[b]TL;DR version:[/b] Destiny needs some system in place that makes the statement "[i]Just keep on running it, eventually you'll get the drop you're looking for[/i]", true. Right now, this [b]IS NOT [/b]true. Even if you had to kill Crota 15 times to get a Black Hammer, just knowing that you [b]will[/b] get it ([b]not might[/b]) would remove the frustration from the RNG. [i][u]Overview[/u][/i] No matter where you stand on the issue of Destiny's loot system, I believe that all reasonable people can agree that [b]the loot system is not a selling point of Destiny[/b]. You may hate it, you might not care about it, or it's possible you think it is okay. However,[b] I have never seen someone say their favorite thing about Destiny is the loot system.[/b] The purpose of this thread is to try to explain exactly why people get frustrated at the loot system (me included), why people argue that it should not be changed/improved, and why loot matters to everyone. Then, discuss some solutions to these problems. For those that feel shafted by the loot system, I hope you'll read this and feel that I've properly explained the way you feel. For those lucky people that have all the loot they want, I hope that after reading this you'll be able to empathize with people that haven't been as lucky as you. If Deej is reading this, I hope that this article may give you some new ideas when having meeting with the developers about the loot system. [i][u]How Destiny's loot system works today[/u][/i] (as of 1/12/15) (This is based on observation, as exactly how it works has never been confirmed by Bungie) When completing content that awards loot (Crucible, raids, strikes, etc..) a loot table is referenced. Each item in the table has a percent chance to drop associated with it. Each time you complete the content, the table is referenced, and loot is awarded (or not, since null is in there as well). One very important thing to note is that the percent chance [b]does not change[/b]; It is completely static. A coin flip is a good analogy for describing the loot system. Every time you flip the coin, the odds of heads or tails are always exactly the same. This means that if you have flipped a coin 99 times and every flip has been heads, you still have an equal chance between heads or tails on the 100th flip. [u][i]How this impacts the player[/i][/u] The result of loot being assigned like this is that the number of times the content has been completed is not taken into account when items are awarded. Here are some of the bad examples that I've seen in reviews and on the forums: - Player with over 800 hours played does not have a Hawkmoon and is upset about the person with 37 hours played that just got a Hawkmoon (I'm equating hours played to content completed in this example. I assume they weren't just sitting in orbit all day) - Player has beat Crota 12 times in a row (across 3 characters) and has not had a weapon drop, only radiant materials. His friends have beat Crota only a few times and already have more weapons awarded than he does. - People getting exotics from ROC strikes while others have never seen an exotic from an ROC strike but have run more than the person awarded the exotic. [i][u]WHY do players get upset about this exactly?[/u][/i] [i]1) Loot = Content:[/i] To really understand, you need to think of loot as being content (it is definitely content). People want to experience firing a Gjallarhorn, or want to try the Blackhammer on Valus. Destiny has done a very good job making so many weapons feel unique, that if someone isn't using them they are missing out. It is upsetting when a player has done as much or more as someone else, but that other player is getting to experience more content. [i]2) Will I EVER get that X?:[/i] As the loot system exists today, there is a distinct possibility that one will NEVER get to use a certain weapon no matter how long they play the game. Just one small example from my own experience is never getting Fatebringer (not even sure how many times I beat Templar on hard trying). I hear people talking about how awesome it is all the time, but I have no idea what that's like since I've never gotten to use one myself. And that is the concern right there. This causes frustration for people because they are repeatedly performing the same action over and over again yet not getting the results they are looking for. In real life, we would call these people stupid or crazy. Their buddies may tell them "just keep on trying, you'll get it eventually" but this statement is 100% false. [u][i]Why do people LIKE the current loot system?[/i][/u] For every complaint thread made, there always seem to be people defending the loot system. The one constant I see in all of these defense posts is that [b]they do not want Destiny to experience loot inflation.[/b] What this means is that they don't want everyone to "just have loot handed to them." They don't want to see literally every player they encounter to all be using the same weapons and armor. They don't want people to get loot that they haven't [b]earned[/b]. These concerns are 100% valid and fair. I feel the exact same way. [u][i]How can the loot system be improved?[/i][/u] [i]First, let's describe the problem:[/i] The loot system does not award items in a way that is aligned with the effort of the player. In addition, there is no alternative method for a player to get certain items. This is a constant source of frustration for people that are completing content but not getting the loot they are looking for. [i]Solution Acceptance Criteria:[/i] A solution to the loot system problem must improve the effort and alignment problem, but not inflate the loot system in a way that makes people feel everyone is just "handed loot to them". [i][u]The following solutions would meet the above requirements:[/u][/i] 1) Change the drop percentage chance from being static to being fluid (and ideally display this to the player): [i]Example:[/i] All of the weapons on Crota start with a 1% chance of dropping for me when I beat him. Every time I beat Crota and do not receive weapons, the percent chance of the weapons I didn't get increases (like maybe from 1% to 3%). Eventually, the chance of the weapon I have never received would reach 100% if I beat Crota enough times. This would of course probably take months, but[b] the key thing is that I know I will eventually get that weapon I'm looking for.[/b] This would remove the frustration from not getting lucky RNG, without inflating the loot since it would still take many Crota kills to get the loot you want. 2) Institute a vendor loot system [i]Example:[/i] I beat Crota but am not awarded with any weapons. Instead, I get a "legendary coin". This same thing happens 6 more times and now I have 7 legendary coins. I take these 7 coins to the vendor, and use them to purchase 1 raid weapon. This again would remove the frustration from not getting anything, and would not inflate loot. [i][u]Final Words[/u][/i] Essentially what the player that is frustrated about loot wants is a method of getting certain loot drops if they don't get lucky RNG. They fully expect that "grinding it out" is going to take much longer than getting lucky RNG, and this is perfectly okay. Even if it would take a month to get one weapon, [b]they know that they can eventually get it no matter what[/b]. They DO NOT want to just get loot handed to them for not doing anything. I know there are plenty of other things players feel very strongly about improving (vault, story, exploits, disconnects, no skill involved in loot, etc...) but I have only discussed this one (very important) thing in order to remain concise. Thanks for reading, please like and comment :) **Some Edits based on comments** - Update, it is now 15 Crota kills in a row with no raid weapons for me - Agreed, finally getting that particular piece of loot you want is an awesome feeling that shouldn't be taken away. I don't think that adding a grind system on top of the existing luck system would take that way however. Imagine if you got the Thorn in a lucky drop and didn't need to do the bounty? Would still be an excited feeling. - Yes, there are A LOT of words here. I don't believe that just saying "Destiny's loot system sucks" explains why it's bad. Not that posting the loot system sucks is bad or anything (it's feedback, which is good), but I just hadn't seen an analysis on the current condition of the loot system posted, so I thought I'd made one. - "Deej won't read this and doesn't care": Just from a logistics perspective, it's hard to imagine one person can read every single post on the forums. However, I am not convinced (yet) that Bungie doesn't care about its customers (I DO think this way about EA and Ubisoft). It'd be really cool if Deej would talk about the loot system in the next weekly update. I'd really like to know if Bungie philosophically believes that just a random luck system is the way to go, and the only changes being made to it in the exact percentages or not.