LFR & Loot

I thought today I would ramble a little about the LFR in Warcraft.  Basically, if you don't know what the LFR is, it's a "looking for raid" tool that pairs you up with twenty four of the biggest nubs in the game and allows you to complete easier modes of the raids.  In these dumbed down raids you have the chance at acquiring lower item level gear.  Players have a "love/hate" relationship with it.  Many feel it is a useful system that gives you another way to gear up for "real" raids.  While others just love to complain about it.  What's there to complain about??  This may take a while...

Part 1: Let's Discuss How Loot Works

The LFR made its first appearance in Cataclysm for the Dragon Soul raid; dividing the raid into two separate parts.  When this feature came out, it still used the Need/Greed/Pass system for loot; however, you were restricted on some of the items you could roll on.  Some of the restrictions ended up being a little funky, and certain classes were able to roll on things they had no right in rolling on.  With that being said, that wasn't the most frustrating part of this loot system.  What had begun to happen was certain players were needing on gear they already had.  Upon winning this gear they would announce to your raid that they would be willing to trade it for the piece that they were in there for.  For example you've been running these raids for weeks now trying to get your tier shoulders to even drop, and when they finally do Player X needs on them and wins them.  Upon inspecting him, you see that he already has those shoulders (usually the "normal" raid version).  Player X announces to the raid that he will trade those shoulders he won for the tier chest... if it drops.  This was ridiculously frustrating!!

The next problem with this loot system was winning something while playing an "under-performing" character.  I'm sure all of us who run alts have that one character that you're just not that pro at.  By the end of Cataclysm I had seventeen level 85's; ten of which I played quite often.  Three of them I was pro on, four of them I was average, and 3 of them I should have just deleted and re-rolled.  I'm going to use my warrior, Tadaka, as the example here.  Tadaka was one of my average toons.  I wasn't great on her, but I managed.  Never top of the meters, but never bottom.  However, the minute she won anything, it would announce it in chat and the entire raid would rage.  I was booted from a ridiculous amount of raids because I was considered an "under-performing" toon that was winning all the gear.

So, how did Blizzard fix this?  Now, when we down a boss, a few lucky individuals are rewarded a piece of gear for the spec they are currently playing in.  The rest of us win a bag.  At the beginning of Mists of Pandaria that bag only contained gold; however, as of patch 5.2 it now has a chance at also containing a piece of gear, motes or spirits of harmony, flasks or potions, pets or mounts, lesser charms of good fortune, greater charms of good fortune, or a rune of fate.  On top of that loot being rewarded you can use your greater charms of good fortune or your runes of fate for an additional chance at loot... or gold.  This system is frustrating for people because they feel like they're downing these bosses and not getting anything from it.  It doesn't announce in chat that anyone got anything, and many people go weeks and weeks without winning a single piece of gear.  I keep telling myself at least I'm not losing it to some "jack-ass" who's needed on my gear while having better.

Again, how is Blizzard fixing this?  Patch notes for 5.3 were released a week ago and it stated that those of us with our "unlucky" streaks will soon be protected.  The more times we use our coins or runes for the extra gear chance and lose will give us an increased chance to win something.  This is one of the changes I've been waiting for.  By the end of patch 5.1 I had stopped acquiring my greater charms of good fortune because it was a complete waste of time.  My extra rolls were rewarding me nothing but gold.  In patch 5.2, Blizzard upped the drop chance of gear in Mogu'Shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of Endless Springs, so I began collecting my charms again.  As for runes of fate, I could care less at this point.  If I manage to get my three for the week, than good for me, but I'm not going out of my way to do so.

Now lets discuss winning gear for an offspec.  Even back in cataclysm it was tough to win offspec items in the LFR without being in that spec.  It's become a little fuzzy, but I believe the way the loot system worked was certain gear items were restricted to certain specs, but it was vague.  So, say you play a holy paladin.  Holy paladins can use intellect shields, so this meant that all holy paladins can need on all shields.  A tank shield drops, the holy paladin can take it which was incredibly frustrating for many classes.

Your catching on to the trend, right?? How did Blizzard fix it?  When they took away the option to roll need/greed/pass on the items and replaced them with the possible loot/most likely a bag of gold system, they made it so that the piece of gear you may win can only be used by your spec.  Now what this has done is made people come into the raid in the "wrong" spec so that they can get the gear they want.  We end up with DPS specced as tanks and even healers specced as DPS... it's a mess.

How will Blizzard fix this?  Hooray for Patch 5.3, am I right??  I can now check a box (I believe) that says I'm DPS'ing, but am rolling for tank gear.  Finally, I have a reason to be running through Mogu'Shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of Endless Springs again.

So, the next time you feel the need to complain about loot in LFR, just take a look back at the way things used to be and breathe a sigh of relief.  It may be hard to believe at times, but the system is far better than what it was and is improving as we go along.  If you have an idea on how to improve the loot system or any other feedback, feel free to leave a comment below.  Next week, I'll be discussing the other players and how to deal with them.  Don't forget to follow me on twitter @akadarcee and on Facebook.  You can also subscribe to my Twitch so you can always catch my livestreams.  If you have an idea for an article, news story, or want me to try out a game for a review please let me know.  Thanks for reading and I'll catch you all next time.