DD is Dungeon Defenders and it uses a mix of both system, like there is random loot everywhere but there are also map specific rewards.
This means that if you need a new weapon for a certain class you can farm that map and get both normal loot as well as a potential best in slot weapon with a good roll. So you can never awkwardly run around with that level 26 blue weapon as level 45 since you just didn’t drop an upgrade.
DD kinda had an all encompassing MI system that way.
One of them you depend on rng and the other you rely on yourself and award is guareenteed ( or close to it). There are tons of players even in forums that say they yet to complete 10 sets after 1000 hours of playing. Thus there is big difference.
I think heavy-grinding is an old habit that ARPG games had many years, that should die and be replaced with something more viable, efficient and challenging.
10 sets , I completed one on my own , Clairvoyants , it has 4 pieces , I think most of the others are 5 , after 1000 hours in .
I wish , shoulders dropped a bit more often because apart from blueprint helms , shoulders for the higher sets do not drop at all for me , after 1000 hours I have had 2 from higher sets . Clairvoyants and Warborn x 2 .
Ultos was one of my first chars , in all that time I have found 2 pieces . Personally think it’s just getting to be a chore right now and have been playing less over the last few weeks . I used to do something everyday , now something maybe 3 times a week for around an hour . Just finding it a pain to put so much effort in for so little reward right now .
I despise that as well. I’d really be more down for “literally it just drops 100% of the time from x boss.”
"There are tons of players even in forums that say they yet to complete 10 sets after 1000 hours of playing. "
That’s the thing I’d like to avoid being the case. I’m not entirely lazy, but I am time-constrained, so I just hack in equipment. I’d rather the game make me work for it, because that has more meaning, but I don’t want the “work for it” to merely be time-investment. So, I’m just left with an imperfect solution.
It all seems to be a little self imposed. The problem may not be so much that it takes ages for a particular item to drop, but that we convince ourselves that we need that certain item. We spend a lot of time and get frustrated that the desired outcome isn’t coming about, a compulsion forms, we get frustrated, we need it to happen, we try to force it. That is the impulse that these random games play on, it’s why you keep coming back, it is essentially a gambling addiction. Prior time/resource investment is a powerful psychological motivator, compels people to blow all their earnings, and sometimes hold on to situations/relationships that have become damaging. If we don’t get what we hoped for it feels like a big loss, a waste.
So maybe the solution is to just release the need for that particular outcome. There is no item in this game that makes or breaks the game. The frustration leads to loss of enjoyment, and more compulsion. It might be more fun to start a new character, develop a new playstyle, see what else might have dropped, and maybe in the later part you will just happen to find that item, or maybe not. Maybe you have already found something that lends it’s self to an interesting build, just not the one you originally had in mind. In the end gaming is a pass-time, a sink by definition. No amount of time investment in the game is going to contribute to your sense of well being/quality of life outside the game, so the outcome of the game, ultimately, simply does not matter.
I much prefer loot farming to the seasonal leaderboard grinding that Diablo 3 employs now. Just having the game throw a set at you when you reach max level is not very exciting, and they’ve basically tried to replace the standard loot grind with making you start over from scratch every couple months with some slightly more powerful gear available for the next run. I strongly dislike both starting over and that whole dangling carrot approach.
That said, if people playing hundreds of hours are still unable to complete sets, the drop rates need to be increased or there needs to be some sort of mechanic to assist people in finding particular items. I know I certainly don’t have the patience to obtain gear that rare and it would increase my enjoyment of the game if I were to be able to obtain it. I find cheating in gear to be less satisfying than not having it, so that’s not an option for me.
Oddly, I have to agree with that.
Once I stopped re-building other peoples builds, the game became much more enjoyable. Now i create my own builds (some even with blackjack and hookers). Most don´t work out like I originally intended, yet few are not viable. Building around the items you have or find is way more relaxed than fixating on certain items “needed” to make build XYZ complete.
Some items just don´t seem to drop at all. For me it´s jewelery. Ultos´ gem? Does it even exist? 
some sort of mechanic to assist people in finding particular items
Well, there is the blacksmith in Tyrant´s Hold and trading, anything beyond that would be too much, imo. We wouldn´t want to invite Kadala to Cairn, now would we?
Sorry but imo it’s thoughts like this that caused the D3 team to allow 8 legendaries drop after a 15min rift. All i know is when a set item i need drops in grim dawn I celebrate like I just scored a winning touchdown in the NFL. Plus if something is being insanely stubborn you can just trade for it.
What if %80 is insanely stubborn? 
then you have the worst luck in the world
It all depends on how the game does the grinding. And by far, Grim Dawn is not too bad when it comes to Legendaries off all the games I’ve played so far. I’ve got tons of Legendaries, although none of them is one that I want. Making most of them drop everywhere is a big plus because that means you can go revisit a lot of places instead of doing the same boss over and over. So, it’s not that annoying.
