Loot Rules

Our previous loot system used for distributing loot in Classic raiding tiers involved a priority based DKP system with the addition of decay. Our loot system wasn’t without flaws, and there were some less desirable cracks. Everyone desiring the same BiS items in a DKP system causes marginal upgrades to go to waste, with this system of ranking players can include mid tier items somewhere in their list and all upgrades can be put to use rather than waste.

In preparing for the TBC hype train, we’re looking to change how loot is distributed by moving away from DKP. We have decided to implement the Onslaught loot system. We aren’t fully prepared to go into the specific implementation details, but we do want to provide a basic premise and how it works. Keep in mind, this type of loot system will generally cover Epic quality loot drops from raids. Legendaries will be specifically reserved and aesthetic items such as mounts will be available through a general roll.

Onslaught Loot System - What is it?
At its core, it’s a loot system designed around allowing every raider to rank each raid drop from most coveted to “meh, I guess I’ll take that item”. When the time comes, you will be asked to fill out a document ranking all the items you desire from the current content phase and uploading it to a central location. These documents will be aggregated and automatically combined across the guild to form a publicly viewable master loot prioritization for all to see. This is going to be a bit of an adjustment as it will require Raiders to understand gear that drops or is attainable from other sources and then prioritizing it themselves.

A simple example below showing two separate individual lists being pulled into the master list. In this example, you have two players named MojoJoJo and xxx01NewbEater10xxx who have each ranked the gear they desire in priority order from top to bottom. MojoJoJo has placed the Musclely Cudgel of the Wizard as his top priority while xxx01NewbEater10xxx has put priority emphasis on Aight’s Hot Feet.


So I Can Set My Loot Priority, Go MIA, Reappear and Still Have Priority on Loot? Not quite. Onslaught factors in player attendance when determining loot priority standings for items. In the above example, if MojoJoJo and xxx01NewbEater10xxx each had 100% raid attendance, then the priority for loot drops would match what’s listed in the aggregated priority sheet shown above. In an alternative universe, let’s say MojoJoJo ends up missing out on a month's worth of guild raids and xxx01NewbEater10xxx maintains 100% attendance. The example below shows the augmented priority for the Chest of Cousinmose reflecting after MojoJoJo missing a month's worth of raids.


Similar to the DKP system we were using, we reward players for attending guild raid nights. Within this system, instead of rewarding a value per boss kill, we are rewarding attendance.

Is there more to Onslaught?
You bet! Without boring you with specifics there are many factors which play into the overall priority and standing for items. Attendance plays a huge factor. There is bad luck protection for gear that drops but you were unfortunate to not have won. Players can be incentivized to pass their priority for a drop to someone else. There’s a ton more but we’re still working out the specifics and will provide a more comprehensive breakdown of the system once we get closer to TBC.

I’m interested in learning more!
Cool, I wasn’t planning on spitting out word vomit in this communication and wanted to just provide a quick update around the direction we are planning for our new loot system within TBC. There’s a wealth of information available on Onslaught which you can use to learn more if you’re interested. Here’s a link to the Onslaught discord and a reddit post providing a more detailed explanation.