The thing is, when green boe’s drop everyone is going to roll greed, and people who habitually roll need on them to vendor/AH will be seen as a douche. However, if something like Edgemaster’s Handguards drop (worth more than an epic mount), everyone in the group will roll need on it so they can go after the gold, even if someone in the group really needs it. This recently happened to me on an “unofficial server”, Edgemaster’s dropped in Maraudon and I said right off the bat “I’m rolling need and will equip it right away”. Somebody else in the party said “ok everyone just roll need” and I lost it. I was heartbroken, but I didn’t complain. After a certain amount of gold comes in to play, greed > need is seems. On that same server it was standard to roll greed on greens too, so it wasn’t as if some mentality was adopted that all boe’s are automatically needed on.
There’s a huge grey area with this though… at what value threshold is it appropriate to roll need on a boe item? It’s totally arbitrary. Do you roll need on a rare alchemy recipe if there is an alchemist in the group? There’s only 2 real solutions to this problem. Either the Classic community adopts a Zul’Gurub-mode style of just automatically needing on ALL boe’s, or Blizzard steps in and inserts a system whereby if you need on a boe it becomes soulbound. Anything other than these 2 options is pure hypocrisy IMO.
There is already a solution: if it’s not BOP, roll NEED.
There’s no “OMG NINJA LOOTER” drama if everybody NEEDs on a Righteous Orb or Teebu’s Blazing Longsword. The winner of the roll can then decide if s/he wants to sell/give the item to somebody claiming to truly “need” said item.
The absolute best thing to do is communicate with the group at the start of the run. “Everybody roll need on BoE items” or, “Only roll need on what you need.” Whatever it is, whatever you want, get people to agree IN CHAT.
If people then go back on their word later, post screenshots and ruin their reputation.
If you bothered to read my post and not just replied to the title, you would know that that is 1 of 2 solutions that I proposed as being acceptable. The way it is now even on “unofficial” servers is that need > greed unless it’s super valuable… but that “value threshold” isn’t clearly defined and therefore many ppl end up being screwed over due to hypocrisy.
I think the obvious solution is to roll need on anything you will equip immediately and roll greed on anything you would sell. I never experienced anyone needing on items to turn around and AH, regardless of how expensive the item is. Because using it for gold is essentially the definition of greed.
So every time I run Maraudon I have to specifically get everyone in the group to agree to pass on Edmgemaster’s Handguards so I can need on it, when it’s worth thousands of gold, and the chance of it dropping is like 0.0000000001%? I’d rather the community come together and just decide on a norm, instead of having to work out super specific details before every 5 man tailored to multiple specific items…
Whats funny is back when I played vanilla and TBC I don’t remember this ever being an Issue everyone seemed to greed BOEs if they didn’t need. On private servers however everyone would basically need if it was BOE made it easy.
We have a solution. Start of the run you say something like,
“We can all use money, everyone roll need on BOE blues and epics. Greens or lower roll normally.”
If people don’t want to do that then you come to an agreement about it. At least if you discuss it then people can do the run with some sort of agreement.
And if you do win something then it’s nice and the right thing to tip the rest of the people a bit. After all, you’re all in the instance together and all worked on getting the item.
I’m in the camp of if someone needs an item they should always get it above someone who would just sell it. But you’re right, as you said, there’s definitely a threshold somewhere.
If an item sells for 1,000g, is a +2 spirit upgrade (or whatever stat) worth no one else rolling? Take the time into consideration that it would take someone to grind out 1,000g for their mount. If it saves them that time and is such an incremental upgrade for someone else, why wouldn’t they roll need on it?
But if it’s a more massive upgrade for someone, then should people really be rolling on it just for gold? There’s definitely a sweet spot somewhere but I’m not sure where we could put it. The time investment to farm gold is pretty significant for most.
Most groups I ran dungeons with assumed it was an actually greed is you don’t need, need if you do need system. If a green drops that you are going to wear, people didn’t care if you needed on it. IF someone was being a douche and needing on something they can’t wear, isn’t an upgrade, or on everything, then it was brought up in the group (and yes talking about looting rules before starting is always a good way to avoid drama).
If there is someone who just insists on ninja looting even though the rest of the group has already decided on loot rules, then don’t group with them again. Simple.
As for high $$ items, I guess the group will have to come to an agreement on how everyone rolls on that.
The etiquette has been set for a while on this, you can create unique rulesets at the start of a dungeon if you want, as long as everyone agrees to it.
The normal behavior thus far has been the following
need bop if you actually need it
greed bop if you do not need it
need boe blues or higher quality (epic) - reason being people prioritize regular/epic mounts over most of the temporary gear upgrades.
greed boe greens (unless it’s an upgrade) - exception to this is righteous orbs or high value materials such as zg or recipes because lets face it anyone can have an alt to use said recipes. Some of the time people will hand over recipes if you really need it and lose a roll, depends on the value.
It should be expected that ANY blue or purple drop that is BoE is going to get Need rolled by most, if not all, members of a group. The only exception I see to the rule is if it’s a guild group. Then, you have the opportunity to discuss how best to handle the item, be it give it to a member of the group, roll Need for it, or just AH it for guild funds.
If its a PUG then everyone needs BOE unless you don’t need the cash. If its BOP and you don’t need the item then you roll greed. If its a guild run or someone is a good leader they take away the rights and you roll when your told and he gives it to highest roller or who can show they need it.
Basically, yes, that’s exactly what you have to do. Or, just go about it the easy way, be the one putting the group together. You’re free to make your own loot rules. Plus if it was made ahead of time that epics are following a MS>OS/Sell priority, most people would agree with you, because they also have epics that they’d like to win. You can put announcing the rule as a macro, you don’t even have to do any work beyond the first time you ever do it.
You’re NEVER going to get an entire server to agree to the same exact arbitrary rule. It’s just not possible and completely unreasonable. Make your groups, and make your loot rules. That’s the ONLY way you’re going to avoid issues on those expensive BOEs.