Normally I don't like to pre-announce some of the changes, but...
One of the things I'm working on now is a loot system for catacombs. I came up with a solution to the issues that make it so traditional loot systems don't work so well. Namely, in most MMOs and other games you have these basic loot types:
1) Roll/Pass -- Doesn't work for LS, because too many items drop, would slow the game down to a CRAWL for the players, since they'd have to be rolling or passing all the time. YUCK.
2) Auto Distributed Loot - Yuck, so much stuff drops, and what people want varies a ton. Would suck for those looking for specifics for skills, like Glyphing, or even just trying to fill holes in their sets.
3) Free for all, first click gets - we already have that.
So, my solution is a hybrid between FFA and Roll/Pass, that doesn't stop gameplay. Basically, think of it like a *short* (3 to 5 seconds) timer that appears when someone wants an item. If you want it, you have that time to click it to get "in on the rolling". At the end of the timer, the server rolls randomly for each player that clicked the item, and auto sends the item to whoever it rolled the highest for.
Additionally, since there will be timeouts for items, instead of items just poofing when you engage after a fight, they will also stick around for a short period of time as well. That solves another of my personal gripes about catacombs; drivers that go too fast and skip tons of great items. It's also great for healers, now they can get in on the action as well.
Not looking for feedback, complaints, yada yada. It's already in progress, and no additional changes are planned for it. Initially I was tinkering with an option to turn it off, but it looks like that will be more hassle than it's worth, not to mention being exploitable by a greedy group leader. I don't want people to have to choose between a greedy group, or no group; that's not very nice either. You can still do "on your honor" split loot systems in your group, just there will be the 3-5 second (haven't decided how long yet -- will do some real play tests on beta to determine) timer before it's delivered to who clicks it.
Anyway, I hope it's not a mistake to pre-announce this, don't let me down. I'd like to be able to share more with you guys, without it sucking away all my motivation to work on the game.
There are other updates planned as well, but this is the one I'm working on right now. Other changes are already done as well, but mostly minor things.
Back to coding.
Please don't PM me questions about this, I won't be able to answer them. Seeya soon, hopefully!
Oh, and I'll pre-announce my ETA on reset ahead of time, so no need to worry about it conflicting with your Mirror Maze runs. Thanks
This gives all players possibility to pick items they want and a fair chance to get some items even tho you are a slow picker. Hopefully you will also make it so that it is first possible to pick items after all monsters are dead. That would help people concentrate on killing instead of starting timers