Epic Scrolls/Whisperdoom/Trap the Soul - Stop the Ninja looting madness!

[Bradik_Losdar]

I was originally going to make this another suggestion regarding the Trap the Soul spell and the soul gem drops there from. But I am seeing a disturbing trend that many other folks have commented on as well - the "single drop/open grab" item in the game.

This problem started with the 'new' Whisperdoom quest about two years ago. Random "good" treasure was lying out in the open which only one party member could pick up. This was a huge change from the relatively "chump change" items that would fall out into the open from broken crates, etc - and that the breaker of said boxes would probably pick up right away (not being distracted by combat or anything). This quest caused a huge flap - and was actually shut down a number of times to correct various issues (notably the ease of zerg looting the very 'Ninja' items I am talking about). You would have thought that Turbine would have learned from this fiasco, but apparently time puts blinders on....

Next came the Trap the Soul spell. Now, a wizard/sorceror while in combat (trying to help fellow party members stay alive) would cast this spell (at range usually!), and then move to another target (or spell) until the battle was over. Unfortuantely, he/she would have to remember how many times he/she had cast the spell, how many times it actually took effect, and WHERE after the heat of battle, the monsters had been standing if he wished to collect the soul gems. All this in addition to getting to them BEFORE his fellow party members decided to grab them themselves (granted less of an issue with guild runs, but a HUGE problem with PUGs). By an by, this spell has became a relatively forgotten issue as most casters will not load it anymore for a number of reasons. One: there is a very expensive component requirement (dragonshards) that takes a bit of time to craft, two: it has three 'versions' that each take a different version of said component, three: it requires some prep in order to make sure said components/time are not wasted (casting Enervation on a target several times to lower its save) before actually casting the Trap the Soul spell, and finally, four: AFTER ALL OF THAT - some yahoo comes along and ninja grabs the gem that drops in combat while the caster is getting beat on by some of the bad guys friends. Thankfully there is only one gem really worth anything in the game (currently) - and every caster I know solo the areas that produce them to avoid any ninja grabs (this in a party oriented game...). An easy fix for this would be to have the soul gems just drop into the caster's inventory on success - how hard can that be to code?

And lastly, Epic scrolls. Why, oh, why did the Devs decide on this mechanic? I understand that they want to make them rare (only one person can loot the drop, unlike ordinary treasure bags that drop from monsters), but for heavens sake, an OPEN/NINJA looting system for them. REALLY!?!?! Many folks have suggested fixes for this (see the many/multiple threads on this issue) and I wholeheartedly agree that it does need to be fixed. (My suggestion, if the Devs really want to keep the 'monster drop/scroll' mechanic; make it a lottery. One person who clicks on the scroll will get it - guaranteed. However, who that person is in the party is totally random (and has the option to re-assign). That way everyone has an equal chance at it - regardless of any 'ninja' actions.)

As I said at the beginning, this was going to be primarily a suggestion to fix the mechanics with the Trap the Soul spell (just have the gem drop in the casters inventory automatically), but because of the continuing trend toward selfish/anti-social treaure drops in DDO I felt the need address this 'ninja' system as a whole.

Please Dev team, PLEASE. Stop this. DDO has a fantastic loot sytem in place (no spawn camping/ninja chest looting/etc.), let's not continue down this slippery slope. Fix the current 'ninja' items to be more in line with DDO's famously fair loot mechanic and you'll make a bunch of people very happy!

[Cashiry]

nice post...

[Talon_Oakenleaf]

Or......to be more like real life the Devs should allow you to "finger of death" the dang "ninja" and allow you to go through their "stuff". Cause I am telling ya now. In the "real world" don't get caught stealng me **** cause you ain't gonna like the outcome. LMAO

Seriously though, nice post.

[ryingar]

/signed

Nice post. I've had this problem a number of times in the past. Trap the soul specifically, its a nice spell that kills a mob without it being a death effect... I just keep asking who jacked my gems....cause if i dont get my gem, you get no buffs... and a gt to the foothold after the quest. kind of a sore spot for me. I like ddo because it generally doesn't have any ninja looting.

