Selecting need for loot

Yes and no.

What you're trying to do is put all the blame on one side. If that's your plan, how hard is it to say "Hey I plan to roll need on gear my companion can use" from the start as well. That's what I do so that there isn't any hard feelings or misunderstandings.

It's far easier to say "Hey from the start I said that's what I'm doing" than trying to say "why wouldn't I do that" if no one "knows" to expect it.

That's why I just tell everyone when I roll for a companion, since I personally have no idea what's going on in their head.

You circumvented all my questions there getting caught on the semantics of one line I typed "The OP did state that the first group told him not to do it and why, then he did it again and was kicked." I meant the second group, my assumption on the first was because like most groups do, they gave the OP 2 chances.

My point was that in the second FP group the OP did know exactly what he was doing. Knew it was against the grain to do such a thing and was even told after he did it once. It seems you agree with that. My point was that (and I thought I summed it up pretty good at first.)

The OP and anyone reading this thread at this point knows the social convention. While you may argue that it's not fair to assume everyone knows it right off. It is also completely arguable that everyone should know it (though incorrect) because this has been an MMO standard for some time. But either way once the OP was told, he now knows the social standard and is choosing to ignore it for personal gain right?

Not only that. but by acknowledging that this is how the social standard works, and confirming it in a group that abides by these standards. And then going against it the OP or anyone who uses it is able to gain a 100% chance on loot knowing well that they are cheating the other players out of the loot right?

Considering that my question was, do you think the OP and anyone else should abide by the community standards?

The OP and anyone else has the right (or option) to roll need on any item that they helped to produce, and to attempt to take that right (or option) away is wrong. Would it be better for all if people followed the "social conventions"? Yes, it would. Could the OP find himself on many ignore lists? Of course he could. That does not make it right for me or anyone else to attempt to take away his right to roll need, and I will defend his right to roll need, even if I choose to follow "social convention".

It legit makes me laugh that people on a flashpoint mission with 3 other real human player characters thinks that a companion- who isnt even present or used in the flashpoint deserves any consideration at all in the loot rolls.

truly unbelievable.

It seems to me like people are getting off topic.

First off, you can level to 50 with free quest gear so people saying they need an item to level is false, or at the very least an exaggeration of how much a single item will help them. That is not to say that making immediate use of an item is not a strong argument to hit need.

It is far more efficient to hit the need button and sort out conflicts afterwards. This is because in the majority of cases the item is not an upgrade for anyone. So yes, if I see something I could use for whatever reason I hit need. If someone feels that they could make better use of the item they are free to whisper me and make their case. The "need" button should probably be re-labelled "want". I think this better expresses the purpose of the button.

I prefer simple rules. I pretty much stated my looting system in two sentences, and it handles every scenario that could possibly occur. I'm not going to read a two page essay on how to decide between need/greed/pass. Especially not when ambiguity is introduced - did that trooper roll for himself or his companion???

A lot of it does come down to simple greed. Many people just cannot handle not winning loot. How else to explain why so many people raged at the initial story mode loot system in ops? A perfectly fair and simple system that was taken out because of greed.

Anyways, happy looting to all.

He IS right though in that those ARE the default rules by which most flashpoints and ops gravitate towards, to the point of an unspoken rule there. They might not be hard coded in the game, but they ARE what most people use.

Which is why if you decide you want to buck the norm, always ask first if you want to continue running flashpoint groups - as long as a person who wants to roll for a comp is willing to back down and hit greed when someone else in the group needs it, I have no issues with someone asking to roll need on an item otherwise no one else really needs for their comp.

But the key is to ask, and to respect and back down if someone else legit needs it for their main.

But see, this requires social interaction and common courtesy. And what we've learned is that the people who are arguing for just blindly rolling need on items for their comp and not suffering any consequences is that these are selfish, antisocial jerks.

If that is how you want to run, state it at the beginning and all is well. You may have people drop, you may not. I'm ok with that. That is not the topic though, or at least not the underlying issue.

By using the group finder tool you are agreeing to the system put in place by BioWare, which is need/greed/pass. I am fine with that system so I will not make any attempt to enforce rules on other people.