Although the LFR looting system will be completely changed in Mist of Pandaria, I think that the current looting system still can be upgraded with a patch. The looting system rules is pretty disastrous in that people with better gear can ninja items that others need while those that participate, perform their roles well and cause the least bit of trouble might not even see a single drop. As a result of this horrible system, it’s not uncommon for people to abuse the mechanics, leading virtually everyone to need on every single item drop (even greens that drop off of trash mobs). This leads me to believe that Blizzard should make an attempt to upgrade the system rules for looting. If they do this, here’s what I think should be factored into the equation:
- Class/spec matching the item (obvious), giving the primary bonus
- Secondary spec matching the item, giving half bonus
- Gear differential with regards to slot (but bags and bank slots are checked for an equivalent item to ensure someone does not intentionally equip a green or lesser blue just to receive the bonus). An example might be an enhancement shaman’s mail glove that contain agility and stamina and elemental gloves which contain intelligence and stamina. If a tier piece drops where a shaman can qualify and the shaman has both, but is currently using his enhancement spec, is wearing a green version of the agility gloves, but has an epic 384 version in his bank account, the system will “see” the bank account version and reduce his score so that someone who is wearing a lesser version will have a shot. If he were attempting to obtain one for his elemental side, the calculation will still favor his enhancement side in terms of penalizing the roll. However, it will discard a number of points in relation to the elemental version of his gloves and half that amount. If the shaman attempted to play as elemental, the system will favor the elemental side and not penalize the shaman.
- Overall gear differential
- Exact duplicate item found on toon (this includes bags and bank slots)
- Participation in the raid (this would take into account not just the overall DPS or healing for a toon, but also the actions corresponding to this amount. That way if people intentionally DC, go AFK, etc. during a fight, they will lose eligibility in terms of points on a percentage basis depending on the length of going DC/AFK).
- How recent someone received loot
- Small overall “random” factor
- Number of times a person has been reported, kicked from LFR, etc.
I think this system should take into account most aspects in terms of giving people a base score to use in terms of rolls. I’m not sure how much has been taken into account by Blizzard’s system but it feels as though some of these aspects have not.