During dungeons, monsters drop items like scrap metal. Most of the time when I go to grab one of these and run over it, a person on the very opposite side of the map will receive it, or another person on the opposite side of the room will receive it. I've had times where I haven't even moved from the elevator and have received 2 items. (Chat log tells all) At this point I don't even try to go after them as whoever grabs it is just putting themselves at risk for a reward they are likely to not get. Is it supposed to go to a random knight or is it just lag to the uberist mega supreme?
Btw this is extremely annoying when the party leader is afk and gets 6 of the 9 items dropped in the level.
It's completely random who in the party will get a dropped item, although I think that if someone joins the party mid-level, they can't get material that was already laying on the ground before they got there. Not quite sure, though, so don't quote me on it.
It is pretty annoying if you get the short end of the stick with item distribution, though. At least materials tend to be pretty cheap on the Auction House, it seems.