Self Titled currently raids on Tuesday nights from 7:00-11:30 server, and Wednesday nights from 8:00-11:30 server. Raiders are expected to be online and ready to pull by the start time, and will occasionally be asked to stay slightly later than the scheduled call time. Occasional Sunday raids are scheduled, but this is rare. In addition to our progression nights, there are many other guild activities most nights.

Self Titled is committed to using what time we raid in the most effective manner possible, and with that goal in mind, we have set forth the following requirements of our raiders. These expectations are not those of the raid leaders or guild officers, but the raid team as a whole. This is the level that each raider holds himself and every member of the raid to.

Spec: Talent Specs are a huge part of successful PvE progression. While we all enjoy PvP or farming on weekends, when it comes time for raiding, we need to bring everything to the table that we can. While there is a certain flexibility to talent specs, for most classes there are clear PvE talents that will help progression. Individual talents will be reviewed at raid start, and any specs that seem to be out of place will be addressed on an individual basis. In most cases you will be required to re-spec before re-joining the raid, though repeat offenders may be replaced and noted for future raid invites.

Consumables: Burning Crusade encounters are tuned tightly, assuming the maximum benefits that the game has to offer. In many cases, proper consumable use can raise your abilities beyond what an entire tier of gear upgrades is capable of. All players will be required to bring flasks, pots, elixirs, buff food, and any other class-specific reagents to every raid. Many of your fellow guild-mates have spent time leveling professions, and most are willing to help provide the above materials at a lower than market price. Many others can be purchased cheaply at auction, or farmed for yourself. The intent is for each player to bring enough consumables that he always has the ability to use them. If you are unsure about what you need to provide, please contact an officer. In some cases, the guild will be able o provide certain items to people who have achieved high enough reputation with various factions.

Repairs: Raiding is expensive. Cost of respecs, consumables, and especially repairs can add up quickly. Complaining about repair costs will not be tolerated, nor will avoiding repair costs to the detriment of the raid. While some classes have abilities that can help dodge these costs, they can also cause encounters to bug out and delay or end the raid. Players will be trusted to make sound decisions about when to use those abilities, and when to die. Kiting of bosses will under no circumstances be tolerated. We raid together, and we die together.

Player Knowledge: Your raid leaders spend a lot of time outside of game learning upcoming encounters. While not everyone has the spare time to memorize the timers on every boss ability, you are expected to have a working knowledge of the fight and your class's role in it. This includes any fights the guild currently has on farm and may be attempting. At minimum, players need to watch a quick how-to video or read the encounter on wow-wiki. Both can be accomplished in less than ten minutes in most cases. Additionally, every player of a given class is required to know how to play any role that class may take on an encounter. Each player must be ready to step up when needed. While we can't monitor how you spend your time outside of game, it is generally apparent when people haven't taken the time to at least look into the fights. Keep in mind that you are not only wasting your own time, but that of the 24 other people in the raid.

Buffing: Classes that can buff others will be assigned groups to buff at the beginning of the raid, or before we begin a boss. You are responsible for keeping those groups buffed throughout the night. As a player, please monitor your own buffs, and ask in raid chat for what you need prior to the ready check before a boss. If you die on trash, DO NOT CALL FOR REBUFFS. If you are lacking fort or salv, you may request it in raid chat, but we won't bother re-buffing your might for trash.

Wipes: Unless otherwise instructed, always release when you die. In most cases it is faster for you to run back and get buffed than it is to rez you. We will inform the raid when we are in a situation where we don't want you to release. Players that afk after dieing, or consistently fail to release after a wipe will be replaced.

AFK: We all understand that life happens, and we all put life above the game. Sometimes afks are unavoidable, but we ask that each player do their best to avoid interruption. If something does come up, please inform the raid leader, and return as quickly as possible. Repeated afking is frowned upon, and unannounced afks will result in removal from the raid.

So I heard ST uses DEE KAY PEE...
That's correct. ST uses a custom made zero-sum DKP system to award loot in 25 man instances. For those who are new to the raiding game, you can learn more about DKP and zero-sum systems here.

Why are we using zero-sum? Why not X-DKP?
Zero-sum DKP is probably the current most widely used DKP system. More so than any other system currently devised, it prevents inflation. Because points are added at the same rate they are spent, there is never any inflation in the system. 1 DKP today will be worth the same amount as 1 DKP in 8 months.

How do I earn DKP?
When a boss is killed and someone picks up the loot, they spend DKP. That spent DKP is then divided by all members of the raid, that player included, and added to their totals. You earn DKP when other members of your raid pay for gear.

