Curse

LeetScythemaster · Sep 30, 2007, 02:02 AM // 02:02

I recently sent this e-mail to anet, ncsoft, guild wars, whatever you want to call it regarding the loot system. Please read it and post replies to let me know what you all think and maybe it will get something changed in the game.

I know I'm just going to receive an e-mail from you saying "drops are totally random" but I farmed the Domain of Fear today with an 8-man hench team and through that hour I only received like 10 drops and out of all the times I killed Flame of Fervor (at least 8 times), I only received 1(ONE!) drop. For a high-end end-game area like the Domains, I think players should be getting more than 10 or so drops every HOUR they play..that's just ridiculous. So I guess my question is, Is there any way the drop rate can be increased to better accommodate players? At this point, I feel like it is completely pointless to farm in the game because drop rates are so low and I know a lot of other players who feel the same way. Thank you for your time.

Again, thanks to everyone for checking this out and please leave posts with your thoughts!

dameros · Sep 30, 2007, 02:46 AM // 02:46

You're not getting much loot because you have 7 henchman with you. Henchmen and heroes "steal" drops so you don't get them.

If you want more loot, do it solo or join a group of players.

Antheus · Sep 30, 2007, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by dameros

You're not getting much loot because you have 7 henchman with you. Henchmen and heroes "steal" drops so you don't get them.

If you want more loot, do it solo or join a group of players.

If you're in a group of 8, the drops are the same. Henchies or real players - you get equal share regardless.

The "theft" that happens is just because drops aren't displayed.

Quote:

I feel like it is completely pointless to farm in the game because drop rates are so low and I know a lot of other players who feel the same way

Yes, the game discourages farming. Yes, farmers complain about it. The drops also differ between areas. So if you're going for quantity, find a different area.

If you're going for greens, think about it this way - how long does it take to get an epic drop in WoW? For you - not for entire party, where you need to participate on schedule over 6 months before you're assigned your share.

Zinger314 · Sep 30, 2007, 03:05 AM // 03:05

Guild Wars's loot system is flawed because the concept of loot itself is flawed. The only "good" loot is one with a good skin; everything else sucks. Obviously, that's rarer than rare.

wilebill · Sep 30, 2007, 03:07 AM // 03:07

I've always found those high end maps in Nightfall to be not very good sources of loot. Abaddon just doesn't pay his folk very well, it appears. Either he's stingy, or broke, or both.

Inniss · Sep 30, 2007, 07:29 AM // 07:29

It'd be nice if we could see what the henchies were getting as a reassurance of the drop rates. Also a good excuse to throw the computer through the window when you see Gwen get that green or gold drop you really needed.

Redfeather1975 · Sep 30, 2007, 07:36 AM // 07:36

If item mods were given more substance so that certain types were far more viable for certain playstyles, loot would be far more interesting.
Right now as Zinger said it's more about skins as there really aren't that many viable mods out of the slew available.
My mesmer main has been using the same FC staff with the same mods for every build he's every used since he's gotten it. There's just no incentive to change it unless I wanted a new skin.

wetsparks · Sep 30, 2007, 07:53 AM // 07:53

yeah, my ranger still uses the first max damage bow I ever got. I have acquired new bows because I like to collect weapons for my favorite characters, but that first bow works just as good as the new ones.

free_fall · Sep 30, 2007, 08:09 AM // 08:09

I must be on a roll because I got 7 greens this week - 3 Thurs, 2 Wed and 1 each Sun & Mon - and 3 last week iirc; this was with full party of H&H, though 2 came on runs with 1 other RP along.

I sometimes think it's karma in action - my reward for spending time helping random PUGs get thru difficult missions. Either that or maybe there is something to the speculation that doing missions resets your farming flags.

strcpy · Sep 30, 2007, 08:24 AM // 08:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antheus

If you're in a group of 8, the drops are the same. Henchies or real players - you get equal share regardless.

No, you get roughly double. Anet has said many times and experience says so too. In fact, if you kill one at a time you will find that you get almost every drop (though it is arguable that you GPH doesn't change). Of course, you also have things that are exempt from loot scale.

I see your complaint all the time - here is a hint, if you want Anet to pay attention to your rant at the very least stay factual. This advice never seems to do any good, there are always "reasons" why people feel this is the correct way to go, however if you proposed changes aren't based on what is reality then they will mostly be ignored.

Anet knows what they did and complaining about a system that is grossly incorrect with offering a system that is one like they used before isn't going to get much attention - you are going to be lucky they read past the gross inaccuracies.

Not to mention that what you complain about not being able to do is *exactly* what they are trying to stop. It's like the people complaining that they can not leave any old Random Arena they want anymore - yea, that's the WHOLE POINT. So, at best you are ignored, at worst you are telling them they did exactly as planned. Yes, please, send more e-mails to them and start more threads on the forums about not being able to farm ungodly amounts of gold anymore and making the about the same as if you just played the game. That will get their attention (or maybe not).

Whirlwind · Sep 30, 2007, 09:19 AM // 09:19

Um where did a-net ever say anything about heroes and hench getting more drops then a normal player does. This has come up time and again and theres always people on both sides saying either -

A) You get more loot when in a group with 8 real people vs with 8 AI controlled.
or
B) Its exactly the same.

Its such a popular controversy, and i personally have NEVER seen any official response, and since search sucks, care to elaborate?

