Loot tables, raid bosses...

Actually I would say that some enemies make their own weapons. Kobolds for example. Or the elves. I doubt that those would walk around naked waiting for some adventurer to drop his weapon and armour. I would think that they have forges and crafters of their own to provide them with items.

Also, not every single player RPG uses random loot tables. In some, the enemies are provided with appropriate loot by hand from the devs. So that they carry stuff that fits and which is logical.

 

Darkmoon,

Though random loot table doesn't necessarily mean completely random. So one elf fighter might have a couple of gold and another might have none and another might have copper. One might have a dagger in addition to his sword while another might not. One might have a water flask. You still want a little randomness to give some variety and surprise. You give a couple of parameters, and it might select from those parameters to give you something semi-random.

 

Sure, you are right.
I am not against such loot tables. But I hope that loot will be realistic. So when an elf attacks me with a sword, carries a shield and wears a leather armor and a cap I want to find those things on him. Additionally he can of course carry random loot that fits him, like some gold, maybe a potion etc.
As long as it is realisitc and fits and as long as the enemies use those weapons and armour you seem on them.
This doesn't mean that you should always be able to loot the swords and armour, as there could be a chance that those are destroyed in the fight. Also encumbrance will prevent you from taking everything you find.

But I hate it in games when enemies attack me with a sword, wearing plate mail and when I defeat them they only have a dagger and cloth mail. Or some wolf carries gold around etc.

 

Wouldn't your train of thought be more akin to a table top game instead of an online game? I mean i guess you could draw the little forge and stuff on the paper but lets go back as far as UO and talk about loot tables.... this is nothing new. Honestly the whole premise of the thread seems to just be a huge troll.

 

Darkmoon,

You're right though that when maker's marks are in the game, it'll be a little weird if an elf has a sword made by KuBaTRiZeS; you would think they'd have their own forge and make elven swords -- just like they wear elven armor (that you can't take).

 

It is inventing a problem where there is none to grind an ax again. There are people who could care less about the single player Ultima games. They want UO2. And there are others who want another single player Ultima game who feel online will somehow ruin their game. Either side complaining are just spinning wheels because this game is what it is, a hybrid with a full single player campaign planned with selective multiplayer and sandbox features. That isn't going to change.

 

I am not sure if an economy that is just player made will work in a game in which there are other cultures or civilizations in the world, too. NPC cultures.
Wouldn't it be the same as if for example the USA would consist of players and Canada would be NPCs but the citizens of Canada would not be able to craft their own items?
In terms of SotA it is even worse. Kobolds and elves are enemies of the humans and they are not able to craft their own weapons? What abot this Uber-enemy that is burning down the cities in the story? They are amassing an army but they don't provide for their own weapons because they wait for the players to craft them so that they can attack them with their own weapons?
It is strange.
It would work in a game that is purely a sandbox and in which there are no NPCs and no other cultures. Then yes, the players privode for their own items in their own economy. But in SotA there is not only one economy, as there is not only one economy in our world. There is the economy of the humans, the economy of the elves, the economy of the Kobolds...
This may sound nitpicky but on the one hand SotA wants to create a believable world that is simulated but then there are so many things that totally go against this realistic world. I doubt that it is possible to create a believable and realistic world in an MMO. And the player economy is one example as it totally neglects other cultures in the game world.

 

NPC mobs, bosses, etc. all have a chance to"loot" a random item from players they kill. Seems reasonable to me.

 

That is not the problem and is actually a cool idea. The problem is how do items from merchants get to the cave troll on the third level of the dungeon who has never seen the light of day? And how do elves and Kobolds, the other cultures in the land, get their items? Don't they provide for their own weapons and armor?

 

The big problem I'm thinking is where the items have makers marks, yes it'll be a tiny bit incredulous. Its one thing if an elf has an anonymous "Iron longsword" that was mined from player crafted items, another if every elf has "Iron longsword (made by KuBaTRiZeS)".

Though we already know in the game that you can get a "Kobold hammer", and skeletons have "Rusty swords" that players can't make, so these issues might be ironed out by making the loot appropriate. Only encounters that would have player made items might be carrying them, and elsewise might be in some kind of stash.

Though it might make sense if a monster picked up an enchanted sword from a player that's really powerful, he then feels he owns it, and uses it.

 

We need to have a talk with KuBaTRiZeS!

 

That bloody turncoat!

 

On the other hand, it would be hilarious, simply hilarious, if a brand new character kills a skeleton and gets the most powerful made sword in the game as loot.