Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

As the title says, I'd like to know what others think of my own thoughts on loot drops.

I've been playing on this server since the beginning of its creation. I've seen dramatic changes over the many years this server has been operational. Most of the changes are to my liking. Consistent map updates, terrain fixes, class optimizations, and quite frankly... some genius scripting (the spell casting glitch that had recently been fixed, for example, where the caster is able to buff themselves in half the time by... *insert forbidden glitch here which will probably get you banned*). Many great changes have been made, but there's one change that happened many years back. This change was the removal of "legendary items", such as the rarest of armor, weapons, consumables, etc. that can no longer be found except in auctions. But let's face the fact, 99% of those who have said items no longer play the game.

Currently, the best possible loot drop a person could hope to obtain would be Mithril Fullplate. Anyways, if you have an opinion on the matter, I'd appreciate your input. I believe it would be a good idea at this point, considering the new loot system that has been implemented, such as one chest per server reset as opposed to the former three.

Most "legendary items" were probably DM rewards (or bribes, depending on your level of snarky interpretation).

If you haven't perused the Epic NPC Merchant yet, then I suggest you do, because holy moly smokey bear, what is sold there easily puts most past "legendary items" to shame.

well you cant buy a epic full plate dragon armor there so there something you can find if youre lucky ina chest or a drop

Much as I'd like to see this legendary and near mythical epic merchant, I'd probably not be able to afford a thing anyway.

As for me, I'd rather find equipment I can use then just buy it from a merchant whose sole existance is to be a goldsink for coins I don't have anyway, heh.

So, while I realize it's a major issue, I would personally like to have an overview of the loot system done, so that any potential overlaps, glitches, bugs, etc are weeded out and stomped.

Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with a merchant that sells fantastic stuff. I've never seen it, nor know where it is or how much things sell for, but I'd still like to have the opportunity to find things of that caliber in the wild. But that's me.

We are not gonna have a "legendary" shop. The current epic shops already pushed the power creep far enough. Best items available on the server are still in the loot tables / RIG engine though. And that is the extremely rare legendary loot available. Go chase it!

I question either your accuracy or intentions, as if you have been here from the beginning you'll know that other than a few nice items that used to be sold, the loot drops are mich better now than they have ever been (and I say this having played here since before there were chests at all).

While there are a handful of old items that remain that, at one time, WERE better than store items.. those items are very few and far between now.

The enhancement bonus to weapons was +2 max for standard, +3 for truly epic for years and years. +4 stat items were unheard of. You can buy them now.

Immunity items are no more, going back about 5 years.

Loot, right now, is more lucrative than it ever has been. Sure, it sucks for a casual like me, but it is a hell of a lot better than any 'legendary' past.

Evelyn wrote:Currently, the best possible loot drop a person could hope to obtain would be Mithril Fullplate.

The past month or so... I have found two or three Mithral Fullplates, and some Mithral Chain Shirts too. If those do not have some special properties, and the right special properties... Good luck trying to sell them. Well, at least the base armor cost of Mithral Fullplate is high enough that you can shove it to the consignment store... I cannot really say the same for the rest of Mithral armors.

Back in the day the percieved price of those were so high that majority of players would not even bother making an offer - and today people are only trying to find their Mithral Armor+.

Thus for someone who is not really interested in muling over the found goods and keep some 'trade' topic updated, or even really partake in the trade RP... I am kind doing the same thing as I did years ago, open up a campfire, place the mithral armor there... And put out the campfire. Or perhaps just shove it to some random merchant.

(I just got another Mithral Chain Shirt, anyone want it, just plain Mithral Chain shirt... Anyone want it?)

dedude wrote:We are not gonna have a "legendary" shop. The current epic shops already pushed the power creep far enough. Best items available on the server are still in the loot tables / RIG engine though. And that is the extremely rare legendary loot available. Go chase it!

GRIND GRIND GRIND.

Bah. I guess my luck has been in the gutter with finding things.

Then again, it could be that I've been lookin' in the wrong places. The highpoint of my hunting has been the gnoll caverns. I'm not yet 20th on ANY character (and never have been), so that's the extent of my knowledge beyond joining forces with thirties and going bonkers in other areas. Even still though, I get very little in the way of good equipment (mostly gold, scrolls and gems.)

I guess I'l have to keep looking.

By the way, anyone want scrolls or books? I've got a billion of them in storage.
I'm a smith. So...for me, most magic scrolls and other arcane papers are used for one thing, and it ain't readin'.

I would very much not like to see items any stronger than are currently possible via the RIG, Epic chest spawns and Epic Shops. From a balance perspective even relatively 'weak' PvE builds can solo the majority of bosses without epic equipment. Once you add in epic equipment many can solo most bosses with no consumables too... And when built to optimize potential (not to power build, but to optimize the RP idea as much as possible) there is very little PC's can't accomplish.

Personally I have a stable of PC's I solo with and other PC's I hop in when a new player or anyone else sends a tell looking for a adventuring partner. I do this simply because I don't want any given adventure to lack challenge. Introducing more powerful stuff reduces the challenge further and IMO would require re-engineering the epic content at a minimum. While it's fun to dream about getting stuff that some of the long time players have earned (yes EARNED) during their time on the server, it is not necessary to enjoy the game and I daresay the reason some of them put these items on auctions is because they aren't using said items. I know at least one that doesn't use such items simply because it's no fun when you take all challenge out of the game.

So before this becomes another "give us more powah!" thread, I challenge folks to think about the adventures your characters have been on, the stories you have either by yourself or with others. If there was no challenge, would you have those stories? We all want more power and it's fun to have a carrot dangling out there. However, when you have a permanent power upgrade the server is forever that much less challenging.

((Sorry for the rant))