Raid Lottery for 2/24-3/2

Sorry to be so late on it. Here's the randomly sorted list.

1 Kamikazi
2 Amellae
3 Kanstali
4 Adelice
5 Amellae
6 Adelice
7 Delmore
8 Kanstali
9 Kamikazi
10 Kanstali
11 Alinei
12 Warhound
13 Warhound
14 Adelice
15 Warhound
16 Kanstali
17 Kanstali
18 Kamikazi
19 Adelice
20 Kmichaels
21 Landdorin
22 Amellae
23 Alinei
24 Kmichaels
25 Delmore
26 Landdorin
27 Kaylun
28 Kamikazi
29 Kmichaels
30 Delmore
31 Kaylun
32 Warhound
33 Amellae
34 Kaylun
35 Alinei
36 KMichaels
37 Landdorin

Amellae wins! grats :)

How to get a spot in the raid

As raiding picks up, the number of people who sign up will obviously start to exceed the number of spots. The following guidelines will come into play to help determines who gets an invite and who remains on standby (in order of importance)...

1. Role/Class requirements- Obviously, a certain number of healers, tanks and DPS are required. This means a particular healer may be invited to every single raid for a year, while a DPS may only be asked to half of them (dual specs in 3.1 will help open this up a bit).
2. Attendance and Attitude- No one wants to raid with a Negative Nancy or with someone who's chronically late. If you are either, you may find invites will be few and far between.
3. Skill- Yes, this is after attitude. Personally, I'd rather raid with someone who's fun but needs practice than someone who's uber 1337 and does nothing but complain. I want to enjoy the trip to the final boss, not spend every minute looking for an excuse to call the raid...
4. Gear- Though gear will never be the only reason to invite/exclude a person, if the raid is progressing to a more difficult stage, those with sub-par gear my be asked to sit out. This also works the other way, where those with particularly nice gear may be asked to sit out the easier parts of a raid to ensure that gear drops don't go to waste.
5. Preparation- Come prepared. This means having food, pots, ammo, correct gear set, etc. Consistent lack of preparation will adversely impact future raid invites.
6. Communication- Simply put, if you're going to be 5 minutes later and haven't told me, I have no way of knowing that I'm supposed to hold a spot. Please communicate with me and/or other guildies regarding absences, lateness, etc.

In the end, you are competing for raid spots in a manner of speaking. Though I make every effort to include everyone, the fact of the matter is that there are 8 other people in the raid (myself excluded) and their needs have to considered as well. Players who consistently show they're motivated and want to do well are the ones who will see the most purple...

PS Kissing up won't help either.  I like EVERYONE and always feel bad when someone sits out. :(

Raid Chat Channels

I've set up 3 chat channels for raiding. One for healers, one for DPS and one for tanks (send me a whisper for the channel name & password). These have a very specific purpose during raiding: they organize information. I'll be monitoring each channel, so if DPS has a certain issue/concern/idea/question, they can air it in the DPS channel. It's not meant to hide the information from the rest of the raid, but some info just isn't critical for anyone not playing that role. A case in point is heal assigns. These will be spammed to the healer channel since it's not vital that DPS know who's healing them (just that they're getting heals). At other times, the least embarrassing way to communicate info (Such as "OMG, Panda sucks. We're gonna have to double his heals") is through the channel. Though they can certainly take on a life of their own, during raids the channels will be for raid-related stuff only.

Weekly Raid Lottery

Here are the "tickets" along with random numbers. Congratulations Nighthut!

1	Nicknack
2	Kanstali
3	Teos
4	Amellae
5	Warhound
6	Warhound
7	Warhound
8	Nighthut
9	Kamikazi
10	Teos
11	Amellae
12	Landdorin
13	Felidan
14	Adelice
15	Ninjarogue
16	Adelice
17	Nighthut
18	Kamikazi
19	Nighthut
20	Moonsparrow
21	Warhound
22	Moonsparrow
23	Nicknack
24	Kamikazi
25	Teos
26	Kamikazi
27	Nicknack
28	Kanstali
29	Teos
30	Kanstali
31	Amellae
32	Landdorin
33	Amellae

A Random Number Generator is no way to distribute loot.

The raid is progressing smooth as butter and everyone's amazed at how easy the bosses are falling. After the third boss, someone links a damage meter. "OMG! Bob's DPS is equal to everyone else's combined!" Bob lol's then explains he has to call it a night. His spot is filled 10 minutes later and suddenly the raid can't even clear trash. The raid leaders calls it 20 minutes later...

Such are the benefits and dangers of an unbalanced raid when it comes to gear. I'm not one to limit people's loot, but I'd like to implement a basic loot-distribution system. This is not to suggest that the KCDS is greedy (far from it). It's just a passive system to keep loot even. I hope it will be simple and fair to everyone. Here's the plan:*

• For every raid, you earn 1 point (1/2 point if you attended for less than two-thirds).
  
