I was thinking about loot. What makes it fun/exciting... and not. This post is on the first thing that occurred to me. I may make other threads later, but wanted to focus. I don't assume my ideas are all great or great for all people so I'm hoping for somewhat thoughtful/constructive feedback on my perspective rather than peanut gallery comments. Hence the title, to scare off those who find such discussions dull or tedious

I'm going to just use myself as the example. It's honest and more productive than pretending to speak for many others. So yeah, you don't have to tell me "that's just you".

I like getting combat-enhancing loot drops that are exciting. But I find most drops boring. They are mostly part of 5-piece sets, and the sets only matter if you are a particular type of character going for a particular type of build. Now, you can sell it in zone or a trade guild if it's a popular drop, but that's not too exciting other. Profitable, but not like "Ohhhhh yeah!"

Loot isn't everything in an MMO, but it's far from trivial. So having 99% of my loot drops be boring is not as fun as it could be. I asked myself what would make it cooler to me. I came up with a few things:

• can equip right away and have fun with it

OK, I guess that's one thing. But it really felt like a strong thing. Like, I can pick this up and BOOM, right away I'm glad I have it and look at me, wooooooooo!

So then I considered the current ESO loot system. It's all based off of lots and lots of effort to build up to a pay-off. Which is not at all the instant gratification of "look at me, wooooooo!"



At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if after reading the last sentence someone is already scrolling down to the comment box to tell me I am spoiled and everyone these days is morally inferior and lacking character because it's always better to suffer and wait and die to get anything worthwhile even if it's just something fun for a video game. If you are reading this, I'm guessing you have more patience and better reading comprehension, so I want to reward you somehow, but I can't, unless you consider "Thank you" sufficient. So, thank you.

Anyway, so there is nothing wrong with a system that rewards medium and long-term investment. But to me, when it comes to loot in ESO, instant and short term gratification is also a good thing. it fills a gap and provide a spark of excitement.

But let's also look at some things that *do* require more investment, first, that are highly prized.

• 1pc sets: Master, vMA, Asylum category of weapons, as examples from over the years
• 2pc sets: Monster helm/shoulders, as examples
• 3pc sets: old Cyrodiil sets and some of the IC sets like Will Power

These are not just powerful but they do cool stuff with only a few pieces. You can easily blend them in. Less of the "filler" set bonuses. Right to the good things. Now yeah, for 5pc sets you need to have filler. And that filler adds up to be useful if you choose wisely in making a build.

And sure, locking sets that reduce or eliminate the filler are strong so it makes sense to lock them behind harder or more risky content. No objections from me!

So then what about things that:

• are fun/useful
• come in 1pc, 2pc, or 3pc sets
• are not locked behind grinds, risky areas, or displays of extraordinary skill

Yeah... I couldn't come up with much. And by that I mean I couldn't come up with anything.

Now, to be clear, fun/useful doesn't have to mean being as powerful as a vMA or Asylum weapon or a Monster set. There are lots of ways to be fun and useful. To switch games for a second (which some people react to like shouting "Satan rules!" inside of St. Peter's Basilica), I got a trinket early on in BFA when I checked out WoW to see what was going on with the new expansion. The trinket wasn't OP. Nice, but not OP. But it did this thing where when it procced ethereal musical notes briefly appeared over my head while I received a modest heal (or at least I think it was a heal). That trinket wasn't on anyone's BIS list or even 20 or 50 spots down from BIS. But, I loved it! It did something useful and it fun/cool. At least to me.

Allow me: "This isn't WoW", "Animations like that wouldn't work in ESO", "That sounds lame"

With that out of the way, the example isn't intended as something to be directly imported from another game. Just a story about how a 1pc item can be a fun drop. Logically, then, so could minor 2pc or 3 pc sets.

The 1pc items could give something like suped up filler bonus on a five piece set plus give access to some unique emote. Or that bonus plus it has a really cool appearance. Or maybe a milder/simpler version of a memento effect. So you get it and it's like "Oh hahahah cool".

But, you know, everything is focused on power, Power, POWER! So fun stuff is suuuuuper lame. But if you are doing overland questing, what difference does it make. Take some fun drops and have a ball.

Beyond that, though, let's keep in mind that I said the 1pc fun item could be like a stronger version of a filler bonus on a 3pc or 5pc set. So having two fun 1pc sets is like having a decent part of a 5pc set without the signature bonus, the one you get for the fifth piece.

So what if we mixed a couple of these fun 1pc drops with a decent 3pc set and decent 2pc set? Or even a couple of fun 1pc drops with a nice 5 pc set? Well, I mean, sure, they would fit and if the goal was to max some stat the boosted stat bonus on the fun 1pc items wold be nice. But ESO combat sets aren't really designed to handle 1pc set that isn't self-sufficiently powerful and therefore strongly gated.

But what if the combat set system was modified to accommodate a fun 1pc drop? What if there were also fun 2pc drops?

The gist of all of this is that there is room to grow the current combat-related loot system.

Spitballing/brainstorming (which means they aren't fully thought out or intended to be viewed as polished ideas):

1pc or 2pc "fun" items that enhance existing 5 piece sets. On their own these 1pc or 2pc sets are as described above, but maybe when combined with 3pc or 5pc sets they enhance those larger sets. Maybe a 1pc item that already comes with 1.5x the usual magicka bonus of a filler bonus on a 5pc set now makes all of the filler magicka bonuses on an equipped 5pc sets also worth 1.5x their listed value. If that's too strong, knock it down to 1.2 or 1.3 or whatever seems reasonable.

Or maybe the alchemy of combining the fun 1pc with a 5pc work some other way. Like, the 1pc has its usual stat bonus, but when worn with a 5pc set it also gives just a little extra physical damage resistance. When worn with a 3pc set, a fun 2pc set could also have another bonus "unlocked".

Now, you have fun drops of 1pc and 2pc items that are more accessible than the usual 1pc or 2pc items, that have something cool or interesting about their behavior or appearance along with a modest stat bonus, that can combine with 5pc and 3pc sets in interesting ways. Offering new combinations for builds. Yeah, if you still just want raw power or extra-special bonus effects, you can still farm the hardest to acquire 1pc and 2pc items. But the "lesser" 1pc and 2pc items could allow for some fun and interesting off-builds, niche-builds, and some new types of support or hybrid builds.

And they can do it while still being a fun "oh hey look at this, hahaha" item that anyone can slap on and enjoy as soon as they are looted even if they are just a casual player with not a BIS item in sight.

Anyway, seems like something some of us might enjoy?

Thanks for reading.