Looting Etiquette

[LynnJuniper]

Yeah, this seems like a weird thing to post on Layonara, I feel like I’m three seconds away from saying “Roll Greed on Green unless you need it then take it, and pass on all special Bind on Pickup Blues so we can discuss who needs it most”. Funnily enough, that’s really close to what I want to say:

 

  1)Designate one looter: Since NWN Has no way of making loot go right into the bag of a master looter, or in a round robin fashion, its probably best to just designate one person to do it, and hope they are good at math and have a lot of weight reduction bags and/or can carry a lot.  

   
  2) Don’t Leave the Looter Behind: They are doing a service to YOU , the rest of the party, and therefore it’s not really nice to leave them behind. They could have a really bad directional sense, get ambushed by a spawn, or simply loose out on the XP The rest of the party receives while going forward. It won’t slow you down that much to wait for the looter.
   
  3) Save Discussing Loot for the End: And pay attention to the task(s) at hand
   
  4) Need Before Greed: When rolling, if someone or more than one person needs the item more than you do, I think it is only fair to let them roll for it. Of course, it may not be in your character’s nature but sometimes this can impend on the fun of others. If no one needs it , feel free to roll for it.
   
  5) Do Not Roll To Sell!: Don’t roll on an item just to sell it unless no one , even in the slightest, needs it or could put it to better use. It does a disservice to the rest of the party to just turn around and sell something someone else was going to use. If you do plan on selling it if no one needed the item, make your intentions clear and discuss it with your party. Sometimes its only right for the gold from the sale to be divided and sometimes its just the luck of the role..

PS: Refer to:
LORE: Handling of Loot
   
  ~That’s really All I had to say. Thanks.

[DMOE]

Totally agree!!

In fact....I will be posting a looting policy soon that a few of us have decided to use for trips we organise.

[LordCove]

2) Do not leave the Looter behind
5) Do Not Roll To Sell!:

Yup....totally agree.
Weird....cause as DMOE says....we've been on about this just recently.

[LynnJuniper]

I know a few people have been on about this, and I know it's come up in the past so I thought a helpful reminder and a more specific outline (in outline form rather than the general letter of address Leanthar posted on Lore) would be useful.
In fact DMOE: If you want to post the policy here I can add it to the first post And slap your name onto it

[Xirion]

Thanks for the post that states it all clear what is writen in LORE, good points.
On the other side it is sad that a post like this is neccesary. I would have thought common sense would last. Eander would never roll for a sword or maybe a fullplate, he is an Archer...
And to rush ahead while the looter picks up all the nice stuff for you...
Anyway, I hope the post will be read by the ones who dont behave like that.

[DMOE]

As previously mentioned.....The looting policy and the names of those characters who will be using it.

http://forums.layonara.com/roleplaying/131142-looting-policy.html#post589662

If you like it and are gonna use it yourself....PM to have your characters name added please!

[Lynn1020]

 

  2) Don’t Leave the Looter Behind: They are doing a service to YOU , the rest of the party, and therefore it’s not really nice to leave them behind. They could have a really bad directional sense, get ambushed by a spawn, or simply loose out on the XP The rest of the party receives while going forward. It won’t slow you down that much to wait for the looter.
   

Good post!  

What is the big hurry anyway.. its a great opportunity to catch your breath and maybe even a small bit of rp while waiting on the looter to finish up.  

[Masterjack]

When I go on mining trips. I like to make it so that the people who want CNR do not get any gold or drops and vice versa. I find it cuts down on the greed.

[lonnarin]

On Need & Greed

I wholeheartedly disagree with an enforced standard of Need vs. Greed.  Around a year ago somebody stressed this policy in a post where she was disgusted with all the "greed" of everybody else in the party... and proceeded to rant how she "needed" EVERYTHING because she was low level and didnt have much gold.  

Need and Greed are entirely perceptive... and as such, all you can really do to make it fair is to split fairly, beyond need or greed schematics.  Otherwise you'll have greedy people who "need" everything griping at the rest of the party who did most of the work in aquiring said loot items.  

The same goes for rolling to sell vs rolling to use...  WHO CARES if somebody is shoeless and poor, there is NO and I mean NO reason that a rich person is required to give them more than their fair share of the loot just for benevolence sake, unless they're good aligned.  It's much like how whenever I go to the shipping outlet to drop off our online orders for our store, and 20 street bums sprint up to me the very second I park, telling me they NEED a dollar for lunch.  I often times offer them a job, adding that there will be a drug test involved, and they get HOSTILE towards me, telling me where to stick that job, and asking for money some more.  You see, those people don't NEED that money.  They simply want it to buy drugs.  One time I handed one of the bums a sandwich and he threw it at me, cussing me out.  However... oh if you ask them, they surely NEED that dollar.  They will plead and beg and berate for it... but whenever you mention something about a job, they will kick and scream as if you just threw boiling water in their eyes.  

