Guild Looting Rules

[:1]I joined a new raiding guild about 6 weeks ago that has a dkp system. I have no problem with DKP but I'm torn on how to handle my situation.

I'm a dual spec'd balance/resto druid. My resto gear is almost all 213 epic but my balance gear is basically my healing gear.

We always raid Naxx 25 on Tuesday nights after the reset and finish it on Wednesday but I think they cleared last night after I had to log after 3 quarters.

My guild has no rules against pugging although I'm sure it's frowned upon.

I have a few issues:

1) I don't see myself getting balance gear since we constantly have new raid members that need main spec where as balance is my off spec. Our looting rules say mainspec trumps offspec no matter the dkp so the only way I'm going to get offspec gear is if there are no mainspec rolls. That means I can pretty much forget offspec Tier gear. Question: Crappy looting rules? Should I just pug? Am I being selfish, should I just suck it up not worry about it?

2) Last night, we had another character in the raid I haven't ever seen. The guy had more dkp than me (by a couple thousand) but won 3 items to my 0. It's definitely possible that the guy took a break for a couple months and came back. I'm raiding every week and helping the guild (and myself). Do any other raiding guilds have rules to prevent 1 person from getting all the loot and while still being under a dkp system? I don't mind getting no gear upgrades in 1 night, 2 nights or even a week. I don't mind a regular raider with higher dkp getting an item over me or even a couple of items.

We have a really good core group of healers and tanks and I enjoy bringing a couple new or undergeared members to Naxx25 but when 3 people get 60% of the loot it's a little frustrating.|||Well, the main vs off rule has a few assumptions underlying it. One is that you have a fairly regular group so eventually you'll see few mainspec rolls since they'll all have geared out their mains. If you keep adding in new people who need gear, that's going to retard the process, esp if it's main >> off regardless.

from what you say, it also sounds like DKP doesn't decay in your system which allows someone to take a break for a month or 2 and come back with full DKP. That's simply a poor system.

The question is... do you ever play Balance? Is it something to have raid-ready or is it something you mess around with in heroics? There's no point to gear you as a Balance druid if you never raid as Balance both from your perspective and the guild's.

I would not PUG Naxx25 in preference to your guild runs... frankly, I'd kick someone who was on our regular roster (esp as a tank or healer) and who did that much. It's one thing if you can't make the guild run one week due to other issues, but doing it week in and week out is a big 'F you' to the guild. Joining a guild is a two way thing - you help the others in the guild run stuff, you get to run with a regular group and get loot. They can count on you be there, you can count on them be there and to make runs happen.

However, I would PUG things that aren't on your guild's main raiding calendar. Actually, I'd post i nthe guild forums saying "Hey, I want to gear out my Balance set - anyone up for (Naxx10 or whatever)?" You might find it's easy to get an alt/offspec run. Again, you might want to clear this with the RL or GL depending on guild culture and it would be bad form to schedule these on the same nights as progression raids, but it's certainly worth a shot. I'd just set loot rules as 1tier/1epic, set Master Looter to on and go for it.

Finally, look at crafted gear and rep gear and emblem gear to start to build out a Balance set. Even heroic pieces might give you a better stat mix in some slots.|||In my 6 weeks, the group seems pretty regular, assuming 15-18 is regular. Unfortunately, in a 25man, people cant just give 5-6 hours in 1 weeknight for a full clear (including me) so the groups change regularly during the run and change again the next day. We are lucky to get started by 8:30 server. Last week was a mess though, only about 10 regulars and only 2 of the dps were ranged. What a suck week that was.

DKP doesn't decay that I'm aware of and caps at 20k. Since the GM is the only one that really knows how to run it correctly, it's rarely running if he's not in the raid.

I play balance when I quest. I don't raid balance because our guild is healer poor plus I don't have the gear. I can compete on the dps meter with the rest of the guild in balance spec with healing gear. I'm not sure that's a good thing. In Heroics, I will hit 2100-2500 in healing gear. I can hit 2700-3k in 10 mans and 3300 or so in 25 mans also in healing gear. Much of my dps depends on buffs and party/raid make up.

"However, I would PUG things that aren't on your guild's main raiding calendar."

That's another problem. Everything I can run is on our guild's main raiding calendar which is the "in game" calendar. Unfortunately, it's not used when picking the group.

I'll probably just keep running Naxx25 with the guild and pugging Ulduar and Naxx 10 mans.|||Sigh. I'm convinced that most guilds suck. Mine, of course, does not. :)

In reverse order....

1) on the calendar means, to me, is an official focused on raid. If all of them are, that's an issue. A guild that's ready for Naxx25 probably doesn't need much Naxx10. It's meaningless to put every possible raid. in normal and heroic, on the calendar - what's the focus of the guild, i.e. the raid that raiders are supposed to show for?

2) If only the RL can figure out DKP and it's not running sometimes, it's not being used. I like EPGP as a system and there's an addon that people can install to see where everyone is.. the RL can award dkp etc but that's a rights thing and could be delegated. I'd imagine most DKP systems have something similar. DKP HAS to be transparent. Otherwise how do you know the RL isn't giving his friends DKP boosts etcs?

3) Your dps is fine really. Could be better, but you're not going to be holding a group back.

4) Your guild isn't ready for Naxx25 if they can't field 25 regular people. 15-18 regular people aren't a guild run of a Naxx25. It's a PUG with a lot of guildies. If people can't run 6 hour raids, then the RL should schedule 2x3 hour raids to make sure the group can make it.

TLDR: your RL and GL need to get a clue.|||(1) Your DKP system sounds messed up. It sounds like its easy to game (especially with it not getting counted properly without the GM there.) It's a drama bomb waiting to happen, and it will probably kill the guild when it explodes. So, try and talk to an officer about your concerns or be prepared to look for a new guild.

(2) You are being a loot whore. I don't say that to be mean, but only to make sure that you are keeping loot in perspective.

It sounds like your guild has been very good about getting you geared up in the best gear that is available in the content you run for your main spec. While I realize that it can be frustrating to run content when you don't have any upgrades coming from it, you have to look at it from the point of view of what is best for guild progression. If you take a piece of Boomkin gear to go questing or playing in heroics, you do nothing to help the guild progress. If that piece goes to someone for their raiding spec, that brings the whole guild a bit closer to killing new bosses that might have more main spec upgrades for you.

One of the things you have to accept in a casual guild is that the gearing process is slow. You have a much larger number of people to gear up to compensate for the lack of attendance requirements. Patience is key.

(3) You have some other options for gear. Both the T7.25 pants and shoulders are available for emblems. There is other emblem gear you can get as well. (You might want to look at the cloth emblem gear as well. I can't remember if any of it is better for Boomkins.) You can get the normal T7 Chest and gloves from heroic badges, or try to pug Vault runs. (Make sure ahead of time that they will be okay with your rolling on Boomkin gear, though.) Remember, it's your responsibility to gear up an offspec, not the guild's.

(4) If you would rather raid as a Boomkin, but only raid as resto because its what the guild needs, you need to talk to the officers. There is nothing worse than someone who is unhappy in their role. You are much more of an asset to them as a happy Boomkin than as an unhappy Tree. If you simply want to be able to swap around in raids to keep things interesting, talk to them about that too, but remember, it's simply not fair to gear you up twice before gearing up other people for the first time.