Discussion Topic: The Division and Loot Based Grinding
There has been something about Tom Clancy's: The Division that I haven't been able to put my finger on until I saw this post on Reddit.com (subreddit /r/self.thedivision) that explained what I was thinking in a short, concise post. Although I think The Division is a good step in the right direction for a console based RNG (random number generated) style looter, there are just some aspects that have been done before that worked so much better in practice and generally keep the player population happy to keep on grinding. Have a read of the following post by 'Dustin1280' and comment with your thoughts.
"The division is trying to combine wow's loot system with diablo's loot system for some awful hybrid. This alone will kill the game if they don't do something about it. Loot can only work one of two different ways:
World of Warcraft's Method:
Drops are HARD to get, you can spend weeks trying to get the item you want. However when you get that item that you want, you KNOW what it's stats will be and can be 100% sure it will be useful to you because the actual item has static stats.
Diablo's Method:
Loot drops like candy and you can expect to be decked out in full unique gear within a week of playing (or less). HOWEVER loot has a HUGE RNG to it, so you can get 5 Immortal King's Triumph and each one could be superior (or worse) than the last.
Division's Awful Mashup:
Good loot is extremely rare to drop, you can spend weeks trying to get a particular item. When you DO finally get a drop for an item you are looking for, the stats have HUGE RNG so it very well might suck and then you need to spend many more weeks trying again. This is the CORE problem with the loot system, the crafting system only makes it worse and makes trying to get gear from killing a waste of time.
TLDR:
You cannot combine ULTRA RARE LOOT (like wow) with HUGE RNG (like DIABLO) you need to pick one method and stick with it. Massive appears to be trying to reinvent the wheel and is completely ignoring the tried and true "circular wheel.""
Original post link
Lucas Aurelius