Make Loot More Interesting

Spearblade · August 31

So this has been bothering me a long time, but it actually hit me while I was running by a wamasu in West Weald. It's a cool monster design, but there's literally no reason for me to stop to kill it. The loot in this game is THOROUGHLY UNINTERESTING. Virtually every NPC in the game, aside from being brain dead easy to kill, is also full of largely nuisance items that serve little to no purpose aside from clogging up your inventory. Nothing has value.

Why can't that wamasu drop a skin/hide unique for crafting certain items? Why do the precious gems like diamonds, sapphires, rubies, etc to craft specific traits and styles have next to no value? You have such a diverse number of monsters in the game and there's next to nothing to differentiate them. Make harpies drop harpie meat so I can make some fancy gold quality harpie tenders. I want incentive to hunt/kill certain NPCs for various objectives and right now...there's like...nothing. Mudcrab Chitin for some alchemy recipes I guess? Scrib Jelly... EXPAND UPON THESE THINGS. Everything is currently standardized. Every creature with skin drops Rubedo Leather. WHY?! As a result, the ingredient has next to no value. The answer is not, and has never been, to make higher quality armor cost HUNDREDS of leather to craft it. Forgive me, but that's just lazy. It'd be far more fun to need to hunt down a minotaur for their hide or something. Add some LIFE to your game.

Spearblade · August 31

ALSO MAKE TREASURE CHESTS WORTH LOOTING ALL THE WAY. ALL. THE. WAY.

ESO_player123 · August 31

Did you get that Buzzing spine from wamasu already?
I suggest you be very careful what you wish for when talking about objectives related to monster drops. People are still waiting for some of the monster trophies to drop after years of playing.

That said, I would not say no interesting new furnishings related to monsters that roam the overland.

Syldras · August 31

So you want even more different materials without any inventory increase?

XSTRONG · August 31

The game dont need more materials, the game needs a rework how crafting mats work.

There is so much completly useless mats in this game that its ridiculous especially since I have to have a paid subscription to have all these useless mats.

And the craftbag is probably a reason why many materials are useless since players have thousands of them just laying around.

Warhawke_80 · August 31

Being a TES player I think we need loot with consequences, for example what if that shiny new sword you equipped was cursed? Or that ring was wanted by the local cult and now you are hunted until you give back the Preac...err well you know what I mean....

The reason ESO has become so boring is you log on do your dallies go on that one raid for the tenth time and log off there is no substance....there is so much the devs could do to make the game actually exciting...but for whatever reason it's just more of the same.

Tandor · August 31

I agree with the OP in principle, but I'm not sure adopting his preferred approach would work out in practice.

Take the stated example of the wasamu. Yes it should drop a special crafting hide material rather than e.g. a furnishing plan or a greatsword, that's just basic commonsense where lore and immersion are concerned. However, if it did drop a special crafting hide material then any number of players and bots would farm every wamasu in the game in order to get that drop and sell it on the guild traders for a ridiculous price. I'm not convinced that would make the game "actually exciting". You could counter farming by making such drops bound, but that would generate a whole lot of other complaints.

It's an interesting topic, and it identifies a genuine problem, but I don't think there's a simple solution.

kevkj · August 31

Leads appear to be the plan ZOS has to add incentive for players to kill worthless mobs/bosses or pursue otherwise unrewarding activities. So just be patient and in a few years part 1 of 10 leads for the new GIGA SWORD OF HELL will drop exclusively from wamasus in West Weald.

Finedaible · August 31

I also agree that loot in the general sense is boring, but this is because ZoS chose a business model which encourages a subscription to ESO+. That is possibly why every update has tons and tons of new "treasure" (aka inventory fodder), and possibly also why they are so reluctant to improve inventory Quality of Life like stacking identical items...

To their credit ZoS did add leads to the game, but those tend to be a one-and-done kind of thing with gear reconstruction and there's very little in the way of evergreen rewards. Item sets are so standardized now that they aren't rewards anymore, they are just different flavors of mediocrity.

Spearblade · September 1

Tandor wrote: »

I agree with the OP in principle, but I'm not sure adopting his preferred approach would work out in practice.

