Tomes vs random drops

[dragonseth07]

Hello! I have a question for you active forum-goers. Do you prefer Tomestones for gear, or random drops? Why?

My take: Everyone seems to complain about Tomestones, but have you actually played an MMO without a grind-for-gear option? It can be the most frustrating thing you've ever experienced. Some people will be unlucky enough to just never get the drops they want or need. Grind-for-gear means that everyone can get it at the same rate, no luck involved.

[Kaurie]

I prefer random drops. In games where there are random drops, I enjoy running dungeons over and over for the hope that my item will drop. In games where there are tokens, I don't enjoy running dungeons over and over, as there is no hope - it's simply a chore to check off my to-do list.

[Lan_Mantear]

I prefer random drops. In games where there are random drops, I enjoy running dungeons over and over for the hope that my item will drop. In games where there are tokens, I don't enjoy running dungeons over and over, as there is no hope - it's simply a chore to check off my to-do list.

You must love primal mount farms before the rng adjustments and 99 token trade-ins then.

[Kaurie]

You must love primal mount farms before the rng adjustments and 99 token trade-ins then.

I've never used the 99 token trade-in system. The drop system is OK for it.

[ErdrickLoto]

I prefer tomestones as a "lesser of two evils" option. They can be a bit of a pain...but definitely less of a pain than random drops, where it's not even confirmed that what you want will drop. Learned this the hard way while leveling up DRK...

[WeekendSoja]

I come from the MMO generation that thrived on the random drop mechanic when it came to gear. But I can easily say that the gaming world was more social about the content of the game. Now-a-days, things like shouting for groups is ostracized where back in the day it was almost like a conversation opener...

Socializing in this MMO is really about the stupidest things like sim-style role play or the incredibly worrying ERP...

[Lan_Mantear]

I wouldn't mind the random drops for everything if they introduced skills or items that affected drop rates kind of like Treasure Hunter in FFXI.

[Talraen]

Random drops are a terrible idea. Hey, why don't we lock content behind luck? Why don't we encourage people to treat the game like a job to "fairly" distribute drops?

I suspect all the positivity in this thread is survivorship bias, with perhaps a dash of masochism. If you actually get the drops you want, they're great, and if you don't, you probably stopped playing those kinds of games long ago.

Case in point, since I hit 60 with every job I've started running expert dungeons with whichever job has the most potential for gear upgrades. In my last eight expert runs I've seen exactly one (1) drop I could roll need on (and it just happened it was one I already had, so I had to pass anyway). Needless to say, I would not be running expert dungeons at all if that was the only reward.

[viewtyjoe]

I prefer a combination of the two, especially when there are meaningful gearing decisions between gear sets. That said, FFXIV doesn't offer a lot of meaningful gearing options (do you have enough accuracy? stack whatever stat is best for your class) so I'd much prefer keeping current by running one dungeon a day (tomestones) than potentially grinding all week for nothing.

[Silica-chan]

well I like both systems but for the random drops it depends how it will be executed.
I don't like it when one of the best items can just drop of literally every enemy just at an insanely low droprate. I prefer fixed enemys that have the chance to get me what I'm looking for similar to the way Monster Hunter does it.