Patrick Smit · Sep 30, 2007, 09:27 AM // 09:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by strcpy

No, you get roughly double. Anet has said many times and experience says so too. In fact, if you kill one at a time you will find that you get almost every drop (though it is arguable that you GPH doesn't change). Of course, you also have things that are exempt from loot scale....

links please, or it is all fiction.

Redfeather1975 · Sep 30, 2007, 10:56 AM // 10:56

I'd like a link too strcpy.
I had no idea a player can get roughly double the drops by grouping with players rather than with henchmen. :O
I think drop rates are being messed with all the time. I'm not 100% sure though.
I remember some items dropping alot a while ago and now they are not dropping so often.
It was said that the farming code was taken out when loot scaling was implemented, so I'm thinking the team is adjusting drop rates on certain things/areas every update.

OP, if you think Domain of Fear isn't dropping enough loot for an hour's play you should put something in the official wiki. It might help. I remember when Destroyer Core drops went into the ether, we posted on the official wiki about it and it was adjusted in the next update.

Antheus · Sep 30, 2007, 12:03 PM // 12:03

Quote:

No, you get roughly double. Anet has said many times and experience says so too. In fact, if you kill one at a time you will find that you get almost every drop (though it is arguable that you GPH doesn't change). Of course, you also have things that are exempt from loot scale.

I'd like some further information on this as well.

My current interpretation:
1 player + 7 henchies = 1/8 of a chance of drop
1 player + 3 hero + 4 hench = 1/8 of a chance of drop
1 player + 7 players = 1/8 of a chance of drop
1 player (solo) = 1/4 of a chance of drop (yes, adjusted for party size, but "double" as mentioned before)

The experience shows that true solo farming (1 person in party at time of entering the instance) you get twice the drops that you would in a full party.

The original description was, that regardless of how you enter the instance, the drops would be scaled to that instance's party size, not your actual party size.

I believe this is what you're referring to with "double" the chance - which would be supported by some practical evidence.

But as long as you have a full party, the loot is scaled between 1/4 and 1/8 of a chance.

If a mob has 80% chance of a drop, then in a party of 8 (regardless of who), the chance that you get an item will be 10%. If you go into the instance alone (single party member), you chances for this drop are 20%.

Greens and other special items I believe are excluded from loot scaling.

Vinraith · Sep 30, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05

Quote:

The experience shows that true solo farming (1 person in party at time of entering the instance) you get twice the drops that you would in a full party.

It *feels* like more than that, though I can't empirically argue that it is. It IS worth noting that you get 100% of any gold that drops, rather than the usual 1/8 share.

LeetScythemaster · Sep 30, 2007, 10:10 PM // 22:10

Uhh, strcpy maybe you should read my post a little more thoruoughly. For one, the purpose of my post was not to farm "ungodly amounts of gold." All I'm saying is that for killing whatever it is, 3 mobs with 6 or so crits in it (18 or so crits)..and doing this multiple times in an hour should yield more than 10 crappy drops.

Even if you figure that you farm this area at a rate of 18 crits per 10 minutes (which is reasonable to me), you come up with 108 crits killed per hour. After dividing that by 8 (bc of 8 party members) you come up with an average of about 14 drops per hour. And, with each drop being, let's say worth 60 gold each, that comes out to..840 gold per hour!! Seems kind of low to me.

And on top of that, I kill a boss every single time I go out. And if you do the math for killing the boss, it comes out to about 1 drop per hour also, but my point is....IT'S A BOSS, they should drop more than 1 item every hour.

I also can't say I'm not fortunate, because I did get like 11 greens over the GW:EN weekend, but that even took a lot of time to get.

Oh, and everyone feel free to talk down to people who have ideas and speak their mind (kind of like strcpy) because we all know how cool those people are!

NoXiFy · Sep 30, 2007, 11:32 PM // 23:32

I have a similar problem, chest rewards. I swear to god, every time im with a full 8 man group, like 3 req.9 perfect ele swords drop, 4 onyx, and than i get... a req.13 inspiration magic staff. I seriously have merched over 40 of these gold mesmer stalve's since GW:EN came out. Thats ALL i get from chests. Ill screenshot it next time, cause seriously, it's like "Hex of Arenanet>you" is on me 24/7.

LeetScythemaster · Sep 30, 2007, 11:35 PM // 23:35

I have the same problem, but I always seem to get crappy purple drops from chests. To me, this is also ridiculous because the player pays 1500 at merch just to get a crappy usually high req purp.

Once you get the chest rank up, you do get better chance of keeping the lockpick, I'm at like 44% destroy rate right now...which isn't all that bad. I do seem to retain a lot more lockpicks now than I did at end-game Nightfall.

I also e-mailed anet about this and received an e-mail saying drops are random...no luck there

Crom The Pale · Sep 30, 2007, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Ive done many many missions/quests/dungeons with both Hero/Hench teams and live players.

In the live player teams I always recieve more drops and of better quality.

I am absolutely certain that a party of live players does get better drops than Hench/Hero teams.

Esan · Oct 01, 2007, 01:32 AM // 01:32

As trite as it may be, I can't help but point out that if you are playing Guild Wars for the loot, you are playing the wrong game.

Now if you were to say that Guild Wars needs a new reason to play, it would be an interesting claim and one I would be inclined to support.