Just a few thoughts on why it is where it is now.
Why forced autoloot?
To avoid players missing precious loot just because of not knowing or having bad @al settings.
Why vanish if not looted?
Similar reasons, to make sure the items goes to each players without the possibility one player grabbing everything and to not clutter the floor with up to 12x items.
@partyloot
Was added to mimic @autoloot for this situation, if you know what you are doing kinda.
Setting this on loot basis rather than whole map sounds like an option, needs a bit more setup for sure to pick the right items etc.
The other easy option I see is, allow the cluttering of the floor. Dropped items this way are still locked for the char they belong to for a few seconds so "stealing" would be blocked by that.
That would be an issue when multiple person's loot drops at the same location.
I'm happy to hear as much feedback as possible. Sorry for you being the guinea pigs here 🙂
Also optimizing the saved settings option is possible, but depending on the other mechanics could lead to risking losing loot.
Happy discussing