stargrace

Why I hate dkp

stargrace July 13, 2006 0Comment

Dkp = Dragon Kill Points for those who are unfamiliar, and the term has been around for quite some time. It’s a loot method that a huge amount of guilds use in order to total up who gets what in a raid. It’s also a method of loot distribution that causes much debate, and there are good and bad sides to using it. Personally, I hate it.

In eq1/eq2 the majority of raiding guilds that I’d been in over the past 4 years used DKP. The only exceptions that even come to mind are Keepers of the Elements (eq1) and Forsaken (eq2). Basically you earn an amount of points every raid you attend, some times you can receive bonuses if you take down a boss encounter for the first time (the guilds first time, not your personal first time), you can lose points for being late, leaving a raid early, or even for making stupid mistakes depending on how strict the guild is. This method of earning points is a high winner with those people who can attend every single raid, namely the main tank, and all of the raid organizers (guild leader is typically included in this list as well). When something drops that you want, you bid on it using these points you’ve accumulated. Person who bids / has the most points, gets the item. Seems pretty fair, right? After all, you do want to reward those who attend the raids, and those who attend the most raids deserve to have a shot at the best items first…….or do they?

Lets say I join a guild, and they use dkp. Oh, wait, I’ve already done that (and left last week). The guild has been established for a few years, and have raided heavily, so those who are on for a constant basis and can raid daily, have acquired 300 dkp. You earn 1 dkp an hour, with about 15 hours of raid time a week if you attend every one. Being a new member, you start at 0 dkp. In fact, being a recruit, you can’t even bid against regular members, which is actually quite fair. You’re new after all, doesn’t matter if you attend every single raid upon joining, the ‘real’ members earned their dkp in the past and deserve to have dibs on items.

Now lets say something drops, and it’s not an upgrade to anyone in the guild since they’ve been raiding heavily for so long. In fact, it’s not an upgrade to anyone except you. But you’re new, and have no dkp. Some guilds I know would loot the item and vendor it, rather then letting the new recruit have said item, since they’ve not yet earned any dkp. Other guilds, would let the recruit have the item for a minimum bid of dkp so that the person was in the negative, and would have to earn their way back up to a positive amount.

Even with these small issues, that’s not what I hate about dkp. The part I actually dislike the most, is the following:

Say you join a guild that uses dkp. That’s fine and dandy, you have no issues with it. You begin raiding, and you raid daily, for three months. During that time, hard_core_raider_101 has been missing for two months. They grew bored with the game once each instance had been beaten, and moved on to something else. They have 300 dkp saved up from al of their hard work. However, a new expansion is on the horizon, and a week before it’s due to release, they come back to the game and start raiding again.

Now, you’ve been raiding for three months, and have managed to save up (with a few upgrades here and there) 200 dkp. You’re reliable, on time, and haven’t missed a single raid. Despite this fact, the member who’s been missing for those three months still has more dkp then you. When the new expansion comes out, they also have first dibs on anything that drops over you. Even though you’re the one who’s been playing.

Fair? Not in my opinion.

I realize that loot is not a huge deal on raids. In fact, I enjoy raiding simply for the pleasure of being able to work together and take down a mob that others can’t take down. It’s a thrill and I like it. But unfortunately the rewards that come along with it are hard to ignore, especially if you’re in one of those constantly raiding guilds that tend to be a little.. greedy.. and talk about loot rewards 24/7. It becomes difficult not to care. When you have the mentality that the guild as a whole will be better the more people you gear up, and the rest of the guild is of the opinion that it’s everyone for themselves when it comes to loot…. it’s hard not to feel slightly bitter.

I wish I could find more raiding guilds who were able to take down targets, and used a better method of loot distribution. Unfortunetly it’s very rare, but I can keep hoping.

