A Brief Guide to Ranks and Raiding

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Commando
Shogun on Sabbatical
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Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Manchester

A Brief Guide to Ranks and Raiding

Post by Commando »

The following is a very brief summary of the Rank system, Raid Planner and DKP system work in CTSamurai. It's designed to give you a brief overview without overwhelming you with information but it's recommended that you read the full posts for a more complete understanding of how and why everything works the way that it does. If you're new to the Guild please take the time to read this from start to finish as it will answer most of the questions you have before and during your first raid.


Rank System

In CTSamurai your rank will affect your chances of getting into raids and your chances of getting loot in those raids. If you have a low rank:
  • Others may get into raids instead of you, even if you rolled higher than them on the Planner
  • Others may be able to outbid you for loot in raids, even if you have more DKP than them
The ranks are:
  • On Trial
  • Apprentice
  • Wanderer
  • Samurai
There are also Officer ranks but these do not have an effect on raids or loot. Not all Officers are Samurai.

Your rank is decided by your Class Lead. Important factors when considering whether to promote someone are:
  • How long you have been in the Guild
  • How often you raid
  • How good your gear is
  • How good a player you are
Alts are treated as separate characters in terms of rank with the exception that either all your characters are On Trial or none of them are. Just because one of your characters is a Samurai does not mean your alts will be too. You will need to gear up and perform well in raids with your alts if you want them to be promoted to Samurai.

If your raid performance, attendance or behaviour falls below the expected standard then you may be demoted. If you change spec you should expect to be demoted until you have proven yourself capable of raiding with your new spec. Note that changing spec without first discussing it with your Class Lead may result in further penalties.

For more detailed information on exactly how this works please read the following post on the Definition of Guild Ranks.


Raid Planner

If you want to join a raid you must have signed up on the Raid Planner - failing to do this will mean your chances of being invited to the raid are extremely low. Before you can sign up on the Raid Planner you need to get yourself added to it. If you are a member of the Guild you will need to follow this link for instructions on how to do this - contact your Class Lead if you have been invited to the Guild and find that this link does not work.

Once you have been added to the Raid Planner you can use it to sign up to raids. Note that the Raid Planner gives you all the information you need to know about the raid - where it's going, when invites start, and when it ends. You should never need to ask an Officer for this information.

There are three options when signing up for a raid. Each option has a different meaning:
  • Sign Up - I want to raid and will be online and ready at the Invite time and can stay until the Finish time
  • Not Sure - I am not sure if I will be able to raid, or I will not be online and ready at the Invite time, or I cannot stay until the Finish time
  • Unsign - I will not be available for this raid
If you have more than one character make sure you sign up with the one you want to raid as. You cannot sign up for a single raid with more than one character, but you may be asked to switch over if we desperately need you to play as one of your other characters. It is expected that you will do this if asked as otherwise we may not be able to raid at all.


Standard Raiding Schedule

In general we expect all active raiders to attend at least one raid a week. Our standard raiding schedule is:
  • Wednesday: 19:20 - 23:00
  • Thursday: 19:20 - 23:00
  • Friday: 19.20 - 23.30
  • Saturday: 13.20 - 17.30
  • Sunday: 13.20 - 17.30
Please note that all times listed above and on the Raid Planner are based on UK time. For EU server time add one hour to the listed times.


Preparation for Raiding

You must be prepared for the raid before invites are done or you risk being replaced. At the bare minimum you must ensure that you:
  • Are fully repaired and have enough gold for additional repairs
  • Have enough health and mana potions, food and reagents to last you the entire raid
  • Have TeamSpeak 2 installed and configured
  • Have oRA2 or CTRA installed and configured
Instructions on installing and configuring TS2, CTRA and oRA2 can be found by clicking on the Required Mods/Setup link. For a more complete guide to exactly what we expect from each individual class please read the following post on Raid Preparation.


How Invites Are Decided

This is extremely complicated as we always need to ensure that invites are done fairly and the raid is successful. As a general guide to how it is decided who should be invited, the following is a list of important factors in order from most important to least important:
  • Role (Tank, Healer or DPS) is the most important factor - we will always try and take the appropriate number of Tanks, Healers and DPS regardless of anything else
  • Higher ranks get priority over lower ranks - Samurai will be invited before Apprentices, Wanderers and On Trials
  • Higher rolls get priority over lower rolls - the higher your roll on the Raid Planner the more likely you are to get invited over other members of your class who have the same rank as you
  • We won't take too many of any single class - generally we will not invite more than 3 of any single class to a raid
This is only a general guide, other factors will affect the decision on who gets invited - the Raid Leader has the final say on all invites and will make whatever decisions are necessary to ensure that the raid has the right combination of players.


DKP System

You will gain DKP for every raid you attend and can spend DKP to buy loot that drops in those raids. The amount of DKP awarded for each raid depends on what bosses were attempted and will vary from raid to raid.

When a piece of loot drops we will ask for bids. For most Epic items bids will start at 10. For some items such as gems, patterns and crafting materials bids will start at 3. Anyone in the raid can bid for any item that drops. Even if you have no DKP you can still bid the starting amount, though obviously you can't bid any higher than that - if nobody else wants the item you will win it.

For "Farm Raids" you may bid as much as you want for any item that drops, so long as you don't bid higher than your current DKP total. If the item you are bidding for is "offspec" (i.e. it is not suitable for the class and role you have chosen to raid as) then you can start bidding at 3 DKP instead of 10.

For "Progress Raids", your maximum bid is based on your rank and the rank of those you are bidding against:
  • Samurai may bid as much DKP as they have
  • Apprentices and Wanderers may only bid up to 20 DKP if they are bidding against a Samurai - if no Samurai are bidding they may bid as much DKP as they have
  • On Trials may not bid against Samurai, Apprentices or Wanderers - if no Samurai, Apprentices or Wanderers are bidding they may bid as much DKP as they have
If the item you are bidding for is "offspec" then you can start bidding at 3 DKP instead of 10 DKP, but you may not bid against anyone for whom that item is "onspec".

For "PuG Raids" loot will be rolled for unless the raid organiser wishes to allow bidding. If bidding is allowed then you may choose either to roll on an item or bid for it. Once you have chosen to roll you may not start bidding, but may join in if someone else starts bidding. Bidding will work in the same way as in a "Farm Raid".

If you have more than one character your DKP will be "pooled" to your main. You may spend your accumulated DKP on any character, but remember that your characters may have different ranks. If you're raiding with an Apprentice alt you will have a maximum bid as outlined above, even if your main is a Samurai.

For a more detailed explanation of the DKP system, including a list of which raids are considered "PuG Raids", "Farm Raids" and "Progress Raids", please see this post.


Behaviour While Raiding

Raids should be fun, but they can be stressful if there's one person causing problems for everyone else. Your behaviour will affect everyone else so while raiding remember the Guild Rule:
  1. Don't Be A Dick.

For a more complete guide on how to make every raid a pleasant experience for everyone please read the following post on Raid Etiquette.
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Commando, Scytale, Leto, Yueh, Thufir, Chani
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