Fantasy, plausibility and Item drops...

Put it simply, I don't like the idea of having random NMs drop equipment. Convenient yes, but otherwise it is no good.

-> First, it detracts from the current plausible item drop system.
E.g. Animals drop hides and meat -> Logical and plausible.
What about stones and arrowheads? Herbivores may consume stones for digestion and the arrowheads may be left embedded in the animal on earlier hunts.

Some may be a little of a stretch but still within the realm of plausibility. Chicken meat from Gnats? Although far from appetizing (or hygienic), I can easily envision a gnat preying on a chicken.

Fafnir dropping swords in FFXI - Fair enough. After all we're fighting in it's lair.

-> Second, it undermines the necessity of crafters. The original trend of having NMs drop materials is a lot better.

-> Third, an unbelievable element in a carefully constructed fantasy world is a flaw. Eorzea is far from being a whimsical world where buildings are built at impossible angles or things happen with no rhyme or reason. It is a steampunk setting with a fixed set of physical rules.

----------------
Put it simply, what's the sheep doing with a ready-made armor?

Qiqirn with bow and armor - OK!
Sheep with armor - Not OK!
Cactuar with fists and helmet - OK! (Have head and hands)
Slug with shield - Not OK!
Imp with Staff - OK!
Deer with Staff - Not OK! Some prankster tied it to the underbelly or something?
Bomb with ICE sword - ??!? Not OK!
Monkey with Bow - Not OK!

This is why they should just drop materials for crafters to turn them into something...

It is like Single player RPGs. "Where did that honey bee get 1000 gold from!?"

I agree, it's not that I don't want NMs dropping equipment, but I think they should be dropped by humanoid NMs.

Totally disagree with your main point. NMs dropping gear is a staple of MMOs. Not everything needs to be 100% reality.


Character being able to carry 100 scythes -- also not ok?

That too.
Look at D&D with weight and space limitations and Dungeon Siege with your trusty Donkey. Those are real attempts to make a fantasy world plausible.

Don't you know, we have invisible moogles that follow us around that carry all our stuff?

I have to disagree. This game involves crafters enough as it is. There should be SOME gear that the crafters can't control because up until now, every piece of gear was crafted which meant if you were not a crafter, you got the short end of the stick.

Says the non-crafter :). Everyone should be ranking up crafts, then no one would be at 'the whim of the crafter'

The point is that this game is treating crafters as normal classes, so they should be involved too, still to have every NM dropping only materials would be a bit too much there has to be both and since we need NMs dropping materials and NMs dropping finished items why not doing it in a rational way?
Again, the current NM we got to with the last patch dropping finished items is something fine, but I would have liked much better if the Taurus Staff, in exemple, where dropped by a thaumaturge elezen instead of an antelope... Also because it would be cool to have humanoit NM.

Probably because its Notorious Monster and not Notorious Outlaw.

Here is how it works.

Upon slaying the monster dematerializes into the air in the form of Aether. The particles that come from it congregate and form the droped item!!!!!

The mysteries of the universe have been unraveled.

I would've preferred if you had to turn in some material dropped from the NM into an NPC and the NPC would give you the finished item.

I also agree that with some NMs it makes sense while with others it doesn't. At the same time, holding 100 swords on your person is ridiculous but I wouldn't want them to implement some kind of weight mechanic in the game that would prevent me from doing so.

Sometimes you have to implement game design for gaming purposes before plausibility. The NMs irk me but there are a lot of "realistic" things that could be implemented into this game that would really piss me off:

- Needing to eat
- Needing to sleep
- Fatigue*
- SP degeneration over time if that class wasn't utilized for a certain period
- Running fatigue
- Realistic time
- Realistic distance
- Realistic injury/battle (one slice in the wrong area equals death)
- Realistic death
- Other bodily functions

Some of those things I could deal with to a degree and it depends on their severity. I'm never going to praise the fatigue system but it's not a huge gripe for me considering my playing habits anyways, and realistic running could make for a decent design mechanic like in the GTA series. Some of those things could be cool but you have to design the game from the ground up with them in mind. All in all you have to have a design reason for doing something first. Like Naoki Yoshida's example for the large cake used in crafting. There should be a reason to have a large cake before you can craft one. I prefer that type of design philosophy. As long as that's kept in mind I think it's okay to incorporate some plausibility into the design but it has to be an interesting mechanic and add to the depth of strategy in the game before it should be considered.

I don't think loot drops from NMs fits this criteria, regardless of "that's what every other MMO does". Could've easily made an NPC issue it after proof of dispatching the NM. That would also cut down on over camping as a character would have to go back to town to turn in the evidence of their success. Even if you didn't want them to go back to town you could have the character acquire a pool of items and turn them all in at once if necessary.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhomagus

I would've preferred if you had to turn in some material dropped from the NM into an NPC and the NPC would give you the finished item.

I also agree that with some NMs it makes sense while with others it doesn't. At the same time, holding 100 swords on your person is ridiculous but I wouldn't want them to implement some kind of weight mechanic in the game that would prevent me from doing so.

Sometimes you have to implement game design for gaming purposes before plausibility. The NMs irk me but there are a lot of "realistic" things that could be implemented into this game that would really piss me off:

- Needing to eat
- Needing to sleep
- Fatigue*
- SP degeneration over time if that class wasn't utilized for a certain period
- Running fatigue
- Realistic time
- Realistic distance
- Realistic injury/battle (one slice in the wrong area equals death)
- Realistic death
- Other bodily functions

Some of those things I could deal with to a degree and it depends on their severity. I'm never going to praise the fatigue system but it's not a huge gripe for me considering my playing habits anyways, and realistic running could make for a decent design mechanic like in the GTA series. Some of those things could be cool but you have to design the game from the ground up with them in mind. All in all you have to have a design reason for doing something first. Like Naoki Yoshida's example for the large cake used in crafting. There should be a reason to have a large cake before you can craft one. I prefer that type of design philosophy. As long as that's kept in mind I think it's okay to incorporate some plausibility into the design but it has to be an interesting mechanic and add to the depth of strategy in the game before it should be considered.

I don't think loot drops from NMs fits this criteria, regardless of "that's what every other MMO does". Could've easily made an NPC issue it after proof of dispatching the NM. That would also cut down on over camping as a character would have to go back to town to turn in the evidence of their success. Even if you didn't want them to go back to town you could have the character acquire a pool of items and turn them all in at once if necessary.

---

Ahh you missed the part about invisible mogles holding our belongings.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhomagus

Sometimes you have to implement game design for gaming purposes before plausibility. The NMs irk me but there are a lot of "realistic" things that could be implemented into this game that would really piss me off:

- Needing to eat
- Needing to sleep
- Fatigue*
- SP degeneration over time if that class wasn't utilized for a certain period
- Running fatigue
- Realistic time
- Realistic distance
- Realistic injury/battle (one slice in the wrong area equals death)
- Realistic death
- Other bodily functions

---

The Sims - Final Fantasy edition :D