I want to echo the sentiment a few others have mentioned, it's astronomically improbable to gather complete Sets. Set items are weaker than an ideal Unique in the individual slot but offer the enticing potential to be stronger through a big set bonus when fully complete. However they fail to reach that potential as it's impossible to get the full set.

Are there any considerations to swing the odds in favor of collectors?

An idea of a simple adjustment I had was to receive full set bonus when N-1 pieces are equipped. That way you don't need to find every last piece to gain the benefit from collecting pieces in a set. It also allows more flexibility to mix and match Set pieces with Unique pieces. It's a step to making Set item collecting better but there are still steep odds to beat.

Another idea would be to only allow compatible Set items to drop for a particular class. For example in the early game I would only see the common sets of Martyr's, Samurai's, Emissary's, and Miner's and at end-game I would only see the class-specific Elite set of Bloodletter's drop for my rogue.

What do you guys think?

Mael had said he planned on opening some type of trade system, which I think would alleviate most of the concerns.

Another aspect is he said he would like to work on Elite set items. As we all know, the top set items now are really poor in comparison to the better Elite items in the game. As it stands now though, the current set items are subpar and it is nearly impossible to collect any one set. I have a 97 ranger and 80 wizard and still do not have a single set for ANY class. I have only 1 or 2 pieces of most classes. It's pretty annoying to say the least.

Diablo 3 is proof that it's terrible design to make an auction house the primary means of obtaining equipment. I'd much rather be able to collect the sets through playing the game than playing a market.

Definitely want to address set items... I want to make the current set the exceptional set tier and then add 14 sets of elite-only gear. As far as trade/auction house goes... I think that's bound to rustle jimmies no matter which route I go with. Auction house is convenient and super easy. Trade systems require social coordination, but make it harder to find what you need. I kind of like the idea of an AH just because it'd be fun to design. No way I'd do a RMAH, though. That's what ruined D3 for me. Imho, I don't think the AH itself ruined D3... juts the real money aspect.

Also... another thing that made D3 painful is that you basically couldn't find good items yourself. It was designed so you basically had to go to the AH to find gear that you could use. You only found gear that was like 10 levels lower... and they did that on purpose to force you to go to the AH—real slimeball move. I played D3 a ton and I was even one of the first players to beat the game on hardcore with a Monk, yet I never found a single set item. What a joke...

I've got half a doz characters 80ish or higher, most in Hell and have not seen a complete set - most I've got is 3 pieces I think. I've mostly got 2 bits of any given thing, and the stats on them aren't terribly tempting on the whole.

Having said that I haven't seen much in the way of really awesome elite gear either aside from a couple of nice weapons, so. RNG hates me I guess

An AH ( not RMAH) would really help, trade is definetely something I'd like to have in this game.
I like sets and set items, my highest chars use a good mix of set and unique gear, some bonuses from having 2-3 pieces of a certain set are kinda nice.
That said, I have yet to complete a set ( apart for a 4 pieces one ) so can't tell if they're overall better than elite uniques for their class - which they should be imho.

Actually one piece away from getting the full Baron Set just can't bring myself to use the weapon, even for the 15% damage increase with chaining .

So, the OCD in me went to have a look. This how many pieces I have collected of each set:

4x Augur
5x Baron
4x Bloodletter
4x Daimyo
1x Duke
3x Friar
3x Guardian
3x Malefactor
3x Medicant
2x Satyr
2x Summoner
3x Venova
2x Willow
3x Wraith

Also to mention I have deleted DOZENS of duplicates.

^ I have 5 Augur and 4 Baron pieces (and max 3 pieces of the other sets), looks like those are the most common ones?
...or maybe it's just RNG...

Yeah the dagger is amazing for a rogue but I wouldn't want to use it on a bard.

I'm glad to hear there will be a review of the stats on set items and more sets to come but what about improving the drop mechanic to where you can actually collect them?

All set items now have an exceptional quality version that drops. This should make it much easier to find set items in general since they're crammed into the exceptional quality loot pinata. The elite quality version ALSO still drops, but they will be removed once I add the new elite set items in. That might make them collector's items in some sense, but not really because I doubt anyone will care about them after complete elite sets are in the game.

I'd hate for content to be obsolete before anyone even gets to try it. Sounds like a waste of good time/code. What do you think about my suggestions to make it easier to collect and use set pieces?

1) Full set bonus at one less than full set pieces. For example with the class specific sets, combine the full set bonus with the 5 piece bonus so you receive the full effect when you wear five out of the six pieces. This will make it easier to obtain the bonus and give players who collect the full set the flexibility to pick which piece to drop in favor of a strong unique replacement. Seems like this change would require minimal effort as it's just a change in the item database and doesn't mess with game code.

2) Only drop set pieces for the player's class. This would make a dramatic difference and allow players to use a set when it's relevant. This change sounds like minimal code work.

3) Scalable set items. Code set items as a 'template' that spawns at an appropriate iLvl to the mob that dropped it. This way the current class sets don't become obsolete and it gives players an interesting choice in which set they want to employ once they collect them both (the current 'exceptional' or the new 'elite'). I understand this change may not be easy to implement so could be out of the question.

#1: Not a bad idea. I will consider it for the exceptional sets, perhaps. Honestly, it's probably not necessary... but maybe. Moving the entire set back to exceptional quality solves a lot of problems in my mind.
#2: Nahhh. Mailing items will solve a lot of this asspain. The item rarity is really designed with item trading in mind. This capability isn't far away and will probably happen in season 1.
#3: Hmmmm... I think this is impossible with my current design. The loot table is basically a giant Pachinko table.

I'd just like to say that with the drop down to exceptional I have noticed a dramatic influx of various set pieces. Crazy how big of a difference it made.