This is something that didn't have much discussion after the recent press event. From the gameplay videos, it looks like the loot is being picked up automatically.. but, the mouse and interface is hidden so it's impossible to determine for sure.
Gamers have been asking for an auto-loot or AOE looting feature as it's been highly successful in RIFT, but apparently only gold and health orbs will be automatically collected.
According to Blizzard, they will never be implementing a "loot vacuum" function because it lessons the choices available to the player. Yes, you heard that right.
No, we want players to be clicking on items still to pick them up. Gold is auto-pickup because there's never a reason to not pick it up, but creating 'loot vacuum' mechanics for actual items removes several layers of player decision and interaction.If this is the case, and they will never be implementing a auto-loot feature for Diablo 3 and each item needs to be interacted with individually. This makes me wonder how they'll be implementing the looting system in their console versions.
Will a selection box appear over top of loot piles and the user needs to scroll up and down to hot pick items?
Do you think that if they add auto-looting to the console version, they'll implement it for the PC to keep things fair. It might be implemented as a "new" feature at a later date.
Or maybe they'll just throw caution to the wind, implement it the way it should be done, and just say "Bah.. let's just do it and forget what we said" like so many other "Blizzard would never" statements.
It's a really awesome feature after all, and has been proven to work really well in other games. Loot vacuums are the future, and this is something that should be implemented in Diablo and WOW. Game developers borrow features and ideas from Blizzard, and Blizzard has done the same. Quality of life needs to come before pride.
If you've noticed some missing images, it's because I've been using an image host called XS.TO. Apparently, they've lost all of the images I uploaded.
It's no big deal really, I can just find another image host.. but it didn't take very long for this to happen (it might just be a highly unstable service) and I'm investigating the issue from my end.
This is a good opportunity though to test out their Customer Service department and provide a good review of the service. :)
I've already initiated a support request, so I'll let you know how it goes. Their response and helpfulness will determine my future use of the service and my own recommendations to others.