Offical Guild Event Loot Policy

These are the Guild's looting rules as applied in offical guild events.

Wish List System
For guild raid looting we use Master Looter combined a 'wish list' system. This system is based on members' wishes. Each member participating in raids must specify in advance what items they most wish to receive. Each member has a wish list of items for each character and instance. Each item added to a wish list has a priority, hence the wish list is set up in order of priority. By specifying wish lists we are also able te determine which instances members most want to visit. In order for a wishlist to be active each member needs to upload their character and then submit their Wish List. No Wish List = no loot!

Guild vault
The master looter will distribute items that group members need after the event. Items not required, will be put in the guild vault. These items will be kept by the guild should anyone need the item. See guild vault page for items currently available.

Enchantment resources
Some of the items left over from a guild event will be handed to enchanters to be disenchented. Enchanters receiving these items should send the resources to the guild vault for storage. Guild enchanters will use these resources to provide members with free enchantments.

Crafting resources
Skinning, Herbing and Mining is done by the appointed guild crafters for each gathering skill. The resources should be sent to the guild vault for storage. Guild crafters will use these resources to provide members with free enchantments.

Guild funds
Some of the items left over from a guild event will go to the guild funds. Currently guild funds are used to buy Tabards, Crafting resources, Enchantment resources, Raiding resources and pay repair bills. The guild will only sell items on a need basis, most will go to enchanters.

Aspects of the Wish List system
Although the wish list is the base of the system, other aspects are taken into account aswell.
:: Wish list with priority.
:: Role privilege. For example, Main Tank might have privilege to certain items, because it will benefit the guild and make future raids smoother for all members.
:: Class priority. Certain classes may have higher priority to certain items. For example, Lightforge armor goes to Paladin before Warrior.
:: Members priority over Initiates. Full members will have privilege over Initiates in loots. Initiates should gain full membership ASAP. This does not mean Initiates doesnt get loot at all, only that they have lower priority.
:: Guild contribution counters. Raid attendance will be counted as will items sent to the guild vault. High end items will count as much as much as attendance. 10 low end blue items or 10 high end green items will count as much as much as attendance. Farming raid attendance will count more than goal attendance, and helping attendance even more so. Signing up and not showing up will result in a deduction of contribution.
:: Items recevied counters. Items received during raids or from the guild vault will also be counted. High end items received from guild vault will count as much as raid items. Low end items are counted, but not valued, hence completely "free".
:: Counter ratios. The system uses a 3 different ratios of these counters, to solve conflicts. Short term, Long term and total. Short term ratio is calculated from the transactions over the last 8 weeks and is used for most items. Long term ratio is calculated over the last 24 weeks, is planned to be used for really rare items. To prevent ratio anomolies, the base ratio is calculated as if a player have attended 1 raid per week and received 1 item per week.

The system, based on the above information, know who's turn it is to received a specific item when it drops. This will make the raiding smoother and faster.

The system is designed to...
:: Help guild tactics and thereby making raids smoother and faster.
:: Reducing time spent on loot discussions and hence make raids smoother and faster.
:: Avoid loot arguments and disagreements.
:: Even out item distribution among members with a fair system benefitting all members equally.
:: Give members an incentive to participate in guild raids.

System rules
:: Never discuss your Wishlist and the Loot Queue in public channels. Some members consider this spoiling the fun, and that should be respected.
:: All gear should be added to your wishlist, Alt gear aswell.
:: Manipulating your wishlist during raids is considered abuse, and WILL be noted by the ML.
:: Items that exist in the system, but not on anyone's wishlist goes straight to disenchant. (However, the ML will ask for need for items not in the system.) The ML is NOT obligated to ask for need for items in the system. If the ML asks for need for such an item out of curtesy, you might receive it. If the item in question is classed as an obvious class upgrade, you will receive a temporary debuff in the system that will affect the looting this raid and the 2-3 future raids.
:: You must remove any gear received from pickups and other out of guild events from your wishlist.
:: Members being on raids on time will have higher priority over members being late. When a member arrives late, that member will receive a temporary debuff in the system that will affect that raids looting.
:: Members signing up on raids will have higher priority over members not signed up. That member will receive a temporary debuff in the system that will affect that raids looting.
:: Members participating in the full raids progress will have higher priority over members not doing so. The member not participating for a large portion of the raid's progress will receive a temporary debuff in the system that will affect that raids looting.
:: Active raiding members have priority over inactive members. If a member raid less than 3 raids per 4 weeks, he/she will be classed as inactive.
:: New members have the rank of Initiate for a trial period, and hence have lower priority over Member rank and above. Also, new members does not have any contribution registered and that affect their priority aswell.
:: Wish lists can be modified every 30 days.
:: Item contribution value can never be higher than attendance value.
:: You are not allowed to pass items, except in specific reasons. You are allowed to pass an item if you have a better or equal item already, and have forgotten to remove it from your WL. However, other reasons isnt allowed. Like saving ratiofor later, or passing to a friend because you think he deserves it etc etc...
:: If an RL decides that a member of the raid should play an alt to achieve better class balance, an exception can be made in agreement with the raid participant to temporary grant that alt character equal priority on items as a main character.
:: There are specific roles, such as Guild MT, which may have privilege on specific items. This is to help speed guild progression.

