Ooh, Shiny! - What's Your Favorite Loot System?

Hey everyone,

I was thinking last night that I wanted to make a thread to see how people like their loot in RPGs. A thread like this may have existed on here at some point but I didn't check.

Anyway, I'd like to know a few things about the shiny stuff we collect and hoard in RPGs. They are:

#1 - Do you prefer randomized loot (ala Diablo) or hand-placed loot (ala Baldur's Gate)? Explain why.

#2 - What game has your favorite loot system ever? Explain why.

#3 - How important is loot to your overall RPG or gaming experience? Explain.

I'll give my answers after a few other people have given theirs.

Thanks for your time and I hope this sparks some discussion .

1. A combination. I prefer most loot to be random but that certain items be in the same spot every game, in case of replays. Building a strategy around a piece of loot should be a valid choice.

2. Titan Quest - I loved the various items that you could socket into your items that would boost your particular build. I also loved finding just pieces of said items so that you slowly built up your stock of enchantables. I like the concept of tiered loot too (normal, rare, very rare, legendary, unique, etc).

3. Outside of exploration and character building, loot is my favorite part of gaming. It scores a big 25% most of the time.

I consider crafting/smithing and such as part of the loot mechanic.

1., 2 and 3:
Handplaced. Does that really need an explanation? It does?

Okay. I play a game. There's that hidden place that contains some unknown loot but to get it you need to crack a puzzle, go pro with some skills, carefully strategize during quests and etc. In the end you get a certain item of something that's really nice to have and is a proper reward for you, the player, being smart. Something you just can't get as a drop from a random mob or in some random chest.
I want that.

I dislike Diablolike hoarding system and random loot. Getting only cash drops and then buying items on merchants is better than being annoyed with too many different itemdrops which are mostly useless and exist only to get your inventory filled or your character overcumbered. Let merchants randomize items, but please make items on lootsports handplaced.

My favorite loot system was for example in Fallout2. Why? I've explained above.

How important is it to me… Let's say there are far more important things than loot system. For example, I hate mobrespawns. Don't sell me a grinder, put any lootsystem you want - I'll be happy.

Hand-placed, scarce loot with some very rare unique items.
I'm overwhelmed with too much loot in modern games.
Loot should be believable, too. No armor on a cat etc.

Piranha Bytes. Nuff said...

Slightly randomized themed "common" loot and handplaced "major" loot.

With this I mean that I expect enemies to drop what they use. But there can be a level of randomization to this, one bandit might have a shoddy short bow that is almost falling to pieces, while another one might have a minor magical shortbow. And this can be randomized, as long as it is kept within reasonable limits.

For major pieces of loot, I prefer it to be something of an event that you get from having done something special. Be it exploring an optional part of the dungeon, defeating a major enemy or finding the hidden door in the major's home. And it's important for it to still make sense (so no +3 plate mail on that huge spider).

So basically something along the line of how it works in Skyrim or Fallout.

That being said, I don't mind Diablo style loot, and I think it works in games where getting the best loot is a major part of the experience (which it is in Diablo & its ilk).

MAKE IT RAIN!
I love Diablo/Borderlands randomized loot.

It's my second favorite thing after developing/growing a character

Depends on the game.

For cyclical and perpetual games like Diablo, you can't have hand-placed loot - as it would ruin the entire concept of the loot-hunt after a single run-through.

For pretty much anything else, I want as much as possible to be hand-placed and that includes the loot.

I do NOT like randomized elements on hand-placed loot either, and I want everything beyond the simpler magical items to have a reason to exist. I love it when a legendary item is…. legendary.

My favorite loot system?

Well, the most elaborate loot systems are usually found in loot-driven games (surprise) - and the best example is probably Hellgate London. Reason being that items felt distinct and had completely unique properties BEFORE any of the magical prefixes or suffixes were even applied. Which meant that a Katana was much faster, had a higher critical rating, dealt lower base damage - and so on. Unlike Diablo 3, where every weapon is a simple DPS stick that will apply to your skills - and the only interesting part of the loot is a few of the better prefixes or suffixes. After the change to legendary items, however, they've managed to make some of those quite interesting, with unique powers.

