Gold DKP Raids Please?
A new loot system is on the rise. It’s called GDKP or Gold-DKP. Instead of using DKP to purchase items, gold is used. For instance, in a 10 man raid, the boss dies and the loot is bid upon by players in their raid spec by whispering the loot master their bid. Whoever has the highest bid gets the item. If no one bids on main spec, then bids are for off spec before it gets disenchanted. By the end of the raid, the loot master divides the pot by 10 (some say by 11 for the guild bank, if you’re running with guildies), and distributes them among all the players. Sounds cool? Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Pros
- Those who have been looking for this 1 item can finally get it! Just spend gold rather than raid for that item every week and fail on your roll.
- Already uber geared but lazy to farm and play the AH? Gold DKP raids are for you. Have fun raiding with your friends while you earn some moolah.
- For those alts with low gear but have a ton of gold, gearing up can’t be easier than this!
Cons
- Gold DKP leaders should have a good reputation. I wouldn’t join a gold DKP group with a shady leader. Sounds like trouble, QQ, and gold ninjas to me if the leaders don’t have good rep.
- Leaders have to balance how many undergeared people can join in. You can’t have many fresh 80s even though their pockets are deep.
- Some say this encourages buying gold. But then again, don’t tell me the mechano-hog and the tundra mammoth doesn’t.
Skill is still a must in a GDKP raid. Even if you have tons of gold but you’re lying dead 5 seconds after the encounter, you’re as useless as a bent paper clip. Kick these people out!
An addon that helps manage the gold in a GDKP raid is GoldRaidManager. Quoting its description:
Helps raid leaders running gold pugs (gdkp). Sets minimum bid/raise for loots, do countdown, tracks and announces gold pot for each boss and the whole gold pot, and calculates and announces the gold split.
This 100% player devised concept looks really awesome. This gives a chance for those who love raiding to earn gold or get that piece of equipment you’ve always wanted for. And for those who have gold to spare, this is a chance to finally use it!
I can attest to the benefits of this kind of raid. I recently dinged 80 on my DK, got him to wear some BoE blues and started him off in random heroics.
A recent trade post said LFM Toc25 PST with achievement. My DK definitely didnt have it, so i figured i’d shift to my feral/boom druid to get him some offspec feral or resto gear even.
after the invitation and summon, i inspected the raid and saw that it was decently geared, except for maybe 2 or 3 “welfare-epic” geared toons. i immediately asked the raid lead if i could bring my fresh 80 dk. i told him that he’s a fresh 80 but i have enough gold to fill the pot.
almost two hours and 3k gold later, i had 2 trophies, a pair of tanking boots, a tanking neck and a tanking belt. also, because of some good, sought-after items dropping, the pool grew big enough such that each person got 800 gold by the end of the run.
not bad for a net cost of 2,200g. i was at the bottom of the dps meters obviously, but where else can a fresh 80 dk with /played of 2 hours at level 80 get decent epics like that? hehe
Pros:
- there’s no such thing as mainspec/offspec rolls/bids on these runs. so ideally you can bid on as many things as your pocket can handle.
- if the raid is geared, you wont have much competition on gear. with initial bids at 250, id normally just start the bids at 500 to “intimidate” potential rollers.
- since trophies have been around for a while and dropping in both 25man and 10heroic toc, their demand has dropped and so has its price. the 2 trophies i got went for 500 and 700. not bad!! (now to farm the badges zzz)
Cons:
- since there are people being “carried,” there’s a big chance that the run won’t be as smooth as say, a guild run. our run took almost 2 hours due to 3 wipes on anub (2 where we hit the enrage timer) and low dps overall on the other bosses.
- there will always be people that will bluff. some are more obvious than others. I had a shaman bidding against me on a piece of plate gear. we bid to as high as 700 gold, and when he bid 800, i just passed to him. no loss to me as they were just a pair of bracers =) that’s an obvious example. another instance was when a dps warrior bid against me on the tanking belt. it went to as high as 1k. i went for 1.2k and won it. at the end of the run when the gold was being given out, he stood in line in his tank gear (probably his main spec), and on inspection he had a similar/sidegrade belt equipped. zzzzzz
- for geared toons wanting to roll on that 1 item that he/she’s always wanted, come prepared. ive seen a solace drop twice and both went for 4.7 and 5k on separate runs. im pretty sure a dual blade butcher, reign of the dead, death’s choice and probably juggernaut’s vitality will go for at least 2.5k
ahhh hmmm. that bluffing part is devious! people who are part of the guild or who are friends with the raid leader can bluff a bid just to increase the gold they’re going to get in the end. but then again.. if you canceled your bid, they have to pay that amount! lol