Please note that I have never managed a DKP system, and likely never will, but thought that this was an idea worth sharing. Also, I'll probably be editing this following critique and/or if I think of anything else... (or make corrections
) That being said, I would appreciate comments from people more familiar with DKP systems; what pros/cons do you see?
(Also, it is quite likely that a similar system has already been proposed. If so, I meant not to plagiarise, I just didn't see this anywhere, so I thought I'd share it now.
)Active/Passive DKP: (Raid/Archive)
Mechanics:
This system would function very similarly to the general DKP system outlined by many; Player still earn points by participating in raids and purchase gear with points. Pretty much any/all player-point allotment, gear pricing, and bidding systems would/could apply. The difference would be that every raid would have an expiration date(1-A) for the points earned and items dropped.
Points before the expiration point would be active points (raid points) and could be used to purchase raid gear (yet to expire drops).
After the expiration point(2) raid drops would become archived drops and raid points would be converted to passive (archive) points(7). Archived gear can be purchased with archived points which do not expire or decay.
Comparison:
-DKP Without Decay(3): New players are handicapped by point deficit with senior players. Furthermore, active players can lose bids to inactive players that have a large backlog of points from a long time ago.
-DKP with Decay: While new, active players are able to compete for fresh gear on more equal ground, archive points decay over time, penalizing the less active (potentially senior) players.
-Active/Passive DKP: New players receive an equal proportion of raid points and thus can bid for fresh gear on equal footing(4). Less active, senior players with a backlog of (archive) points are still able to spend their points at their leisure (on archived gear)(5)(6).
Notes:
1-A): The specific amount of time I do not have a good reference for, having not done many large-scale raids, but I'm imagining a few hours minimum, a week or so maximum depending upon the activity of the clan(1-B).
1-B): The expiration date should be universal; (example: ) Upon kill a general (designated secretary, etc.) logs the raid (many clans have guildlaunch stuff for this), then participants must log their attendance themselves (all provable; screenshots, etc.). This way the cutoff for everyone's points is simultaneous; someone can't intentionally delay logging their attendance to extend their points' expiration time (saving for better gear).
2.): I recognize that it is quite likely that multiple raids could occur within this time thus giving the player a balance of points with multiple expiration dates, but this is why excel is your friend.
It also adds a major incentive for players to be prompt in recording data(1-B).3.): Basically all the reasons for decay over no-decay apply.
4.): The new player penalty due to a fresh start (empty account) (see: "DKP Without Decay") is only as long as the time from joining clan (and/or attaining DKP status) to the end of the first expiration point (for raid points at least; archived points do reflect seniority).
5.): Less active players will inevitably have a less desirable selection due to the good drops being snatched up in raid bids, but that's the penalty of not participating
. Less active players can spend points "at their leisure" knowing that they don't decay.6.): Describing bidding strategy: As with decay, raid points have an element of time attached to them; it is a balance between waiting as long as possible on hopes of getting potentially better items, but at the risk of the points expiring without winning anything (from the raid pool (the better pool)) In the archives is the chance that every once in a while, due to: the drop/bidder ratio being high enough, slow bids (expires before people place bids), or no demand for a particular item by raid bidders, something good will slip through to the archives. Thus, even within the archives, there will likely be items that are in higher demand, so there is still an element of time involved.
7-A): For more decay: Potential to add a conversion multiplier here based upon raid attendance. Multiplier would be >1 for more active players and <1 for less active players. This would mean that their actual archived total would not decay, but rather their rate of conversion. (rate would obviously have both an upper cap (diminishing successive returns and decays over time to prevent domination) and lower threshold (if multiplier reaches 0 it breaks the formula. Also to prevent inactive players from being at a disadvantage to even new players.). Rate of increase/decrease per attendance/absence would depend upon clan size/activity-as-a-whole.) (Not sure that I like this more than simple decay, but I'm including it for balance.).
7-B): For less decay (or even inflation): Potential to add a conversion multiplier here based upon seniority (how long been in clan and/or rank). Multiplier would of course have a hard upper cap (being the chieftain), and all other ranks would be a percentage (based upon clan size/activity-as-a-whole) of the cap. (In some ways this is worse than the original without decay method, but it has some merit in of itself, so I'm including it for balance.)
