Addon Spotlight: Distribute right with LootCouncil Lite
by Mathew McCurley 
May 26th 2011 at 1:00PM
One of the areas of addons that I haven't touched on in this column with any real depth is loot addons. It's not because loot addons are not important or necessary but because my past experience with loot addons were never impressive or positive. The first guild that I was a part of that actually used an addon based loot system put their stock in EPGP, a loot system based on effort and gear points. To me, EPGP was a convoluted mess at times; the addon would bug out, and it all just left a nasty taste in my mouth. Plus, I had come from a guild loot culture developed around the famous "don't be a jerk" system, in which people would make judgment calls based on who really needed items over others. This worked 90% of the time.
I've steered away from loot addons because of my poor experience with EPGP, much as I originally strayed away from an Addon Spotlight on Tidy Plates because of my bad experience with that addon. Granted, that wasn't Tidy Plate's fault in the least, but my own addon configuration problems. Suffice to say, I'm giving loot addons another shot, mostly because the guild I am currently raiding with uses LootCouncil Lite -- and I've fallen in love.
Loot is king
Loot distribution is one of those issues that is more volatile than it should be, in my mind. Maybe I am one of those bleeding hearts, but loot isn't the first thing that I want when I hit raids. I value progression over loot because with progression comes more loot. The more bosses you down in greater frequency, the greater your chance of getting the loot you want in any given time frame. Having said that, sometimes I catch myself coveting loot, letting my imaginary armor numbers get the best of me. Getting new stuff is the ultimate end goal of raiding, right?
We will never be able to decide which loot system is best because different systems work better for different groups of players. For my guild, a rotating loot council is an effective way to get upgrades and crucial gear pieces to the people who need them to aid in progression. Loot council also removes chance from the loot equation, opting for smart upgrading over throwing loot to random people who want it. That's where LootCouncil Lite comes in.
LootCouncil Lite
LootCouncil Lite is, despite its name, a robust addon that makes loot council looting more presentable and easier to manage. The addon was developed to address the need for a better way to facilitate loot council looting and is easy for both the loot council and the raiders vying for loot. Not using a loot council system in your raid? Read on; you might be swayed.
How it works
The loot council system works by designating council members who vote on who should get any individual piece of loot. Players link their gear preference (main, off-spec, or pass, which is need but not necessary) to a designated channel, along with the piece of gear they will potentially be replacing. Loot council members then vote on which player's upgrade would be best and deserving of the gear up for consideration. This requires a trusted group of fair individuals to work well and is particularly useful in a 25-man raiding environment where people can be judged on attendance and ability. In my old 10-man group, we all acted like a loot council with a /roll component.
Customization and ease of use are the two biggest factors when choosing a loot system and an addon component. Players need to be able to grasp the concepts of the loot system quickly, especially if you choose to have a rotating group of loot council members who decide on gear. The addon is easy to set up and requires little to no configuration on the part of the non-leader.
Customization abounds! The creator of LootCouncil Lite, Blacksen, has created an informative video about how LootCouncil Lite works and its customization features. The loot leader can set the number of votes allowed, whether members of the loot council can vote for themselves, and what channels item "bids" are accepted in. Loot council members can sort their columns by lowest ilevel item up in the bid window and can see the other votes going on in real time. The whole addon is sleek and functional.
One thing I'd like
LootCouncil Lite would be improved a bunch by a small user interface element that starts and stops bids, negating some of the chat box functions. It can feel a bit clunky in the beginning, but things get better with time. Fewer text commands would go a long way toward making the addon a little more user-friendly, I think.
Perks
One of the major perks of a loot council system is that there aren't really any numbers to have to worry about. DKP, EPGP, and other number-centric loot systems have players playing the odds, politicking their way around points, and drumming up drama by holding off on bidding. Loot councils don't have points to track and an addon like LootCouncil Lite has a lot less math to do in that regard.
Sure, there can be drama, but that's not the addon's fault! If you're looking for a new loot system with an addon component that is stable and numbers-free, tell your guild leaders to check out LootCouncil Lite. Here are some (potentially real) testimonials from guildmates:
Bliky: "I don't like loot council because I didn't get my bow. The addon is fine, though."
Erlend: "It's ... a loot system ..."
Pirex: "LootCouncil Lite sometimes feels like my grandma is passing out loot."
Matticus: "I'm too busy watching hockey."
You guys are no help.
Download LootCouncil Lite at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Mat,
I'd been using Elphie's Imterrupt Say (aka I Interrupted That) as a broadcast for my kicks for raiding, I liked the announce in /say to let other interrupters know that mine was on cooldown, but with 4.1, it seems that it no longer works (something to the do with combat reporting, so I understand). Is there another addon that works similarly? Thanks
Geoffory
Rogue, Steamwheedle Cartel, US
Thanks for the email, Geoffory. Raeli's Spell Announcer has been working well for a bunch of people I know and still seems to be their addon of choice for announcing spell interrupts. It was even featured on Addon Spotlight back in January. Commenters, I am sure, will also discuss their favorite spell announcers.
