Loot system

In video games, a loot system is a method of distributing in-game items amongst a group of players.

The Premise of a Loot System

Loot Systems exist solely because of the game mechanics of popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). One of the primary objectives in this genre of game is to improve one's character, the representation of the player in the virtual world. The common ways to do this involve obtaining experience or by upgrading the items the character uses. In the most popular MMORPGs, such as EverQuest or World of Warcraft, much of a player's improvement must come from looted items because the amount of experience a player can obtain has a hard limit.

Herein lies the dilemma: One mechanism by which loot is obtained is the completion of content built by the game developer. This often occurs by defeating a difficult non-player entity, or "mob". However, since MMORPGs are meant to reward players who work together, several players often desire a particular piece of loot that has been rewarded (or "dropped"). A loot system attempts to provide a fair and equitable method for players to decide who gets what.

Loot System Classes

There are obviously multiple ways in which this decision can be made. Systems range from a reflex based, first come first served method to an almost dictatorship-like system where the appointed leader of the group awards the loot to players he or she feels deserve it. However, most players enjoy a system that gives equal chance to all who were involved and removes any real or perceived favoritism from the decision.

"First Come First Served"

The most simple loot system is one of anarchy. The players who have the fastest reflexes to perform the action necessary to receive the loot do so. This has several obvious downfalls which tends to aggravate players:

Random Number Generation Based Loot Systems

The overwhelmingly most used loot system class is one where the decision on which player receives which items is completely based on a public random number generator. This type of system completely removes all human input from the decision, and gives an obvious statistically equal chance to those players involved. Using random number generators for the basis of a loot system is so common that many games have coded the system directly into the game experience to expedite the process. Due to the similarity between using a random number generator and rolling a die (or set of dice) the process is referred to as "rolling" and the act of "rolling for loot" is the process by which players are assigned a number by the random number generator which determines if they will obtain the desired items.

Pure Random

A very simple random system which just assigns the loot to a random player in the group regardless of any other factors. This variant is a common method for distributing loot that has only monetary value ("trash loot") and is often coded into the game. It is not usually used for items which players might equip, due to game mechanics.

"Need Before Greed"

The vast majority of MMORPG games have some sort of class system, where each player can choose a class which allows them certain skills, as well as placing certain restrictions on which items the player can use. Players of a certain class also prefer items which have attributes which improve statistics which give benefit to the primary skills of their class. Thus, each player often does not desire the same item, as a group of players generally has several of these classes in its makeup. However, many items also have some value in the in-game currency, so there is often some interest in the item from all players involved. The "Need Before Greed" system allows players who will make the most use of the items have priority over those who only desire the item for its monetary value, such that only the subset of players who will benefit the most are allowed to "roll" for the item. If no players desire the item, then a pure random system is used to determine who obtains the item for its monetary value. This system can be very straightforward and simple, especially in smaller groups of players where perhaps only two or three players desire the same item. However, this system also has some perceived downfalls which tend to aggravate players:

These perceived downfalls often cause various extra restrictions to be placed on the system such as:

Point Based Loot Systems

Point based loot systems have arisen for a number of reasons. The first is that players feel that their previous attempts and completion of the content that contains the loot they desire should somehow determine their priority over other players, which is obviously impossible in a random system due to memorylessness. Players also often feel that items should go to the player that has a high amount of desire for it, something impossible to quantify in a random based loot system. Lastly, a common game mechanic is to place the most highly desired items in content that requires very large amounts of both time and personnel to master and complete, meaning that players are even more aggravated by the downfalls of a random based system as described earlier.

Since statistically, over time, all players will move towards receiving the items they want, point based systems do not determine anything but the order in which the players get the items.

Common problems with point based system problems include:

Earning Points

Obviously to be able to spend points, there must exist a method of earning them. There are two main methods of obtaining points in a point based loot system, time based and content completion based. These two systems are often modified in a variety of ways, usually to reward (or demerit) players for certain behaviors or to provide incentives them to participate in certain content. Regardless of the method, the players are rewarded for participation in the content so that players who participate most frequently obtain a larger ratio of the loot obtained, or perhaps more correctly, a larger ratio of the total "desirability pool" of the content.

Content Completion Point Earning

Often there are milestones in the content players participate in. The system rewards point rewards for certain milestones, regardless of the amount of time required to reach them.

Points of Consideration

Time Based Point Earning

In this method, points are simply awarded for the amount of time the player chooses to participate in the content.

Points of Consideration

Converting Points into Items

The largest differential between the various point based loot systems is the method by which points are converted into items, or priority to receive items. These systems can be described as three subsets, fixed cost, auction bid, and constrained bid.

Fixed Cost

A fixed cost system (or "purchase system") is one where each item that has a statistical chance to drop in the content the players are currently participating in has been assigned a point value. These values can be derived in a number of ways, from gauging desire for the item compared to its probability of dropping (simple supply and demand) to a method based on the attributes of the item. In this way items are purchased with some created currency that players can earn. Since each item no longer has zero cost to each player, players now must consider the opportunity cost of the item, as it will impact their ability to obtain other items.

Points of Consideration

Auction Bid

In an auction bid system players can bid any amount of their current points on an item. The bids can be made public or done in secret, depending on the variant of the system. Much like a fixed-cost system each item now has a non-zero cost to the player, but now the cost of each item is purely dependent on the market forces created by the player pool which desires the item, rather than an artificial system which can be open to discussion.

Points of Consideration

Constrained Bid

In a constrained bid system players are forced to bid a certain fraction of their current points. Thus this system is inherently different from a fixed-cost or auction bid system in that points don't determine purchasing power as much as they do a player's ability to exercise priority over another player. Points only serve to quantify how many places "in line" a player loses for receiving an item or gains for participating in content. Points of Consideration

In-game Currency Based Loot System

An alternative to a points based loot system is an in-game currency based loot system. Participants pay for items with virtual currency instead of with an arbitrary set of points. The currency paid may then be split among those members in attendance. This includes the buyer if he/she helped. Like a points system, those that attend a higher percentage of events will have earned more currency and, therefore, have more to spend in the open market system or at future group events on loot. Currency based systems offer maximum freedom for individual players over the course of their current game.

As loot is accumulated, players may bid in-game currency on loot, with the loot going to the highest bidder. Some groups may accept a mixture of sellable loot and currency as a bid. Some argue that bids this way can be forced up artificially by false bidders. In practice this tends to not be the case, as those that wish to push up the bid realize they have a chance of actually winning an item they do not desire, thus losing an inflated amount of money through no one's fault but their own.

Points of Consideration

Loot Systems in Use

There are many loot systems in current use, this list is not comprehensive.

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