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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsForum post of the day: Docking DKP
by Amanda Dean 
Apr 27th 2008 at 2:00PM
To function properly, all guilds must have rules for participation, gear, and general order. Since the ancient MMORPG days, many guilds have assigned Dragon Kill Points (DKP) to players for their participation in raids and events. The points are turned in for gear rewards from raids. Some guilds dock DKP for members that do not meet their standards. Aerte of Blackrock has questioned the wisdom of his guild's policy on this practice for a member that had regularly violated the rules.
The conundrum begins with the statement. "Recently we had a member quit who during the course of his rather brief stay managed to have about 130 DKP docked for various infractions. Not showing up specced properly, gems unacceptable, enchants unacceptable or non-existent, bad attitude....etc..." The original poster expressed that this may not be the best way to keep players in line.
Responses seemed to fall into two categories, neither of which support docking DKP as a disciplinary practice. Some recommended skipping DKP docking all together because there is too much discretion in enforcement. Others suggested benching raiders that fail to follow rules or dismissing them for consistent infractions. Since raids are usually carefully choreographed, it's important for everyone to carry their own weight.
Ciaree of Khazgoroth suggested that perhaps rather than using penalties, all raiders who meet the requirements of the game are given DKP for meeting each criteria. For example showing up on time, with the proper gear, and the correct spec might award players three DKP before the raid even begins. This method uses positive reinforcement rather than punishment to resolve the problem.
How does your guild handle those who are not prepared?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Raiding, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Zor Apr 28th 2008 10:54AM
SK ftw!!
ameretto Apr 28th 2008 1:44PM
The fact dkp system still exists because guilds still see the need to implement an external loot distribution system in lieu of the greed/need roll. But with any incentive reward system it is inherently motivated by virtual loot that has an generally accepted arbitrary "dkp" value which in itself is earned through various rules implemented by guild leaders and officers.
However when dkp is subtracted for negative performance many issues arise, and usually counter-productive to motivating the member to continue to contribute to the raid. Especially when the earning of dkp is completely in control of the one recording it, and that there is already a significant time/effort commitment to earn "x" dkp. Also note, dkp spent on loot in ratio to dkp earned from attendance or performance is in such a way that multiple raids over several weeks of regular attendance is required before most members ever get to loot. So when gap between the motivation of loot and the commitment towards reward is so vast, any deductions is a step backwards literally and give or take a few dkp is equivalent to a loss of 3-4 hrs of spent time.
Encourage discussion on this topic please discuss.
Rastas May 15th 2008 3:48AM
Our guild has no DKP system whatsoever. If you need the item, you roll when the master looter asks for rolls. If you need for main spec, you have first call, offspec after that. Simple. For things like mounts we have all need -rolls. For recipes and such everyone with the profession maxed gets to roll - or if there is no one maxed, anyone with the profession (which is why our guilds only Soulfrost recipe is in the hands of a MT warr with 275 enchanting - oh why wasn't I there then?) I admit, there's one exception to this rule. If Mongoose drops to us, it WILL NEVER be handed to a pug member (which we still have to have, due to shortage on healers).
If you don't know how to play your class, have inappropriate gems or enchants (agility for a mage, for example) you get told and are asked to fix it, if you have pvp-spec you are asked what do you prefer, pvp or pve (subtlety rogues for example), and if the raid's where you wanna be with that spec? If these things don't get fixed and you don't seem to learn the tactics when they are told to you over and over again, you're not welcome until it's fixed.
The whole system has found only one person who didn't understand it, and that guy left the guild and sent a lot of hate mail to our main tank (he just got told not to blow the raid up, which he then did repeatedly, even after being told how important it is he did as told).
We think our system is fair - everyone gets better gear, if not now, the next time, and you don't get minus score because of real life constraints. We are casuals, after all.
Rob May 29th 2008 4:59PM
Old thread is old, however...We use dkp for showing up, downing bosses, etc. DKP is one of those contraversial topics. I'd rather have suicide kings or something. Person x killed 10 bosses and showed up 20 times. person y showed up 5 times. Person x gets first loot, then person y. Anyway what DKP is is completely fair. If you haev the points, you bid and maybe win. No questions asked. Doesn't matter if you are a mage biding on a bow.
As far as the stick..we have postmortoms on our forum every raid with critiques. We are still having trouble with VR's orbs. For the hunters, i am posting a reward of agi pots for the hunter with the least amount of orbs taken. I hope this methos is better than usual cursing them out in public or docking DKP (we don't dock DKP).
Lastly, if the person when they apply isn't geared/talented right, we won't take them, period. That solves all of those issues. We don't gkick, but usually bad players don't last long in our guild (knock on wood).
I disprove of penaltys for playing a game with friends (which is what this is designed for after all). Either don't take them in the first place, offer constructive criticism and rewards. If they still are terrible and refuse to change, just dont give them raid slots.