[geoffhanna]

The Xachosian Eardweller too

I agree with the OP. Ninja looting sux.

[sirgog]

The Xachosian Eardweller too

I agree with the OP. Ninja looting sux.

Yeah, the Eardweller is probably the worst of them all, because it is so extremely valuable (it's bound once looted, but you can 'trade' one you discover soloing to someone before you loot it, and on Khyber they are going for ~3 million PP).

This mechanic needs to change.

[Pyromaniac]

/signed

One of the reasons I bought DDO in the first place was the lack of ninja looting that could happen.

Otherwise all Epic needs to be done with friends/guildees as mentioned in posts below - and that probably isn't good for the general player base...

[BlackSteel]

on the opposite side of ninja looting, you might get a group thats too nice....

had the bloodstone scroll drop in OOB last night, everyone got excited and rolled off immediately. The cleric won, and everyone proceeded with the quest. get to the end of the quest, recall, and exit, and disband. And it turns out the cleric failed to pick the scroll off the ground. The irony passed over a few party members heads who were just too upset about a greed roll.

[Hendrik]

Well done on the OP.

I found my solution to posted issues;

Don't run with smacktards or people I do not know.

Being Guilded and having friends has it's benefits and not having to worry about such things are the biggest.

[Buggss]

It is a shame that with how rare the drops are and with how some people play that you're more focused on watching the floor than the mobs....

/signed

[Spisey]

heh who picks up their tts stones anymore? they are worthless and a waste of space. Secondly, who farms eardweller with people? If it drops in group and someone ninja loots it then is a poor decision on your part for going outside the trust zone. and scrolls? really? there are plenty of places to farm scrolls without help. if you really want something go grind. These matters are really a mix of poor judgement on the shafted persons part and running into 1/100 of the player base that sucks. and the 1/100 usually has their name spread like wildfire once something like this happens.

[Bradik_Losdar]

heh who picks up their tts stones anymore? they are worthless and a waste of space. Secondly, who farms eardweller with people? If it drops in group and someone ninja loots it then is a poor decision on your part for going outside the trust zone. and scrolls? really? there are plenty of places to farm scrolls without help. if you really want something go grind. These matters are really a mix of poor judgement on the shafted persons part and running into 1/100 of the player base that sucks. and the 1/100 usually has their name spread like wildfire once something like this happens.

Aye, but that is the very crux of the argument. DDO is a GROUP based game.

This asinine "ninja" looting system does just the opposite - it positively FORCES people to play solo to get items. It needs to go...and go soon.

[Sharzade]

/signed

[Phidius]

... An easy fix for this would be to have the soul gems just drop into the caster's inventory on success - how hard can that be to code?
...

Like the Ice Game coins did... the only thing I can think of is that the Devs deliberately made the choice to specifically allow ninja looting because they like the drama.

Like you said, I don't load this spell on my wizards unless I need to put the adamantine ritual on the Bloodrage Symbiont (another example for you), as the cost of the spell outweighs the benefits. It's not like they care that a spell is rarely/never used, though...

[Pyromaniac]

We had a party leader yesterday decide that they should get the scroll as they had the star. At least that's what we could figure out from his limited communication skills.

The leader types...
"Scroll is mine", puts VON gloves into party chat.
"I have star, give me scroll"
Party rolls on scroll, he loses. Rest of party leaves group given leader's behavior. Unsure if we'll never group with said leader again. All because of scrolls and greed.

Good thing someone else in group grabbed it off the ground first and put it up for roll fairly.

This doesn't need to happen.

[Vallin]

Bumpity.

/signed.

Please.

Vallin.

[saco]

bump

/signed

[Rakian_Knight]

I always prep Trap the Soul for the simple reasons that it isn't a death effect and it is the only instant kill that is based on a WILL save instead of Fort. So I'm all for this.

Also got to love people who grab my stones then say, "What this I grabbed, Soul Gem of [creature]?"

/signed

[survient]

well that and if u have rogue alts who need the stones for traps

[incineration]

well that and if u have rogue alts who need the stones for traps

ninja looting is still not the way to go, just buy them from the AH or from a sorc/wissy


oh and to the op, /signed