Loot oddities

Amity and Truth

Amity and Truth

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2006

W/N

I'm going to get flamed and stoned to death for bringing up a topic that has been beaten to death, flamed to death, then ressurected and killed again by trolling.

Here is another rebirth for one of those blasted damn loot threads. Damn, i named it. *flameshield on*

*waits*
Allright
*flameshield off*

Now that everyone has fired his flames off...


Did anyone else beside me notice some loot oddities in the system? It has been starting with the Nightfall Preview Event. Ever since the event loot has become a bit strange and well, predictable somewhat.
I'll best explain it using an example:

Let's say you go into the Fissure of Woe. You kill the first two mobs and instantly know what the drops will be like for the rest of the trip? It's been like that for the last few days. I've done 3 FOW Runs ever since NPE. The first one had a lot of gold (not items). Oddly it was 148 goldpieces every single time gold dropped.
The second run hat quite some Dye Vials and the third run had lots of piles of glittering dust, yep you get it, they dropped in pairs of 4. For a total of 35 time the pile of dust in the exact same quantity.

Of course other stuff dropped as well, the usual white crap.
However this seems like something is awfully off with the random loot generator. Like it is getting stuck after you've killed the first few mobs and stays like that for the rest of the trip.

Is anyone else experiencing this strange behavior?
(Please don't discuss loot quality. Discussions about that are a true sign for an upcoming flamewar)

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

I think you are simply looking too hard into finding a pattern to something that is random.

Amity and Truth

Amity and Truth

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2006

W/N

Yep as i thought the first reply would be.
Look, i am NOT trying to find a pattern, i'm not trying to decipher anything. It's simply that this is looking like a bug and all i do is ask if it's an isolated case or something bigger.

Priest Of Sin

Priest Of Sin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Sitting upon Kerrigan's Throne.

Live For The Swarm [ZERG]

Me/N

i've noticed it as well. When farming trolls, if I get one gold/green drop, I know that the other drops will be good. If i get ONE white raven staff, then usually the drops will be pisspoor. And then there's the instance where I got nothing but obsidian shards, which was awesome for me, but bad for my teammates. I picked up 20 shards off that run, they barely got two each. I was accused of hacking >_>

Irongate

Irongate

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Priest Of Sin
i've noticed it as well. When farming trolls, if I get one gold/green drop, I know that the other drops will be good. If i get ONE white raven staff, then usually the drops will be pisspoor. And then there's the instance where I got nothing but obsidian shards, which was awesome for me, but bad for my teammates. I picked up 20 shards off that run, they barely got two each. I was accused of hacking >_>
Where are you farming trolls and getting obsidian shards?

Priest Of Sin

Priest Of Sin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Sitting upon Kerrigan's Throne.

Live For The Swarm [ZERG]

Me/N

I wish i was farming trolls and getting shards... i figured it was implied that I was in FoW farming. It's the only place where you CAN get shards... I think..

Count to Potato

Count to Potato

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Imagination Land

I Swear She Was Eighteen [Gwen]

W/

Its more like paranoia or something, u should be gald one of those FoW runs will give only golds

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amity and Truth
Yep as i thought the first reply would be.
Look, i am NOT trying to find a pattern, i'm not trying to decipher anything. It's simply that this is looking like a bug and all i do is ask if it's an isolated case or something bigger.
You expected that type of a reply for a reason. Drops are random. Just because you see something that resembles a pattern doesn't mean that it is a pattern. If you had a 10 dice you would be just as likely to roll all 3s three times in a row as it would to roll a 3,2,5,6,1,2,1,1,5,5 three times in a row.

Riken Chrono

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

around the corner and up the block

Hero

>_< i got 4 ectos from the first 4 aataxes >_< all dropped for me, partner got pissed and left...we never agreed to 50/50 btw

then some guy in a fow run got 3 shards and 2 gold items in 2 mobs....