Take the stated example of the wasamu. Yes it should drop a special crafting hide material rather than e.g. a furnishing plan or a greatsword, that's just basic commonsense where lore and immersion are concerned. However, if it did drop a special crafting hide material then any number of players and bots would farm every wamasu in the game in order to get that drop and sell it on the guild traders for a ridiculous price. I'm not convinced that would make the game "actually exciting". You could counter farming by making such drops bound, but that would generate a whole lot of other complaints.

It's an interesting topic, and it identifies a genuine problem, but I don't think there's a simple solution.

Bots are an entirely different issue, but yes, they're a potential concern. However, with a diverse pool of items, there's less of a chance of everything being farmed to stupid low prices, or monopolies on a market. Another thing I thought of was the potential of having zone specific crafting materials for their available crafted sets...like the aforementioned wamasu skin being needed for crafting sets in Shadowfen for example. Granted, few crafted sets are actually used these days- but it's one option to potentially add flavor. I won't claim to have the answer as to how to revitalize the loot/crafting system in ESO, as I think there's multiple viable approaches. But status quo is flawed.

TaSheen · September 1

*shrug* The last thing I care about when playing a game is loot....

XSTRONG · September 1

TaSheen wrote: »

*shrug* The last thing I care about when playing a game is loot....

Yeah if youre playing Crash Bandicoot...

DenverRalphy · September 1

You can thank One Tamriel for the current loot drop method. Used to be value/types of crafting mats were different depending on the level of the zone/critter you were in/killing.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · September 1

Tandor wrote: »

I agree with the OP in principle, but I'm not sure adopting his preferred approach would work out in practice.

Take the stated example of the wasamu. Yes it should drop a special crafting hide material rather than e.g. a furnishing plan or a greatsword, that's just basic commonsense where lore and immersion are concerned. However, if it did drop a special crafting hide material then any number of players and bots would farm every wamasu in the game in order to get that drop and sell it on the guild traders for a ridiculous price. I'm not convinced that would make the game "actually exciting". You could counter farming by making such drops bound, but that would generate a whole lot of other complaints.

It's an interesting topic, and it identifies a genuine problem, but I don't think there's a simple solution.

I think this is the sort of thing that works out better in a single player game.

TaSheen · September 1

XSTRONG wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

*shrug* The last thing I care about when playing a game is loot....

Yeah if youre playing Crash Bandicoot...

What does that even mean?

JemadarofCaerSalis · September 1

Two of the main issues I have with making certain monsters drop monster specific crafting items are the bloat that would come with it, and the issue of 'oh, I want to craft this item, but now I have to go find this rare monster and hope that I beat RNG'.

I already have this issue with the style materials, where I have to figure out 'okay, where does this particular style material come from and how do I get it.

That being said, I wouldn't mind other types of loot, furnishings based around that monster (just had a thought about a 'caged X' furnishing, so you get a little, in this case, wamasu in an enclosure of some sort, doesn't have to be a cage, that has an idle animation) or weapons/armors only found on those monsters, or things like that. Just not crafting materials. Even recipes/funishing plans, all themed around that monster, would be great.

Blood_again · September 1

Spearblade wrote: »

Why can't that wamasu drop a skin/hide unique for crafting certain items? Why do the precious gems like diamonds, sapphires, rubies, etc to craft specific traits and styles have next to no value? You have such a diverse number of monsters in the game and there's next to nothing to differentiate them. Make harpies drop harpie meat so I can make some fancy gold quality harpie tenders. I want incentive to hunt/kill certain NPCs for various objectives and right now...

There are 250+ types of mob creatures in game. Yes, please add a massive type-unique drop for each of them. So those players without ESO+ would curse their small inventories. (laugh demonically)

To be serious, you're requesting a huge override for crafting system, which is totally incompatible with the current one.
I guess you didn't think about a question, how to connect both to make them viable.
In fact you just want to play crafter in another game, not ESO.

If you want to hunt for a trophie, check the monster trophies achievements. Have you got all of them already?

I would like to see the trofies system continued in DLCs. There are lots of new creatures were added.
But please don't connect the hunt with crafting. That would be a dead end.

FlopsyPrince · September 1

A related area is the recipe drops for the top Provisioning dailies. Almost are are worthless, past a very initial point. And you have probably purchased them already from vendors. Give us a chance, even if much lower, for recipes we don't have instead!

katanagirl1 · September 2

I find it humorous that small enemies like mudcrabs have good loot but larger enemies like wamasu have trash loot.

