Loot Distribution

Ways of handling the phat epic lootz that you’re bound to eventually get.

Loot Management Week: The Ultimate Solution

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I was drafted on Friday to compete in a CS: Source tournament at the VS Gaming Arena down here on Broadway. It was a great tournament and it’s an excellent LAN center which boasts 18 of the fastest computers I’ve seen ever. They also have an X-Box 360 and a Wii for players who want to have some fun on the console (Halo 3 anyone?). They’re one of the first LAN centers in Vancouver that I’ve heard of to have acquired a copy of Team Fortress 2. Anyway, after some last minute strategical work, we placed 3rd (Don’t be amazed, only five teams showed up). If I wasn’t play WoW and if I had a better computer, I would be doing this more often. Vancouver has a huge untapped LAN scene and hopefully VS Gaming will evolve into something big in the future.

Today’s piece is long and will bring all elements together for what I believe is the best possible answer to everything for a freshly formed raiding Guild where people may not be used to each other quite yet. It will cover a basic DKP system, discouraging DKP hoarding, and a loot hierarchy.

We’ve covered economizing loot items. We’ve covered player/loot discretion. Both have their strong points and their weak points. Now lets combine the two together and see what we can come up with. I’m going to use T1 and T2 loot as an example.

Effective DKP

Effective DKP utilizes the zero-sum DKP system along with an extra element: Attendance. A frequent complaint of Guilds is inactive players who attend raids sporadically. There is no consistency at all over their attendance. Effective DKP would help ensure attendance. In addition to the zero-sum amount that you would normally get from taking down a boss, an attendance percentage value would be added to help weigh what your final DKP total is. The formula would be the total number of points you have earned multiplied by the attendance rate over a period of time (60 days, 45, or 30 days) would determine the final figure. Choosing Effective DKP rewards players who attend scheduled Guild events.

An example would be Player A earns 100 DKP. However, his attendance has dropped to 40%. Player B has earned 40 DKP but has attended 100% of raids. Both players would effectively have 40 DKP.

Countering People Hoarding DKP

A controversial opinion has involved the use of a loot priority system by awarding members with items who have attained some important status. Players are hoarding their DKP in the hopes of utilizing it in later dungeons to acquire significantly superior loot. For example, players forgo their Tier 1 pieces in the hopes of skipping right to Tier 2. It is important to remember that the objective of the game: High end equipment allows completion of difficult dungeons. As they progress in difficulty, the items become superior to that of items obtained earlier.

An incentive that has been used in the past is to prioritize higher level pieces to players who already possess the initial high level pieces (ie, a T2 piece to a T1 player). Proponents of this system argue that in this manner, players will take their T1 piece n the route to T2 thereby helping the organization as a whole. Every piece no matter minor or trivial helps the team progress as a whole. Opponents of the system argue that this system, while forcing players to upgrade their initial gear, does not benefit the organization. This would concentrate items on specific players only. This system would gear out up a small group of players instead of the entire group. It would far benefit the Guild in the long run to have a player equipped with T1 and another player equipped with T2. In this manner, the potency of players has equalized to a similar degree. The success of players in a raid instance would not have to rely on one or two players who have received three epic quality items. It allows greater flexibility in player and class deployments to answer any threats or obstacles.

Another incentive to persuade players to take T1 items is to include a DKP reimbursement system. A player who takes T2 would receive a refund on the points used to obtain their T1 piece. In a sense, their T1 piece is received free when the player helps the organization. The economic benefits of this would be enourmous. Tier 1 items would help greatly. Not only does the system encourage people to take pieces, it allows other players a chance at earning T2 pieces who do not have T1. This is extremely important as it helps distribute both levels of loot accordingly.