Ecksor

Ecksor

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2006

kkthnxbai

Knights And Heroes [Beer]

oh yeah well... nvm i never get good drops so i wont say anything

exiled mat

exiled mat

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

The netherlands > friesland > balk

[JAMM] Justified Ancients of Moo Moo

E/Me

I guess there is some kind of special code which sometimes spams dye's, because mostl time there will drop more IF there drops one :P (I like shouting "DYE TIME!!" over the teamchannel :P)

Phaern Majes

Phaern Majes

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2005

Anywhere but up

The Panserbjorne [ROAR]

R/Mo

Heh me and my guildie got 4 ecto out of the aatxes. Been nice if it had kept up To my knowledge though dust always dropped by 4 in uw and fow. Well I won't say there aren't exceptions but its been that way for as long as I remember.

Sekkira

Sekkira

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2005

Canberra, AU

I was farming griffons the other day and kept getting minotaur tusks, it was really annoying. Usually I get lots of ectos and shards. Usually I take lsd too, but I'm sure it's not related.

some guy

some guy

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

SPAWN CAMPING YOUR HOUSE

We Speed Clear H O H [ HsC]

Yesterday I was playing FoW in a B/P team, this guy got 3 shards in a ROW, that's just messed.

Also 2 days ago, went with a trapping group in UW, this guy got 2 golds in a row also, dropped by 2 smite crawlers, a gold storm bow and a gold eternal shield.

Yeah, and I wish there is a code that makes all loot golds

arcanemacabre

arcanemacabre

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Kryta Province

Angel Sharks [As]

As much as I advocate the randomality of the droprate code (though there's no proof for or against it), I have to kida agree with you on the odd drops lately.

Earlier tonight I got dyes in exactly this order: Purple, Silver, Purple, Silver... all across two different instances. This is from some of the higher level areas in Cantha (South Kaineng), and I tend to never get dyes in higher level areas, ever. So getting one dye shocked me, but four in a span of about an hour, and in that order? Thought it was kinda odd.

I also did notice they have upped the amount of gold that drops from mobs... unless that, too was my imagination. Not sure about the same exact amount dropping from everything as in your example, but it seems pretty regular. Maybe they upped the droprates on dyes and gold? Seems probable, I think.

Yawgmoth

Yawgmoth

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2005

The OP is right, but this isn't a strange behavior. This is just how GW drop system works (at least for ~~8months when i got interested in it more)
It is just so that some certain variables used by the random drop generator are set up at the moment the instance is created. I'm not getting into details now but it's sometimes possible to predict the quality of drops (or possible 'anomalies') at the beginning of a run, after getting some first drops.

EDIT: i didn't do any farming runs for a couple weeks and almost any PvE except for the Nightfall event so i didn't see if this phenomenon is more clearly visible, as the OP states. This topic made me want to make some experiments again.

shrouded^god

shrouded^god

IGN: J C A C H E

Join Date: Sep 2006

843

[Liar]

Yea, a group I did FoW with the other night was like that...one person got like 4 shards and 3-5 gold drops....and we couldnt find one damn chest either...

Tarkin

Tarkin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

W/N

Last 2 weaks i playing 3 man fow run... and the shard drops are balanced...
like this >2 3 3< >4 3 5< >3 3 3< >2 3 4<...
and if i get 2 yesterday and pals get 3 and 4... today i get 4 and them 3 and 3...
If i stard with 3 drops to me at end drops stop to me and pals get your loot...

Let me explain, if one area have 200 foes, and your team kill 100 foes, and the team get something like (3 1 1 0) good drops and stop... over... but if team go ahead and kill the other 100 foes i can bet with you that final stats will be (3 2 3 2) or (4 2 3 2) or (3 1 3 2) a better balance in drops...

But i kown sometimes someone can have huge luck like me in a 8 man run in fow i get 6 shards and 2 golds against a 1 shard drop to all others in the team...

For the last... today can be your day of luck... tomorow not... but normaly you will get your part of the loot...