System FAQ

Q: What items should I add to my Wishlist?
A: All items you think you will have need for, including alt gear. There is alot of variables to take into account when setting up your WL, and do it wisely and realistic!
:: What talents to I have?
:: What role to I play on guild raids?
:: How do I want to play my character?
:: Where are the guild going next? Zul'Gurub needs nature resistance and Molten Core needs fire resistance etc.
:: How many times do I want to raid this instance? A boss can only be killed once per raid! Wanting 10 items from the same boss is not very realistic.
:: Is there a better item in another instance or boss that the guild are raiding? Putting 2 similar items should be avoided.

Q: When I received a WL item during a guild raid, what should I do?
A: Nothing! The ML will register the item as received for you. Removing this item is not allowed, and trying to do so is considered abuse!

Q: An item on my WL is marked as Locked, why cant I move/remove it?
A: The ML has registered that you have received that item. The item in your WL is therefore Locked, and you can not move or remove that item. The results in that WL priority as "spent" and you can not put another item in its place.

Q: When I receive an item on my WL, or a better item, during a guild raid or pickup, what should I do?
A: Remove the item from your WL before you attend the next guild raid.

Q: What about items not in the system, what happens if they drop?
A: ML will allow needing members and classes to roll for these. Same ranking priority rules still apply here as with the items in the system.

Q: I cant see item X in the system, but I want it!
A: Please post your information about that item. What instance and boss drops it? Whats the name of the item?

Q: What items do you put into the system?
A: Raid Leaders and Officers decide what to put in to the system on basis of the following:
:: Droprate. Items that hardly ever drops are usually skipped. Farming forever for these items is not very realistic. Usually a droprate below 1% is skipped.
:: Quality and size of loot table. If Boss A has a small loot table with items similar to, but of worse quality than Boss B, farming Boss A is a waste of time.

Mixed Raid / Guild Alliance Looting

Mixed Raid Looting consists of 3 different scenarios, that are handled in 3 different ways in conjunction with the Wish List (WL) System. These 3 looting methods requires a Spark Raid Leader (RL) and Master Looter (ML).

Guild Alliance Looting
From time to time we may jointly raid with other guilds. Currently we have no requirement to do so and this information is left in case of unforseen events.
This raid may consist of 2 or more parties. Before the raid, a looting percentage is calculated for each party. This looting percentage is based on attending members. Based on this percentage, a rolling "span" is calculated for each party.

Example:
The raid has 40 participants in total.
Party 1:
25 members.
25/40 = 62.5% as percentage.
1-62 as rolling span.
Party 2:
15 members.
15/40 = 37.5% as percentage.
63-100 as rolling span.

This information is then used to distribute loot fairly between parties, in these different ways:

:: BoP? items without need is disenchanted and the resources is devided between parties based on the percentage at the end of the raid.
:: BoE? items are devided between parties based on the percentage at the end of the raid.
:: BoP? items with need are looted as follows:

1. ML asks all parties for need. Spark "need" is based on WL.
2. Between all parties with need, the party who is "most below" it's loot percentage, receives the item. If 2 or more parties are "even", a roll is made by the ML and using the rolling spans to determine the result.
3. If Spark recevies the item.

WL system is used for distrubtion.
Spark's item counter is incremented, and thereby affecting the loot percentage.

4. If another party recieves the item.

That party uses whatever looting system they normally use, would it be rolling, DKP or something else.
The receiving party's item counter is incremented, and thereby affecting the loot percentage.

The calculation is done using this small Excel workbook:
SparkGuildAllianceLooting.xls

Friend Invites Looting

Item not in WL system:
1. ML asks everyone for need, including the "Friend invites".
2. Everyone with need rolls, and the item is handed out, and the looting is done.