I tried Adibags, and love it. I just cannot figure out how to separate a stack in the bag so i can mail something. I was wondering if you could help me with this. Thank you very much. Ciarcy on DraenorThanks for the email, Ciarcy. When I need to separate stacks in AdiBags, I just shift-click the item, separate out the number of the item I want, and then place that item onto the "empty" bag slot that consolidates all of your unused bag spaces. That will place the stack into the bag as its own entity.
If you want to send one stack of an item that is "virtually" stacked by AdiBags -- like ore, for instance -- all you have to do is right-click the meta-stack once, and it will put one full stack of whatever you clicked into the mail. Just right-click. You'll be amazed.
See you all next week!
Addons are what we do on Addon Spotlight. If you're new to mods, Addons 101 will walk you through the basics; see what other players are doing at Reader UI of the Week. If there's a mod you think Addon Spotlight should take a look at, email mat@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
VSUReaper May 26th 2011 1:06PM
I'm looking for an addon (hopefully it exists) that will show me when all the loot has been rolled on and distributed in 5 mans.
As an example, at the end of the instance, I want to get out fast so I can que back up, but instead I have to scroll through people telling each other how they suck, NPC's talking, and the loot roll info. I just want to see when everything is distributed so when I leave, I'm not accidentally leaving a maelstrom crystal or chaos orb on the corpse.
An added bonus would be a visual display of how people rolled (need/greed/pass/DE).
Thanks and keep up the great addon columns!
bmost1022 May 26th 2011 1:16PM
This isn't exactly what your looking for, but teksLoot does this to an extent. It changes the loot roll window to be much smaller and the buttons will show how many people rolled so far, and who rolled when you mouse over them. But, once you roll it disappears which means if you roll quickly you wont be able to tell.
xvkarbear May 26th 2011 1:21PM
Just roll your mouse over the boss. If you have the loot icon you can loot it and see if all the gear is gone.
Neyssa May 26th 2011 3:19PM
xLoot is exactly what you are are looking for (especially, you are looking for XLootGroup, but you need xLoot for that). It changes the look of the loot window, and beside the loot, it adds little text like 4N (4 people needed on it), the winner of the loot, etc.
It has a great master looter addition xloot_master, which makes it so easy to distribute loot in Baradin Hold (or any raid) - when you assign the loot it divides people into class categories, so for the mage loot you only have to choose from mages (or easily find the one for class run).
XLootMonitor adds a nice list, that fades with time, with the last looted items (for example when you are doing a quest, it lists the quest item looted with a little number beside it - how many you have already).
Another good thing is you can load the modules you need - you might not want xloot master, but do want the group thing - whatever fits you.
Xloot is here:
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/xloot.aspx
But as it says on the page, the author just reworked the code to make xloot-1, which happened yesterday so I cant tell you much about it - the old one is working perfectly for me.
Zamboni May 26th 2011 5:52PM
If you win something after you leave the instance, it will show up in your mailbox later. I've had several rares and epics show up this way. I've also had other random things show up later because my bags were full when the game was handing them out (Outland Spirit Shards and the like).
Aykwa May 27th 2011 12:44PM
I feel like the loot-rolling process is one of the least refined aspects of the WoW interface right now. I mean really... we have to look at all that text to figure out who has rolled what just so we can see if we should roll need for OS or if a MS roller has already needed? It is ridiculous and feels like it should be part of a computer game from 15 years ago.
I truly hope that Blizzard reworks the loot rolling interface into something that is much more elegant, intuitive, and simple. And it would take so little work to do it! I'll be that one day when they do, many people will think something like, "Gee, I didn't realize how horribly crappy that old roll interface was until I actually had a good one. I'm so glad they upgraded it."
Dan May 26th 2011 1:15PM
Big shout out to Blacksen, GM of Imperative on Zul'Jin for creating such a great loot add-on.
Imperative is a 13/13 Heroic 3 night a week raiding guild. Looking for an exceptional Rogue for our push on Firelands! Apply at www(dot)imperative-guild(dot)com!!
Izzy May 26th 2011 2:53PM
Just want to drop in a plug for WebDKP; I'm not entirely sure it's still maintained but it was by far and away the easiest and best way to manage DKP. Although to be honest I think DKP is a silly system for WoW; it's completely unnecessary given the amount of loot gained.
Dreadmist May 26th 2011 1:29PM
Our raiding guild has long used EPGP as a loot system. I have found it to be one of the fairest loot systems I have worked with, I really like it. I'm not sure what was the issue when you had used it, Mathew, perhaps a configuration issue? The premise is that EP = effort points, rewarded for "effort", GP = gear points, distributed on receiving an item, and PR = priority = EP/GP.
