someone recently asked me how ‘guild progression’ will affect selection of who is raiding when and how loot is distributed. a good topic blog answer for all. keeping in mind that in the long run, everyone gets to go more than they want and everyone gets more than enough loot.
there are a lot of different models of selecting who is going on which raids and who gets what loot. in keeping with our philosophy of keeping it simple and keeping it fair, you can expect us to simply apply common sense. first things first! if it ain’t written down, it didn’t happen! hence, writing it down now so that folks can take due notice. we are not going to get into some complicated formula-based system to pick raid seats nor for giving out loot. we will do what makes sense for guild progression. and guild progression is a strategic thing, not a tactical one-raid/individual thing.
all of which is to say, while it may be complicated to lay out the general guidelines, it will be simple to implement and follow.
‘guild progression’ affects seat occupancy and loot distribution in two main ways: 1) helping the guild progression has a positive reward response towards getting you a seat and loot, if that makes sense; and, 2) seats and loot are distributed in a manner that has the greatest positive impact to guild progression, if that makes sense. the ‘if that makes sense’ part is where some guilds fail or fall apart or get into drama. since we are a ‘no bs, no drama’ guild – we would like to side step that problem and move on!
best way to explain how we will approach this is to lay out some scenarios that align with the two main ways guild progression affects seats and looting. bear with me as this might be longish – but will be the ‘it was written down so it happened version’.
1) helping the guild progression has a positive reward response towards getting you a seat and loot, if that makes sense. it makes perfect sense to everyone that if you have ABC (level 70) and XYZ (level 70) and they are exactly equal in all respects, that if XYZ helps the guild progress and ABC does not, that ABC should not be penalized, but XYZ should be rewarded where rewarding XYZ does not counter guild progression (otherwise what the hell was the point?!).
scenario: ABC and XYZ group with three other 70s to do instances they all need. are they helping guild progression? yes. but not really anymore so than helping themselves (they all needed it). they are in fact benefiting from being in the guild because that way they did not have to pug it and can get the instance done with the least amount of fuss. participating in the group helped the guild, and it helped them. attendance alone made none of them more entitled to a seat or loot drop than any of the others. if loot will advance each of them equally, roll for it! if however, a loot drop would make a more significant progress advance by giving it to one of them, obviously that is in the best interest of the guild for them to get it. but where it will affect all of them equally, they all roll for it.
scenario: ABC works hard at individual progression and XYZ spends many hours helping 60s get to 70 and gear up. are they both helping guild progression? yes. but XYZ is helping others beyond benefit to themself and common sense says they should get a return for that sacrifice if it makes sense by furthering guild progression. so if ABC and XYZ are equal in all respects and there is only one seat available for the raid, XYZ should get it if available. if both can go, XYZ should have preference over a loot drop – unless it is going to make a much better improvement for ABC because that helps the guild overall progress quicker.
so helping others where you get little or no benefit is rewarded with returned favor by the guild – makes plain common sense. goodness all around! it won’t be unbalancing or unfair to those focusing on individual progress – but helping the guild more than yourself pays back obvious dividends. not expecting any complaints there.
2) seats and loot are distributed in a manner that has the greatest positive impact to guild progression, if that makes sense. the name of the game is guild progression – progressing through current content on to the next piece of content. where allocation of raid seats and loot furthers guild progression, so shall it be done. this is actually rather simple. if it will make a huge positive impact to have one toon over another get a piece of gear, we will do what we can to get that toon the gear – which starts with putting them in a seat in the raid to get a chance at the drop. having said that, common sense shall rule the day. can’t have a bunch of toons waiting weeks for a turn to go on a raid! and if a loot drop provides benefit to all pretty much similarly, roll for it! we are not going into some fancy got-to-have-a-multi-million-dollar-website-tracking-point-system to distribute loot. we are in this as a family called a guild. if we can’t distribute loot in a way that makes common sense and is rewarding to all, we should just pug it all the way!
scenario: no scenarios required. if it makes a huge difference to our ability as a guild to make advances in content progression, it goes to them. if not, everyone is on equal footing to roll for it or pass!
an interesting side effect of the above two main ways that guild progression affects seat and loot allocations is that early on, the individual-focused route gets gear before we raid and then waits until the raid catches up to close to par whereas the guild-focused goes in less geared but catches up quickly. after that, everyone progresses equally. so in the long term, there is no real advantage one way or the other.
it does do a few very important things though. not the least of which is allows different playing styles to co-exist in harmony with no bickering. it also prevents a raid from gearing up some toons who become too geared up for the rest of them and then leave after the guild geared them (the most geared early on geared themselves) – since the raid will gear up the least geared and bring everyone to the same level of gearing (sort of) which is more conducive to the raiders working through more content together (rather than less conducive). it is also very easy to track and therefore reduces grumbling. and finally, it just makes plain common sense (big fan of that) while accommodating without restriction different playing styles.
so helping others and feeling like you are falling behind the ones that are out there for themselves right now? don’t worry – you’ll be caught up in no time. and in the long run, a large clot of 70s raiders start to gel and progress at the same rate. and frankly, that is bloody well key. because if you gear up a 10-man and then try to do a 25-man with 10 well-geared toons and 15 rag-tag geared toons, it never works — neither for morale or content. gear em all up as closely as possible and you have a fair shake chance at the 25-man content with as little a disruption to raiding as you can hope for when transitioning from 10-man content to 25-man content. laying the groundwork now for fair and common sense will save us grief and drama later.
again, this is really only a short term concern, because long term, everything equals out no matter what you do. = )
