Loot (computer game)

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Loot [ luːt ] ( English "booty", "plunder") in video games , also known as drop , is a term for any loot that opponents leave behind.

description

Loot is a reward system in computer games that mostly rewards the killing of computer opponents (rarely that of other players). By collecting the loot, the player can develop his character further, either directly by using it or by selling it within the game and reinvesting the game currency in suitable equipment. The prey items differ enormously in value and quality. Simple opponents often drop common items, which are mostly only suitable for sale. Bosses , on the other hand, often leave behind rare and therefore particularly sought-after pieces of equipment. The probability with which such objects appear is determined by the so-called drop rate . Developers can use them to exercise control over the economy of the game world.

The player who picks up the loot is called the looter . This term is also often used for players who specialize in collecting loot (e.g. by scouring the game landscape for leftover, not yet claimed items). If several looters join together to defeat opponents for the sake of the loot, they are also referred to as raiders , their group actions as raids (English for "commando action", "raid").

"Loot" is especially important in action role-playing games like Diablo 3 and MMORPGs like World of Warcraft . But shooters like Borderlands , DayZ and Destiny also rely on this mechanic.

effect

Action role-playing games like Diablo 3 use loot to rely on a collecting instinct and the player's desire to keep improving their figure, which triggers a pull that continues to play. With a constant flow of objects, quick reward impulses are set. It is the drop rate in particular that keeps the expectation of finding something new or surprising high. As a result, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in the player's body while playing , which encourages them to continue.

On the other hand, the loot items in this game form usually only differ slightly from one another. Due to their inflationary occurrence, they have little significance for the game principle. In contrast, in titles like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls , for example, there is the model with only a few, precisely placed and difficult to access loot. These objects fulfill a predetermined function and are therefore important for the further course of the game.

Loot systems

Since the number of valuable loot items is usually kept low, the distribution of the loot is a fundamental problem, especially in group-based games. Since the goal of most MMOs is to improve your own character, denying loot can lead to personal conflicts lead between fellow players.

In order to ensure a fair distribution of the loot, sets of rules, called loot systems, are often used. There are systems that are run independently of the game, such as Dragon Kill Points (DKP), in which, for example, the participation of each player in actions of the playgroup is rewarded with points that can be used to purchase a desired item when auctioning the loot after a successful raid. An easy-to-understand and transparent looting system is seen by players as an important label feature and a trust-building function. Players sometimes make their group membership dependent on their agreement with this set of rules. In the social environment of online games, they can therefore strengthen group cohesion in a usually disparate field of participants and make an externally imposed set of rules or external intervention superfluous. However, as in the case of DKP, they are sometimes very maintenance-intensive and not satisfactory in every respect.

There are also systems integrated into the game. For example, as in Anarchy Online, they set a loot priority that allows only those who were actually involved in the fight to pick up loot within a short period of time after defeating the opponent. Other systems calculate the contribution of the players to the total damage and the resulting share in the loot. Alternatively (e.g. in World of Warcraft ) the opponent is marked for the attacker and his group during the first attack and can only be looted by them after his death. Other systems rely on so-called private loot streams that are created individually for each player.

The so-called loot whore or "loot whores" are players who do everything to acquire it, regardless of the value of an object. On the other hand, players who try to get all of the loot from the rightful owner (those who killed an opponent) are called "ninja looters". They disregard pre-established loot rules, which is why their behavior is often perceived as unfair and demotivating. The term comes from the context of the MMORPG Everquest .

meaning

In some cases, real money is made with looted objects by reselling them via Internet forums. Trading in virtual goods leads to phenomena such as so-called gold farming .

There are also role-playing games that start out ironically about looting , such as B. The Bard's Tale , in which the first wolf to be killed by the player leaves behind all sorts of objects, from weapons to armor to kitchen utensils, which one would never suspect of a wolf.

literature

  • Rebecca Trippe: Virtual Communities in Online Role Playing Games: An Empirical Study of Social Structures in MMORPGs . LIT Verlag, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-10301-7 .
  • Julian Dibbell: Play Money: or How I Quit My Day Job and Struck it Rich in Virtual Loot Farming . Basic Books, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-465-01536-8 .
  • Scott Andrews: The Guild Leader's Handbook . No Starch Press, San Francisco 2010, ISBN 978-1-59327-258-6 .
  • Timothy Rowlands: Video Game Worlds: Working at Play in the Culture of EverQuest . Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek 2012, ISBN 978-1-61132-069-5 .
  • Tom Chatfield: Fun Inc .: Why games are the 21st Century's most serious business . Random House , Walnut Creek 2010, ISBN 978-0-7535-2302-5 .

