RQ's DKP

It’s about time to write up a new DKP documentation for RQ, so here goes...


First, before I cover RQ’s DKP system, let’s go over a brief history and basic idea of the DKP system...

DKP stands for Dragon Kill Points, designed by Everquest pioneer guild Afterlife as a means to make loot decisions more objective and fair. At the time of its inception, the only raiding content available were two dragons, hence Dragon Kill Points. While the actual workings of a DKP system can vary widely and have many permutations, the core of any DKP system has these three components:

- Item Cost: How much DKP the item costs in order to acquire.
- Earning DKP: Raiders earning DKP usually through attending raids and/or killing bosses.
- Item Entitlement: The amount of DKP someone has will factor heavily, if not solely, into their entitlement status on an item.

As said above, there is a wide variety of DKP systems out there. Even more so, each system is usually tweaked and tailored for a specific guild to fit their philosphies of loot entitlement. With that out of the way, let’s dig into RQ’s system.


If you have no idea what that means, don’t worry. How it works will be explained below. But if anyone asks the type of system, that’s pretty much what it is. Here’s how RQ handles the 3 core components listed above.

Item Cost
Item Cost = Slot Measure. Slot Measure means that every Item Slot has it's own price. Some of them are equal, some of them are not. This is used to give weight to items that give bigger or smaller actual stat increases. Slot Measures and amount of DKP worth:

1. Jewels (Neck, Finger) - 100 DKP
2. Off Parts (Back, Wrist, Waist, Feet, Wand, Thrown) - 150 DKP
3. Main Parts (Head, Chest, Shoulders, Legs, Hands) - 200 DKP
4. 1 Hand/Off Hand (Weapons, Shields, Off Hands) - 250 DKP
5. 2 Hand (Weapons, Ranged Weapons) - 350 DKP
6. Trinkets - 300 DKP
7. Marks - 250 DKP

Note:
This are prices for Slots on ICC 25 Heroic.
Prices for ICC 25 Normal are OriginalPrice / 2.

Earning DKP - Players earn DKP a few ways:

1. DKP is awarded for every killed boss. Every killed boss on 25 man (both Normal and HC), will award players for 20 DKP.

2. One off random awards. This is something I’ll do on occasion. It could be for getting a first kill on a progression boss. It could be for showing and slogging through a fruitless progression night. It’s typically just a way of me saying thanks for whatever reason.

Item Entitlement
Player with the highest DKP wins the item. It’s as simple as that. Since item cost is fixed, we use the person’s NET dkp as their “bid” to determine the winner. When they win, the item cost gets subtracted from their NET dkp.

Here’s a quick example of all 3 parts in action...

Item (belt) drops from a boss, costing 150 DKP (Item Cost).

Player A bids, having 250 DKP
Player B bids, having 400 DKP
Player C bids, having -50 DKP

Player B wins because he had the most DKP (Item Entitlement). After being awarded the item, Player B’s DKP drops to 250 (400 - 150).

However, there are few things that affect item priority.
-Main spec > Off spec (meaning, if you are bidding for main spec, and someone with bigger amount of DKP bids for same item for his off spec, you will have priority on that item over him)
-Main char > Alt char (same as above, main char has priority over alt char)
-Alt char (main spec) = Main char (off spec) (if this situation comes, the winner is person with highest amount of DKP.
IMPORTANT UPDATED:
Guild/Raid leaders (Officers and higher) can put VETO on someone's bid, meaning, he cannot get item even if he wins by biggest amount of DKP and priority watching. This will happen occasionally, without being abused. Usually, when someone really doesn't deserve it, over someone else with less DKP. It is also 1 additional way of making everyone do their best in raids, as well as way of punishing.

Operation
The above pretty much happens every time loot is distributed. It’s pretty simple. As for the actual bidding operation, it’s just as simple. Take the example above.

1.) A raid warning will go out that will list the item and its cost

2.) Players will have 10 seconds (or less) to type price of item (or "BID", "NEED", "MAIN SPEC $price", "OFF SPEC $price") in raid chat if they are interested in acquiring the item for their main/off spec.

3a.) After 10 seconds, the person with the highest DKP is awarded the item, the cost is subtracted from their DKP. (Watching main/alt char and main/off spec priority).