A girl and her spider

stargrace July 12, 2006 1Comment

This eccentric gnome, is Willamina Woozlecogbit the 4th. A necromancer by choice, sort of. Her parents discouraged her from any involvement in the dark arts as she grew up. Which of course, like anything forbidden, caused her to seek it out further. She’s my newest alt character, seeing as late I have felt nothing but restless. I made her in the hopes of settling down some what, though it’s yet to happen. She’ll be my sage, and I’ve already spent quite a bit “twinking” her out, which means to say I browsed through the broker and bought items that she would not have normally come across at her level. One of the perks of having a higher level character (or two, or three). I’m not certain of her entire roleplay persona yet, I’m sure it will develop along the way. I looked for a class that had some soloability to it, and necromancers certainly do. Granted she won’t be off taking down heroics like they once used to, but she can handle things on her own fairly well at least.

Calicia is now a 27 bruiser. Lots of fun. Also a 20 tailor. Ricotta a 25 jeweler. Perhaps part of my restlessness comes from the fact that I have 4 mid 20 characters on the go right now, which means that they are all doing things I have already done with the previous ones, and it’s just one repetitive cycle of leveling and exping. I envy those who can create one character, or even two, and stick with them for so long without a break. I’ve never been like that, even on EQ1 I had a plethora of alts that I would randomly log on to play. I wish I could settle. Suggestions? If they’re out there, feel free to share.

Have you seen my sister

stargrace July 10, 2006 0Comment

(( Written from the perspective of Lillias, who is a new character of mine, look for more stories from her over the next little while, we’ll see how it goes ))

The trip was damp and cold, and more then once I had to lean over the edge of the ship to relieve myself of whatever meager meal I’d eaten for the day. Soaked and chilled to the bone only made the situation worse, and my thoughts ran ramped through my head. I clutched my sisters journal to my chest, one of a few personal belongings that were mailed to me weeks previous. The whole reason I was on the blasted boat to begin with.

My eyes glazed over as I went back and thought about what had happened, and tried to block out all other feelings. I felt slightly ill and forced the bile back down my throat which of course only made it burn and caused my eyes to water.

“We regret to inform you, Miss, that your sister is dead,” the words rang through me and I think I must have grabbed ahold of the doorway to steady myself. This was not exactly the message I had expected. Tonight of all nights. They must have the wrong house.

“Dead.. there must be some mistake?” I practically screeched at the messenger who backed off a few feet from the doorway, as though I may lunge at him or some other foolish notion. He shook his head sadly and passed me a wooden crate with a large S embedded into the lid of it. Later I’d come to find her news articles that she’d written and had pinned up in her house, as well as the journal that I now clutched like a life preserver. A few silver coin, nothing much. I tired to get more information and was left with nothing but the wind brushing up against the door, the boy having fled on foot to get away from my emotional state. I could hardly blame him.

I spent the night looking over her belongings. It felt like hours before I could ready myself to read her journal, I could not get rid of the feeling that I was intruding on her personal life. We had not been close for so many years, not since we were just children. It was more my fault then hers. I wished a higher (different?) education then she did and we had chosen different paths. Mine took me out side of Freeport and the home my parents had left to us. My arts were not something I spoke of often, though both of us took a ‘healing’ rout.. my sister did not approve at all, unfitting for a dark elf, she used to chide me. None of it mattered any more. I continued reading until my candle had burned down to the base of its holder, skipping to the last entry, my eyes widened. Wait…this..could it be? There was a chance. Perhaps there was hope.. or at least a way for me to confront my sisters killers if she was indeed dead. My mind swam with the notion that maybe I could still help some how. I decided then and there to head to Freeport, and learn of my sister what I could. I packed what little I owned and set out that night, leaving friends, family, and so much more behind. There was no need for them, they would not understand.