Opponents of the system would argue that it would be unfair for older, veteran players if newer players who already have a T1 piece, come in and take advantage of the discounted price and reimbursement. There are several different methods to account for newer players. One way is to play such players on a lock where they will not be able to obtain any items for a set period of time unless other members of the Guild do not need the item. This way, points can still be accumulated but they cannot be spent. Once the period has expired, that player is allowed to compete for and bid on items.

Another method is to only reimburse players who have received items within that organization. Players already equipped with T1 upon membership would be required to pay the full upgrade price regardless. Both solutions help deal with newer players.

The Hierarchy

Finally, the third part in issuing and awarding items is to incorporate a hierarchal system. An example would be a Guild with three levels. The lowest level would have players start at the bottom with the low attendance or new Guild members. Although new members have a low chance of receiving any rewards, it is not entirely impossible. There is still a chance for them to receive items. The second tier would consist of long standing members of the Guild w ho have not distinguished themselves but their combined capability helps the Guild. Their presence has been steadfast and enduring. Their persistance has helped the Guild progress. The third tier would comprise of members who have stood head and shoulders above everyone else. They would consist of the leadership like class leaders or officers. These people are the backbone and spine of the Guild. The core players help hold the organizationtogether. Ideally, they would recognize the value of Guild progression and will not hesitate to pass gear to benefit the raid as a whole.

The proposal for a tiered level of loot priority would be structured so that the third level would have option first, followed by the second level, and then the first level. This helps ensure that new guild members do not simply join and then leave after receiving an item. But the most part, the third and second levels of membership would have equal loot priority.

Conclusion

No system is better then that of human discretion. Always use it. Different ways to handle loot are useful for different types of Guilds. Find out what works best for you.

Loot Management Week: The Council of Looting

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I woke up this morning feeling like Dean McAmmond. I won’t discuss too much on 2.3 Priest changes. My colleagues have done a great job thusfar (Ego, Kirk, and the rest). Once I wrap up the week, I will take a look at some certain Shaman improvements.

Apparently there are high level Guilds out there which do NOT utilize a DKP system in any way. It’s… uh, really weird! I can’t say that I’ve ever been in such an organization that distributes loot based on what the Loot Council thinks. Yeah, there is no complex web script to maintain. There is no pencil and paper number crunching involved (or UI download required). If the Guild thinks you deserve it, it gets auto looted to you.

What the hell? What kind of Guild would do such a thing?

A Guild whose main goal is to progress. A Guild which values utilitarian values. A Guild that doesn’t care about loot as long as they progress. Personally, I am one of these types of players. I don’t really care about who gets what loot as long as it benefits and helps the overall raid. I figure if the Loot Council running things was mature and NOT selfish, it has a high possibility of working. The deciding methodology could range from players who want an item messaging the Lootmaster, or having officers inspect all eligible players to determine who gets the dropped piece.

I don’t think I need to spell out the possible pitfalls or negatives that this kind of loot system will offer. Think about it for a moment. The loot you get is dependent on a group of players. There’s always a possibility of bias. There could be accusations of favoritism. This kind of system offers the potential for Guild drama that would clog the front page of WoW Insider for a long time. I’ve never been in a Loot Council Guild, but I would imagine the environment would reek of paranoia.

But surely there must be benefits or else many top end Guilds would not consider the system. Aside from the lack of work involved, this system would fit strongly with organizations that have been together for a long time. I don’t refer to one year as a long time. I’m referring to three or more years, long time. These are rare Guilds that have grown together for such a long time that they consider each other an extended family. As such, they would have no need to rely on point systems to economize loot. They possess that instinctual knowledge of loot priority. They know who would benefit the most from item drops. They also know that the person they give it to would utilize it to the fullest. The Guild becomes that much stronger, which leads to being able to take down more difficult bosses.

