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The Daily Grind: What's the best loot system in an MMO?
Massively commenters recently reminded me that one of the things that bug me about retro themeparks is the loot that drops in dungeons and raids -- or to be more specific, the lack thereof. You want me to pile how many people into a multi-hour raid and reward only one or two of them with a boss drop? Why we're so happy to bash lockboxes that abuse our money but not RNG lotteries that abuse our time stymies me. I'd love to see more games like City of Heroes that reward everyone with his or her own drops for making it through to the end of a mission -- no roll window required, no DKP necessary, no ninja-looters possible. You do a thing and you get a thing, not just a dim chance at a thing. What do you guys think is the best loot-drop system in an MMO, past or present? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
25-mans have higher Thunderforged drop rate than 10-mans
The new Thunderforged loot designation -- much like the affix Raid Finder -- was introduced into Patch 5.2 for a number of reasons by Blizzard. While the affix does stay certain pieces from disenchantable execution on farm bosses, players largely regarded Thunderforged items as another attempt to help 25-man raiding guilds stay afloat. The developers didn't want to go back to late Wrath of the Lich King model of completely higher loot in 25mans, so instead Thunderforged items can drop in both sized raids. However, the drop rate in 25-mans would be higher than that of 10-mans. "How frequent is more frequent?" players would ask, especially when given the chance to chat with the developers about patch 5.2. Ghostcrawler deflected the question on TotemSpot's interview, preferring to let players figure out the drop rates themselves. Fortunately for us, WoWProgress has analyzed the loot drops using its database of characters, guilds, and bosses killed this first week of Patch 5.2. Looking at loot gains from Jin'rokh the Breaker, specifically: 11.7% of the 10-man loot equipped by characters was Thunderforged 25.7% of the 25-man loot equipped by characters was Thunderforged Even figuring in disenchanted items, WoWProgress figures the drop rates to be approximately 10% for 10-man and 25% for 25-man. From personal anecdote, my 25-man raiding guild saw usually one but sometimes two Thunderforged drops per boss in addition to four to five regular mode drops. Tier pieces, of course, will never drop as Thunderforged. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Ghost Recon Commander canceled, dev Loot Drop lays off team
This month has been a tough one for Loot Drop, the developer behind Ubisoft Facebook game Ghost Recon Commander. Loot Drop co-founder (and newlywed) Brenda Brathwaite had her "Old-School RPG" Kickstarter canceled, and the developer's biggest game, Ghost Recon Commander, will no longer continue.Loot Drop posted the news on Facebook, also confirming that layoffs had hit as part of the cancelation. "As a result, we laid off a team of awesome developers. Coders, artists, amazing assistant designer, and awesome QA guy." We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment and will update accordingly.
Game Designers Union: Brenda Brathwaite marries John Romero
Matrimonial news now, as development veterans John Romero and Brenda Brathwaite tied the knot this weekend. The Romeros, who between them can boast Doom, Wizardry, Quake, Commander Keen, Jagged Alliance, and Wolfenstein 3D on their résumés, co-founded social games studio Loot Drop in 2010. Yesterday, they founded a very different kind of union on, quite wonderfully, a steamboat in Disneyland. The couple were wed by John Romero's id Software co-founder Tom Hall.To top it all off, it's John Romero's birthday today. Not a bad way to celebrate it, we'd say.
'Old-School RPG' Kickstarter project canceled
Shaker, the "Old-School RPG" Kickstarter project from game industry veterans Brenda Brathwaite and Tom Hall, has been canceled. Started on October 3, the project raised over $247,000 of its $1 million goal with 13 days to go. An update on the Kickstarter page reads, "In the industry, games are pitched every day," adding that "some make it to the next stage, but many don't.""Ultimately, our pitch just wasn't strong enough to get the traction we felt it needed to thrive." It seems developer Loot Drop was leery of the project actually reaching its goal. The studio considered pushing forward, but after examining feedback and discussing the matter, "we decided that it made more sense to kill it and come back with something stronger."Loot Drop is apparently going back to the drawing board, and tells fans to "expect something more soon."
Old-School RPG Kickstarter update details game's story
The "old-school RPG" Kickstarter by industry vets Brenda Brathwaite and Tom Hall took some lumps the other day for not revealing more about the game's story. Today the pair rectified the criticism on the project's Kickstarter page.Two games are planned if the project reaches a $1.9 million stretch goal, one designed by Brathwaite and the other by Hall; both will take place in the same universe. The first game is about James Connelly, an employee of Shaker, "a Bridge corporation between time and worlds." For a fee, the employees can become anyone. An incident occurs and Connelly is stuck in his form on a medieval era planet, with no way home.The second game, which only happens if the Kickstarter reaches the outer milestone, would follow Darien Cole, a rising star at Shaker who is affected by the same incident. The game's Kickstarter page gets into far more detail.With 30 days to go, the project has received $167,048 of a $1 million goal.
'Old-School RPG' Kickstarter created by industry vets Brathwaite, Hall
Industry veterans Brenda Brathwaite and Tom Hall want to make an "old-school RPG," and are seeking a million dollars on Kickstarter for that to happen. The pair, who run developer Loot Drop with another industry vet, John Romero, are on a quest to make an RPG in the classic style of the genre from decades past.With respect, the pair have been around the industry for quite a long time. Brathwaite worked on the Wizardry and Dungeons and Dragons series, while Hall was a founder of id Software and worked on Commander Keen, Anachronox, Doom, Wolfenstein and much more.The stretch goals on the project are also interesting. At $1.9 million, which Obsidian's Project Eternity reached in about ten days, Brathwaite and Hall will make "two full games." One will be designed by Brathwaite, the other by Hall.Those who pledge $15 to the project will receive digitally distributed copies of the games created. If you're looking to be a big spender, with a $10,000 pledge, you'll have Brathwaite, Hall and Romero show up at your door and deliver the game in a box on a red velvet pillow. The Kickstarter and its many tiers are live now.
Loot Drop deploying Ghost Recon Commander to Facebook, mobile devices
John Romero's social dev studio, Loot Drop, has signed a deal with Ubisoft to produce a tie-in game for Facebook and, eventually, mobile platforms. Ghost Recon Commander is set to launch on Facebook, allowing players to unlock items in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier -- which launches on May 22 -- and Ghost Recon Online, due sometime later this year.The announcement trailer, screens, and press release past the break all suggest a hardcore experience, which allows you to customize your own Ghosts and deploy them in missions to earn upgrades and gear. There will also be asynchronous co-op play, though exact details on how that will work have yet to be revealed.%Gallery-152274%
Romero's Loot Drop launching 'Cloudforest Exploration' this summer on Facebook
It's not quite blasting demons on one of Mars' moons, but John Romero's next game does have a totally sweet name: Cloudforest Exploration. Romero's studio, Loot Drop, officially announced the project this morning -- the first of at least two social games to be released in partnership with publisher RockYou. Described simply as "an adventure and exploration Facebook game," Cloudforest is scheduled to be released on the service this summer. "Loot Drop is a natural fit with our design-driven studio culture and with our commitment to developing and publishing the best social games in the world," RockYou senior VP of games Jonathan Knight said in the announcement. The publisher will also collaborate with Loot Drop on a second social game. "[RockYou] support our creative freedom as we bring innovation to the story-driven adventure genre with Cloudforest Expedition," said Romero, who is joined by Brenda Brathwaite at Loot Drop. "Extending the relationship with a second game makes sense, and we're excited to reveal more details of our projects" -- just, not right now.