That’s why I don’t bother to engage them anymore.

FlopsyPrince · September 2

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I find it humorous that small enemies like mudcrabs have good loot but larger enemies like wamasu have trash loot.

That’s why I don’t bother to engage them anymore.

I do wonder where those mudcrabs keep the staffs and gear they drop....

I also wish ALL CRABS dropped Mudcrab Chitin. Rename it if needed, but it is a pain to not farm crabs on Summerset, High Isle and Galen when I need that for crafting.

Supreme_Atromancer · September 2

Spearblade wrote: »

So this has been bothering me a long time, but it actually hit me while I was running by a wamasu in West Weald. It's a cool monster design, but there's literally no reason for me to stop to kill it. The loot in this game is THOROUGHLY UNINTERESTING. Virtually every NPC in the game, aside from being brain dead easy to kill, is also full of largely nuisance items that serve little to no purpose aside from clogging up your inventory. Nothing has value.

Why can't that wamasu drop a skin/hide unique for crafting certain items? Why do the precious gems like diamonds, sapphires, rubies, etc to craft specific traits and styles have next to no value? You have such a diverse number of monsters in the game and there's next to nothing to differentiate them. Make harpies drop harpie meat so I can make some fancy gold quality harpie tenders. I want incentive to hunt/kill certain NPCs for various objectives and right now...there's like...nothing. Mudcrab Chitin for some alchemy recipes I guess? Scrib Jelly... EXPAND UPON THESE THINGS. Everything is currently standardized. Every creature with skin drops Rubedo Leather. WHY?! As a result, the ingredient has next to no value. The answer is not, and has never been, to make higher quality armor cost HUNDREDS of leather to craft it. Forgive me, but that's just lazy. It'd be far more fun to need to hunt down a minotaur for their hide or something. Add some LIFE to your game.

You had me at harpy tenders.

Ph1p · September 2

Spearblade wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

I agree with the OP in principle, but I'm not sure adopting his preferred approach would work out in practice.

Take the stated example of the wasamu. Yes it should drop a special crafting hide material rather than e.g. a furnishing plan or a greatsword, that's just basic commonsense where lore and immersion are concerned. However, if it did drop a special crafting hide material then any number of players and bots would farm every wamasu in the game in order to get that drop and sell it on the guild traders for a ridiculous price. I'm not convinced that would make the game "actually exciting". You could counter farming by making such drops bound, but that would generate a whole lot of other complaints.

It's an interesting topic, and it identifies a genuine problem, but I don't think there's a simple solution.

Bots are an entirely different issue, but yes, they're a potential concern. However, with a diverse pool of items, there's less of a chance of everything being farmed to stupid low prices, or monopolies on a market. Another thing I thought of was the potential of having zone specific crafting materials for their available crafted sets...like the aforementioned wamasu skin being needed for crafting sets in Shadowfen for example. Granted, few crafted sets are actually used these days- but it's one option to potentially add flavor. I won't claim to have the answer as to how to revitalize the loot/crafting system in ESO, as I think there's multiple viable approaches. But status quo is flawed.

ESO already has ~500 crafting ingredients, but only 200 inventory and 240 bank space without Crown upgrades or ESO+. I don't see the point of adding another 50-100 monster-specific materials, especially when it comes to crafted sets. These are typically recommended to beginners who haven't farmed all the trials and dungeons yet. With this additional burden, all you'll accomplish would be:

More grinding and RNG complaints compared to today
Higher prices for crafted sets in guild traders, making them less affordable for new players
Veteran players being less willing to craft starter sets for new players
Master writs being more difficult to complete, leading to higher gold prices for Writ Voucher items

If you want to improve something, advocate for better crafted items from the materials we already have in abundance.

JiubLeRepenti · September 2

100% agree with OP.

I don't even spend time to open master chests anymore when I see one (except in new areas ton complete my collection).

And I'm not even speaking about containers you get through companions... you never get more than 100 gold worth stuff. No interest. I don't open them neither, just throw them away.

VixxVexx · September 2

Agree with the OP. Loot is ESO's biggest problem, and by extention it's limited crafting system. This is the only MMO where PvE makes you lose money. They even had to put in undaunted vendor items just so it isn't totally screwed.

