Ransack *OR* low item drop rate. Not both.

[Eantarus]

Ransack wouldn't be such an issue if drop rates and drop distribution weren't also bugged. The fact that it can sometimes take 2,000 chest-pulls to get a specific named item is appalling.

[droid327]

Oh - I'm also very strongly of the opinion that the reaper total over-level lockout is VERY dumb. Farming reaper heroic items shouldn't require that I have a character parked at the level of the quest along with everyone else in my play group.

Reaper bonuses are overkill for heroic leveling, if you aren't going to park a character at a specific level anyway

The issue with letting you farm reaper items over-level is doing like L3 quests on a L30 char just to farm reaper bonus items to crunch

[Dreppo]

Also, rerolls don't count against ransack. Coincidence? I think not.

Logically why would it count against ransack? Ransack is a mechanism for limiting how many times you can loot a chest in a given time period. If you reroll... that's not looting it. You can still only loot it once per quest run. Rerolls give you a chance to get a better random assortment, though also a chance to get a worse random assortment.

[Maldorin]

Logically why would it count against ransack? Ransack is a mechanism for limiting how many times you can loot a chest in a given time period. If you reroll... that's not looting it. You can still only loot it once per quest run. Rerolls give you a chance to get a better random assortment, though also a chance to get a worse random assortment.

That's not really the point. The point is the ransack penalty strongly incentivises rerolls, especially when adding in an unknown (low) drop rate. I mean it's not a big mystery. Microtransaction based games all have a lot in common. Mitigation of grind through real money being an underlying theme. Hey, if it keeps the lights on, whatever. There are times I reroll myself when it has seemed impossible to pull an item, sometimes out of frustration. It's funny how it always seems to take the longest amount of time and the most effort to pull the items I need and desire the most. I suppose running on reaper 10 a lot would help but that's not really my thing.

[Raithe]

I myself reran the same quest last night 8 times before I got the item I wanted. I got bored and logged off after instead of playing another quest or character.

I would strongly suggest enjoying playing whatever quest or character you currently want to play, and dividing out loot after you already get it. If you'll notice, they make most loot bound to account or bound to character on equip for this very reason - if they really wanted you grinding for the purpose of their financial gain (which wouldn't work anyway), they'd make everything bound to character on acquire. Raid loot obviously differs, but you aren't running raids except once every ~3 days on a particular character anyway (assuming perhaps incorrectly you aren't buying timer bypasses and can solo the thing).

On a side note, I created 4 characters within a few weeks of launch that were all capable of soloing the Giant caves in a matter of less than a minute (very little fighting involved). Both multiple accounts and multiple main characters will give you way more access to this game and more ability within the game than any amount of single character grinding.

[LegerdemainX]

Low drop rates equal more rerolls. I have played with some people that spend more than a little real money on shards for rerolls. Almost like it scratches a gambling itch. High drop rates would be counter productive to revenue. Also, rerolls don't count against ransack. Coincidence? I think not.

^ exactly this.

[sturmbb]

Ransack wouldn't be such an issue if drop rates and drop distribution weren't also bugged. The fact that it can sometimes take 2,000 chest-pulls to get a specific named item is appalling.

Me personally, i have given up on named loot on heroic /low epic questing. I completely refuse to use the re-roll mechanic knowing that any named loot i acquire will quickly be out-leveled. I used to get very frustrated with this game knowing that any expansions i buy, i would not gain access to the heroic named items. I completely understand that SSG need to make money, but trying to get players to pay twice for named items i find is a bit of a stretch (you pay once for the expansion but than have to spend real money buying shards to re-roll chests until the named loot drops).

Now i have come to terms with SSG's pricing model. I am quite happy to run around heroics and low level epics just using random loot. It actually saves me money as i haven't bought the last few expansions. As far as i am concerned end game Sharn and Ravenloft items have not really been superseded with the newest expansions. I am aware heroic items are probably better, but seeming that i don't use heroic named items there is no need for me to buy the expansions.

It's actually funny how i have changed over the years. When i first started playing this game, i use to buy all the new stuff when it was first released.

I am just wondering if SSG should change its money making model. So rather than having heroic loot as BTC or BTA, they remove the bounding effect. This way people can sell it on the Shard exchange. I must admit i do buy stuff on the shard exchange as you are actually getting something for your money. I see re-rolls on chests as a type of gambling (which is completely open to debate, its just how i perceive it). So SSG would still make money as people would need to buy shards to purchase these items. But for the player it would remove the gambling aspect of the game. What is everyone's thoughts?

Please note i am only talking about heroic and low level epic named items. I truly believe Legendary items should be hard to farm, So we have a proper end game content. (I still would probably do away with the chest re-rolls and remove the ransack effect as it doesn't make sense to stop people trying to run content to get named items, when that is the whole point of the end game content).

[Sqrlmonger]

Reaper bonuses are overkill for heroic leveling, if you aren't going to park a character at a specific level anyway

The issue with letting you farm reaper items over-level is doing like L3 quests on a L30 char just to farm reaper bonus items to crunch

I do think you're right this is where their thinking is at.

But they are also wrong that this is the problem. The whole "borderlands farming" thing was a marginal problem created by the absurd number of shards they want for reaper crafting (the actual problem), but it was even more a problem because of the drop rates in borderlands and the ease of bypassing the ransack through character deletion/creation.

As for things being overkill, I just think that is a silly/ridiculous notion. The entire game, as regards items and gearing, is a "make number go higher!!!" mini-game. Of course people want to get what gear bonuses are available.

[Drekisen]

Astral shards FTW! This is also why I only play one character, and I also only play one class.

Could not imagine going through that AS grind all the time, too expensive for me.