First really you have to be aware of what item progression is for your class, and for others as well:
- trash equipment: equipment from previous tiers, stuff that makes you want to cry
- Mastercrafted: expensive, but decent quality gear that not everyone can afford.
- Poorly Mixed Legendary: comes from quests and ornate drops, and you wear what you've got.
- Well Mixed Legendary: set pieces, in sets of 3 or 6, combined with the best other Legendary you've found. And your Epic Weapon.
- Poorly Mixed Fabled and Legendary: quested or instance dropped fabled, with maybe a raid drop tossed in.
- Well Mixed Fabled: quested, high end instance, and raided fabled drops which are right for you.
- Teh Uber: 6 of your class tuned fabled armorpieces with that one other uber fabled from that dragon, and uber jewelry and weapon to boot.
Everyone struggles to get from one category to the next, or at least they should.
Our guild has a clear Need before Greed policy- if an item is an upgrade, and you WILL wear it, NEED it.
That helps the first time you see something you need. But what about the next time?
I'll start with what I consider to be two important principles of grouping and looting:
Enlightened Self Interest- know what you need, and work to get it. Don't be ashamed of winning an item, or making money. You put in the effort, you reap the reward. The more you improve your gear, the more use you are in a group. This helps everyone.
Helping Others-learn to enjoy helping others get gear. Nothing makes me happier than watching the people in my group get the items they have been wanting. As they get stronger the group gets stronger.
------------- Needing more than one item while grouping ------------------
IYou've needed one nice legendary- and another nice one for you drops. Roll need for it also? Our raid policy would say no, unless you're the only one who can use it. For groups, though, I would say: yes, unless you're sure someone else will roll need, and even then I'd be ok with rolling need.
It seems a little greedy, but unless everyone is alert, and in vent, it is sometimes hard to figure out who needs what. And if it's not attunable, there is only one chance to do it right. With attunable there is always a chance to correct mistakes. Most places you'll be back enough that everyone will get anything in the loot table they can use. Some places you can come back an hour later and kill the guy again and get the same loot.
For fabled items in instances- and there are a few, but not many- I would say, pass on the second fabled IF AND ONLY IF someone else can also roll need on it - but if someone else can use it, pass. That's just me though and not policy.
Communication is often garbled when it comes to looting. And the last thing you want to do is offend people by being greedy- and loot ends up wasted as a result. That's really what I'd like to see avoided- any waste of loot, at all. When people NEED anything they NEED, that is avoided. It's true that someone may end up dissapointed as a result, and results aren't always fair- but in the long term that sort of thing evens out. We go back and go back and go back to instances to get people the loot they need. One nice thing (ha!) about seeing someone else loot the fabled shoulders- I mean, the item- that you really really want is that then you know where they drop. You can then request groups to go back until you get them too.
Being aware of what loot is good for you is important. It helps avoid a major potential pitfall- that you NEED an item that isn't quite right but still nice, beating out someone else for it, and then a few minutes later you NEED an even better item for the SAME SLOT, with your face burning red, because the other person can't even use it but it's perfect for you. This is my nightmare and I have passed on some pretty uber items to avoid it- because I knew there were even better items out there. The tricky part is before you pass on that first roll, to avoid the pitfall, you have to know for certain that the person that the item is right for will NEED it. That is why it is good to say "I'm going to need that" when an item which is really good for you drops- it lets others know that it is good for you. It is also good to say something like "/dec" if you're going to pass on something which people may think is really good for you- that way they know that they can roll on it freely. Both of these concerns revolve around the notion that people in your group are trying hard to help each other. I've found that very much to be the case when grouping in-guild. I doubt this really applies in pick-up-groups; then again, I never PUG.
--------------- The Kind-of-Need item ---------------------------
I've often wished NBG had more settings- Decline, Greed, Kind-of-Need, and Need. There are items I see drop which would be nice to have to round out a set, or serve as resist gear, or for higher DPS/more defensive stances, etc- but which are not items I would wear all the time. This is where group communication is important- speak up! if you kind-of-need something; if you can ensure no one else NEEDs the item you can NEED it and have a nice utility item. If you can't, then greed it and hope.