Another great example (for weapons only) is Borderlands 2 - where there was so much significant variety between the weapons. This meant you couldn't predict what you'd find pretty much ever, and you kept discovering new ways to kill stuff.

The key to a great loot system is to make each find feel good - and the pacing is extremely vital.

For slow-burn exploration games, you want to make sure that the best items are very rare on average, but you also want people who go out of their way to explore secrets to be rewarded - and you DO NOT want that reward to feel unsatisfying.

Best loot system in a game that's not loot-driven is probably something like Baldur's Gate. The best loot in BG is rare, it's usually found after a challenging fight or in a really hard-to-find place - and all the magical items have a story behind them.

For MMOs, it's a bit of another story - but I won't get into that here.

I like most "normal" loot to be random, with some sense of logic (no wolves carrying a suit of armor, etc.), with a few special hand-placed items to make exploration actually worth it. I also like some believability in how loot drops. If a baddie's using a weapon against me, then I need to be able to pick it up afterwards. The purely cosmetic weapon/armor trope instantly kills my immersion. The TES and FO games are pretty good at this, for the most part.

I really hate the Diablo-style loot system, with the tiers of ridiculous colors and general… gameyness. I don't ever want to beat a boss and see that my fabulous reward is a cracked worn radioactive wooden sword of dull flaming nothingness. I definitely never want to go fight him again for a 2% chance that he'll drop the Codpiece of Billysaurus so I can complete the set.

Gothic I and II are very good in my opinion

Most animals drop meat and their skin or teeth.
Humans drop some gold and their weapons.

Hand placed, no doubt about it. My top loot games are probably:
- BG1-2
- Gothic 1-2
- M&M6-8

They all have hand placed loot, which means exploring every cave, house and corner of the world is a lot of fun because it could actually lead to a "WOAH!" kind of item. In theory, the same could happen in Diablo, but only because it was random luck.

Edit:
As for the importance. I've given it some thought. I would normally say that loot system is not important at all for me, as I'm mainly interested in the setting, characters and story. However, given the fact that my top looting games also happen to be among the best games I've ever played, it might be that I do enjoy a good loot system more than I originally thought.

I like variety in my loot, and I like variety in the looting systems, between customized, handplaced, and random.

Aside from the controversial missing features, the biggest offender in D:OS thus far has been the completely random loot. It's truly annoying to overcome a big fight and be rewarded with… junk. What makes it an even bigger blemish is the fact that it's not even randomized on level load but rather tailored to your character the very moment a chest is opened.

So, for me, obviously hand-placed loot - the best implementation of which is probably BG with not only the placement but the lovingly-crafted backstories on items.

Loot progression is a big part of an RPG, being itself a big part of character progression. Games with fancy skills and gameplay always feel that much emptier without a good loot system to back them up.

Wow, you guys are great! Really interesting responses all around. I'll quote some of them when I have more time.

In the meantime, my favorite type of loot system is hand-placed loot, ala Baldur's Gate and some of Morrowind.

I feel the hand-placed loot adds a certain element to the game that just isn't present in a randomized system. When you find that hidden spot, or defeat that tough enemy, you know something interesting, unique and hand-placed/hand-crafted is going to be a reward. I love that.

Also, the loot progression in games like Baldur's Gate is much better for me because you create a strong connection with your loot. You're not upgrading swords every 5 minutes, you actually have to earn that new sword and when you finally do find it, man is it sweet.

So, my favorite loot system thus far has to be Baldur's Gate. Not only do I appreciate that enemies drop their proper gear (no plate mail on a spider), but the written descriptions on all loot pieces are a joy to read and really add to the immersion.

That said, I think Baldur's Gate can be improved. I would take a note from Diablo and add a bit more of a tiered approach. I would like to see blue items as magical items, and gold items as ornate items.

What I mean by ornate, is simply some very beautiful piece of loot, whether it's a beautifully-crafted sword, or some pauldrons, etc. These items would be of high value and highly renowned, thus making them actually easier to identify for your party (since the stories of these items has been told for years, you can actually spot such items easier).

