Bad looting can result in some serious drama in a
party. When one or more of the party
members is a “ninja,” or someone who constantly steals loot, it can disrupt an
entire encounter. In one instance I was
present for, it even resulted in broken friendships and guild ties, and I’m
sure there are some of you who’ve also had that happen. Granted, a ninja is just a very immature
person, but if you’re mature enough to follow these basic looting rules,
everyone will benefit.
Only Need It If You NEED It
In some games you have the option of rolling for certain
types of drops. Other games also give
you the option to “need,” indicating that your character has a definite use for
an item. All the time, people use this
option just to get loot that’s worth good money. It’s even worse when the item is simply some
kind of treasure that has no other use than making money. Rare items are the most drama-causing items
in any game because of the fact that everyone wants them. There are plenty of ways to treat the
obtaining of a rare drop fairly, and following this particular rule is one of
them. If you don’t have a desperate use
for it, don’t roll as if you do, or don’t roll at all.
Let Less-Geared Players Upgrade
Related to that rule is allowing people who actually do need
the gear to have it if your gear is better than theirs. This isn’t something you necessarily have to
do in a group of strangers unless you’re a really nice person, but if you party
with a regular group it’s only natural that you should do this to strengthen
the group. In a pick-up group, if
another player really wants to negotiate with you for an item, be fair. Don’t overcharge them, or arrange a trade.
Don’t Steal Loot From Others
Some games have all loot free for all, and you get jerks that
go around picking up loot from other players.
This is outright stealing. On
some servers it is even a reportable offense that will garner some sort of
punishment. It goes without saying that
stealing is something you should never do.
Don’t Ninja Valuable Loot
Ninja’ing is also stealing, but it’s especially heinous when
a valuable or rare drop comes up. I was
privy to a situation once in RO where a rare MVP card dropped (.03% drop rate,
and that’s on my server, which is x3 drops).
Of the five party members, four of them were willing to sell it and
split the money, but the fifth grabbed it and it took some very fancy
persuasion to get him to give it back.
Although they participated as a team, he felt entitled to it because he
helped kill the monster and needed one.
Obviously he was very clearly in the wrong, but the hurt feelings over
that situation still echo to this day.
You Keep What You Kill
In some games, players can pick up loot even if they weren’t
the one that killed the creature that dropped it. This is fine in certain scenarios but even if
you are able to do this, follow this rule – you keep what you kill and so do
your fellow players. Make sure they get
their loot (which you shouldn’t really be picking up unless they say it’s okay
or are partied with you anyway) unless they tell you otherwise. Don’t be afraid to ask a guy standing in the
middle of a huge pile of loot it it’s okay to have some, but also don’t expect
him to say yes, and always assume the loot is his first.
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
If you are inclined to be a ninja, that’s just immature and
reveals flaws in your personality that go deeper than video games. However, put yourself in the position of
someone who has had things ninja’d out from under them. Imagine how pissed off you’d be to have some
of the things in this writing happen to you.
A basic rule of thumb that any of my manners articles should at this
point illustrate is, if you don’t want it done to you, don’t do it to someone
else!
