Tomes vs random drops

[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.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Tomes please. Grinding anything with no guarantee of useful rewards is the absolute worst. :c I got sick of it after spending 10 hours straight farming a 30 minute boss in Monster Hunter for a 1% drop chance, especially since I couldn't always land enough damage to break the required limb for a shot at the loot I needed.

[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.

[CookieMonsta]

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.

I agree, I've wasted enough of my time losing the damn DRG 230 Weeping City chestpiece to floortanks in the first week.

[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.

[Ghastly]

I have seen so many good mmos die to rng for gear and upgrading.....

[Reptiletc]

What about this? Tomestone gear set to randomly drop from an instance, and if you get one you can't use, trade it in for a different one so long as it is 0% soulbound and of the same type (body for body, feet for feet). Considering that raid gear is truly the best, this would allow everyone else to gear up in good time without excuse.

The glaring problem here is that everyone would be geared up within a day and the added content would be null and dated on release.

[Naunet]

I prefer a mix, with random drops (from dungeons or raids - not "any mob in this entire zone") being primary and some kind of farmable system meant as a supplement. When gearing becomes a matter of just grinding through a checklist, it becomes a little mind-numbing.

Now, this only applies if a loot table is not obscenely bloated wherein the chance of any individual item dropping is super low.

What about this? Tomestone gear set to randomly drop from an instance, and if you get one you can't use, trade it in for a different one so long as it is 0% soulbound and of the same type (body for body, feet for feet). Considering that raid gear is truly the best, this would allow everyone else to gear up in good time without excuse.

The glaring problem here is that everyone would be geared up within a day and the added content would be null and dated on release.

That's what loot lockouts are for.

[Ophie-Mio]

I prefer the idea of RNG drops but I remember playing XI and it being locked behind luck and Linkshell politics that basically made you show up for three months and slave away for nothing because no one ever had more points than the top five. So yeah, it's a mixed bag for me.