There is also
----------------------- The Item I Need but it Isn't Perfect For Me ------------------------------------------------
Some items are definite upgrades, but they have stats on them which are totally useless for you. Particularly when these are usable by all classes, this can be a hard call. If the item is rare- a drop from an exquisite, or somewhere hard to get back to- I'd recommend making sure that the person most suited to the item gets first dibs. Otherwise I'd say Need it and plan to come back to get it again for others.
This is even more of a hot issue when it comes to raiding. When a fabled item drops, everyone drools- but if it is a Healer item, even if it would be an upgrade for a Mage I'd hope that only Healers would roll. That is NOT our raid loot policy, however- we do straight NBG, if it is an upgrade you can roll, even if there are stats you can't use. I won't hold it against someone for rolling; but I won't cry when they can't get the next fabled drop which is perfect for them because they already have a fabled item either.
The lines as to which classes can use an item are fuzzy sometimes- sadly SOE chooses badly when listing classes on an item. I have seen items with Troubador-only buffs on them which are usable by half the classes in the game. Fairness is hard, especially with fabled items; this is where it is handy for eveyone to have a long-term loot plan and know what items are good for them in the long term. If better items drop for a slot from the same tier (instance, tier 1 raid, tier 2 raid, etc) then pass the item to someone who will be using it for a longer time. This goes back to that pitfall I mentioned earlier- I've seen people dodge this bullet narrowly- for instance, a mage passing on a healer item and later winning the perfect mage item. Have faith that your time will come- and learn to enjoy watching others get great gear.
--------------- Communicate QUICKLY! --------------------------
When questions come up about "does anyone need that?" during looting, RESPOND QUICKLY! There's a 60 second timer, and sometimes 40 seconds are gone before everyone has even looked at all the loot in a box with lots of items. When people want to know if they can/can't roll Need on something, a quick response will go far toward avoiding a bad result.
--------------- Master Spells ------------------------------------
These are pretty easy to figure out who gets to roll.
If you can use it, roll need, otherwise greed.
I would say- if you've won a master already in a run, pass the next time one drops- unless one or the other was for your class. Again that's not guild policy, just my personal take. I look on Master's that people read in as strength for the group, and don't count them, but Masters that aren't going to be read in represent a lot of trading power and should be as evenly distributed as possible in the group.
Once you've won a Master that you won't be reading, it is yours to do with as you please. People have a lot of different attitudes about these Masters, as they are hard to aquire and extremely important for people to have. When you win loot though, it is YOURS and you can sell it, trade it, or give it away. No one should be giving anyone a hard time about what they decide to do with a Master spell, and no one should have hurt feelings if they aren't immediately handed a Master for their class.
Some people take the direct line that they WILL sell/trade Masters that they get- generally to get Master spells for themselves. That's fine with me. The more open people are about that the happier I am.
Others give them away every time to guildies who can use them.
Personally, I give away some and sell some. Generally the ones I give away I give to people that I know can use them, and who play their characters often enough for the Master advantage to be worthwhile. Really what I like to see is optimal use made of the resource. If someone only plays two hours a week I probably will never give them a Master spell- because it would serve better use being sold and the profit used to buy stuff for me or the guild.
Make no mistake, everyone should be trying to get a complete set of Master spells for themselves. Do not rely on others to get them for you though- run the instances, and they WILL drop, however sporadically.
For those who don't know- most Master spells go for between 20 plat and 200 plat. Some go higher. They don't really go lower because they can be transmuted (random possibility) into Crystallized Mana, which currently sells for 33 plat.
-------------------------- Shinies--------------------------------------------
In some instances there are shinies, both yellow shinies and rarer blue shines which can only be picked up by people with the right glasses. When someone harvests these, the whole groups gets to roll NBG.
Once upon a time my personal policy was that people should greed them. My reasoning at the time was that greeding them is fairest, since people aren't punished for already having a shiny collection complete that way.
The standard approach, however, appears to be Need before Greed- Need them if you can read them in, Greed them otherwise. This is the approach I've adopted while adventuring- one reason I've switched to this is that I've found that its fun to take people on blue shiny runs, and this approach works best for that sort of run. (I have the glasses for blue shinies).
If you aren't sure what approach your group is taking- be sure to ask.
Just my thoughts- please add your own!
-Math