Carth`

Carth`

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

I have noticed that sometimes in FoW there will be very few shards, and sometimes everybody will get around 4 shards each. You can sort of predict how good the run will be based on the first few drops.

Lynxius

Lynxius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Actually i believe its only a matter of pure luck and coincidence.
Bring up some statistics prooving the pattern on drop rates and il believe it.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

It looks like this thread is turning into a place for everyone to toss in their "zOMG this one time this guy got 20 ectos, a crystaline, and 54 phantom keys in one run and all I got was phantom dust." stories. There are tons of threads out there that set out to predict some pattern that explains drop rates, but none have ever provided the secret formula that they all sought.

Some items have a greater chance to drop than others. It has actually been tested to find out the drop rate of some items from certain creatures (like ectos as seen at Guild Wiki: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Drop_rate/Bladed_Aatxe). Still it remains that the drops are still random with some items having a greater chance of dropping than others from certain creatures.

If you want to learn more about how the drop rate works, go here:

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Drop_rate

Tarkin

Tarkin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carth`
I have noticed that sometimes in FoW there will be very few shards, and sometimes everybody will get around 4 shards each. You can sort of predict how good the run will be based on the first few drops.
/Agree about drops based on the first few drops...

Maybe if you make 3 runs one afther one, and we join in the same party and this will be my first run of the day maybe i get better loot, because farming code?

Tarkin

Tarkin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
It looks like this thread is turning into a place for everyone to toss in their "zOMG this one time this guy got 20 ectos, a crystaline, and 54 phantom keys in one run and all I got was phantom dust."
stories.
/Agree

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
There are tons of threads out there that set out to predict some pattern that explains drop rates, but none have ever provided the secret formula that they all sought.
Formula is:
Chance of iten drop * (your luck)/number of pugs

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
Some items have a greater chance to drop than others. It has actually been tested to find out the drop rate of some items from certain creatures (like ectos as seen at Guild Wiki: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Drop_rate/Bladed_Aatxe). Still it remains that the drops are still random with some items having a greater chance of dropping than others from certain creatures.
If you want to learn more about how the drop rate works, go here:
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Drop_rate
/Agree again... shard drop rate is 3%<>5%... every 30 dead foes in fow we get 1 shard...
We make just 1 run per day... 3 man... 1:30 hour... 10 <> 12 shards 2<>5 for each one of us...

Amity and Truth

Amity and Truth

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2006

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
There are tons of threads out there that set out to predict some pattern that explains drop rates, but none have ever provided the secret formula that they all sought.
Are you still not done trolling?
The lootsystem was random before the NPE, now it isn't anymore. It's simply bugged, atleast for me and a couple of friends i've tested it with.
And a thread in a forum is the only way to get something fixed in Guildwars. The support system is utterly wack, they once even told me to publish a bug that allowed item duping in a community board for further discussion. Yeah. Sounds like a good idea, support.

Remember the time when Ecto and Obsidian stopped dropping? People like you were trolling all over the place that the lootsystem were yadda yadda yadda and random. And in the end? Yep. It was a fricking bug in the system but the bugfix was late due to all the people spamming it were fine when it wasn't.

This thread can be closed, i'll now just exploit the anomaly to my advantage. A-Net's Support doesn't give a damn besides sending automated replies and public boards give me the usual Trolls.

Melkorium

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

Not sure it's the same thing, but just killed Jayne Forestlight and she dropped 3 Holy Branches, 1 white, 1 blue and 1 grape.

'Seems' to be less Greens dropping too, but we all know how hard that is to judge.

Franco

Franco

Banned

Join Date: Jul 2006

England

VoB

Me/

lol my friend went with this guy to SF and it dropped for this guy he was with 2 dragos flatbows and 2 ragos staffs O-o lol.

He event posted a SS in gameamp.com , but people just said it was pure luck, my friend still thinks it was a hacker lol.

