Merit Loot

Mimic uses a Merit Loot Council System.

Officers will look at those extra things that points systems really can’t record. Things such as - extra contributions to the guild (crafting, harvesting, helping with attunements/keys), the attitudes of members (people that complain every waking hour or those that give us that much needed morale boost when we wipe on a super tough boss), excellence in your role (just being a badass at whatever you do) and always being on time and super prepared for raids. This loot system will promote a guild-oriented group of members and the quickest possible progression.


What is the Merit Loot system?

Merit loot can be called a few other things: officer decision, loot council or merit points. The goal of a merit loot system is to consider each member’s whole contribution to the guild. Merit rewards members for excellence before, after and during raids, rather than just showing up for them. Merit is a system that allows for every little detail of a guild’s working to be considered when deciding who gets what loot.


How will it work?

When a piece of loot drops in a raid zone, those that would like the piece send me a tell linking what they are currently wearing in that slot. I link their name and item in officer chat. After all tells have been posted in officer chat, we compare attendance numbers, recent loot awarded, and begin discussion on who best deserves the item. Once a decision is reached, the loot is handed out using master looter.


What do you discuss when making decisions?

There are several key factors when deciding just who gets what when an item drops.

- Attendance. Both number of raids attended and the attendance percentages. Number of raids attended is generally weighed a great deal more than %, but % DOES count for something. Someone with 10/10 attendance will practically always get an item over someone with 10/15, all other things equal. Attendance is the biggest factor in item distribution. This will also include whether you were on time to a raid, whether you stayed the entire raid, afking, etc. Those that come late and leave early often are going to have a hard time getting loot. You must maintain 80% to be considered for loot. If you fall below the required level of attendance you will not be eligible for loot or a main spot until you go above 80%

- Excellence. This is a hard one to quantify. But it does come up, and fairly often during loot discussion. If someone is consistently topping the damage meters for their class (and we keep separate damage meters for trash and bosses, so don’t slack!) without being a hate problem, or someone is providing leadership in a class role, or performing their jobs with consistency and excellence, we note this, and we bring it up in chat.

- How big of an upgrade an item is. This one is not of tremendous significance (don't expect to get a purple just because you still wear green in that slot!), but it is a consideration.

- Talent specs. This one is pretty self explanatory, but also fairly flexible. Some classes benefit more from “the best raid spec” than others do, and in those cases, we will usually give weight to people who are willing to spec to help the raid. This also helps determine who gets weapons (ex: dagger/sword specced rogues).

- Other contributions to the guild. Tradeskilling, bringing potions, farming items that help the guild, etc. All of this gets weighed, and we try to communicate as much as we can about who does what. You can help out by noting what you provided in a tell or mail to the leadership. Don't be shy about telling us; we cant reward you if we don't know you're doing it! (But don’t be a glory whore either!)

- Coming prepared. This is also really important. We do /raitem checks *all* the time. Tanks who come without healing potions, healers without mana pots, ANYONE who comes without bandages - all of this is noted. It doesn't trump other things by any means, but it can tip the scales when deliberation is close.

- Items previously looted. Just because a member has 100% attendance does not mean they get 100% of the loot. We do look at the attendance to loot ratios when making decisions as well. We also do recognize that items have different values (bracers are obviously not worth as much as a 2hander) and will take this into consideration as well.


How will this all be recorded?

Our site is set up with a points tracking system and we will use it to record attendance. We will record who was on the raid and who received loot. Actual deliberations of course cannot be recorded. If you have a question about what a certain piece of loot was distributed, whisper one of us, and we will attempt to explain some of the factors that went into the decision, however please keep it civil as loot "drama" will not be tolerated.

Why is this system best?

Now this is probably the most important question of all and one that will be debated forever. The simple answer is that no system is best, but merit is the best system for us. A lot of guilds have great success with DKP and other points based systems –I do recognize that. However, in my view, merit’s advantages in promoting excellence and dedication to the guild’s success make it a great fit for Mimic.

A merit system allows us to take all the little things into consideration, things which cannot be recorded using dkp. It solves the problem of inflation by using discussions and consensus rather than points, and it makes sure that the person that can best use the item, gets the item. With the implementation of the smaller raid sizes, Blizzard has made it even easier for us to use this system effectively. Guilds are smaller and more family oriented than they have ever been. All members of a raid must be on top of their game at all times and people really notice if someone isn’t. It is far easier to keep track of individual efforts and much easier for the general membership to see it. This loot system promotes a tight-knit guild with a more personal feeling.

One thing Merit is not, is a way to get loot easily just for showing up. You have to work hard, and show dedication to the guild in order to earn your loot. I have stressed all along that dedication is very important to me and this system weeds out those who just don’t care.



If anyone has questions about the system, please ask away. I’m sure some still are a bit foggy on a few things and we’ll do our best to clear it up.