In theory, I do agree with the principle. It’s a great Utopian ideal. But Communism also failed. Even after taking a Philosophy course and being exposed to the many ideals of Locke and Beccaria and all those other old guys, I still firmly believe that man is inherently selfish. Obviously not all of them, otherwise this system would not be in use today. If your Guild wants to pull this off, the most important thing to nurture amongst all your members is trust and a sense of community. Otherwise, nothing will stop a player from bolting once they get an item that they want (then again, not many systems can counter it anyway). Can it work? Yes, because my friend has been a part of two successful Guilds that have done it.

The next two days, I will wrap up Loot Management week with what I believe is the best possible system.

How DKP Works

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DKP: What Is It?

Simply put, I would define it as a form of currency for players. When MMO’s first came into being, a loot system needed to be formed. Players realized that it would not be fair to just allow anyone to roll on loot. It would completely suck if a player joined a raid and rolled 100 while you rolled a 1 even though you were there far longer. So some guy came up with a method to assign value to item drops (I think this was back in Everquest). DKP stands for Dragon Kill Points. In Everquest, they didn’t have you kill off Ogres or Shades or Demon Hunters (At least, I don’t think so).

There’s various methods for earning DKP and it is entirely up to your Guild brass to use what they want to use. Each method has it’s own positives and it’s own negatives. There’s different ways to spend it. A lot of players whine and complain about DKP and it’s usage. But the thing about DKP is that it doesn’t determine if you get loot… it determines when you get loot. A lot of people have difficulty wrapping their heads around that concept. They start complaining when some other player gets that coveted 500 spell damage weapon before they do.

Here’s a brief overview of the different ways Guilds can classify their DKP earning scheme:

Time based: DKP earned is relative to the amount of time spent raiding.
Boss kill: You take down X, you earn Y. Simple concept. It’s kind of like working where you get paid once you finish something.

Spending Schemes:

Basic: Your typical bidding system
Zero Sum: It’s a fixed system where the same amount of points being spent for an item get redistributed throughout the entire raid. So if a player spends 25 points to purchase a Bow, the entire raid gets 1 DKP each (25/1). Carnage utilizes this.
Spend All: This goes to the highest bidder. They are required to go all in on their bid. Once they get an item, they have to climb the ladder all over again. This results in a fairly even distribution of loot I would imagine.
Hybrid: This one’s an interesting system. You have a fixed cost on items and you add a random number generator on tp of that to help weigh the statistical chance that the player can receive that item. I daresay it’s a bit complicated to set up.

More analysis tomorrow. I turn 20 so I may not get around to it. It depends primarily on how much alcohol my friends pump into my system.

Loot Management Week: Karazhan

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Sorry guys, I had a really busy weekend. I had to finish up a few projects and participate in my hockey draft. I think my picks look pretty solid.

I’ve noticed an alarming trend lately in how some younger Guilds are imposing DKP for their Karazhan runs. Wait, what? Why? Why use DKP for loot distribution in a small ten man instance? Hopefully my plea can change the course of Guilds so that they don’t run into any Guild Drama later on in their path.

Don’t use DKP for Karazhan. As a Guild run, there will be at most two classes that are the same (warrior/warrior, priest/priest). It adds unnecessary work and possible consequences in the future. Loot should be decided via rolls or gear prioritization. I’m assuming that your guild is running with the same crew of people on a weekly basis. Even if you have two or three groups for Karazhan, then the loot being distributed should remain in those individual groups.

Like come on, seriously, its only a ten man raid. Did anyone run UBRS with DKP? I think not. There’s only a few pieces in Karazhan that can be used by multiple classes. Even then, a simple roll off will work for it. There’s a LOT of bosses in there that it’s almost virtually guaranteed that everyone will get an upgrade at some point. As you progress through the higher areas of karazhan, you’re going to end up with players with an insane amount of DKP through the roof. Once you start instances like Gruul’s and Mag, then you will have players with lopsided points (in the range of thousands). These are the instances where DKP really DOES matter.

The rest of the week, I’m going to discuss the various methods that Guilds can use to distribute their loot in the best possible way for players. Each loot system is different and should be tailored to the primary objective of the Guild.