I'm not sure I agree with the OP - I think randomized loot can be a good way to go. The problem is that in D:OS it's completely broken:

- no cloth accessories (bracers, boots, helmets) appear past level 10 or so. And yes, I have savescummed and reloaded countless times to test this.
- "but your mages can wear leather". But the problem is that the randomised stats somehow fall down at this point, and you rarely (never?) find leather with +INT. And why does leather armor not have a stat requirement like metal anyway?
- Following on from the above, why do Sarongs have an INT requirement? Past level 5 or so a specialist Warrior or Rogue can't wear them.
- the random stats are far too random. I understand the game encourages unique builds, but metal armor with +Sneaking and cloth with +STR is catering far too much to these fringe builds and leaves specialists out in the cold. Some balancing of stats between specialist and fringe builds would be ideal.
- in contrast to the random stats, the weighting of item types is completely screwed up. In my testing the percentage of chest pieces was far too high; something like 70% of the items in chests were chest armor (no pun intended), and sometimes 3 of 4 items were chest armor.
- some areas have loot levels far below their mob level (e.g. Hiberheim) EDIT: just found a chest past a puzzle in Phantom Forest with lvl5 gear :s
- the temptation to savescum (saving before opening chests or talking to new vendors and then reloading to refresh stock) should not be there. As someone suggested before, loading the items for an area as you enter would be ideal.
- the crafting system doesn't make up for any of the above. Some crafted items can be OK armor-wise but they won't have the stats of a similar level green or above. The jewelry is a joke, even with the best ingredients (which you don't get until halfway through the game) you can't make items that are comparable to early-game drops. Also there are massive holes in the system - you can make chests and boots but not bracers or helms? Why?

Last edited by Mordelombra; 15/07/14 07:30 PM.