ALL the knowledge we have of the game, of the loot etc up to Loot 2.0 was garnered by the community through playing and sharing information.
Why is it such a big deal that we now have to do this again?
Think of it as PE v.2 - The community are starting again from a low level of knowledge as to what influences loot return (despite MA giving clues, which is more than we had in the past..), and we now have to produce tools, websites, apps etc. which will allow the collection and dissemination of this information so that in a while we will be back to a similar level of knowledge and those who can will be taking advantage of this knowledge to make their money again...
Embrace this as a challenge.
Those who are crying that this will cost money etc. Remember, the knowledge you have to use was made available by early players spending that money in the first place. And by players continuing to experiment, push the envelope, lose big, win big etc. Contribute or pipe down.
Secondly, who said we MUST make a profit in this game? Everyone seems to forget MA are a company. They need to make a profit to continue. If we all made 100% or more TT, who is going to pay the bills?
Yes, a few may profit for a while. That is the nature of semi random systems where some variables can be controlled by the avatar. But not all. Therefore we should not EXPECT to profit day in and day out. Not even with the most eco gear (if the statements from MA are read, they make clear that ECO is NOT the only variable any more, if it ever has been), as there have been more variables disclosed as affecting both the composition and the value of the loot. The variable may affect both, or one.
Owing to the nature of the variables, those who's gear, playstyle, mob choice, skill level and wallet are closest to the ideal variables will profit more than others (TT profit). This is necessary to have players hear about 'making money in a game', attracting new players and publicity. But again. The likelihood of making a permanent TT profit is remote due to the variables being...well, variable.
Remember, ANYTHING you do which involves getting a return from MA WILL eventually cause your money to run out. Entropia comes from entropy. The law of diminishing returns. Any system where entropy is employed will run out of whatever it is eventually.
Hunting, mining and crafting are all entropic activities, meaning there are enough variables to make a permanent TT profit remote and any money used to partake in these activities will, TT wise, diminish to the point of nothing left. Profit should be made from MU.
Now, MA 'appear' to have changed the composition of loots (or have we done that by no longer being close to the ideal variables?). As such, less consumables are dropping. this will lead to higher MU for consumables as there is less in the marketplace, meaning players (hunting/mining/crafting) will get more % returns and possibly profit. Although this will also mean crafted items become more expensive...inflation, if you will, so no-one will really be any better off.
Less consumables=higher consumable MU = more expensive crafted items = more costs to hunt = less % TT return and the cycle starts again.
The only way to GUARANTEE profit in this game is make money from other players. Provide aservice, trade etc. Anything that does not rely on a 'loot' of any type.
In addition to this brainstorm of mine, I have also had a thought about the 'optimal' loot situation.
If we are hunting for example, and creating decay, this decay may contribute towards the loot from the creature. This would explain the bad returns from those above who are using uber-eco setups creating almost no healing or armour decay. Perhaps the decay is NEEDED to go towards the loot from the creature you are shooting. Minimim decay = minimum loots...
This will change as we as a community change our thinking from being super-eco to finding the ideal cost to kill ratio which will give the best loot returns per mob / maturity of mob.
TL/DR
Contribute to the gaining of knowledge about ideal setups. Stop focusing on the old DPP measure as there are way more variables involved. Be a community and figure this stuff out instead of throwing your toys out of the pram cos you expect to play for free cos you always have.
Things have changed. Change with it. Create the apps which will allow the tailoring of setups.
Have FUN rediscovering EU, as we old-timers did with PE.
Edit: Possibly the wrong post, but also applies to all other posts discussing the changes.