Web links

Wiktionary: loot  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Trippe 2009, p. 170
  2. ↑ Peter Winkler: Computer Lexikon 2010: The whole digital world to look up , p. 534, Verlag Markt und Technik 2009, ISBN 978-3-827-24519-9
  3. ↑ a b c Forbes : Dark Souls Vs. Diablo III: Two Philosophies Of Loot In Video Games (August 16, 2012)
  4. ↑ For instance, one role-playing game convention is the trainer from whom a character purchases more powerful spells and abilities after leveling. Another is the point of killing monsters: to loot them in order to obtain new gear which makes characters more powerful.
    Rebekah Shultz Colby: Chapter 9: Gender and Gaming in a First-Year Writing Class . In: Richard Colby, Matthew SS Johnson, Rebekah Shultz Colby (Eds.): Rhetoric / Composition / Play through Video Games: Reshaping Theory and Practice of Writing . Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-465-01536-8 .
  5. ^ Hilde G. Corneliussen, Jill Walker Rettberg: Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader . MIT Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-262-03370-1 .
  6. ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Diablo-3-PC-27763/News/Diablo-3-Weniger-aber-bessere-Items-Blizzard-will-die-Droprate-senken-1073254/
  7. ↑ a b Nina Weber: "Diablo III" in the test: the sword is willing, the mouse is weak . In: Spiegel Online . May 23, 2012. Accessed on June 25, 2013: “ The fascinating thing about" Diablo "is something else: As soon as the opponents drop the first magical objects, it develops the typical pull that also made its predecessors endless games. "Hack and Slay" is the name of the genre, but "Slay and Loot", "Slaying and Looting" would be more appropriate because collecting - and creating - magical equipment completes the fun. Actually a simple, downright stupid game concept. Only: Somewhere deep in the brain, in areas that have not changed much in the past millennia, a little hunter and gatherer hops with enthusiasm at every new, only slightly better weapon or armor. "
  8. ↑ a b c 'City of Heroes' is a massively entertaining online success . In: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Aug. 31, 2004, p. 3E. Retrieved January 31, 2010. 
  9. ↑ a b http://www.buffed.de/Destiny-PS4-256942/News/Destiny-Open-World-Shooter-soll-private-Loot-Streams-enthalten-1075496/
  10. ↑ Jamie Madigan: The Psychology of Looting Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Article scan) In: GamePro (US) . April 2011, pp. 38-43. ISSN 1042-8658 . Retrieved June 23, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cdn1.gamepro.com 
  11. ↑ Chatfield 2010, p. 177.
  12. ↑ a b c Andrews 2010, p. 95.
  13. ↑ Rowlands 2012, p. 97.
  14. ↑ Trippe 2009, p. 170.
  15. ↑ Chatfield 2010, pp. 177f.
  16. ↑ a b 'MMORPG Etiquette - Do's and Dont's of MMORPGs'
  17. ^ Neils L. Clark: Addiction and the Structural Characteristics of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (PDF; 673 kB) In: Gamasutra . United Business Media. S. August 19, 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  18. ↑ Chatfield 2010, p. 178.
  19. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wow.joystiq.com
  20. ↑ MMORPG Planet / Playmassive - MMORPG Lexicon ( Memento from May 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ Andrews 2010, p. 96ff.
  22. ↑ Miguel Lopez: Onlife # 32: Good game ninja loot ( English ) In: GameSpy . November 9, 2005. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  23. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5825580/blizzard-will-let-you-sell-your-diablo-iii-loot-for-real-money
  24. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/loot-real-money-in-virtual-worlds/3337924
  25. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/the-bards-tale-2004/previews/the-bards-tale-hands-on-early-levels-6109072/