Lordhelmos

Lordhelmos

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Sentients of Shadow (noir)

Me/E

I disagree with the drop system being random... I think that its affected by other factors we dont know about. Yes, I'm talking in terms of the anti-farm. I think that repeated farming affect patterns in drops and lead to higher % and lower %. While in a party, such as FoW maybe someone with a cleaner record has a higher rarity %. There is probaby a hidden account based factor as well, sort of like phantasy star online server codes that were assigned by name. I think that certain accounts are prone to certain %. For example one account might loot a ton of gold items, the other might have a different % mix. I think this is to encourage trading.

Mrscoombes

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2006

Crimson Skullfuks

A/R

I once got a green item 5 times in a row when doing that totem axe farming stuffs. The next run I got every single drop as a trophy. THe next run, all gold. I didn't really notice a pattern until now =/

ectospasm

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2006

i think that drops are allocated to favor the people who either (A) has less experience points. (B) doesnt farm alot. (C) group size (D) still trying to figure this one out.. lol

sometimes i go alone farming, sometimes i bring a friend. some places i get 2-4 golds a run from monster drops. some places i get none. sometimes i encounter 1 chest for instance at the troll cave only when i bring a partner. nine times out of ten when i go alone, theres no chest there. when i bring a partner the drops are better for the both of us. i think it is limited by the number of party members to where 2 or 3 members you get the best chance for good drops all around. this is just my theory from farming different places over the last 4 months solo or with a partner.

though generally in the UW drops are just really pathetic aside from an occasional ecto or two.

Franco

Franco

Banned

Join Date: Jul 2006

England

VoB

Me/

Yeah I wish those demonic remains or whatever they are called would be sold at 60g each like spider legs >< and that there was a better material in UW instead of the usual dust.

I mean you do get your usualy req 8 eternal and stormbow and 1 ecto or 2 but apart from that its crap.

LifeInfusion

LifeInfusion

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

in the midline

E/Mo

Machine code is not 100% random. it is an algorithm. Keep that in mind. It may seem bad at times, but eventually you will get decent drops provided the antifarming code doesn't kick in.

logan90

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

I have noticed weird drops. The last 5 bows i got from chests consisted of 4 14% while ench and 1 14% in stance, 2 of which were almost identical. Same req, same damage, same bow type, same damage mod, same prefix, same suffix.. Only difference was the name/skin. One was a Longbow and one was a Feathered Longbow. The chances of both of those happening at once is too slim...

wilebill

wilebill

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mt Vernon, Ohio

Band of the Hawk

W/Mo

Drops seem on the whole as bad since the demo as before. But it does seem to me that there are fewer chests since the demo. But that may be my imagination too.

natuxatu

natuxatu

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Wisconsin

Rt/Mo

The drop system is not random. I quit playing for a few months and when i came back greens were dropping left and right for me. Ever since then I refuse to believe it is in fact random. Though since people haven't figured it out yet, they assume it's random, just so they don't hurt their ego. But yeah I'm still very curious as to how it *does* work. I wish A.Net would let us know more clearly. If someone does please pvt me

Lord Jerhyn

Lord Jerhyn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Scotland

Wu Dynasty Warriors [WU]

W/

i got something similar, although i wasnt complaining

in FoW i was my monk and normally i never get any shards from FoW (ok exaggeration but i rarely get them) but this time, within the first 2 groups 3 shards drop, although *surprisingly* none were for me. however by the time we completed the forgemaster quest, i had 9 shards!

gamecube187

gamecube187

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amity and Truth
Are you still not done trolling?
The lootsystem was random before the NPE, now it isn't anymore. It's simply bugged, atleast for me and a couple of friends i've tested it with.
And a thread in a forum is the only way to get something fixed in Guildwars. The support system is utterly wack, they once even told me to publish a bug that allowed item duping in a community board for further discussion. Yeah. Sounds like a good idea, support.

