Item drops not totally random? Or just coincidence?

[Diab]

I've been wondering about this question for a while now. Are item drops really random? Or is priority given to items that the class you are currently playing, can use?

The first time I really thought about it and wondered was when I played a Witch Doctor, in beta 13 I believe it was. I did a first multiplayer Skeleton King run and got a total of 6 magic wanga dolls, 1 rare wanga doll (first SK kill), and 1 ceremonial knife. The next SK run I did after that had the result of a total of 5 wanga dolls. And the next after that yielded 3 more. Screenshots below:

First run:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...eenshot076.jpg

Second run:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...eenshot081.jpg

Third run:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...eenshot084.jpg


Since then, I've been noticing similar coincidences happen, although with not nearly as much quantities. For example, just a few hours ago, my DH got a rare bow as a first-kill SK drop.

Now I know this isn't really conclusive testing by any means and could all well be coincidence, but I wanted to ask if anyone else has noticed patterns like these.

[Superstate]

I do understand what you're grasping at, I remember a while back I noticed I hadn't had a wanga doll during maxing characters to 13, until I started to level a witch doctor and they became close to the most frequently dropped magic item.

That's still just another anecdote however, and we would need much, much larger samples to be able to draw any conclusions.

[Diab]

That is one creepy coincidence. It's sets of drops like this that makes me wonder about it the most.

Of course I understand what you said about needing much larger samples to determine anything. But it really makes you wonder sometimes...

[Superstate]

It's possible that low level areas have a weighted drop rate of items to slightly favor the class you're playing. Getting a good upgrade early is a good trick to get new users to continue playing by giving them a hint of the excitement when finding a good upgrade for your character.

[Autti]

item drops for first kills are weighted towards you're character.

This is a deliberate decision to allow immediate play through, and not force the player to stop and search for gear before tackling a harder boss.

[Sooru]

item drops for first kills are weighted towards you're character.

This is a deliberate decision to allow immediate play through, and not force the player to stop and search for gear before tackling a harder boss.

April Fools?

For OP, someone getting 6 items exactly for his class is bound to happen when there are so many people running beta. There are several people who notice this 'pattern', and 5384975349 who don't and don't make a post about it

[Boi]

I hope it's random.

[Grayson Carlyle]

April Fools?

No... Blizzard actually stated this a while ago. I've been confused why anyone even started this thread when we already knew that first-kill drops were not completely random.

[Diab]

No... Blizzard actually stated this a while ago. I've been confused why anyone even started this thread when we already knew that first-kill drops were not completely random.

Because, I didn't know that. =p

I knew that first-kill drops had almost a 100% chance to drop a rare or multiple rares, but did not know if they were completely random item types or not.

[Superstate]

No... Blizzard actually stated this a while ago. I've been confused why anyone even started this thread when we already knew that first-kill drops were not completely random.

I would like a source explicitly stating this!

Edit: I should say I'm not in disbelief, more for the sake of completion.