Item in WL system:
1. ML checks WL.
2. If the item in on WL, the item is handed out, and the looting is done.
3. If the item isnt on WL.

1. ML asks "Friend invites" for need. ("Friend invites" has priority over Spark members for these items.)
2. All "Friend invites" with need rolls, and the item is handed out, and the looting is done.

:: BoP? items without need is disenchanted and sent to Spark's guild vault.
:: BoE? items are looted by the Spark ML and sent to Spark's guild vault.

Random LFM ("Looking For More") Looting

As Guild alliance looting, with these exceptions:

:: "Random LFM" members are counted as one party

Everyday Instance Raiding/Grouping Loot Policy

These are the guild's loot rules for use in everyday instance raiding/grouping, for all to know about and adopt when needed. Ofcourse, these rules are not mandatory and enforced in any way, its just for your convenience. These rules are not to be confused with rules applied in offical guild events. Guild events have a different set of rules.

For the system to work fully, all rules should be adopted.

- Master Looter.
A master looter is assigned to the group before the fun starts.
This person will loot all green or rarer items, and distribute evenly when the event is finished. The highest ranking member selects the master looter. This is to ensure that the person looting is someone that all particpants know and trust. Any discussion on this should take place before the event starts properly.

- Bind on Pickup items.
Bind on Pickup items should be handled as stated in the "Everyday Loot Rolling Rules". Use "Need and Greed rolling with limit" for these items.

- Item distribution.
At the end of the raid everyone moves to a safe place for item distribution. Rolling should be handled as stated in the "Everyday Loot Rolling Rules". Use "Need and Greed rolling with limit" for these items.

- Asking people in the guild for need.
Its good practice to check with the guild members if they need an item before Disenchanting, or selling at the Auction House or to a Vendor. This can be done by putting the item on the Gear give-away page or in guild char. This is the honorable thing to do, and is also good for the guild and therefor all members of the guild benefit from this behavior. Although the guild cannot enforce this in any way, we do encourage this behavior. The guild will not have need for 90% of the items you get anyway, and with those you can do as you like =)

A final word on looting. It is not the guild's role to tell you how to play your game, however in past experience we have seen more arguments over looting than anything else. Thankfully this hasn't been the case with Spark but we have seen it elsewhere. By having a common set of rules which everyone adheres to and agrees to before the event starts most arguments on this subject are avoided. We recommend you use these rules simply because they have worked for us in the past, but it is of course entirely your own choice.

If you have any additions, question or simply don't understand, please post!

Everyday Loot Rolling Policy

These are the guild's rolling rules for use in everyday grouping, for all to know and adopt when needed. Of course, these rules are not mandatory or enforced in any way, they are for your convenience when grouping with fellow guild members. These are not to be confused with rules applied in offical guild events. Guild events have a completely different set of rules.

For the system to work fully, all rules should be followed

- Need and Greed basic rolling:
:: Everyone types N or G in Party or Raid chat.
:: If everyone types G, everyone rolls.
:: If one or more types N, they roll, and everyone else pass.

- Need and Greed rolling with limit:
:: Everyone types N or G in Party or Raid chat.
:: If everyone types G, do Greed roll.
:: If one or more types N, do Need roll.
Greed roll:
:: If your have already received G item, and others in the group have not, pass the item.
:: If you have not recevied a G item, roll.
:: If everyone has received a G item, the limit is reset for the next G item.
Need roll:
:: Everyone that has received the fewest N items rolls.
:: If you are the only one with N, you win the item.
:: If you have not received a N item, roll.

- Enchanters disenchant requirement does NOT count as N.
This is just fair.

- Do NOT wait too long to decide.
You should have decided by the time the rolling meter has dropped below 50%. If the time runs out, everyone might pass an item, or worse yet, the person who decides in the last moment will get it, because everyone else auto-passed.

- NEVER loot while there is a battle going on.
There are a number of reasons for this, but this should be obvious to all of you. Deciding N or G in a battle will distract others, or the decision will come too late and the previous rule applies.

- Rolling limit by honour.
It is honourable to apply a rolling limit even though it isn't necessary.

- Asking people in the guild for need.
Its good practice to ask in guild chat if there is a need for an item before Disenchanting, or selling at the Auction House or to Vendors. This is the honourable thing to do. It is good for the guild and therefore all members benefit from this behaviour. Although the guild cannot enforce this in any way, we do encourage this behaviour. The guild will not have need for 90% of the items you get anyway, and with those you can do as you like =)

If you have any additions, questions or you simply don't understand, please post!