Unfortunately, the very dead horse has to be beat up again, and after going through many threads which have already been going for close to 5 - 6 years now, it seems most if not all of them just end up fading into silence.
At first I was reluctant to write anything in the forums about it, it's honestly one of the most "controversial" subjects in the PoTM community, and opinions on it fluctuate from side to side. Yet when its effects are perpetually felt in your everyday game experience, I believe it is only fair to bring it up once more.
First of all, from both an IC and a narrative point of view, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the concept of ninja looting. In a world like Ravenloft, it makes complete sense for people to wish to avoid the danger, and yet get something out of it. The "IC morality and logic" behind it is not what I wish to point at because that has been long debated and it's evident that just like a powerful character can on its own walk into a dungeon and set it ablaze, a stealth can sneak through it and take the loot.
With that out of the way, let us tackle the mechanical aspect of ninja looting. I've read in many threads that "ninja looting is inconsequential and doesn't affect party play." But either that script ceased working a long while back, or the entire system is not functioning as intended because, it affects massively the gameplay of those unable to ninja loot (as in, melee trashcans in armor that have to fight stuff due to our -55 hide and MS) .
What actually occurs is that, when a strong dungeon gets ninja'd, the dungeon's strength remains untouched, which means that it is still at max spawn. In a way, it is inconsequential in terms of EXP since ninja looting doesn't reset the dungeon's strength mobs wise. THAT SAID, the loot is reset, so you find yourself in silly situations where you have to cut through a dungeon in it's peak, just to find Vallaki rank loot within it's chests, rendering the entire experience null and void of satisfaction.
And I can see some say that the experience in itself is enough reward for a dungeon, I disagree. There is a large aspect about any DnD game and that is the joy of finding a reward at the end of the line, you and your party go through various hardships and find something of enough value that it justifies the danger you went through (most of the time at least). Such a feeling is rarely felt due to the above mentioned point.
Some examples of the top of my head would be : Hotep (You can fight a legion of undead and a powerful boss and be rewarded with sand and combustible oil if it was ninja'd prior.) , Sithicus's Barrows (The two chests to the side are often filled with 1 GP worth robes, a worthwhile reward for dunking it out with a beast that can one shot you), Salt mines (Frost rods, really?) and the list goes on ...
Which brings the questions, how can ninja looting be truly molded into the server's "fun" aspect without it being completely detrimental and against the entire philosophy of said server which, and I quote "Encourages partying for dungeons." ? And is there a way to truly find a system that allows both sides of gameplay to coexist without one stepping over the other?