Raid points indicate the effort of a player in terms of raids attended over the past 60 days. Each hourly log is assigned a point value, the point value itself varies based on the zone. Some raids, such as first kills, are given bonus points which are determined by the officers at the time of the kill. These raids tend to be worth significantly more as they represent advancement made by the guild.
Members online will receive points as long as they are online and available to raid, this includes being on a GUILDED secondary character. If a player is requested to come to a raid and is found to be unavailable a penalty is applied. Furthermore, unless there is an acceptable reason (ie. new member that has not had the chance to be attuned yet), members not attuned to a zone will not be credited for sitting out. Members sitting out on raids are expected to be in the "waiting room" and have the comment "ATR" in Ventrilo.
Due to the limitations of the World of Warcraft interface players are encouraged to check their attendance to ensure proper credit is given. Missing credit can only be claimed for the past 5 days of raiding, beyond that it is considered lost. Credit can be requested in Rombus' Sister's Room under "Missing Attendance." This displays a list of raids over the past 5 days, missing raids are highlighted in red. If a player clicks the "Missing" link they can enter a reason why they may have missed the log. At this point a review request will be submitted, if an officer feels this credit is due they will approve the request, otherwise it will be denied.
Players found abusing this trust will have their access to this utility revoked and their attendance for the past 30 days wiped.
Much like raid points, item points indicate the amount of loot a player has received while raiding over the past 60 days. This can relate directly to either quality or quantity. Item points have three distinct categories...
- Standard Items
- Standard items include weapons and non-tier pieces of equipment.
- Tier Armor
- Tier armor includes any item that is part of a tiered set. This excludes tiered armor looted for off-specs.
- Off-Spec Items
- Off-spec items include any items that are not directly beneficial to a player's primary spec. A player requesting an item as an off-spec item will never be rewarded this item over a player that would use it full time. In practice these items are only really looked at when it is off-spec vs. off-spec. Items falling under this category may not be looted at a reduced cost.
To figure out how many item points a player has every item is assigned a rank which represents a numerical value. These values are then multiplied by the zone modifier to allow for extreme flexibility. The item ranks are as follows...
Rank 6 - 12 Base Points
Rank 5 - 8 Base Points
Rank 4 - 6 Base Points
Rank 3 - 5 Base Points
Rank 2 - 3 Base Points
Rank 1 - 1 Base Point
Items are almost always ranked based on their general quality - NOT their quality in direct relation to others, as zone modifiers assist with varying item quality from zone to zone. The exception to this is if similar items drop in the same zone, in this case they may be ranked based on another item's quality.
Armor tokens are split into their own category known as "tier armor." All pieces in a set are equivalent to a rank 4 item.
Once an item is assigned to a player the base points are then multiplied by the zone multiplier. The zone multiplier represents the general significance of a zone. For example, Gruul's Lair currently has a multiplier of 5 where as Black Temple has a multiplier of 18. The equation works like this...
(Base Points) * (Zone Multiplier) = Item Points
Here is the equation applied in practice...
Rank 5 Black Temple Item
( 8 Base Points) * (18 Point Zone Modifier) = 144 Item Points
Rank 5 Gruul's Lair Item
( 8 Base Points) * (5 Point Zone Modifier) = 40 Item Points
As zones become less relevant the zone modifiers from previous zones can be and generally are lowered. End-game zones tend to have a modifier from 15-20, mid-game zones from 10-14 and all others 9 or lower.
Additional item ranks also exist to assist with certain special-case items. They are as follows...
Reward Item - 0 Base Points (Free)- Reward Items are generally quest items that drop from bosses such as the Verdant Sphere from Kael'thas or Magtheridon's Head. These items are awarded based on overall contributions - previous loot is NOT taken into consideration, so it is entirely possible for a player to get both a normal loot and a reward item off the same boss. These are entirely merit-based decisions.
Key Quest Item - Base Points (Free)- Key Quest Items tend to be items from raid encounters that contribute to a player's individual advancement. These items are generally distributed in a way similar to a reward. Past Key Quest Items included the Eye of Divinity and Splinters of Atiesh.
Resist Gear - 1 Base Point- Items with 25 or more resist that drop as an item on a boss' loot table are considered resist gear. These are generally considered free but to take up a minimal item value to ensure proper distribution.
Items can also be reduced in value on demand if officers see it fit through modifiers. The only way a player can receive an item at reduced cost is if no one else is willing to take the item at face value, this includes trial members. Even then an item requested at half points can be denied if the officers feel a player is abusing this clause.
Half Points- If an item's end value after multipliers results in 144 item points, an item marked as half points will only add 72 item points. Items that go for half points tend to be given to players that will only use them in off-specs.
No Cost- If a player is receiving a duplicate item for alternative use this item is generally given away at no cost. The exception here is primarily trinkets and rings.
Finally, items can also be tagged as "off-spec." Off-spec items apply to items looted by the character that do not accommodate his/her primary spec.
If a player disagrees with the ranking of an item he/she can dispute this by creating a post in the IPS item disputes thread. This request will either be approved or denied by an officer and, if approved, be applied retroactively.
When an item drops an officer will ask in raid or guild for tells with a link to the item. Players requesting the item simply send a tell to that officer with any conditions that may apply (ie. "if no Warriors want", "half points", "off-spec", etc.). After about 15-20s a second (and generally final) call will be made for tells. If no tells have come in this point an officer will advise the raid that no one has asked the item, if no tells are received the item will be disenchanted. Once all names are collected the officer will post the item and the names of the players interested and their conditions. If the item is highly contested obvious tells such as those from trials and those requested at half points will be dropped to help narrow things down. At this point the officers will begin the compare process.
The compare process is an intuitive way that allows an officer an "at glance" view at all of a member's vital stats. The compare page that is used can be found at the following URL...
This allows four members to be compared next to each other on a single screen providing the following information...
- 30 Day Attendance
- 60 Day Attendance
- 90 Day Attendance
- Lifetime Attendance
- Raid Points
- Item Points
- Days Since Last Loot
- Standard & Off-Spec Items
- Date looted.
- Quality of item.
- Stats (by hovering).
- Location of item.
Other factors such as general attitude and guild contributions are also taken into an account to a degree.
Penalties are accrued by performing activities that have a negative impact on the guild. Penalties are given at the discretion of the officers and require a majority vote.
Penalties appear as a highly-ranked item on your profile. Even when a penalty is removed from your 60 day deduction, it will remain on your record. We are very strict when it comes to goofing off on raids and not taking them seriously. Most of the time if a penalty is applied to your character you will also be asked to leave the raid, except in the case of Ventrilo Disruptions and Extended AFKs (unless there is someone to take your spot). We are a hardcore raiding guild; if you don't want to take everything we're doing seriously you're putting the raid at risk. We all love a good joke, just don't waste people's time with them.
