Monday, July 26, 2010

Ninja Solution Ho!

With the introduction of the LFD tool came another change, loot rules in dungeons. Now the dungeon finder will automatically default to Need before Greed and there are armor type restrictions, so now a Pali healer cannot roll need on SP cloth pieces. That same pali has to ask others to pass on it, if they REALLY want the gear or simply hope that nobody else rolls need and they win the greed roll.

But there is a piece of gear that has been overlooked, a little slot that can be needed by all and ninja'd by equal amounts. The back piece, i.e. the cloak. I was thinking about this as I ran into Blackrock Depths this weekend. I don't know my way around that place, so I can't tell you exactly where I was. But I do know that we killed some important dude and he dropped a nice back piece with intellect & spell power. Great, I'm the only caster here (aside from our lovely Druid healer), so there should be no resistance in needing this.

Wrong.

Stupid huntard rolled need...and WON! This counts as a clear violation of loot rules and forever classifies this hunter as either a total noob, plain stupid, or a ninja. I whispered to the hunter, and tried to be really nice, asking if they could truly benefit from a cloak with spell power on it. The hunter whispered back that "Yes, I definately need it."

So, the ninja is stupid, great! Others chimed in to voice their displeasure at the hunter rolling need, and did so in party chat. The hunter got a bit defensive and eventually said that they would give the back piece to the healer (btw, I rolled higher than the healer - 29 v 9 - but whatever, the hunter was about to capitulate).

I then did something I don't normally do, I pursued the issue further.

"You'll excuse me, but I can't help but think but that hunters don't ever need spellpower, but I think you know that. Very well, if you wish to keep it then that's your choice."

In response I recieved a "chill out" for my continued interruptions into this hunter's play time. And a few other rants, but the "chill out" was touching. All in all I don't think I was ever rude, although my frustrations came out in my whispers to the hunter. I ended up leaving on principle, and thanked everyone but the hunter for a nice run.

So I was a bit childish, I really don't care. I rarely, if ever, speak up like that in dungeons, but every now and then you've got to stand up for yourself, right? It got me thinking, however, if there was a way to stem the tide of ninjas even more than has been done to date. Back pieces can be needed by all, so there's got to be some sort of mechanism to prevent a ninja'd cloak. Here's my crazy idea.

We have a "Vote Kick" system currently, on top of that let's add a "Ninja Labeled" system, where if the 4 other party members in a dungeon percieve that some stupid hunter has rolled Need on a spell power cloak, for instance, then they can vote to label that person a "Ninja".

The Ninja label would be added in front of their name, and remain above their head for one week or until that player ran 3 consecutive dungeons without rolling need on any piece of gear, even if that gear could truly be considered an upgrade and the armor type match their default armor. Imagine strolling around any capital city or Dalaran with the Ninja title above your head. More people may place you on their ignore list, worried to be grouped with a known felon.

Sure, there could be abuses to the system, but there can be abuses to the vote kick system too, right? A group of 5, 4 of whom are in the same guild, kick the 5th right before the final boss. Sound familiar? But how many of these groups have you been in? I have been in zero (0). I imagine that most groups would never abuse the Ninja Labeling system, just as most don't abuse the vote kick one today. Plus, to be labeled a Ninja you would need 4, not just 3, to effectuate the change. That would be a tall order for a truly random pug unless the infraction was legitimate.

There has to be some sort of public shame to being a ninja. And if that didn't work, then I may even go so far as to suggest more drastic measures...more on that later, however.

For the most part, the ninja has been hampered by the tools currently implemented in the LFD tool, but they still exist and are stealing our cloaks right off our backs. Unite, my brothers and sisters, and put to shame all Ninjas for their dirty, underhanded tricks, and reclaim our loot and our right to fairly outroll another spell-caster!

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