I was shaken roughly out of my half-dreaming state by the ship reaching shore, lurching about the deck I tried to once again get my feet beneath me, and eventually managed to make my way to Big Bend with little need for directions. My memory had served me well thus far at least. There would be no cozy inn room for me, I could hardly afford it. The only thought I’d had at all was to find my sister, I’d completely forgotten what it was like to be back in Freeport. The stench assaulted my nose and I tried not to gag. Ogres and trolls wandered past me and sniffed as though it were I who smelled bad. Once I’d secured a small one room bedroom to myself I spoke in hushed tones to the inn keeper, trying to find out some information, none of it was useful.

Skaga, a local vendor whom I remembered from previous years, yelled at me from across the way and I wandered over, unsure of what she wanted to tell me. She pulled me close and glanced around a moment before whispering her harsh breath into my ear, I tried not to shiver in distaste.

“If’ns you be lookin’s fer someones.. seek out the assassin..” she whispered. I stared at her a moment. Assassin? I’d known of no assassin. Granted this was Freeport and there were probably plenty about. I didn’t want to appear stupid by asking her, but I think my eyes said it all. “Leave words at East Freeport, the inn there.. they will be sure he gets the message,” she laughed at me and poked me in the chest as if to make her point, I practically fell backwards into the muck on the ground. I nodded and thanked her, and slipped a silver coin for her efforts into her pocket. She only grinned at me with her mouth half full of teeth. Not wanting to delay any longer I tore off a piece of parchment from the back of my sisters journal, dug a quill from my bags and impatiently wrote a letter, asking for help in locating my sister. I slipped it to the Inn Keeper in East Freeport, whispering that it was urgent that it found the Assassin, and gave another two silver to insure that it was actually delivered. I tried not to eye the already empty purse I carried, I would work that out another time. My hands did not stop shaking until I was back in my own room in Big Bend, there was nothing more that I could do this night without some sleep. So I curled up on the tiny hard cot and closed my eyes, trying to rest. Instead, all I got were dreams.

All I wanna do is dance, dance, dance

stargrace July 9, 2006 0Comment

(( Told from the perspective of Ricotta, my little bardling who’s slowly working her way up in the world, hopfully insperation sticks around, and I’ll have pleanty more to write ))

When I gots up dis morning, the very first things I thoughts wus that I needed new armour. See, t’is not that my current armours is bad, nay t’is quite the opposite, t’is all shiny ‘n stuffs. But.. well.. t’is not exactly the bestest stuffs to go around singing of tales (or is that tails?) in Qeynos. The other bards would laughs at meh if they saws me singings in shiny armour that looked like tin, instead of their colourful ensambles. How would I, Ricotta Is’Gouda, stands out if I blended in with the stone pavement? I had heard that Ian, in Qeynos Harbour, was well prepared to pass out dis armour that I wanted dearly. For a price of course. His price at first seemed much too high fer meh. He wanted various odds and ends completed, skeletons squished who had been giving him some griefs apparently. I wondered why dis lad did not takes care of the issues himself, but did not voice the opinions for fear dat he would remove my request all together, and I would sing to Qeynos in tin for the rest of dis little Ratongas life. The first two tasks he had meh complete were fairly easy, even for dis tiny bardling. The pieces he gave me in return were vereh pretty! Baby blue’s dat matched the sky. Oh how I longed for a full outfit of dis! I managed to complete 4 of his tasks all together, and then my little paws grew weary, so I decided to breaks for da night.

Made my way slowly to Baubleshire, dis is where halflings and gnomes live. I think it was comforting to put myself here at first, to be with the smaller races. If I had gone to Greystone yard, a Barbarian would be sure to steps on my poor little feets I just knows it! What good is a bard if they can not also dance! So I danced for the customers in the bank, little squeeks of joy about the new armour I had gotten. The rest wills have to waits until tomorrow, I’ve just not the stamina of the larger peoples yet. In time I know it will come to me! I have been working on songs, and games fer people to laugh and sings about. Still though, I remember my days in Freeport, scrounging up foods in the muck of the sewers. Nightmares at times plague meh, buts I refuse to lets it gets meh down! Song in my heart is strong, and dis little Ratonga is ready soon fer more fun!