# WoW: Rolling Need on a Lockbox = Ninja? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 17, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238 "2011-05-17T20:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/1 "2011-05-17T20:02:34Z")
Just your thoughts here, please. I was in a dungeon with four other guildies, and one of the corpses offered up an Elementium Lockbox as loot. All five us us rolled need on it, but one person had a full-on hissyfit saying we were all trying to ninja, etc. Since you have no idea what an Elementium Lockbox (or any lockbox for that matter) contains, I say they’re fair game. Unlike, say, a high-value piece of plate armor when your toon wears leather; you can’t use it so by doing anything other than passing qualifies you as a ninja. What are your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/2 "2011-05-17T20:04:09Z")
What? No way. Rogues don’t even need them to level lockpicking skills any longer. That person was being an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/3 "2011-05-17T20:09:12Z")
I wouldn’t roll Need, personally. However, this varies by group. If I were in a group where everyone, say, rolled Need on lockboxes, I would roll Need with them since, in that group, it’s expected. This is assuming I want lockboxes, though; for me, they’re just vendor trash, 'cause I hate trying to find a rogue to open them. That being said, there is this [achievement](http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=559/needy). It wouldn’t justify lockboxes, but I’ve been in Wrath runs during Cata where everyone rolled Need on all the boss drops, just to try to get this achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/4 "2011-05-17T20:11:43Z")
I don’t know about WoW specifically anymore, but lately in other MMOs, it seems like unless an item is class-specific, rolling “need” is the rule nowadays. It makes sense; for things that anyone can use, rolling “need” makes it so you have a fair chance at getting it. You roll “greed” and someone else rolls “need”, and you’re out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/5 "2011-05-17T21:49:24Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Just your thoughts here, please. I was in a dungeon with four other guildies, and one of the corpses offered up an Elementium Lockbox as loot. All five us us rolled need on it, but one person had a full-on hissyfit saying we were all trying to ninja, etc. > > Since you have no idea what an Elementium Lockbox (or any lockbox for that matter) contains, I say they’re fair game. Most groups I’ve been in, everyone just Greeds a lockbox. Everyone Needing works the same way, I guess; but the point is, everyone should have the same opportunity to win it becasue it’s not class-specific. > [@](#): > > Unlike, say, a high-value piece of plate armor when your toon wears leather; you can’t use it so by doing anything other than passing qualifies you as a ninja. I disagree with this, though. I almost never “pass” on anything unless someone else has alreaded Needed, and I don’t need it. Otherwise I Greed everything, to vendor or disenchant. If someone needs it, they should Need; if no one needs it, I have as much right to it as anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/6 "2011-05-17T21:57:31Z")
Absent a prior agreement, my rule of thumb is: Need if I intend to use it, Greed if I intend to sell it, Pass if neither. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/7 "2011-05-17T22:00:49Z")
As long as everyone rolls the same category (need, greed), each has the same opportunity to obtain the item. What’s the big deal? Usually the loot inside lock-boxes is trade-able, so you could agree to give it to someone if they can use it and the winner cannot. Or just have a master looter open the lock-box to see what’s inside then have the “needs” do /random. You can have a prior agreement that everyone will roll the same category (or decline to roll if they prefer). It doesn’t sound like a very difficult problem to solve and the person who complained (after also rolling “need”) was probably angry and losing the item. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/8 "2011-05-17T22:08:54Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > …but the point is, everyone should have the same opportunity to win it becasue it’s not class-specific. But the item(s) inside lock-boxes are often limited to certain classes. A paladin isn’t going to wear a robe even though they need its intelligence and stamina. He _could_ wear it, but he’s not going to. So lock-boxes can be class specific. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/9 "2011-05-17T22:22:23Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > But the item(s) inside lock-boxes are often limited to certain classes. A paladin isn’t going to wear a robe even though they need its intelligence and stamina. He _could_ wear it, but he’s not going to. So lock-boxes can be class specific. That’s the source of confusion, I think. The lockbox itself is not class-specific, the thing inside it is. But it’s the former being rolled on, not the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/10 "2011-05-18T00:11:55Z")
Yeah, no. Not ninja. Ninja was the fucking warrior I ran into rolling “need” on a piece of Warlock cloth because “Oh, my guildie needs that!” [ETA]: When confronted with the BoP tag on the item, said warrior promptly dropped out of the instance as well. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/11 "2011-05-18T02:32:20Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > But the item(s) inside lock-boxes are often limited to certain classes. A paladin isn’t going to wear a robe even though they need its intelligence and stamina. He _could_ wear it, but he’s not going to. So lock-boxes can be class specific. Yes but you don’t know what’s in it when you roll; and you often don’t know until you find a rogue after the run is over. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/12 "2011-05-18T13:40:51Z")
IMO, anything you can’t be guaranteed of using should not be Needed on. So, by that metric, a lockbox should never be Needed. If everybody rolled Greed, and then the last roller hit Need, then I would agree that they were attempting to “ninja” it. However, in practice, I wait until the rolls come in or attempt to quickly type “Roll Greed” in the party chat. If everybody rolls Need, then I will too. If they all roll Greed, then obviously I will also. If only one person Needs… well normally I’ll Greed anyways and let them take the heat. But yeah, if you can’t or won’t equip it immediately then you shouldn’t roll Need. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/13 "2011-05-18T21:06:11Z")
Wait, so the guy who complained also rolled Need? He’s upset because everyone else behaved the same way as him? That doesn’t make _any_ sense. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/14 "2011-05-18T21:10:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, so the guy who complained also rolled Need? He’s upset because everyone else behaved the same way as him? That doesn’t make _any_ sense. Yeah, that’s pretty dumb. All I can figure is he was the last person to roll (or one of the last) and was complaining that they _tried_ to ninja. This has become more of an issue with the RDF, since you’re grouped with people from other servers where the culture might be different. It was extremely consistent on Cairne that you didn’t roll Need on anything you weren’t gonna put on immediately. Since you have no idea what’s in the lockbox, Greed is the proper roll. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/15 "2011-05-18T21:33:59Z")
What the heck is a BoP tag? ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/16 "2011-05-18T21:37:36Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > What the heck is a BoP tag? Bind on Pickup. That means you can’t auction it or give it to another player who wasn’t eligible to roll on it. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-rolling-need-on-a-lockbox-ninja/582238/17 "2011-05-18T21:38:16Z")
Bind on pickup. They are changing things (or already haved? I haven’t played much lately) where things that were initially Bind on Equip (meaning you could sell them on the Auction House for gold, or give them to other characters you have) become Bind on Pickup if you roll Need on them - primarily to thwart this type of behavior.