The only problem is that the more Legendaries you add to game, more harder and time-consuming will be to find the one you want. But that’s a natural consequence, and can be easily solved by just tweaking up the drop values a little bit, in my opinion.
Monster Infrequents, on the other hand, need a second look and a serious overhaul in how to obtain them.
The thing is, items that have random affixes and associated bonuses are not new in games like these, but they were always been intended as placeholders until you get better stuff and as a mean to get cash. MIs (and rare affixes for that matter) are different because they are items that already have a few stats and if rolled with the right affixes they can have practicaly the same quality as a Legendary. And since some Legendaries are not compatible with each other and/or even made with specific staples in mind (I mean, most heavy armor tends to benefit better either Soldier or Demo, and caster gear Arcanist/Occultist/etc.), MI and other double rare greens are the way to fill gaps that you feel a Legendary will not cover.
But “IF” is the key word here because you are not fighting against one dice roll like Legendaries, you are fighting against three. You need to not only have a chance to drop the MI, but you also need to cross your fingers to also come with the affixes you want. And it’s not just one affix it’s two, meaning that you can drop one with one affix you want but chances are it will come with an indesired one, and them you get one with the other you want, but will come with another bad one. (or even none)
It’s almost the same problem with Runewords from Diablo 2. Good idea on paper to allow the creation of unusual builds for a particular class, but not only you need to farm the right runes, you also need a piece of equipment with the right number of slots, no more no less.
To make a long rant short, the “dice roll grinding” of Legendaries isn’t frustrating to me, and if it goes out-of-hand due to the increasing number of Legendaries, it can be simply solved by tweaking the drop rates. Monster Infrequent/Double Rare “slot-machine grinding” on the other hand is extremely cumbersome and frustrating, and the addition of a mechanic that assists you to get what you want (like a enchanter that changes the affixes to desireable ones for a high, but fair, price of iron and componentes) is extremely welcome and would open for new build possibilities IMO.
Grinding for loot means killing, and that part I like, what I do not enjoy is an inventory full of gear that is likely, or at least possibly, better than what I am using, and the amount of time that I can waste trying to figure out what to do with it all. That, for me, is a lot of not killing downtime that no game has figured out how to streamline while maintaining a respectable level of complexity.
The problem of grinding in this game is aimless - meaning ; you just grind for legendaries which is good for 5 different builds while you can not get the desired one. You just hope something useful drops. This is why, while you were waiting a legendary for your dee build, you are getting a legendary for other builds that are not on your list. Yes, game pushes you to try new builds but still you can not play your favorite character in ultimate unless you are lucky. Set part was better in TQ since areas were more limited mostly unlikely of GD which is all areas ? (Confirm me on this part, i would be glad to hear if it is otherwise)
Another thing that would make this less of an issue is if non-physique/soldier builds were less gear-dependent.
As it is, playstyles are locked behind grind. Maybe the inquisitor class, for example, will help reduce this (for dual wield pistols).
One thing that would mitigate the issue would be lessening the gear-dependence of nonphysiquesoldier builds. That very well may be what something like the inquisitor class will do. It should allow an easier time making gunslingers, for example.
It really is a matter of whether or not this is the case in practicality, but I’d hate for a play style or build to be locked behind grind. Is that the case now? Or is it generally easy to self find any build?
You will have a hard time finding the best in slot items, but you also do not need them to finish the game
I cannot agree that it’s “archaic”. Yes, this part of the gameplay comes from lack of content. But very huge number of players do not like challenge. When they come home from the work they do not want to have even more challenges in their life. They just run their favorite game and do the same things over and over. They are comfortable with them.
I do not like grind and usually do not play ARPG until high end content. Grim Dawn has even worse situation. I have over 1500 hours played but never completed Elite difficulty. It’s just too boring to this moment.
I can handle grind for some purpose. For example, farming reputation. When I know what I will recieve. But I do not like to farm when I even do not know will I recieve any reward today.
BTW, character level and shrines are such guaranteed reward.
As I know a lot of players do not like such random with rewards which you see in current ARPG. But most ARPG developers stick to this concept and stick to their audience.
There are a lot of way to make players like me happy (yes, crafting). But Grim Dawn have not them. Crafting is very weak here. Crafting is another way to get guaranteed reward.
Crafting seems like a nice middle ground solution. You have to grind for components, but you can bias towards certain pieces instead of relying on pure luck. It’s grind, but with a more guaranteed outcome.
Interesting discussion - i dont like the massive rng as well, and i think that a system that mitigates this issue would be benefit for gd.
Though i love dark souls, i dont think that it would fit gd. I dont think that the engine provides enough flexibility without a massive rework - or and entire new skill set for all chars. There is some tactic involved in bossbattles if you arent able to facetank, but focus purely on tactic would be too much. I think gd finds a solid middle ground here.
The crafting idea sounds interesting. The option is currently there, but far too costly and too rng dependent as well.
I could imagine a couple of things: