Knights Of Sparta

Basic Looting Etiquette in Dungeon Groups

When playing in a group within a dungeon, the question of loot etiquette raises its ugly head, and believe me this is where the game can get REALLY ugly if not everyone follows etiquette.

Towards this end Blizzard have devised the "Need or Greed" system. This creates a window onscreen whenever a Green or above quality item is looted by a party member. This window displays the looted item and a (quite lengthy so don't panic) timer, allowing you to click on either the 'Need' button, the 'Greed' button, or (if there is an enchanter of sufficient skill in the group) the 'Disenchant' button.

Once all in the group have voted, the game automatically rolls a random number from 1-100 for all those that clicked 'Need', and the one with the highest number automatically receives the loot. If nobody clicked need then the game automatically rolls a random number from 1-100 for all those that clicked 'Greed' or 'Disenchant' and the one with the highest number either automatically receives the loot or the disenchanted materia, depending on what button the winner pressed.

You can also click the 'X' to close the window and 'Pass' on the roll.

Standard game etiquette on the use of this system is thus:

If the item to be rolled on is one that you can AND WILL use, ie is better than the item you are currently using, then you should roll 'Need'.
Other than that then you should roll 'Greed' or 'Disenchant'.
If you used the Dungeon Finder tool to join a dungeon group then you will be unable to roll 'Need' on any item that is of an armour type inappropriate to your class (ie Druids cannot roll need on Plate, Mail or Cloth items.)

If, as is often the case, your character has a 2nd (3rd, 4th) set of gear to be used 'off-spec' (Such as Holy Priests having a 'soloing' set, or Druids having separate sets for Healing, DPS OR tanking, or anyone having a PvP set), an item may appear that, whilst you wont use it most of the time, will fit nicely in your 'off-spec' set. It is considered polite to wait to see if anyone else 'Need's the item and if none do, to ask in chat if it's 'OK to need for off-spec'; usually people will be OK with this.

Gathering Profession Materials (Skinning/Mining/Herbalism)

Often this issue is completely ignored and people just have at it on a 'first come, first served' basis. This is fine if all are OK with this. (This is generally what happens on KoS guild runs.)

The more formal etiquette of handling these things is, at the start of the run, to establish who is a Skinner/Miner/Herbalist and then establish if any of those actually use the items for professions, (Leatherworker/Blacksmith/Jewelcrafter/Alchemist/Inscriptor) or if they just gather to sell on. This is the equivalent of establishing 'Need' or 'Greed'.

Then the group decides either to 'Take turns' or 'Roll' between people that 'Need' (if there are none, between those that 'Greed'). Taking turns is generally considered better, as it keeps the run moving more quickly.

Combat looting:
It is bad form to loot a body while the fight is still going on. If there happens to be a need/greed item on that kill, a pop up box will appear while people are still fighting. This can have two problems: firstly the box might pop up over the top of some vital buttons, especially if the person is using a custom UI, and secondly people fighting really have not got time to consider whether that item is a need or greed and therefore may press the wrong button.

Boss fights:
On a boss fight it is considered polite to not loot until everyone who died is returned to life and within range of the kill. If you happen to have no one that can res then you wait for that person to run back from the graveyard. Also, only people who are there when the boss dies get a chance to roll, so if you die half way through the fight just stay dead and wait to see the outcome.

Even dead people who have not released get a chance to roll, so make sure the party is going to wait for you if you do release. Reasons why they may not are;
1. PUGs, you tend to get greedy people in PUGs who don't follow these etiquette rules and loot regardless, and
2. Sometimes the leader will make a call to loot anyway, normally on the last boss when they consider there is probably respawn that is going to prevent the dead people from running back.

Be aware that the fight isn't necessarily all over as soon as the boss goes down: there may be adds still alive that need to be dealt with (some may despawn when the boss dies, plenty don't); there may be environmental hazards still present that need to be avoided until they dissipate (poison clouds, blizzards, void zones), possibly right under the boss' corpse; there may be damage over time (DoT) debuffs that still need to be healed through or dispelled. It's very ignominious to die because you were taking too close an interest in the loot and not enough in your dropping health bar.

I didn't get to roll, why not?
There are a few possible reasons for this, some of these are:
Firstly some magic items are classed as unique and if you already have one of those items (even if in the bank) and a second one drops then you won't even see it.
Secondly some profession recipes or materia only appear for people who have the relevant profession and can us the item.
Thirdly, you were not present when the mob died or not present when the body was looted; this is normally caused by people releasing to the graveyard before the fight is over, or before someone loots.