it would be an upgrade for multiple characters.
I hate that games have stripped the chance for trash mobs to drop rare items, primarily due to currency sellers spoiling the experience for everyone else.
Back in my DAoC days, I used to multi-box my cleric ( yeah, yeah... it was a "buff bot") and my theurgist, and farm Dartmoor elites for random "glowy" drops to boost my income and my salvaged materials for crafting. It was a fun way to pass the time, and I gave useful items with cool particle effects away to all my friends. It was good times, and I miss it.
Now, even if you're fighting challenging mobs in difficult end-game zones, you're lucky if you can break even between item repairs and expenditures to keep up your consumables. Instead of enjoying the game, character maintenance becomes a chore-- almost another full time job-- when you have spare time between raiding in-game, and real life activities.
So, I'm definitely in favor of games adding the chance for creatures to drop random rare items. Just boost the difficulty of the area and make those creatures more challenging, and add the occasional "named" creature that roams around with something extra juicy, but give them plenty of random locations to spawn so they aren't camped at all times by the same handful of currency seller bots, much like Dartmoor and the other elite dragon zones of DAoC (the random spawns, not the currency sellers).
I would add a system to prevent farmers from brute forcing it.
Really?
I consider ultra rare drops a reward for the generally insane amount of time people spend farming content. It gives people motivated to do something like that a reason to do it ... keeping them playing the game instead of complaining about how bored they are because endgame content doesn't get released fast enough.
But I suppose that takes us the whole "Everybody should have the same access to everything regardless of time invested in the game" argument.
Comments
True but then again Gollum was a one of a kind rare spawn mob. It wasn't like there were fields full of Gollums everywhere now were there?
As for the OP's question... Yes I think epic loot should drop off of all mobs but very, VERY rarely. like 1 in 1,000,000 or more rarely. I'm not saying that a single person would have to kill a million mobs but a million mobs would have to spawn for one to spawn with an epic loot item. You would have to be very lucky to be the one that happened to kill that millionth mob spawned of that type.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
Exactly, why would you play a game that is boring only to hope for that carrot being dangled in your face actually dropping?
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
But why not make it useful? In UO, EVE, AC... there isn't (or at least wasn't the last time I played each) a single item that dropped that couldn't be used in some way. "Junk" still had a purpose. For example:
Devs can do their jedi mind tricks or psychological voodoo or whatever and still make the loot relevant to the game.
EQ's spider toes and rat navel lint set a ridiculous precedent (why would any NPC buy these?), which was followed by WOW's grey loot which you *could* use if you were extremely desperate but was really just for vendoring, and then it just became a standard feature to have crap loot that isn't usable in any manner whatsoever. It's just randomly named trinkets that currently exist just to add inventory management and inject a non-stat system of downtime to the game.
It aer bizarre.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Any mob should at rare occasions drop something cool. Being lucky occasionally is just fun.
What they instead should get rid off is the vendortrash loot.
Let the mobs drop gold and gems instead of filling my bags with crap.
Same here!
It's been so long since I've seen a random mob drop something of value, and with TERA's cross-character bank system, it made it even more valuable, because I knew it would be an upgrade for multiple characters.
I hate that games have stripped the chance for trash mobs to drop rare items, primarily due to currency sellers spoiling the experience for everyone else.
Back in my DAoC days, I used to multi-box my cleric ( yeah, yeah... it was a "buff bot") and my theurgist, and farm Dartmoor elites for random "glowy" drops to boost my income and my salvaged materials for crafting. It was a fun way to pass the time, and I gave useful items with cool particle effects away to all my friends. It was good times, and I miss it.
Now, even if you're fighting challenging mobs in difficult end-game zones, you're lucky if you can break even between item repairs and expenditures to keep up your consumables. Instead of enjoying the game, character maintenance becomes a chore-- almost another full time job-- when you have spare time between raiding in-game, and real life activities.
So, I'm definitely in favor of games adding the chance for creatures to drop random rare items. Just boost the difficulty of the area and make those creatures more challenging, and add the occasional "named" creature that roams around with something extra juicy, but give them plenty of random locations to spawn so they aren't camped at all times by the same handful of currency seller bots, much like Dartmoor and the other elite dragon zones of DAoC (the random spawns, not the currency sellers).
Oh that's gonna leave a mark!
Give me liberty or give me lasers