Prop 12: Loot Flow Control
Proposal Details
As Etherscape has evolved, some players have put together extremely proficient builds that have enabled them to achieve loot drop rates beyond the original expectations of the game design. It is implicit in the design that the top players with the best gear and upgrades should be able to get drops significantly faster than the average player. However, the disparity between the two does need to be controlled to ensure average players are not completely left behind.
In order to solve this problem, we are proposing adding a loot flow control system which will reduce the rate of drops based on timers. The system will have the following characteristics:
A counter will keep track of how many Legendary drops a player has had over a time period.
After the initial number of drops passes, each subsequent drop will have a chance to drop resources instead of an item (as if it was automatically salvaged)
With each additional drop that does not get salvaged, the auto salvage chance will increase.
After a reset interval has passed (1 day for legendary items), the counter will reset and start from 0.
You can carry over your initial drops that aren't used for one time interval.
The parameters for the flow control depend on the rarity of the time. Below are the proposed constants that will be used...
Legendary
Daily
5
20%
Sacred Legendary
Weekly
1
50%
Ascended Legendary
Monthly
1
50%
We will ensure the system is highly transparent. You will be able to view your drop rates for each rarity type for the current interval and the percentage chance that the next drop will be converted to resources.
Crafted items and items from reward chests (like heroics and arena) do not count towards your drop count for a given period.
Examples
Based on this, here is an example of how it might work for Legendary items...
The first 5 legendary items the player drops in the day have no change.
The 6th legendary drop has a 20% chance to be auto salvaged.
If the 6th drop is auto salvaged, then the chance remains at 20% (doesn't count as a drop)
If the 6th drop is not auto salvaged, then the chance to auto salvage the next drop 36%
So, the 7th drop will have a 36%, the 8th a 48% chance, the 9th a 59% chance and so on...
At the daily reset, the count will go back to 0 and start from the beginning.
For Sacred Legendary it would go like this...
The first sacred legendary the player drops for the week has no change.
The 2nd has a 50% chance to be auto salvaged, 3rd has a 75% chance and so on.
At the weekly reset, the count goes back to 0 and starts from the beginning.
Carry Over Drops
The system will include a carry over concept where drops you didn't use in the previous period will carry over to the next period. This is to accommodate players that can't play every day or that take breaks. You will only be able to carry over 1 interval worth of drops for each rarity type.
For example, if you did not get any legendary drops on day 1 then on day 2 you would be allowed 10 legendary drops before auto salvaging chances kick in. Or, if you got 3 legendary drops on day 1 then you would be allowed 7 on day 2. In the case of sacred legendary items, if you did not get any drop in week 1 then for week 2 you would be allowed 2 drops before a chance to auto salvage kicks in. If you did not get a sacred legendary drop for 3 weeks, the amount would still be 2 since that is the most you can carry over.
Outcomes
We believe that this system will achieve the following outcomes for the player base...
Top players will still get a good number of drops per day.
Top players will not have a reduction in their ability to grind resources and be rewarded for their play time.
Average players are not hindered and are still able to grind out upgrades at the same rate as before.
The item economy is controlled to a certain rate of new items based on the player base size which will limit inflation.
Players will be able to keep up with less play time which is healthier... you need to touch grass.
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