That said, there would be some exceptions to the rule. Not all gold items would be easily identifiable, but they would be more rare. And as for blue items, they would actually be a bit more difficult to identify at times because they are unknown magical items in the world, not highly renowned gear.

I would also add a bit more clutter items and special items with lore to the world as well. Having some magical trinket that adds to your Dexterity score because you're carrying it in your inventory. Things like that.

I would also prefer an inventory based on weight and size, much like Arcanum's inventory (except I'm not sure if they used weight in that game). I like the grid where you place items and can rearrange your items within the grid, etc.

Loot is obviously very important for me. It's just as important as any other individual aspect of the game for me, because it's a big incentive to keep playing if the loot system keeps you enthralled at all times. So, Baldur's Gate wins the "best loot ever!" award from me.

Maylander said:

Hand placed, no doubt about it. My top loot games are probably:
- BG1-2
- Gothic 1-2
- M&M6-8

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This. I can't say much about M&M (last I played was World of Xeen a long time ago), but would add Realms of Arkania. In general, I prefer loot to be rarely magical. BG was already stretching it with magic galore. There can be so much variety within weapons or armor types, without minuscule stat boost differences. Most upgrades should feel significant in some way. Special items should feel special.

Random loot - the only way. You may know the level layout, but this time you might just get that unique item that makes you OP for a fair while.

Hand placed loot limits replayability unless there are loads of significantly different builds. If all the loot is the same in every game, my max replay times is usually about 2-3. Games with randomized loot eg Dungeon Siege 2, I've replayed an embarrassing number of times, always waiting for that 'boom!' that accompanied a unique drop…

Hate loot systems that burden you up with low value junk so you have to keep retracing your steps every 2 fights just to offload a 5GP rusty shield (a la Titan Quest)…

Fluent said:

#1 - Do you prefer randomized loot (ala Diablo) or hand-placed loot (ala Baldur's Gate)? Explain why.

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I prefer hand-placed, or if it's randomized, for it to be set at game start (basically, 'create new game' pre-generates the loot, that's so you can't reload to get different items).

#2 - What game has your favorite loot system ever? Explain why.

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I'm not a 'loot' guy, I actually prefer games where you craft what you need, where crafted items are better than loot. In that case, I like games where loot is mostly components you use for crafting. Instead of a sword +2/+5 vs. vampires, I prefer a game that drops something that lets you create a +2/+5 vs. vampires weapon, and then you can craft a mace or a dagger or a spear with that. Few games have that option that I've played, Stars Wars Galaxies, Dark Age of Camelot, some JRPGs also let you do that.

#3 - How important is loot to your overall RPG or gaming experience? Explain.

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To me character >> loot, so I'm not a loot guy at all. Like I said, I prefer to have more control over what items my characters wield, in the form of crafting. It's ok to have some legendary items that you can attain via quests or from big bosses, but definitely not the Diablo loot-a-lot system.

I couldn't care less how single player games do the loot, tbh. However it is done works for me. For an mmo, however, nothing beats dkp loot.

having not read through the thread yet, I'm realizing this topic is relevant to what I'm doing right now.

I started in the indie forum a thread looking for a free rpg system (guess I should have started it here in general) and I've decided just to make my own.

Now a loot system is something I've yet to consider but plugging in flexible systems wouldn't be that difficult. What is the consensus so far? Is there any suggestions - such as tables - that you would prefer?

Lucky Day said:

having not read through the thread yet, I'm realizing this topic is relevant to what I'm doing right now.

I started in the indie forum a thread looking for a free rpg system (guess I should have started it here in general) and I've decided just to make my own.

Now a loot system is something I've yet to consider but plugging in flexible systems wouldn't be that difficult. What is the consensus so far? Is there any suggestions - such as tables - that you would prefer?

Click to expand...

Can you read my post halfway through the thread and see what you think? The short version: a modified version of Baldur's Gate loot (the modification adds a bit of a Diablo-ish flair).

A few people have mentioned Baldur's Gate and Gothics as their favorite loot systems, myself included. Hand-placed loot with many unique items and possibly a high level tier would be ideal, IMO.