I think this is a problem the community usually does a decent enough job solving on their own. You will always have people being deceitful about their needs, you can't design a system to prevent that. I can't think of the last time I actually had a problem with a group over loot rules, though. Regular items just get rolled on for anyone who wants them. Big ticket items go to the class that can use it first, or if they don't need it, anyone can roll.
I honestly can't think of the last time that didn't work and someone needed an item but someone else took it, so long as the need was expressed.
We don't need complicated loot flags on items and there are far too many exceptions to the rule where it would just make things needlessly difficult. As long as everyone in the group agrees on the looting policy, it's almost never an issue anyway.
I've come to change my mind about NBG because of the earnest discussions about this from Fantheons.
So, I have decided to act in this way in my understanding of NBG: If it is something that will upgrade an item I have, I will claim need. I will then wear the needed item and present the item I replaced to the group to roll on as greed loot for them. I will not roll on that item (my old item), thereby increasing their odds.
I think the enjoyment of the earned upgrade from grouping is greater than the delayed gratification from selling stuff I can't use that's taking up bag space.
IMHO, a simple rolling mechanism is all the game needs to offer. At best NBG is a futile attempt at preventing selfish players from getting more than their fair share, at worst it legitimates anti-social behavior to an extent. The cleanest solution is that everybody has an equal chance of winning.
However, loot distribution in a pick-up group is an excellent opportunity to display generousity and make new friends. So before you decide to keep something for yourself you should consider if somebody deserves the item more or would benefit more directly from it. Maybe you have already won several nice pieces and they have not, or maybe the item would be a perfect fit for them. Should you decide to give your prize to somebody, chances are they will return the favor at a later time, and at least you have generated some social credit.
But to get a chance to show this side of yourself, first you need to roll and win.
#CommunityMatters
((In Pantheon this wouldn't really work out so well in general because (for example) warriors can equip all weapon and armor types, which would allow them to need almost anything. And due to different abilities favoring different stats for each class who is to say the warrior (or any other class who might fluxuate between armor/weapon types) doesn't need those leather dex/agi bracers for a build? ))
Good points - I still remember the grief I got when I rolled need on something that was a big upgrade for me but was more useful for another class.
One obvious approach is that if the game has heavy, light and medium armor a class can only roll need on the heaviest of these that it can use. So a warrior might benefit from the stats on a piece of light armor but he or she couldn't take it away from a caster that could *only* use light armor. This would be fair as each class would only be able to "need" for one type of armor.
The point about whether we are making things too complex and cumbersome is valid, however. As is the point that everyone needs cash and everyone in the group hopefully contributed to the success in getting a piece of valuable gear even if they cannot use it.
Thus, years ago, I switched postions (yes these debates occasionally do change minds) and now feel it best if need/greed rolls apply only to bind-on-acquire items where there is a compelling argument that someone who needs it should have priority over someone that could only sell it to a merchant for 10 copper pieces. Assuming arguendo that the item cannot be deconstructed into valuable materials that any class can use.
I only cite Everquest because it's the game I've been playing recently, but their Advanced Loot system (while pretty terrible) does seem to handle rolls pretty well.
Basically everybody rolls need on everything and the master looter holds important items back for rolls and asks the group for actual need rolls only. I think I've only ever met one person who had a problem with this system. The greed option is entirely ignored outside of deliberate rolls on high end loot, where it only matters if no one in the group actually needs the item.
Then you'll have a Wizard say, "Hey, if you guys don't mind I could use the runes for research," and the master looter just passes all the runes to the Wizard.
It's simple (at its core) and elegant and seems to work very well in literally every group I've been in except for that one guy who was just being a douche about principles.