Guild Wars 2

Ok, I’m curious..

Over the past few years, I’ve come across many games that utilized a “Drop Stat”. ~ Yet just like GW2, most of those games never actually explained HOW those stats actually affected drops.

So players remain in the dark.. hypothesizing how things “could” work. ~ Usually until an organized group starts data-mining the game.

Regardless, many of those systems are broken down into 2 types.

% Bonus (Magic Find) Vs. Gated (Prospecting).

So what are these systems and how do they work?

% Bonus is setup so mob drop rates never actually change.. thus your “% bonus” only comes into play WHEN a mob drops something.

IE: It increases the % you’ll get something better from the mob’s loot table.

Gated locks off rarity/specific drops by having a specific amount of “Prospecting” required to be on your character or the group in total, to even have a chance at those items dropping.

IE: If the celestial dagger has a “Prospecting” requirement of 300 ~ and you only have 280, then the dagger will not ever drop for you, regardless how many times you kill the mob that “drops” it.

Keep in mind that both of these types of drop mechanics can be set up to affect:
1. Chests
2. The Mystic Forge
3. Map Awards
4. Mob Bags

They can also have pre-set’s that your “stats” are utilized.
IE: Does your magicfind/prospecting count when the chest is spawned?.. or when you actually open it?

Would only affect those players that have a full gear set that focuses on maximizing your “Drop Stat” ~ which you don’t equip till after you’ve killed a boss, before you open the chest.

Furthermore, does your group come into account aswell?.. IE: anyone attacking the mob in question.

Does the mob “count” everyones “stats” towards the end drop table?..

Anywho!?

Looking at the above… which do you prefer and which one would it be awesome to find out that GW2 actually utilizes??

% Bonus (Magic Find) Vs. Gated (Prospecting).

#Not a serious topic, just something fun to think about

Also something to keep in mind ~ most games that use the “gate” system also have “looting” classes via Theif, Enutrof, ect..

For people that are still a bit unclear..

Magic find = Passive loot design
Prospecting = Active / Artificial Difficulty via Class balance (Risk / Reward).

Basically, Magic find is generally a trivial stat people just use food/cash shop purchases to buff on occasion. ~ While Prospecting is an actual core mechanic that facilitates dungeon difficulty and mob encounters.