General Information:

Serious Business uses, EPGP, a specially-tailored point-tracking system and EPGPLootmaster in order to distribute gear to our guild members. Standing for "effort points/gear points," as you might guess, the EPGP system tracks two running totals: your effort points, and your gear points.

Effort points are acquired by doing things like attending raids (or staying on a raid's wait list, as long as you are prepared to join the raid at any time should an opening occur), downing bosses, and farming to make up credit for missed raid time.

Gear points are acquired by receiving drops during a raid session per the Need/Greed/Off-speec rules denoted below. (The only way to increase GP is by taking drops, it only goes down is via decay.)



Your EPGP loot priority is then determined by the following formula:

Effort Points(EP) / Gear Points(GP) = Priority Rating (PR)

A person with a higher priority rating using this formula will take precedence on an item over a person with a lower priority rating. As you receive items, your priority will decrease; as you go longer without receiving a drop, and earn effort points, your priority will increase again.


Everyone's point totals in the entire guild - both effort points and gear points - are decayed each night at the end of the raid following crediting people WL EP. This is done to help fight point bloat, and ensure that the system is fair to newer members and to raiders that consistantly attend raids. This also encourages people to upgrade and spend points early and often, because the sooner you spend your points, the sooner that item becomes less expensive for you.

Example:

Starting EP =4000, Starting GP=1000

After the decay of 10% EP=3600 and GP=900.

Note for Recruits: All new recruits will incur a 150 GP "tax" immediately upon passing the 1000 EP minimum threshold - this will prevent them from immediately shooting to the top of the PR list over raider that has finally made their way to the top of the list. It won't take long for them to move toward the top of the list like they always have, as their GP decays and their EP rises.

We use the EPGP addon to track EPGP totals and award points in-game and EPGPLootmaster to distribute gear in a fast and fair method. Every guild member are required to download and use this addons in order to rapidly distribute gear and this also allows members to their own point standings at their convenience.

Anyone interested in a more technical look at how EPGP and EPGP-like systems work should feel free to visit their Google homepage for more information.

Having explained the system generally, then, we'll look at the specific procedures followed when an item drops in a raid to determine where it goes. In a nutshell, the priority is as follows:


Need -> Greed -> Off-Specs -> Recruits -> Alts -> Non-Raider -> Shard:

Since EPGPLootmaster is now utilized to distribute loot, we no longer have to whisper the Master Looter and spend at least 2 minutes to distribute each piece of loot. EPGPLootmaster allows the Loot Master to link all drops into a pop-up window that all raid members will see (if you have the required EPGPLootmaster add-on). The EPGPLootmaster add-on will also automatically pass on all items that are either not for your class, or are not the apprpriate armor type....ie....plate wearers will be the only people to see plate item drops. The add-on does not track your specification, so all possible gear that you could possibly wear will be shown. Conveniently, the EPGP add-on also displays the item level of the drops.

You will have three selections available to you on the pop-up. The criteria that decides what option you should choose is described below.


1. Need: If the item level is greater than your existing main spec gear item level, then NEED shall be selected on the EPGPLootmaster interface. The person with the highest Priority Rating(PR) will win the item, and the full GP cost is credited to their total. Raid members are strongly encouraged to submit a NEED bid on any item that is an item level increase over your existing gear used for your primary raid function. Passing on these upgrades to "hoard" points for rare drops will only serve to stunt our progression and very much needs to be discouraged.

2. Greed: If nobody 'needed' on the item, we move to the "greed" responses. The person with the highest Priority Rating(PR) will win the item for 25% of the GP cost. Some examples of "greed" rolling:

  • Stamina gear for casters/healers;
  • PvP gear
  • Resist gear for anyone;


3. Off-Specs: If there are no greed rolls on an item, we move to the off-spec responses. The bidder with the highest EP priority will then win the item for 10% of the item's GP cost. Examples of "off-spec" use for an item are:

  • Raid tanks rolling on DPS gear and vice versa (i.e. if the individual is a DPS warrior and is being asked to andoff-tank for the raid, they will bid need on DPS items, and off-spec on tanking items);
  • Healers rolling on damage caster gear;
  • Shadow priests, feral/balance druids, protection/retribution paladins rolling on healing gear;
  • There are no "off-spec" options for the following classes: rogues, mages, hunters, warlocks.

