Pros and Cons of DKP Vs Free Roll - World of Warcraft

A lot of guilds after Burning Crusade came out had to deal with whether or not they were doing to use DKP anymore. After all, Karazhan was only a 10 man just like UBRS is.

Some guilds struggled with coming up with new systems instead of DKP. Some felt secure with free roll in their guilds, thinking that people would just be courteous and pass to others that needed it more. I have seen the struggles of both ends in my guild. At this time we are exploring free roll since we have done DKP and I have seen bad and good come from either way.

Should You Use DKP?

I think a lot of it depends on the size of your guild and whether it's a casual guild or a raiding guild. Mine is a casual guild so DKP of some sort seemed to be the best so that we made sure the hardcore raiders were getting loots before someone who just stepped in their first day, getting lucky rolling 99 and 100. However, DKP caused a lot of problems as well.

Pros

DKP is a great way to make sure that those that put forth the most hours got the loots first. It can be really discouraging to someone if they had put in weeks and weeks into a raid, and then a newcomer gets it by the luck of a roll.

I have seen people wait months for a loot to drop, and then someone steps in for the day, rolls, and wins. It can really push people away from wanting to work hard.

If you have DKP, there is a chance that attendance could go up because people will want to go, even if it's just to get the points. That way they at least feel like they're getting something, and know that even if it didn't drop that week, they'll have a better chance the next week because they saved on points.

Sometimes guilds use DKP bonuses. Meaning, if they were there the first time a boss dropped or if they were there on time and ready to go, they get extra points over someone who decided not to come and learn bosses. This can be a great incentive for people who like to build up their points to get the loots they want when they drop. These bonuses can also give people the incentive to attend.

It's essentially a great tool to use for those that are hardcore get it over someone who is a casual gamer.

DKP is also a good way to evenly distribute loots. It makes sure that the same person isn't luckily winning everything. Some guilds go around this and make it a rule that you can only win 1 epic per run, unless no one needs. However, I have seen people win 3 epics in one run, just because no one needed it, and then the very next day get to roll because it's a new day, and then win again.

Cons

DKP can be discouraging in other forms too. If someone is new to your guild and looks at the DKP list and sees that everyone has an extreme number of DKP, it could lead them to feel that they have no chance at winning everything whether hardcore raider or not.

Some guilds their items are worth like 200dkp, and some as small as 5 or 10dkp. But joining a guild where members have like 400 - 2,000 or so DKP can make a member go, "Wow, it'll be months before I see anything. What a waste of my time."

One person could argue that people with this attitude about loots are just loot hungry and could care less about the guild progression. After all, someone had to do the constant wiping for weeks before a boss was finally downed. And those people should rightfully get the loots before someone who was not part of the attempts.

DKP can also be a big hassle to deal with. It could lead to a very long process of loot distribution depending on how it is done. Some guilds use mods that work with this easily. However some guilds make you loot up your DKP on the website, and bid on the item. The person with the highest bid, wins the item. This could lead to a lengthy delay in clearing an instance if you're sitting there waiting for bids to go off.

If your guild luckily does the loot distribution process fast, there is also a big hassle with DKP on guild officers. Working with mods can be a pain to work with your system, and also uploading and updating the information on your website. Sometimes it can be just a lot more fun and easy for officers and members to just free roll and plow through the instance without a lot of talk on who gets what.

Should you Free Roll?

Again, like using DKP a lot of this depends on the size of your guild and how the guild is structured. Are you inviting pugs into your raids? Do you have a joined alliance with another guild? Are you hardcore or casual? These are things to consider.

For a while my guild was having troubles. We had a couple drama queens in the guild who not only left, but brought a few other good players with them. As a result it left my raids half full to the point where it was such a headache to get the guildies going, we had quit raiding all together for almost two months.

Essentially I came up with the decision that we would do away with DKP, start a raid, and pug any slots we had left. We free rolled it. And not only was it easy and a lot more fun to just go in there and roll, we met a lot of people through the pugging who eventually joined our guild at the end of the raid.

It was a good solution to our problem, and to this day we are free rolling. But there have been also some known issues that have come up to using the Free Roll system.

Pros

It's overall a lot easier to free roll than it is to use DKP. You can set rules like: One epic per person, per run unless no one needs. People usually are okay with this, and in the 10man Karazhan, some people walk away with 3 epics anyway.

Also, if you are running short a few members that day and you want to pug a single dps, people typically will not want to join your guild run unless you allow them to roll on loots too. If you tell them it is a DKP run and they can only have something if no one wants, they will probably look elsewhere.

Free roll can work with the raiding guilds or the casual guilds easily. If you have a set group with the same people all the time, there really is no need to do DKP because you all know each other and will pass or need depending on who needs it the most and everyone will eventually get everything when you go with the same people every week. As for casual guilds it is good too because you don't have to worry about the fairness in sign ups and who got invited (as much) because you can always say that since it's a free roll, you aren't missing out on valuable DKP.

If you do decide to pug some people, or even just as an extra precaution with others you know set the loot to Master Looter. You can either set it during the whole raid and evenly distribute the greens at the end, or you can set it to Master Looter right before the boss. Sometimes people do forget to set it to Master Looter before a boss though.

Cons

Not many people want to be raiding with their guild week after week, waiting for a specific loot to drop only to lose it to someone who has hardly attended. This can cause a lot of drama depending on the person.

Some guilds don't do DKP, and they do not do complete free roll either. Some actually give it to the person they feel needs it the most based on attendance and what gear they have. Be wary of doing this though because sometimes it could look like you are picking favorites as an officer, even if you are trying to be perfectly fair and you know for a fact you passed on loots in the past.

If you leave it up to complete free roll and do not have it set on Master Looter, you could be a victim of ninjas (people who roll need on anything without asking or even items they can't use). There are several epic drops on trash bosses as well that could pop up. So if you don't have it on Master Looter the whole time, something could drop and someone rolls need, wins, and leaves the raid.

Though free rolling is encouraging for new people to come since they know they have a chance, it can be very discouraging for the members who want to make it 100% of the time. Losing to someone who attends 2 /10 of the raids if you were there for all 10 / 10 times can really make you want to give up.

You could argue that if you really were more about guild progression instead of loots, you wouldn't really care who wins what, as long as there is progression. Some people have this attitude, but not a whole lot. Even if you are an outstanding an giving officer or guild master, your guildies may still not agree with you.

No matter what though, as a guild master it is your ultimate decision no matter what the guildies feel is right. Many will always want what's best for them over what's best for the guild, unfortunately. Anybody who is causing too much commotion, however, over this should be removed the guild before any sort of guild destruction occurs.

DKP or free rolling, whichever you choose you can still have a successful guild. Perhaps you could also come up with a different system of your own that works well with your guild.

What does my guild use? Well we started with DKP and it worked nicely because we had a core group. Then after we started pugging for a while, we went to free roll and it was a lot less of a headache, but I all ready am starting to see guildies become worried about losing to a new person. This is something that will have to be addressed soon.

I would like to re-implement and revamp our DKP system for the 25mans. There are definitely pros and cons to either way you choose. It all depends on the individual nature of your guild.