Stemming from this post on World of Matticus, I decided to lay down my viewpoint on the relationship between a raider and his raid.

When we raid, we get loot. This is obvious. That loot is an electronic manifestation of our effort that we’ve spent that night, meaning that the time, gold, and energy we spent to get to that boss and successfully kill him is represented by the items he drops.

An effective loot system should be in place to reward the players that deserve those items. What are the criteria for “deserving” a piece of loot? Seniority, performance, and attendance are the three categories that I go by in Fury Untold. Don’t let me trick you, I do not use a “loot council”, as I think that 90% of loot councils are twisted systems often renamed “favorites council”. We utilize EPGP, however I do prioritize raid invites based on those three factors, so as long as you 1) show up 2) pull your weight and 3) aren’t a new guy (which is honestly prioritized really low), you’re golden for a raid spot, therefore getting you in the pipes for “rewards”.

The reason I call this an investment, is because more and more often, I see guild’s stuck in the progression curve* that are simply used as jumping off points for other guilds. Their primary player base is geared, so any items that drop go to the “new guy” and once he’s full purple and gets bored, he moves on to a guild that can offer him the next tier of content (like the previous guild should have). The previous guild’s time and effort have gone to waste, those items are gone, and you’re in essence feeding the fire for another guild’s raiding.

* stuck in the progression curve – Farming the previous tier of content without any real viability at advancement, due to a lack of motivation, leadership, guild population, or any other factor.