Likewise... NOBODY in the party should get more than their fair share of loot per the amount of effort on their part in securing said loot.  It should all be collected in one big pile and split evenly.  These people do not "need" any of that loot... what, are we to suppose that their little avatar will keel over and permadie if they don't get a pair of militia boots?  Just because other people in the party own more property than they do does NOT mean that the wee little urchins should be paid more per hour than the millionaires.

The only need vs greed policy I support is the crafter's code... in which only crafters are permitted to get a cut of the raw CNR, and anybody who doesn't craft is told this crystal clearly prior to the trip being led by the crafters.  Of course, the crafters only get splits of CNR and everybody else gets the loot and gold.  I will not however, under any circumstances, hand over raw diamonds to somebody who has 0% at crafting them.  Of course, you need to declare this and any other looting policies PRIOR to adventuring, and make for darn sure there's no mixup later.  Ultimately who gets what loot and how it is divided is a matter of contractual agreement with the company of adventurers, and not some divine OOC mandate from the stars.

Now this does not stop you from being benevolent yourself and giving YOUR share of YOUR loot to the less fortunate.  When people roll for items they don't "need", there is always to option to barter, trade or freebie give-away said items to the poor on your own accord.  Don't however tell the rest of the party that they need to have smaller cuts just because somebody's poorer than they, or that they have less right to property which they fought for equally as hard as the little guy.  If you want a feel-good fluffy feeling in your tummy, donate YOUR property... not mine.  Communism is a nice idea, but inherently evil once charity begins with other peoples' property.

On all your other points though I agree.  In fact, it's totally acceptable if your the looter to log off if the party rushes ahead and you get ambushed by monsters.  Why should you wait around for a bunch of inconsiderate folks who let you die due to their impatience?  There's no RP reason for them to get that money too, since the monsters who killed the looter would have obviously looted him.  People who don't have time to protect the looter obviously dont care enough about the loot to deserve any of it... You'll always see Bjornigar stopping dead in his tracks and refusing to follow the rushers if a looter is busy, no matter how devsastating it is to the rushers.

On part 3) Save discussing loot till the end.. kind of agree and disagree.  I think once you band together, you should discuss how loot will be handled, what kind of split system you're using and who will be looting first.  When you get into combat though and somebody sees a pair of boots picked up, that is not the time to start calling dibs or trying to roll for them.  When you're on a GM quest and talking to the king, you shouldnt start ignoring him and rolling dice on his marble floor.  When you're all camping for the night however and somebody needs to part, it is acceptable to start splitting and bartering then.  I would also say that it is entirely acceptable to loot in the midst of combat in some dire situations... that's exactly what most looters in real life situations do... just look at the WalMart during Hurricane Katrina.  It is not however acceptable to start splitting, bartering or calling dibs during the life-or-death loot.

All of this is to be laid out by the party leader, confirmed by the consenting party members and done consistantly... that is the ticket to good looting.  There are many ways to handle the split and gathering too... you could have EVERYBODY loot and pool it at the end which works best when you're in a hurry, a singular looter that everybody guards if you doubt the collective honestly of the group, or even have 2 or 3 people looting and pooling.  You could have a sneaky rogue whose only job is to loot, or an invisible healer who tends field medic and loot at the same time.  The choice is entirely up to the party how it is done, but please make certain that it is all done fairly and that people understand before the looting the nature of the split and gather.

[ycleption]

If I could elaborate my personal opinion on point number 2, because I see it far too often.

First, from a tactical standpoint, would you really rush ahead and leave anybody behind?
From a role-playing standpoint, I think most characters would be interested in seeing what goodies are being grabbed, (remember your characters can't see the little green text that says who looted what unless they're looking), and stopping after each encounter, even briefly, just makes sense. Pause, see if anyone's been grievously injured, count heads, and loot...
From a greed standpoint, chances are if you are charging ahead, your looter isn't going to have a chance to grab everything, and you may be missing out on true or items by rushing the looter.

Also, (assuming the party hasn't left the looter behind), the looter should take the time to ask if anyone is interested in a particular item before deciding just to leave it on the corpse. Especially if you are a looter in a group with lower level players, remember that just because you have seen dozens of a particular item, and the amount of true on a particular creature may not mean much to you, another player may actually care. Loot for the whole party, not just for yourself.

[Dorganath]

Heh...well, leaving the looter behind is just rude...and frankly, kind of stupid. It also is a good sign that a group is out to grind and not adventure. Nevermind the fact that a dead looter loses half his/her gold and may likely end up respawning a continent away with all the goods.

If I were in that position and got left behind, I'd go invisible and leave with everything I've picked up so far.

But that's just me.

I think the key thing here overall is just a matter of mutual respect.  Agreeing upon the looting situation before the group goes out (and yes, there are many ways to do this IC), is the most important thing here. Every group will have their own dynamics and preferences, so there will likely never be a good one-size-fits-all solution.

Just show some respect and consideration to those you're playing with.  Remember that everyone's trying to have fun. Don't let your fun take away from someone else's.