What is LootShare?
The LootShare developer blog that went live last week discussed various different features that we could potentially include in our version of the system. The description below specifically describes what we have decided to offer.
LootShare aims to share out loot evenly across a PvM team. The player who does the most damage does not simply receive the drop and, instead, it chooses someone from the team based on each player’s LootShare potential (LSP) . As more complex boss fights are added to the game, players will be required to perform roles outside of just dealing damage. LootShare would allow those supporting players to still get a chance at drops.
When a player receives a drop the value of that drop is taken away from their LSP. That value is then spread among the rest of the team and added to their potential.
This means if you miss a Bandos Chestplate drop for example, you will have a high amount of LSP, meaning an increased chance of you receiving each drop. The next time a Bandos Chestplate comes around, you’ll have a much better chance at receiving it!
LootShare is only usable on LootShare worlds. If voted into Old School, around 60% of worlds would be LootShare worlds. This ensures that there are still plenty of available worlds for solo players and non-LootShare teams.
As a whole, items will be distributed in a more balanced way than they were with the original system. Where the original system only took whether you had the best or second best LootShare potential and gave you a flat chance of getting the loot, our version of LootShare will give you a drastically higher chance of receiving loot if your LSP is drastically higher than the members of your team.
Unlike the original LootShare system, LSP will not decay . Any potential you have earned will last until you have received enough loot to consume it entirely. The same applies to negative LSP (where you receive a large loot and it becomes unlikely for you to receive more) - you will have to miss enough loot to get yourself back to positive LSP.
Your own LootShare potential will be visible to you. It will be displayed as very negative, negative, low, high or very high depending on where you stand. This means you can get a good idea of how likely you are to receive loot.
These changes resolve a lot of the issues found in the original system while still offering the many benefits of LootShare. You won't have to worry about your LSP decaying or missing out on several big drops when you have very high LSP. The system will be a lot more simple and balanced.
Why add LootShare?
One of the big responses to our last LootShare dev blog was players asking why we are interested in implementing LootShare as the system was initially released as a way to enjoy a team PvM while the trade restriction was still in place.
While this was the original reason for releasing LootShare it does not mean to say that there are substantial benefits for the system for today's Old School players.
Removing the issue of trust
One of the biggest benefits If you are in a team of 5 and one of your team gets a 50 mil drop there is no guarantee that you will end up receiving a split. For those of you that don't have a group of people to take on bosses with this can be a real problem.
LootShare offers a way to avoid trust being a factor all together. Relying on LSP to distribute loot fairly over time rather than relying on your team to split each individual loot means that you no longer need to be concerned with whether or not your team are trustworthy.
Potential future expansions
While relying solely on LootShare is a good solution for some situations, in others you may want to receive a more precise split of a loot as it is dropped. Any system which would allow us to do this would require LootShare as a base.
One example of a system we could offer if LootShare were to be introduced is InstantShare. If you were to get a signature drop from a boss monster with InstantShare enabled the item would instantly be sold on the Grand Exchange to the highest existing offer . The coins from this trade is then split evenly between the team.
This system is similar to CoinShare but avoids the issue of generating coins. InstantShare would not generate any coins at all . The coins would be coming straight from the offer that another player has already made in the Grand Exchange. It would not create any issue with inflation or incomplete trades.
This is just a concept at this point in time and would not be introduced with LootShare . It is a much bigger job and requires LootShare to be a game feature in order to exist.
As always with Old School updates, the most important thing is what you think. Let us know exactly how you feel about what we have offered today and we will do what we can to make the content the best it can be!
Depending on how the community feel about our proposal for LootShare, we may be polling it alongside the top 10 PvM quality of life changes this Thursday. We look forward to seeing what you have to say!
Mods Alfred, Archie, Ash, Ghost, Ian, Jed, John C, Kieren, Mat K, Maz, Ronan, Weath
The Old School Team
@JagexRonan
02-Feb-2016 10:07:39 - Last edited on 02-Feb-2016 18:01:30 by Mod Ronan