Where does attendance come in to play?
Because the system naturally will have negative DKP values, and because brand new raiders start at zero, it is very likely that a first time raider will have higher DKP than many people who have been raiding for a long period of time. To keep loot priority towards those who have invested the time, we track attendance. Raiders over our attendance threshold will get priority over those below it, regardless of DKP.

How do I earn attendance?
Attendance will be taken at every boss kill regardless of DKP earned. Attendance will be calculated over a sliding 6-week scale, and your rating will be your_attendance_checks/total_attendance_checks. Attendance may also be awarded for attempt nights, at the discretion of the officers.

What if we don't kill a boss?
If no bosses die, the officers may decide to award attempt attendance to the raid. If this happens, players present for the entire raid will gain an additional attendace check as a reward for participation on a learning night.

Wait, you mean we don't get DKP for attempts?
Correct. The nature of a zero-sum system resists the artificial addition of points into the system. There are ways to make it work, but they are usually overly complex, or unfair from one perspective or another. Given the emphasis on attendance in our system, we've decided to forgo attempt DKP, and focus on attendance instead.

So, some loot dropped. What happens now?
When loot drops, an officer will ask that everyone interested in 'needing' the item link their current item in raid chat. DKP will be checked, and the loot will be awarded to the person with the highest priority on the item. If there are no 'needs', greed rolls will be called for. All interested players will /random 1000, and the highest roll will recieve the loot. If at that point the item is still not awarded, it will be assigned or DEd.

What's a 'Need'?
A 'need' is defined as an upgrade to a players current gear that will cost DKP, or is not a side-grade or down-grade, and will be used in the players current spec and for raiding purposes.

What's a 'Greed'?
A 'greed' is defined as a side-grade or down-grade to a players gear, an item that would cost no DKP, or an item for a spec not currently used by the player or used only in PvP.

Doesn't cost DKP? You mean some items are free?
Yes. Item costs will be divided into tiers based on what instance we are in. Currently, Gruul/Mag are one tier, and SSC/Eye are another. Each player will pay DKP once per slot per tier. Any gear for a paid slot that drops in the same tier will be awarded at no DKP cost as a side-grade. Drops in a lower tier are free as a down-grade, and drops in a higher tier cost DKP, as they are an upgrade. This helps ensure that people that pay the same DKP into the system have similar gear.

Ok, now I'm confused...
Lets say on Tuesday we raid Deadmines, and you get a nice sword off of Sneed's Shredder. You pay 25 DKP for it. On Wednesday, clear the instance, kill VC, and another sword that you want drops that also costs 25 KDP. Because you already have a weapon slot in that instance, and the weapon would be free top you, you will be 'greeding' on the item. This helps make sure that loot is distributed evenly. If you do get the sword as a greed, it will be free, since you already paid the DKP for your weapon slot in that tier of gear. Now, the next week, Hogger drops a sword that you would also like that costs 10 DKP. Again, this is considered a greed, since you already have a better weapon and would be getting this one for free since you paid for a higher tier of loot. Go to the NEXT week, and while in Gnomer, Thermaplugg drops an even better sword. You now are considered a 'need' for this item, because it is an upgrade and would cost you 50 DKP. However, you don't pay the full cost of the item. You pay an 'upgrade' cost, which factors in the amount you have already spent on your weapons slot, so the sword would cost you 25 more DKP. This way, all players with a Gnomer sword will have spent the same total amount of DKP on their weapon slot.

Ok, I understand that now. But what was this about assigned gear?
If during the need phase of looting, there are no tells on an item, but it is an obvious upgrade for a player, the raid leader may decide to force the player to take the gear. They will pay any DKP costs associated with the item. This is in place to prevent people from saving DKP for loot, or from trying to get items free by winning them during the greed phase. During the greed phase, the raid leader may also step in and award loot regardless of DKP if he feels it will benefit the raid.

But that's not fair!
While ST promotes raid leaders that it trusts to make the best decisions for the majority of our players, it is possible for something to slip. With that in mind, when a raid leader forcibly assigns loot, any player may call for a vote to opposed the decision. If a vote is called, the remaining 23 players, excluding the raid leader and the person calling for a vote, will decide the outcome.

Loopholes, strange situations, and other things you need to know.
For our purposes, a person spending points has priority over a person getting an item for free, assuming equal attendance. This can be overruled by the raid leader, but the base idea holds true. This helps to spread loot out more evenly over the raid, as well as introduce more DKP into the system. Price levels for items will be set based on the iLevel of the item divided by a number designed to adjust the DKP values into a better scale for upgrades. DKP will be tracked by our proprietary system, which includes a web-based front end so that all guild members will be able to view the DKP.