The Group Loot rolling system in place by Blizzard isn’t horrible, but it has some major shortcomings. One of which is the player’s own definition for the options presented to them. Blizzard has set aside Need, Greed, and Pass.

Working backwards, Pass is fairly straightforward in that you are essentially saying you don’t want the item. The game mindset has also adopted “you don’t want the item yet” so that an Enchanter can work their mojo. The players aren’t really passing on the item, they’re just not interested in it’s current state…

Greed is even more straightforward. The drop represents a financial return, be it vendored or more likely, sold in the Auction House. However, because of the adoption of the Enchanter-based change in the definition of Pass, Greed has adopted another definition of what an Enchanter should choose when it is their duty to dispose of the item. The trustworthy Enchanters aren’t merely going to pocket the item and vendor it…

And then there’s Need. There are two levels of need, which is a shortcoming of this system: Need and Want. We should be all fairly clear on the Need definition — being that primal drool-inducing state where we imediately discard whatever crap item we used to have occupying that slot in order to embrace this jewel from the heavens…

It’s the other use of Need that we’re not too unified on. When they only Want something, most players in a PUG will roll Need, or at least ask the group before doing so, if they’re more polite. However, in guild, there’s a tendency to roll Greed instead, often against the enchanter. Well, that is one way of saying that you don’t Need the item, but statistically speaking, you’re shafting everyone else…

Roll #1: 50% Want vs. 50% Enchanter.
Roll #2: 20% each (5-man), 10% each (10-man), etc.

Assuming the Greed/Want roll failed, the Enchanter d/e’s the item, and everyone rolls. Overall, the Want has a 35% chance to win something (assuming a 5-man), while everyone else only has a 16.25% chance to win the shard. That’s not fair to the others… so what if he doesn’t roll on the shard? Well, that first roll still counts as 25%, leaving only 18.75% to the other 4. These odds are even harsher in a 10-man group: 30% vs. 7% each, or 25% vs. 8.33% each, respectively. So, no matter what, if you roll Greed for an item you Want, you’re shafting the rest of your team.

The counter argument is that if you roll Need instead, then you have a 100% chance to get the item, and the rest of the team has no chance at all. Good! At least you could use it, even if it’s only something to rub in peanut butter and parade around in the basement… uhm. Yeah.

The way PUGs deal is asking first. We try to set up our looting rules so everyone just kinda “knows” what is going to happen, and that the asking, and the “approval” is implied. To make it “fair” to the rest of the team, we do consider it a Need. You could avoid the ramifications of needing something, which currently is nothing more than Loot List bragging rights (shut up, Necro), by hitting Pass, but then you have to watch as your beautiful peanut butter baby is sharded and some fat cow with a shield walks off with its remains…

In short (too late): You want? You need!