• Every item you win costs 1 point (you can have negative points). Players who are asked to bring an alt, will have one "point-free" drop per week to avoid penalizing their main.
  
• You must defer to anyone with 2 points more than you.**
  
• You must defer after 2 consecutive item wins in any one week.***
  
• Points (earned and "spent") fall off after two weeks.
  
• You are never required to roll and may pass simply because you want others to get gear as well.

That's it. This will help ensure that the raid stays somewhat evenly geared and the absence of any one person isn't a threat to raid success.

PS The above is never in effect when KCDS PUGs. Every person for him/herself in those cases ;)

* This applies ONLY to main spec. Off-spec rolls are open to everyone and do not use points.

** "Defer" does not mean you can't have the item. It simply means that anyone else (main spec) who wants it receives priority.

*** "Consecutive" means winning two items in a row for which you were eligible (i.e. if Boss 1 drops tank gear, Boss 2 drops DPS/healer and Boss 3 drops tank, a tank who won on 1 & 3 would have 2 consecutive wins). By deferring, the next drop would NOT be considered "in a row" and you could roll again, provided you had the points.

Heigan Video

Watch this video before we run Heigan. We will alter the yellow line slightly, but not by much.

Required and suggested addons

Required (All):

Omen Threat Meter

Tracks your threat as compared to the raids.

Deadly Boss Mods

Tracks the various events during a boss encounter, providing timers to help you anticipate phases, abilities, etc.

Required (Healers):

Grid or similar unit frame mod

Compresses raid into an easier-to-follow layout. Simpler than the default WoW raid interface.

Suggested:

Some kind of unit frame mod

Required for healers, but can be useful for everyone. Often provides additional information that the WoW interface either leaves out or "clutters in."

Raid Schedules

I'd like to propose the following raid schedule:

Naxxramas (10-man)
Friday, 8p-11/12p (or 9:30p-12p/1a)
This will be a standing "appointment" unless otherwise stated. Even if no event has been placed on the Calendar, players may assume there will be a raid at this time unless they have specifically been told otherwise by Panda.

nb Start time may be moved to 9p and run until midnight/1 AM, depending on availability.

Sunday, 7p-10p
Though this can be "expected," raids on this day will be clearly scheduled. If no event has been placed on the calendar before noon Saturday, players may assume the night is free.

Players are encouraged to join 25-man Naxx PUGs whenever they can. Until more players reach 80, there will be no official 25-man Naxx raids scheduled. KCDS players are encouraged to group together to fill multiple raid spots in PUGs.

PUGs
PUGs are obviously at the player's discretion and schedule, but certain nights will be scheduled as "Guild+PUG" raids. On these nights, several guildies will group together to fill a spot in a larger raid. These raids are not "mandatory" and exist only to ease the pain of those who dislike PUGs. ;)

It is requested that no one PUG 10-man Naxx unless they are certain they will be unable to make the Friday or Sunday raids.

Tuesday or Wednesday, 7p
Obsidian Sanctum (10- & 25-man)
10-man will be guild-only if enough KCDS players are present

Saturday, 7p
Eye of Eternity (10-man)

This is a difficult instance, but worth the loot. Still, if you're going to skip one, this is it. Be sure to do VoA, OS and Naxx before EoE.

Vault of Archavon
VoA is strictly PUG. It is very easy to find spots after a Wintergrasp battle and results in, quite possibly, the easiest Emblems available. Players are encouraged to complete both raids weekly. There are currently no plans to ever raid VoA as a guild.

Raiding Guidelines

A few of my own thoughts on raiding and how I hope to approach it:

