How much should loot scale?

[Cyr]

In an attempt to keep the definitive loot thread less cluttered I am starting up this thread to discuss a point of philosophy about loot design that keeps coming up....

How much better should loot be from comparable lower level loot?

Let's talk percentages here.

Another subject of real merit that is related is;

How much more powerful should loot from one 'level' up of epics be from weaker epics?

This second point concerns the concept of 'weaker epics' in the form of house p, house D, and house K epics compared to desert epics atm with the very real possibility of even tougher gianthold epics adding another 'level' to the equation in the near future.

[Cyr]

My personal viewpoints follow:

When looking at comparable loot (ie raid loot to raid loot) it seems obvious to me that a significant improvement must be seen to offset the much lower time/effort required in doing a lower level quest/raid.

The percentage should be based upon comparable items with shroud/void/hound items having higher then listed ML's because frankly very few people get their desired loot from these quests at the listed ML and they are artificially low due to the shroud's unique loot design. These items should be considered ML 15/16 items for these purposes.

My personal belief is that if a percentage increase of at least half of the ML ratio of the two items minus one is maintained that there will be enough of an incentive for people to run higher level content over lower level content.

Essentially this would work out as follows...let's say something is from a new level 20 raid and is comparable to a min 2 rapier (ML 16 for these purposes). This new item should be at least (20/16 - 1)/2 percent more powerful then the min 2 rapier...in this case 12.5% more powerful.

I would set the weaker epics as ML 20 raid equivalent as they take lots of work to put together. I would set desert epics at ML 22 raid equivalent and upcoming GH at level 24. All epics should be evaluated as slotted versions (no temporary slots considered though). This would set up the weaker epics as requiring at least 12.5% more powerful items then shroud items that are comparable (remember there is lots of room for rare/unique effects/combinations still as there are no comparable items really) and desert epics as ~18.75% more powerful then comparable shroud items.

Of course this would vary depending upon what level items you were comparing so the closest ML comparable item should be the one you look at for this purpose. Essentially a desert epic should be about 5% more powerful then a comparable weaker epic item.

Of special importance I also believe there should be no 'junk' higher level items where no one with decent gear would consider using it.