Our guild grants EP for raid attendance - 50 at start of raid, 50 at end of raid, 2 every 5 min of raid, 5 every 5 min for progression, 5 every 1 min for time spent past raid end (overtime =D), 10 for boss wipes or farm boss kills, 200 for first time progression kills. This is an automatic way of rewarding raiders for being on time, attending raids, staying all the way through, etc. Each item has a GP amount that is added to a players GP total, so EP increases PR and GP decreases PR - and PR is used to rank players in order of priority for each given item. both EP and GP are reduced (decayed) 5% at the end of each raid to ensure balance, with a minimum GP value of 5000, below which it cannot drop.
The nice thing about EPGP is that it automatically keeps track of not only attendance but time spent in raid, and participation in boss kills. Anyone on standby receives the same amount of EP as those in the instance, provided the standbys are ready to come in if need be. In addition, you can have the option of providing EP rewards for other guild endeavours; for example, our guild offers EP rewards for fish, herb and gold donations for feasts, flasks and repairs, with a set weekly maximum for EP that can be earned this way. This encourages the guild to work together to provide raid materials.
The decay and GP minimum prevents people from accumulating massive amounts of EP without rolling on any loot; the higher your EP gets the more you lose, so that over time a grooup of raiders with similar attendance will maintain a fairly stable EP and loot will automatically rotate between raiders. You can set different rules based on rank as well - for example, our guild allows veterans to get priority for tier pieces. In addition you can vary the GP costs for off spec or minor upgrade items.
During raids the system works well, as long as guildies have the EPGP (DKP reloaded) addon and EPGP lootmaster addons. For each item, a popup appears and a raider clicks main spec or off spec (or other optional selections like minor upgrade, etc.). The addon does the rest. If a raider doesn't have an addon, whispering the raid leader with a designated format allows the raiders roll to be registered. While it does require some setup by the lootmaster/raid leader initially, it can be a great way to distribute loot. The respective EP/GP values are stored in officers comments for each guildie, so that the addon can track this regardless of whether a raider has the addon or not.
There's my shameless plug for EPGP =D
Pyromelter May 26th 2011 1:54PM
I've been in guilds that have done /roll (and don't be a jerk), dkp, epgp, and loot council, as well as having done many gdkp raids. Each has it's ups and downs. I find gdkp the best for pugs if you have a raid leader who can handle it, otherwise /roll is your option there. Loot council is generally considered the best and simplest way for advanced progression guilds, assuming the guild isn't run by some jerk who is using loot council to loot everything to himself and his girlfriend.
Regarding epgp and dkp: I really feel like epgp is just a way more convoluted dkp system. DKP works great for more casual to moderately progressed guilds, it's very simple and easy to set up, and it's easy to understand for the people who would be bidding on items. I never found epgp to be any more "fair" than just plain old DKP, although with all it's complexities you can certainly argue it's more fair with all the variables and whatnot. As long as the guild resets its DKP for every new tier of raiding, the system ends up being very fair and balanced and much easier to understand than the calculus of epgp.
Jack Mynock May 27th 2011 11:24AM
I've always wondered how systems like dkp or epgp work when a piece of gear drops that wouldn't be rolled for, in a situation where only one raider can equip it. In other words does the one holy pally still have to bid on drops or gain gp from it? If so, then it seems like it would make it difficult for them to save points for trinkets, rings, weapons, etc. If not, then it would be too easy for them to save points.
Basically, how do these systems work when it comes down to either giving the loot to the only person who can use it... or vendoring/ sharding it?
Dreadmist May 28th 2011 3:01PM
In our guild, it doesn't matter how many people can use the item - a raider still has to use GP to acquire it. I think to ensure fairness, that would be the only way to go.
Monato May 26th 2011 1:54PM
Is there a replacement for FSwapper? It's an addon to swap gear when you're attacked while fishing. It stopped working on patch 3.3.
As dangerous as some of the places where Blizzard has placed the most necessary fish (looking at you Highlands Guppy) it has really become a necessity again.
bmost1022 May 26th 2011 2:07PM
Gear can't be changed in combat, so I don't see how it would be possible.
Jeff (Not that one ^ ) May 26th 2011 2:42PM
You can swap your weapon(s) in combat, but that's it I think. So if you're wearing your fishing hat and the other gear that is useless unless you're ankle-deep in water, you're pretty screwed.
Monato May 26th 2011 2:44PM
Swapping my weapon would be great! Is there an addon or could I make a macro to swap the weaps?
slozon3 May 26th 2011 3:07PM
try /equip "weapon name" you can also have more then 1 lineexample
/equip "weapon"
/equip "shield"
jonas May 26th 2011 4:50PM
Outfitter works well for this too
Monato May 26th 2011 4:59PM
I used to run Outfitter, never could get it to swap weapons when I was attacked while fishing. Now I'm just using th Blizz UI Equipment Manager.
tpderby May 26th 2011 2:30PM
For my Rogue I've been using http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info19030-Interrupted.html. It's a tiny addon consisting of about 12 lines of code. Just edit the .lua file to customize the message. I added my Rogue's name to the message.