Please revise the Alexander (Normal) loot system--again.

[umbralcadenza]

Back in 3.0, Alexander launched with weekly loot lockout and only two tokens per boss. SE then increased the amount tokens that drop from 2 to 4, citing that "lotting battles were too rough."

However, I feel this issue is no longer being considered in 3.1 with Alexander Normal's lockout removed. I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that the 3.1 Alex lotting battles are more than just "rough." They are a limitless, draconian RNG grind because virtually everyone lots on every item because there is no more lockout.

Alexander normal is the only repeatable content that will let you gear up past Law if you're a new player or gear alts if you aren't. I am all for having to do multiple runs you to get the item you want, but there is ultimately no limit to the RNG in Alex normal's current implementation. With most everybody lotting on every token, any rolls below 80 might as well just be ignored (and that is a generous estimate IMO.)

[umbralcadenza]

Lastly, with no weekly lockout, I question the purpose of having chest and leg slot items require 4 tokens each instead of 2. Before the purpose was clear: they wanted the strongest items Alex had to offer to come later in the lockout cycle. However, now it simply increases an already improbable grind. It may be that addressing how loot is distributed in Alexander would address this issue, but more than likely it will take a change to both how the loot is distributed and how many tokens these items take to create a more reasonable player experience. Nobody wants to do 6+ A4 runs in a row and get 0 of the 4 tokens they need for one item.

The Alex system was originally designed to address issues in 2.x where only one item would drop per boss in spite of the tables being bloated with 8+ items, leaving it fairly unlikely your item would even drop in a run, much less that you would win it. The state of Alexander's loot system is not sufficiently meeting this goal anymore. Now your item always drops, but the chance that you will win it is extremely low--and then you need to win it anywhere from 2-4 times depending on what item you want.

I feel as if Alex normal has been all but forgotten due to there being bigger and better sources of loot in 3.1, even if they if they are on lockout--but Alexander Normal is far from irrelevant and deserves both the players' scrutiny and the developers' attention.

[Kaurie]

Like 10 threads below this one, http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...looting-system.