Loot is a constant source of tension both for players from the same guild on a raid as well as for pick-up groups. Here are stories from players that illustrate the varied ways in which loot can cause problems in the game.
In most loot drops, players use an automated random number generator provided by the game to decide who receives the drop. The problem is in deciding who gets to make a roll. After all, not everyone can use the drop. The story below illustrates an even stickier point. What if the some players can “make better use” of an item?
The closest I've come to real 'loot drama' is when a couple of my guildies and I (they a Shaman and a Warrior, I a Priest) all rolled on a particularly sweet mace from one instance. Initially, the other two objected to my rolling; after all, I mostly do the healing rather than melee, so they thought that they could put it to better use. I pointed out that, when I either run out of mana or am soloing with no one to keep the mobs off me, I need a good melee weapon as a backup. While it's true that my melee DPS is less critical than theirs, it's still important; furthermore, both of them can wield other, better weapons, whereas I'm stuck with maces, staves, and daggers. I won the item, by the way. [WoW, M, 23]
In WoW, the Enchanting profession creates a unique problem which the following player describes well. What happens if the drop isn’t going to be equipped?
In World of Warcraft, there's a crafting profession called Enchanting. Whereas other professions require gathering resources like metal or plants or leather, Enchanting 'disenchants' found items into elemental parts, and uses those parts to imbue other items with better powers. The better the disenchanted item, the better the elemental parts they receive. I've been in 'roll if you can use it' groups with Enchanters, and often they will roll for everything, including items not usable by their class, arguing that they can disenchant those items for their crafting profession. This can cause some hard feelings when the Mage Enchanter keeps winning two-handed axes and mail armor that could be well used by other characters in the group. If asked, some Enchanters will agree to only roll on class usable items, but some will get obstinate and claim they have the right to roll on everything. I tend to either boot that player if I'm leading the group, or leave the group myself in those cases. [WoW, M, 21]
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