Remember the time when Ecto and Obsidian stopped dropping? People like you were trolling all over the place that the lootsystem were yadda yadda yadda and random. And in the end? Yep. It was a fricking bug in the system but the bugfix was late due to all the people spamming it were fine when it wasn't.

This thread can be closed, i'll now just exploit the anomaly to my advantage. A-Net's Support doesn't give a damn besides sending automated replies and public boards give me the usual Trolls.
Calm down. Just ignore the people trolling. Yes, if the support really did tell you to post something like that in a comunity board, then there is something serously wrong with support, and there may be some people flaming/trolling but that doesn't mean that this thread is junk or that you need to get so worked up...

I have been noticing this too, espicially with dyes. I rarely see any dyes ever drop. Normally, its like 2 at the most in a few weeks. But, ever since the Nightfall pve event, suddenly there seems to be a lot more dyes. In today and yesterday alone, I got 6 dyes, and I've seen at least 10 others drop for other players. Luck and random drops? I don't think so. The whole time I was doing missions with my characters, and for some reason it would be like this.

Mission 1- no dyes drop, and same with mission 2
Mission 3-one dye drop in the beggining and then 3 or 4 other dyes drop through out the mission
Mission 4-no dye drop, and same with misison 5
Mission 6-one dye drops early in the mission and then there are a lot of dyes droping through out the whole mission
And it would just keep going on like that. (of course it wasn't just every 3 missions that would drop a dye, but I think you get the point)

Quote:
Originally Posted by logan90
I have noticed weird drops. The last 5 bows i got from chests consisted of 4 14% while ench and 1 14% in stance, 2 of which were almost identical. Same req, same damage, same bow type, same damage mod, same prefix, same suffix.. Only difference was the name/skin. One was a Longbow and one was a Feathered Longbow. The chances of both of those happening at once is too slim...
That too. I would keep getting weapons, and they would all happen to be really identical. For one mission, all the weapons would be close to identical (excluding skin). The next mission, they were once again identical (excluding skin), but not really close to the stats of the weapons of the previous mission.

And yes, because of the new nightfall salvage options, I am looking at every weapon and item in my inventory before I sell it to see if it is maybe worth keeping to use the new salvage thing on.

I hope someone from Arena Net can come and say if its a bug, or maybe just a upgrade in preperation for Nightfall or something, or we really are just getting lucky(once again, I very highly doubt its luck).

Sorcha ravenlock

Sorcha ravenlock

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2006

Little Wanderers

N/Mo

For me it is dye drops. I'm not farming, just going through the missions, and I'm getting two or three dye drops everytime I play since the special event. I'm not clearing out maps, not farming, just doing missions and quests.

I just was assuming tey were dropping more in preparation for Nightfall, since a lot of people will be dyeing new sets of armor.

ectospasm

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by wilebill
Drops seem on the whole as bad since the demo as before. But it does seem to me that there are fewer chests since the demo. But that may be my imagination too.
ever been chest running and spotted one, then practically got yourself killed getting to it only to find it is inside of a giant rock! or like in the shiverpeaks I had a chest just eye level on a mound of snow and i couldnt get up to it to open it because of the lame ass terrain limits. if it were like ut2004 i coulda just dodge jumped up it

Darth Animal

Darth Animal

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2006

Near Watford

We Don't Have A [Clue]

Mo/R

What has struck me as strange, while doing the Tomb of the Primeval Kings adventure to get all the way to the three Darkness bosses, is that among the staffs I pick up (and sell to the merchant) I'm now seeing Ritualist ones - Channeling, Communing, even Spawning Power requirements. The Tombs are in Tyria, right?

No sign of any Assassin gear there yet, though!

Spirit Of Azrael

Spirit Of Azrael

Echo-mending Master

Join Date: Jun 2006

Service of Shadows [SOS]

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sekkira
I was farming griffons the other day and kept getting minotaur tusks, it was really annoying. Usually I get lots of ectos and shards. Usually I take lsd too, but I'm sure it's not related.
Wow, that combines sarcasm and the inane at the same time!