Looting is a complicated aspect of the game, the practises for which differ wildly from guild to guild. Future Tense’s own rules on looting are as follows; these make most sense to a tight-knit group of game explorers such as ourselves.
How to Roll for Loot
There are four actions available when ‘rolling’ for items:
- Need
- Greed
- Disenchant
- Pass
Your choice of which option to use comes down to a few simple questions:
- Is this item an upgrade to the gear I currently possess?
- Do I require the disenchanting reagents this item would yield?
- Can one of my alt. characters use this? (‘Bind on equip’ only)
If the answer is “no” to any of those, you’re really only rolling on gear in order to sell it, which may not best suit the guild or your party. The healer keeping your character alive may not be best pleased if you destroy an item which increases their mana pool!
Rules
Rolls are generally conducted in the hierarchy below, but the party leader holds ultimate authority over rolling on the loot. They may wish for a cloth piece to benefit their healer more than a damage caster, for example, and can mediate in the case of disputes.
If you are:
- A player who requires the item as an upgrade to the spec. you’re in now, or as a recipe for your profession…
You roll ‘need’. - An enchanter who requires the item for disenchanting…
You roll ‘disenchant’. - A player who requires this item for a spec. you are not currently using…
You roll ‘greed’, or ask to roll ‘need’ if this will cause no conflict. - A player who requires the bind-on-equip item for an alt….
You roll ‘greed’. - A player who wishes to sell the item for cash or use its disenchanted materials on an alt….
You wait, in order to ensure that no-one needs it for an alt. or is rolling on it as part of their profession. Then you may roll ‘greed’.
Treasure Chests (/roll)
With the exception of boss chests – opened by the tank as in Blackrock Depths and The Oculus – treasure chests are opened to group rolling, which is done by the command “/roll”. There are two types: locked and open.
If the chest is locked, only those blacksmiths, engineers and rogues with a high enough lockpicking skill or item should roll first. All those who are eligible take their pick of the items within, in descending order from whoever had the highest roll. Then the chest is treated as open:
If the chest is open, all players type /roll and take turns looting their fill, starting at the highest roll.
Mining, Herbalism, Skinning and Engineering
If a party contains more than one of skinners, miners, herbalists or engineers, those players will usually come to their own personal arrangements regarding the looting on fallen enemies. It should generally be assumed, however, that gatherers bow to craftsmen: a player with only herbalism and skinning skills should refrain from depriving alchemists and leatherworkers of their source materials.
Veins and herbs should be treated as locked chests: only those capable of tapping into the node should roll, and the highest roll wins the loot. Players who don’t require the item or the gathering skill points from tapping that node should come to an arrangement with those who do: they may be happy to roll on a par with you.