Loot and luck
Learning paths through this topic
Pay out salvage materials fairly when each item gives only a fraction
If a common item breaks down into less than one dust, rounding makes salvaging a pile either worthless or generous, and the player learns to salvage one by one or all at once. This entry makes both ways pay the same.
Let the player search a container item by item, even if interrupted
Searching is tense when the contents appear one at a time, and annoying when stepping away makes you start over or when closing and reopening gives a different chest. The progress and the contents each have to live in the right place, and the speed bonus must not lose time.
Let players search a room for hidden loot without searching the same spot forever
If every search is a fresh roll, players press the key until the secret door opens, and finding things stops meaning anything. If it is one roll only, bad luck hides it for good. This entry gives a second chance only when the player has become better, and lets sharp eyes see the obvious at once.
Make some finds appear only in winter, even when winter spans the new year
Berries in summer and frozen game in winter make a calendar worth following. The catch is a season that starts in late autumn and ends in early spring, which a simple from-to check treats as impossible. And a find that switches on abruptly at midnight feels like a bug, not a season.
Count armour set pieces so two of the same ring do not count twice
A set gives a bonus when you wear enough of its pieces, but players soon find that wearing two copies of the cheapest piece fills the count. This entry counts what should count, keeps the bonuses in steps, and ignores what sits in the bag.
Rotate a shop's wares each day without the stock changing on reload
A merchant who sells the same things forever is dull, and one whose shelves change on every reload is a slot machine. Players want a reason to come back tomorrow, and a fair price for waiting. This entry also covers what happens to sold-out wares and to the days a player was away.
Show loot odds on screen as percentages that add up to exactly 100
Three equal items shown as 33.3 percent each add up to 99.9, and players write angry posts about hidden odds. Rounding each number separately never works. This entry splits the leftover fairly so the list is honest and always totals 100.
Let thieves steal from a monster's pockets without the item dropping again at death
A guard with a ring on his finger should drop that ring when killed, and let a thief lift it first. Two sloppy designs duplicate the ring or remove it from the sprite but not from the loot. This entry keeps what a monster wears, what a thief can take and what it drops in one place.
Let supplies grow thinner each day without rounding them to nothing
A world where the old stores slowly run dry makes players move on and take risks. But shrinking a stack of three by a few percent and rounding it gives the same three, then suddenly nothing. There is a way to shrink amounts smoothly that the player does not see coming.
Choose where a supply crate lands so nobody gets it for free
A supply crate falling out of the sky is a great event until it lands on a player's head, in the middle of someone's base, or next to the last crate. It has to be decided by the server in a way that repeats exactly and still gives an answer when the map is crowded.
Take everything from a chest into a nearly full bag without losing a thing
The take-all button looks trivial until the bag has half-full stacks, one free slot and a pile of single tools. Done carelessly it deletes the rest, fills slots in a silly order or leaves room unused. The chest should keep exactly what did not fit.
Merge three gems into one of the next level, again and again, without losing any
Merging many small pickups into fewer bigger ones is a satisfying chore, and a good way to keep the bag small. It goes wrong at the edges: leftover pieces that vanish, merges that only go one level, or a top tier that tries to merge into nothing. This entry does it in one pass.