I have a friend named Steve. Steve IS the definition of a casual WoW player. He is married with children and a job in the military. He doesn’t have much time for World of Warcraft, but he does the best he can with what is provided. The funny thing is that Steve always seems to get into weird situations when it comes to WoW.
So I was sitting in my guild’s ventrilo server with Steve, chatting about quests, the upcoming (and now already out) patch, and other types of BS when Steve suddenly spoke out…
Hey dude, you want to hear a funny story?
Sure man, whats up? Like I said…Steve gets in weird situations. This should be good…
So I put together a 10 man group for Ulduar, just to kill a few bosses to get some loot. I went into the raid as DPS on my Death Knight…
I stopped Steve right there. I knew Steve was specced for tanking but I had to double check just to humor my buddy. He confirmed that he was usually specced for tanking, but this time he went as DPS.
…so I went as DPS. We killed Flame Leviathan after a few tries and the DPS neck dropped…
Again I confirmed…Might of the Leviathan? Again Steve told me that I was right.
…So the neck piece dropped and I won the roll.
I really wasn’t seeing what the issue was until Steve got to the next part of the story. It seems that Steve had brought along another friend of ours, Jeff. Jeff is in the same situation as Steve. Jeff has a kid, girlfriend, in the military. He is a casual player.
So Jeff is all pissed off because he brought his DPS warrior into the raid and lost the roll to me.
This whole time neither Steve nor I realized that Jeff had sneaked into the vent channel while Steve was telling the story. Jeff then spoke out about how it was bullshit that a person who normally tanks rolled on something that was DPS. Jeff said that he needed and of course wanted that neck piece, and should have gotten it, how that was messed up for a friend to do something like that, oh the tragedy and horror…
Seems that after a few minutes of bickering back and forth, they both decided that everything was good, they stopped bitching and asked me what my thoughts on the subject were.
Well…
I wanted to avoid doing anything about loot rules until I finished my masterpiece that is “How to Run a Guild” but it seems that this cannot wait. So what are my thoughts on loot and who gets it?
What if there is an enchanter in the group?
-I try to use a simple system for the times when there is an enchanter present. If you need it…roll need. If you dont…pass on it. The enchanter will always roll “greed’ on loot and DE it. This should only apply to boss loot.
Well, what about green loot that drops?
-I am assuming we are talking about the max level dungeons that are out, however if you honestly need it…roll need. Otherwise just roll greed for it. This really shouldn’t be too big of a deal.
What if a BOE drops?
-EVERYONE roll greed on it. Don’t disenchant it. Someone can sell it or use it on another character.
Well, What if someone needs that BOE drop?
-This is a tough one. Yes it is a BOE, so technically everyone can use it for something. Then again…someone DOES need it. It really depends. If you are running something with guild members or friends, then you can probably go ahead and roll need. Otherwise I would say hit the greed button and hope for the best. Even if you don’t win the roll, you can always offer to buy the item from the winner.
One way to be sure of what the groups policy about BOE loot is to simply ask. If something drops and you want it, JUST ASK!
Main Spec before Off Spec
Simple as that. Whatever you signed up and are currently doing in the raid, that is the loot that you are entitled to get. I don’t care if you normally tank and you are now a DPSer. You were asked to heal and agreed to come? Well that just means that you are rolling on the healing gear. If you don’t like it, don’t go.
PUGs are a special breed. In a PUG you aren’t going to know everyone there, there is no punishment for mistakes excluding ridicule, and most players are out for only themselves. My philosophy is that 99% of loot is going to drop again some time, so try not to stress over it.