On Trial - Period of evaluation after joining the guild. This will last around two weeks depending on activity and behaviour. Alts of mains who have this rank should be promoted when the main is promoted. If you are on-trial and fail to come online for a certain period of time you may be removed from the Guild.
Wanderer - This rank is for long-term and valued members of the Guild, who may be going through a break from the game but have been with us for long enough to be considered a permanent member of the Guild. Any clearout of inactive characters will not be done from this rank.
Apprentice - For low-level characters, infrequent raiders, players who are still proving themselves and low-geared alts. Generally, if you don't fit any other rank you'll be an Apprentice. If you are a rank Apprentice and fail to come online for a certain period of time you may be removed from the Guild.
Samurai - For people who have proven themselves to be active raiders and an asset to the Guild. This rank does not include alts, unless they are suitably-geared alts and have the permission of the Class Lead of the alt's class to be this rank. People of this rank will be given priority on loot and invites when attending raids to some instances.
Officers - Please note that for Officer characters the ranks used for invites and loot decisions are listed on the DKP site. Officers do not gain any special priviledges with regards to raid invites or loot. Not all officers are Samurais.
How Ranks Affect Raid Invites
Ranks within the Guild affect how raid invites are done and how loot is distrubuted. This is done to try and ensure that the best players are invited first for the hardest raids and the more active players have a better chance of winning loot. Different raids are affected in different ways, as follows:
- Karazhan
- Status: PuG Raid
- Occurance: We do not run Guild scheduled Karazhan raids, so you are free to do this instance in a PuG outside of our standard raid schedule.
- Invites: Invitations are controlled by the raid organiser.
- Loot: Any Guild PuGs will roll on items unless the raid organiser decides to allow bidding.
- Zul'Aman
- Status: PuG Raid
- Occurance: We do not run Guild scheduled Zul'Aman raids, so you are free to do this instance in a PuG outside of our standard raid schedule.
- Invites: Invitations are controlled by the raid organiser.
- Loot: Any Guild PuGs will roll on items unless the raid organiser decides to allow bidding.
- Gruul's Lair
- Status: Farm Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally fall outside of the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Invites will be done by Raid Planner roll with no rank priority. This event will sometimes be attached to another event, invites will be done based on the advertised raid and will not be changed mid-raid for a change in destination.
- Loot: Pure DKP, no rank or role priority.
- Magtheridon's Lair
- Status: Farm Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally fall outside of the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Invites will be done by Raid Planner roll with no rank priority. This event will sometimes be attached to another event, invites will be done based on the advertised raid and will not be changed mid-raid for a change in destination.
- Loot: Pure DKP, no rank or role priority.
- Serpentshrine Cavern (excluding Vashj)
- Status: Farm Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Samurai will generally have priority over lower ranks. Invites will involve balancing the number of particular ranks to allow us to complete the objectives.
- Loot: Pure DKP, no rank or role priority.
- Tempest Keep (excluding Kael'thas)
- Status: Farm Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Invites: Samurai will generally have priority over lower ranks. Invites will involve balancing the number of particular ranks to allow us to complete the objectives.
- Loot: Pure DKP, no rank or role priority.
- Serpentshrine Cavern (Vashj)
- Status: Progress Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Samurai ranked players will be invited before other ranks where possible.
- Loot: Rank priority as outlined below.
- Tempest Keep (Kael'thas)
- Status: Progress Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Samurai ranked players will be invited before other ranks where possible.
- Loot: Rank priority as outlined below.
- Mount Hyjal
- Status: Progress Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Samurai ranked players will be invited before other ranks where possible.
- Loot: Rank priority as outlined below.
- Black Temple
- Status: Progress Raid
- Occurance: This instance will generally occur within the standard raiding schedule.
- Invites: Samurai ranked players will be invited before other ranks where possible.
- Loot: Rank priority as outlined below.
How Ranks Affect Raid Loot in "Progress Raids"
For "Progress Raids" priority on loot will be given to higher ranked raiders. This is done by establishing a maximum bid for lower ranked raiders.
- Samurai - No maximum bid
- Wanderers and Apprentices - Maximum bid of 20 DKP when bidding against a Samurai
- On Trial - May not bid against a Samurai, Wanderer or Apprentice
Note that the rules on 'off-spec' bidding apply equally to all ranks - a Samurai cannot bid as 'offspec' and outbid someone for whom that item is 'on-spec', except against an On Trial raider. People with insufficient DKP for the minimum bid get lowest priority on all loot and cannot bid against anyone with more DKP than them regardless of rank or role.
Promotions
Ranks and promotions are decided by your Class Leader - if you feel your rank is inappropriate please contact them to discuss it. Note that this should not be done during a raid.
Your Class Leader has the final say on what rank you hold within the Guild. The criteria used to decide what rank you should hold varies from class to class, but as a general guide the following areas will be considered:
Gear - Having gear suitable for your selected role at a reasonable level, including class-specific gear such as resistance items where applicable.
Talents - Having the appropriate talent spec for your selected role.
Understanding the Guild - For example, knowing how the DKP system works, knowing how to sign up to raids and knowing how invites are decided.
Raid experience - Knowing the tactics for all trash groups and farm bosses we encounter in our regular raiding schedule. Not getting lost when corpse running.
Raid behavior - Not regularly going AFK, going AFK for long periods of time or going AFK at inappropriate times such as directly before a boss. Remembering to repair before the raid. Keeping assigned buffs refreshed. Listening to instructions on TeamSpeak. Not leaving raids early without warning. Or regualy signing up and not showing to raids. Generally not doing anything to delay the raid more then necessary or annoying the other people in the raid.
Raid attendance - Signing up for and attending a reasonable amount of raids, generally at least one per week. Note that you can be demoted if your attendance level drops without explanation.
Skill - Good performance within your designated role. For example, we expect that Samurai DPSers will perform well on damage meters without pulling aggro, Samurai Healers should perform well on healing and cleansing meters and completion of tasks such as keeping designated people alive and Samurai Tanks should be capable of Main Tanking Zul'Aman. CC classes should be capable of keeping their assigned mobs controlled. Not dying unnecessarily is also a measure of skill.
Generally - Those who hold the rank of Samurai are those who would be welcomed to any progress raid and are consistently capable of performing at a high enough level to be in Mount Hyjal and Black Temple.
Demotions
Falling below the expected standards as outlined above may result in your demotion from Samurai rank. If you switch role (for example, if you change from a Healing or Tanking spec to a DPS spec) you will almost certainly be demoted until you have proven yourself capable of your new role. If you switch role without first discussing it with your Class Lead the demotion may be permanent.
In addition, any attempted abuse in your privileges may result in your demotion, e.g bidding on loot that you dont need in an attempt to prevent someone else having it.
Please note: Feel free to provide feedback on how this is working in the members section of the forum
