Question - Losing drops offscreen...

[ARTgames]

The reason this is done is probably for FPS lag AND packet lag.  The fact that some people have a faster computer doesn't mean that the packet is gonna send faster.  Anyway to get on topic I only play on some peoples old accounts but my word for you is:  Suck it up.

As I said before, drops cause hardly any fps lag and if you do try to make some coin lag, it's your problem and can easily be overcome. And I think he means packetlag as in fps going down so the packets are sent offtime. Which again, hardly matters. i've tested having over 500 gold on the ground, and it doesn't reduce my fps at all. Only increases natural lag a slight bit.
That, and the objects can be deactivated when not in view, not destroyed. So it really wouldn't matter much.

yeah true but i think he(Mr Pwnage) wants to know the amount(distance you can go away from drop) and not the reasons why not to expand the area. yeah i know i helped get this a bit off track. sorry.

I'm sure meiun will explain more under my post.

[Meiun]

Yes it is true that everything in game that is more than a few screens away essentialy dosn't exist for you ingame (drops included), and yes it would be very easy for me to make it so drops DIDN'T go away when you got far away. This was done on purpose (maybe not the all time most agreeable decision, but a decision none the less).

[Mr Pwnage]

Thanks for all your input guys. I think I got my answer, about 2 screen lengths. Also, I already knew about item/gold drops dissappearing if you walk about 2 and 1/2 screen lengths away, and I personally think it's fine. I actually like it that way. I just wasn't sure about losing "hits" on a monster, like how far off screen you have to be in order for the game to stop accknowledging you did damage to the monster. I got my answer, and that is what I am looking for.

If you all want to hear my personal opinion on the matter, even though it wasn't the reason I made this topic, here it is: I think the current system is fine, regarding how far you have to be for items/gold to be deleted off the ground. I think it a good, and reasonable distance. What I don't like though, is losing hits on monsters. I think you should never lose your hits on a monster, but, if the monster dies and it is the distance away that items/gold should be deleted, than they are. In other words, be near the monster when it dies. The reason why I don't think people should lose hits on a monster offscreen is because people have to sit and stay still to regenerate HP, there is no other way. So if an SG comes, you should be able to heal safely, than return for some damage, than repeat, etc. Everyone has somewhat of a mental gage though, when a monster should be about dead. When this gage goes off, you should make an effort to be in the monstrosities area of death.

The current system is fine as it is though, as long as people are aware of it.

[Lingus]

I don't think you can have it both ways... If your hits are still counted when you move away from the monster, that means you are still receiving the data. The whole reason why it is done the way it is is so that it reduces lag. If you receive data from all monsters in the game world it would lag like hell... Anything not within a certain distance from you is "destroyed" and you don't receive any of the data until it comes back in range. I don't think you can choose to have one particular piece of data not destroyed. I may be wrong though. It might be a question of how difficult or complicated the process would be.

[ARTgames]

Lingus you could still have it that way but the server keep track who hit the monster and when it dies it could check if the player still in the zone. if no sent nothing and if so drop.

[Meiun]

Even though the general design seems to point towards this method, it would still definitely be possible to make it so you never lost drops even with the method I used for data transmission and engine efficiency. One of the biggest reasons I ended up going through and keeping the whole exp/drops thing the way it is was because it makes it so that you have to stay "engaged" with the monster to maintain all your progress on him (think of the "run away" option in all those classic RPG). There is already such a small punishment for death in the game, that being required to stay engaged with the ones you do fight hardly seemed like a bad decision to me. Anyways, you guys can continue discussing it if you want, but I think I've made my points here. This all seems to have been discussed pretty thoroughly.

[ARTgames]

i wish there were non pvp potions i could spend gold on so i could keep fighting the monster for longer. I think the problem people are having is that they are just healing and people start leading the monster away. those monsters have such short attention spans. :P

[Mr Pwnage]

Even though the general design seems to point towards this method, it would still definitely be possible to make it so you never lost drops even with the method I used for data transmission and engine efficiency. One of the biggest reasons I ended up going through and keeping the whole exp/drops thing the way it is was because it makes it so that you have to stay "engaged" with the monster to maintain all your progress on him (think of the "run away" option in all those classic RPG). There is already such a small punishment for death in the game, that being required to stay engaged with the ones you do fight hardly seemed like a bad decision to me. Anyways, you guys can continue discussing it if you want, but I think I've made my points here. This all seems to have been discussed pretty thoroughly.

I have already recieved answers to my question the topic has been originally created for. And this explanation here seems completely rational and informative about the whole "Losing drops offscreen" system's logic...So as the topic creator I am locking this, because I see no point in further discussing this.