1. If it's your first time on a boss, you didn't do anything wrong. Whether the boss lives and we die, or visa versa, you did a great job. The mere fact that you were there, willing to learn a new encounter, means you're an asset to the guild. Assets don't screw up. :)
2. If it's your fifth time on a boss... yeah, maybe you did something wrong. OK, so figure out what it was. Did you pull too much aggro? Did you miss a heal? Did the front doorbell ring? Figure out what it was and fix it (SuperGlue works great on doorbells). If you feel like it, own up to it in raid chat or Vent. You'll be surpised how understanding some people can be and you just might find yourself lol'ing at the "let me tell you about the time..." stories.
3. Eat. Food is a great way to get that extra "oomph." Find a recipe for which you can easily farm mats and try to come to a raid with 5-10 pieces of it. 300-400 extra stam plus a boost to AP/Crit/MP5 can do wonders. Just ask some of the more experienced raiders about the "1% wipe." (Recipes can be gained from running the daily Dalaran cooking quest.)
4. Please keep Vent clear during new boss encounters. The Raid Leader or others with experience may need to make a last-minute adjustment. Keeping Vent clear makes it that much easier. Joking is strongly discouraged unless the encounter is on farm status (determined by the raid leader). Additionally, never use "/rw" during a boss encounter unless it's absolutely critical. Only two lines show up at once. If you "/rw lol" you may have just pushed the "/rw DPS off" message off the screen.
5. Speaking of "DPS off," if the raid leader says "DPS off," do it. Sometimes the tank may need to build more aggro. Other times it may simply be a way of "resetting" things (remember the core hounds in MC?). No matter what, if the raid leader says to turn the DPS off, untarget the current focus and just sit there until told to resume DPS.
6. If the raid wipes, run back along with everyone else. Unless a rezzer made it through the encounter, release and run back (maybe even repair along the way). It's not fair if you go get a drink while the rezzer has to run all the way back to raise your thirst-quenched butt. On the other hand, don't release too early. If the boss goes down and you're outside the raid, you'll miss all the loot (Blizzard mechanics FTL).
7. Follow the DPS order. This should be spelled out in each raid, but you can usually assume skull, cross, . The third mark should be CC'ed when possible and safe. If further marks are required, they will be explained.
8. Do not get in front of the tank before a pull. The tank knows the safe aggo range. Get in front of him at your own (and the raid's) peril. And for Pete's sake, don't follow the rogue...

And last, but certainly not least, enjoy yourself. Keep it light. No matter how it may feel, it IS just a game in the end. Losing sight of this simple fact is a good way to be replaced...

New Raid Lottery

The Repair Lottery*

• Guildies who are online and in the raid group 15 minutes before the instance receive 1 entry**.
• Guildies who are at the summoning stone or inside the instance at the scheduled starting time receive 1 entry.
• Guildies who remain for the entire length of the raid receive 1 entry.
• Guildies on the standby list who are available at the scheduled raid start time will receive 1 entry, even if they were not chosen to raid.
• Guildies with an especially positive attitude or helpful skills may be awarded an additional entry (at the discretion of the raid leader).
• Guildies who sign up for a raid and do not attend will be penalized 2 entries if they do not notify an officer or the Raid Leader 30 minutes prior. (This penalty can create a "debt" situation.***)

On Tuesday, a drawing will be held for the previous week. The winning guildie will receive 100g to use for repairs.****

* At the current time, the raid lottery is restricted to level 80 end-game raids only.
** There will be no "cost" associated with the entry aside from the requirement to be present.
*** Entries (including "debt") will be reset every Tuesday.
**** The gold will be marked in such a way that using for anything other than repairs will cause it to magically disappear! (Really. We mean it. We have the technology. It's the 21st century and anything is possible. (Well, except the technology to make flying cars, of course. What a rip-off.))

DKP...?

DKP (aka "Dragon Kill Points") are a way for keeping track of raid participation and are intended to maintain an even distribution of loot. Though by no means a perfect system, it can be very useful in helping to "temper" those who get a little loopy when they see "teh epix!" (I am one of these). If KCDS were to ever implement a DKP system (something I would like to see), I would suggest the following (hopefully simple) system:

DKP awards (stand-by values in parentheses):

• +2(1): On-time (logged in and zoned in by the scheduled raid start time)
• +2(1): Full raid (stayed for the entire raid and was active during all boss fights and 90% of trash pulls)
• +5(2): Boss down (subject to "double DKP" for first down of a boss)
• +10(4): Final Boss down (subject to "double DKP" for first down)

DKP Values:

• -5: trinkets, single-drop quest items
• -10: Wrists, Belts, Boots, Gloves, Rings, Necks, Cloaks, Librams/etc
• -15: Chests, Shoulders, Wands, 1h Weapons, Off-hands
• -20: Helms, Legs, 2h Weapons
• -50: Mounts
• -2: additional DKP cost for Tier tokens

A player's DKP is checked after he/she requests a loot drop. The person with the highest DKP of those requesting the item wins the item and the DKP is immediately deducted.

nb. DKP is not "owned" since it is merely a point system aimed at helping guide the Raid Leader in the equitable distribution of gear (everyone deserves to be rewarded for their efforts and no one person should be subject to the mercy of a non-random RNG). As such, players may not "bank" DKP. If an item drops which is an obvious upgrade, players may not pass simply because they wish to save up DKP for the possibility of a future drop (passing on marginal upgrades will be discussed among the officers, the decisions being based primarily on raid performance). Hoever, this does not mean a player must always bid on an item. If two or more players wish to have the item, one of them may "bow out" to let the other have it. In this case "banking" DKP would be acceptable. However, obvious upgrades will never be sharded simply because no one wished to use their DKP. DKP values may also be "realigned" or deleted altogether as the officers see the need (for example, a new raid with decidedly better gear may have its own DKP pool).