4. Recruit: If there are any recruits running with the guild, at this time they may submit their responses via the EPGPLootmaster add-on, or whisper the Loot Master if they are interested in an item. If there are multiple recruits in the raid at the same time that are interested in the same item, the the item will be assigned to the recruit with the highest Priority Rating(PR).

5. Alt: If there are any alts/non-raiders running with the guild, at this time they may submit their responses via the EPGPLootmaster add-on, or via a "need" whisper to the Master Looter if they are interested in the item. The alt whose main has the highest EP priority will win the item; and 10% of that item's GP cost is then credited to their main's GP totals. Note that in no case will an alt win an item that a main is interested in, even if that main is only interested in the item for off-spec use. Alts are only permitted to bid on items once they have reached the alt phase.

6. Non-Raider: If there are any Non-raiders running with the guild, they may submit their responses via the EPGPLootmaster add-on, or via a "need" whisper to the Master Looter if they are interested in the item. If there happens to be more than one Non-Raider in the raid that needs the item, then open rolls will be solicited in the raid channel. The Non-raider with the highest roll will win the item.

 
7. Shard: If there are still no bids or rolls on an item, it is sharded and sent to the guild bank.

N.B.: If, at the discretion of the Master Looter, the item in question is an upgrade for that raid member's primary raid role, the right to "greed" roll may be refused. If after distribution of loot, it is determined that an item was greeded or off-spec'd by a raider when a 'need' would have been appropriate, then the raider will be charged 125% of the GP cost. This is going to be a hard and fast rule to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings, so please make sure to remember this and avoid any potentially unhappy outcomes!


General Note: Each EPGPLootmaster response phase will last about 90 seconds for raiders to make their selections on all available items.

Making up EP:

We're committed to making sure that everyone in the guild is taken care of, even if their RL schedules will occasionally prevent them from making a raid time. Obviously, if this happens consistently and with a majority of our raid times, you might want to reconsider if this is the guild for you - but if this isn't the case, here are a couple policies that should help everyone to that end:

First, on some nights, we may end up having more folks online and ready to raid than we have spots available on the raid team. In this case, a wait list will be assembled. If you are on the wait list, it's your responsibility to make sure that if you're called in, you can be geared up and ready for a summon within 5 minutes at the latest of the time we call you in as a replacement. If you need to go offline briefly, or would like to switch over to an alt, it's your responsibility to make sure that a raid leader or officer is aware of this; otherwise, we'll think that you're absent, and you'll end up losing your spot on the list.

Everyone on the wait list will receive full EP credit identical to those actually participating in the raid that evening. :)

Secondly, if you simply can't be online at a given raid time, you have the option of "making up" the time to ensure your EP total is boosted by the same amount received by those in the raid that night. Here are the basics:

1. EP is awarded at a rate of 1 point per minute spent in a raid; generally, our raids will be worth 255 points (4 hours of raiding, plus the 15 minutes recieved while we organize the raid). In order to "make up" raid time and get your EP, you can farm for an equivalent period of time.

2. It doesn't matter what you farm, as long as it's useful in some way to the guild; whether it's straight gold, herbs for consumables, or the consumables themselves, etc.; the important thing is that you spend the time farming, and send any proceeds earned during that time to the Guild Leader, Molt. As you can tell, there is a certain level of honor system associated with this since I am asking you to tell me how long it took you to farm the mats. As you know, I am a farmer, so please be realistic with your estimates.

3. Once you've done this, drop an in-game mail to Molt, with the date of the raid you're making up, and the approximate date and time you spent online doing the farming, so I can update the point totals.

4. All raid times must be "made up" by the following Tuesday's reset. So if you miss a Wednesday night raid, you have until very early the following Tuesday morning to do your farming and send in the materials for that raid. Multiple raids in the same week can be "made up" in this fashion, as long as you spend an equivalent amount of time farming as the folks who showed up spent in the raid. (Under special circumstances, variances on the deadline or quantity of EP made up may be considered.)

5. People who attended the raids can't farm for additional EP; this option is only available to folks who needed to miss the raids, in order to keep everyone who is willing to invest effort on behalf of the guild on equal footing as far as the chance to receive a gear drop on a raid.

If you have any questions about this policy, concerns or other thoughts, feel free to drop me a note in-game, post a message in the forums, or we can chat on vent. :)

Thanks all.