People arguing about too many ingredients are missing the point. You wouldn't add more, you'd just change what we currently have. Right now you can delete 90% of all crafting ingrediënts and be totally fine. It's mostly worthless bloat to fill the crafting bag.

Imagine if all those meaningless ingredients were replaced by resources only obtainable via specific creatures.
Example: In order to make a bear food, you need to actually kill bears. And for stronger recipes like Bear Haunch you'd need to find rare bear meat in dungeons with bear-type bosses like in Fang Lair, Bloodroot, etc.

But no, let's keep it the way it is and have a dungeon boss drop a single set piece you don't care about and 10 gold. Rewards in this game suck.

Ph1p · September 2

VixxVexx wrote: »

Agree with the OP. Loot is ESO's biggest problem, and by extension it's limited crafting system. This is the only MMO where PvE makes you lose money. They even had to put in undaunted vendor items just so it isn't totally screwed.

People arguing about too many ingredients are missing the point. You wouldn't add more, you'd just change what we currently have. Right now you can delete 90% of all crafting ingredients and be totally fine. It's mostly worthless bloat to fill the crafting bag.

Imagine if all those meaningless ingredients were replaced by resources only obtainable via specific creatures.
Example: In order to make a bear food, you need to actually kill bears. And for stronger recipes like Bear Haunch you'd need to find rare bear meat in dungeons with bear-type bosses like in Fang Lair, Bloodroot, etc.

This literally just added two more ingredients, bear meat and rare bear meat, without specifying what they would replace. It also made it harder and more expensive to play PVE, because now I have to farm specific monsters and get additional rare ingredients to outfit my tank.

Otherwise I'd agree with you that the crafting system could be expanded. Let's make the existing ingredients more useful so they don't just bloat up the crafting bag. For example:

Have substitutes for certain ingredients - how about an alternative to Columbine for tri-stat potions?
Create novel, non-combat related food and potion recipes that require underused ingredients. Maybe something similar to the Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl, but for other rewards like monster trophies.
Add craftable tools that take up a weapon slot to be used and break after X uses, like a fileting knife that slightly increases the chances of getting Perfect Roe or a gardening tool that slightly improve the double drop rate of plants.
Make more furnishings craftable out of existing ingredients.
Allow us to transmute lower tier materials into higher tier ones.

ZOS could also stop/slow the proliferation of new style materials - do they actually have a use beyond master writs and furnishings, given that there is a costume system? But I would not support adding new ingredients or new requirements to existing recipes.

katanagirl1 · September 2

I don’t know about more interesting loot, but it should be better loot, especially for tougher enemies.

Sidonius · September 3

Many are still waiting for the Holy Golden Dwemer Lock Pick

StarOfElyon · September 3

Spearblade wrote: »

So this has been bothering me a long time, but it actually hit me while I was running by a wamasu in West Weald. It's a cool monster design, but there's literally no reason for me to stop to kill it. The loot in this game is THOROUGHLY UNINTERESTING. Virtually every NPC in the game, aside from being brain dead easy to kill, is also full of largely nuisance items that serve little to no purpose aside from clogging up your inventory. Nothing has value.

Why can't that wamasu drop a skin/hide unique for crafting certain items? Why do the precious gems like diamonds, sapphires, rubies, etc to craft specific traits and styles have next to no value? You have such a diverse number of monsters in the game and there's next to nothing to differentiate them. Make harpies drop harpie meat so I can make some fancy gold quality harpie tenders. I want incentive to hunt/kill certain NPCs for various objectives and right now...there's like...nothing. Mudcrab Chitin for some alchemy recipes I guess? Scrib Jelly... EXPAND UPON THESE THINGS. Everything is currently standardized. Every creature with skin drops Rubedo Leather. WHY?! As a result, the ingredient has next to no value. The answer is not, and has never been, to make higher quality armor cost HUNDREDS of leather to craft it. Forgive me, but that's just lazy. It'd be far more fun to need to hunt down a minotaur for their hide or something. Add some LIFE to your game.

I want all these worthless Ashwood Staff of Magicka type of items to be viable weapons. Add a bonus to that thang similar to the Willpower set or something. Like a bonus 2k line Magicka on it, for example. Have to be generic but still useful and drop all over Tamriel.