3b.) If no one has placed a bid request for main spec, then it will be given to highest amount OFF SPEC bidder, with half of the price.

3c.) If no one placed a bid request at all, then it will be disenchanted. There is no free item WHAT SO EVER.

4.) The item is awarded to the winner. If DKP was spent, then the appropriate amount is subtracted from the player’s DKP.

FAQ

Q: I don’t have enough DKP for that item, can I still bid?
A: Absolutely. The DKP you have simply determines your position in a loot priority list. How much DKP you have does not affect your eligibility at all. As long as you have the most, you win the item.

Q: Even if I have negative DKP?
A: Yes, you are still eligible for loot even if you have negative dkp. We’ve had players achieve -1400 dkp within a single week because they won a string of items no one else wanted. Again, the DKP you have has no direct effect on your eligibility to acquire loot. It only determines where you stand in the loot priority. However, while you are in -, you can bid against other bidders in -, if anyone who is in + needs item, he has priority unless leader says opposite.
UPDATED: Trial members are starting with -500 DKP. That means, they need to prove them selfs, before being able to bid with actual members. Still, they can win an item, if they are bidding vs other Trials in - DKP.

Q: What about 10 man? How will DKP be used there?
A: 10 man is primarily used for exploratory content or content that we may feel is not ready for the prime time raid group. Because of its very specific nature, DKP will be not used. In the end, while this means some people might get "free loot", it also means they're not unfairly getting DKP over those that could not make it into the 10 man.

Q: What happens if the top dkp is a tie?
A: The tied players will do a /roll to determine the winner. If they tie in the /roll, then they must meet up in person and fight to the death for being annoying during loot distribution.

Q: Hey, I had the most DKP there, why didn’t I win the item?
A: There are a couple possibilities. The most common is I some times fuck up and give it to the wrong person without realizing it.

The next most common will be that you lost it due to some priority / VETO from leaders.

In both cases, simply bring it to my attention so I can explain or fix the issue.

Q: Elune/Blackbear, I won this item and I realize I don’t really want it could you-
A: Official Answer is NO. Make damn sure you bid on something you want. I’ve been known to reverse loot decisions and place the item up for bid again, but I generally don’t like doing this because it’s a hassle and wastes my time. Know ahead of time which items you want

Q: I missed the round of bids for an item I wanted to bid on, I think would have won, what do I do?
A: Tell me. Most of the time, I will look to see if you would have won, then ask the winner if they’re ok with the item being put up again (if you would have won). Also, there has to be a good reason for missing the bid (like you dc’ed). If you’re not paying attention or too busy contemplating if you want it or not, then chances are I won’t bring it back up for bid as that falls in line with the whole hassle and time wasting thing.

Q: I’m the only one who wants this item, do I really have to spend DKP for it?
A: Absolutely. Part of being a fair loot system is making sure players spend the same DKP on the same item for their main spec. Just because you’re the only person in the store that wants a Kit Kat doesn’t mean you should get it cheaper or free.

Q: I won this item, but want to pass it to this other person because they need the upgrade much more than I do, can I do that?
A: No. While your intentions might be in the right place, doing so completely undermines the point of a dkp system by bypassing the priority list it creates. Keep in mind that maybe you don’t want it, but you’re potentially cheating out one or more people by giving it to someone further down the priority list. This also leaves the door open for DKP manipulation and abuse. In situations where you don’t want the item, then just inform me and I’ll either tell you to live with it or I’ll put it back up for bid.

Q: Someone offered me gold for an item I just won. What do I do?
A: First, tell them no. Second, tell me who. This is a very strict no no. Just offering to do so can result in a gkick and naturally if I find out after the fact, all parties involved will get gkicked. Just do not do it ever.

Q: I didn't bid for anything but I lost some DKP. What happened and can you give me back?
A: No. In most cases, I will check what really happened. Usually, people will lose DKP due to their bad performance/slacking or, basically not respecting raid/guild rules. Giving back lost DKP is something which will happen only when Bid Master makes mistake.

As always if there are any more questions about loot rules after reading the above, feel free to ask.

Bumping for new members. And old ones as well.