08-16-2005, 05:58 AM
With regard to loot systems, I think the best discussions that I've seen about how to set up and evaluate a loot system were put together on the Basin boards a while back when they were trying to figure out a system for loot distribution (they ended up with their "BRP" or "Basin Raid Points").
As a quick summary, people tend to place different emphasis or connotations to the use of the word "fair" when trying to come up with a "fair loot distribution system." Really, it comes down to a problem: It's hard to distribute loot evenly while using a system that gives everyone an equal shot at all loot. If you just do a straight random system, you'll end up with some people who get a lot of loot while others get none due to the bell curve of loot acquisition that appears. Thus, a lot of groups instead use things like DKP to distribute loot more evenly throughout. However, that sort of system fails to give everyone an equal shot at each piece of loot. Also, it can seem like too much of a grind (depending upon how it is formulated) and so people don't enjoy it as much.
As for how this affects us, I think that the biggest thing we can improve is communication and being up-front about things. Perhaps at the start of raids, we could have a short demo of how "Dave" works for people so that they know it's coming. Also, there has been some talk of distributing things "for the good of the raid" (though I'm not sure how much effect this has had on the actual distribution, so far) and I think if something like that is going to happen, it should be told to people at the start so it isn't a surprise when it happens. When unexpected things happen, people get agitated/frustrated/suspicious/etc. so we should try and make sure people know what is coming before we start. I know that we're somewhat new to the Molten Core and so some things WILL happen unexpectedly, but I still think we can do better at this in the future.
As a quick summary, people tend to place different emphasis or connotations to the use of the word "fair" when trying to come up with a "fair loot distribution system." Really, it comes down to a problem: It's hard to distribute loot evenly while using a system that gives everyone an equal shot at all loot. If you just do a straight random system, you'll end up with some people who get a lot of loot while others get none due to the bell curve of loot acquisition that appears. Thus, a lot of groups instead use things like DKP to distribute loot more evenly throughout. However, that sort of system fails to give everyone an equal shot at each piece of loot. Also, it can seem like too much of a grind (depending upon how it is formulated) and so people don't enjoy it as much.
As for how this affects us, I think that the biggest thing we can improve is communication and being up-front about things. Perhaps at the start of raids, we could have a short demo of how "Dave" works for people so that they know it's coming. Also, there has been some talk of distributing things "for the good of the raid" (though I'm not sure how much effect this has had on the actual distribution, so far) and I think if something like that is going to happen, it should be told to people at the start so it isn't a surprise when it happens. When unexpected things happen, people get agitated/frustrated/suspicious/etc. so we should try and make sure people know what is coming before we start. I know that we're somewhat new to the Molten Core and so some things WILL happen unexpectedly, but I still think we can do better at this in the future.
-TheDragoon