Massively^™

There's a bit of a discussion going on in the blogosphere right now about how to handle the topic of dungeon and raid rewards in MMOGs (specifically World of Warcraft, actually, but it universally applies). Tobold started the whole conversation by suggesting that the problem of players leaving to join a better guild when their gear progression is further along than the rest of their guild could be fixed by adding deterrents to leaving, like forcing you to leave any gear acquired with the help of your guild in the guild bank. After all, he argues, you couldn't have gotten those epics on your own. Why should you get to take your gear and walk away with it when 24 other people helped you obtain it, while waiting patiently for their turn?

Other people then made the counter-argument that hopping to further-progressed guilds is only one of the many reasons that people leave guilds, and that tying loot to your guild would give too much power to guild masters and punish people for circumstances that are often outside of their control (what if your work schedule changes and you can't raid anymore? Many hardcore guilds don't allow casual players). There were some more good points made as to why this system would be a bad idea. Still, it's a good thing that Tobold brought this up, because it's a very real issue. Even if tying loot directly to the guild is a bad idea, what can you do to discourage people getting what they need and then leaving for greener pastures?

Well, not me personally (I think), but my my World of Warcraft Shaman sure looks hot in leather. By hot, I mean ridiculously badass and uber. It's not just fun to run around looking like a Tauren Rogue-- it's also functional. You see, I play an Enhancement Shaman. We're the much-maligned, often mocked branch of the Shaman class (especially for PvP where we get kited around or pounded down with ease). Still, I persevere because it's fun to dual-wield while shocking and because I like being a support class. It's nice to be able to toss some heals out sometimes, boost my whole group's DPS, resurrect people after wipes, and still be 4th or 5th on the damage charts. So, if I love my Shaman so much, why am I wearing lots of leather when my class calls for mail? Simple. My primary role in a raid as an Enhancement Shaman is still pumping out damage.

Take a look at the Shaman section of MaxDPS.com, a site that calculates the highest DPS items for a number of classes. If you glance through those lists, you'll notice something interesting: The best possible items in the game for Enhancement Shamans are leather items in more than 60% of the armor slots. Weird, huh? It's like that at every tier to some extent. Unfortunately, those leather items are also the best possible items for Rogues, Feral Druids, and Fury Warriors (in some slots). As you can imagine, this leads to some frustration and drama as everyone scrambles for the same loot (you'll notice that almost everyone shooting down the Shaman in the first thread is a Rogue). Still, the numbers are there. While Shamans have options, leather is often the best thing they can be wearing. What's the deal? Why isn't there more appropriately itemized gear for Enhancement Shamans (and should they get to roll on leather to make up for it)?

Most raid leaders I know are jerks. I'm not making generalizations about personal character, of course. People who end up in those positions tend to be helpful, dependable people who are genuinely committed to the progression of the guild. But stick them in a Ventrilo channel with 9-39 other people and watch them flare up like a firecracker (NSFW). Why is that? Do we really need a spoonful of vitriol to help the raid target go down? This is coming from a guy who has a lot of friends that are raid leaders, who knows several raid leaders that are going to complain to him about this article, and who has led raids himself (and been a jerk) on a number of occasions. But come on--- they are jerks. Or at least they seem to be.

One guild leader I know has mentioned on several occasions that when he's leading his raids, he constantly swears like a sailor at members who mess up. Another guild leader I know prefers not to have profanity in raid channels, but he's still a hard-ass about people messing around. My own guild leader takes a similar, scalding, no patience for screw-ups stance when we're raiding, and you probably all know the near-mythical 50 DKP minus guy (NSFW). I've seen verbal lashings of that sort raise some hackles and flare some tempers more than once. This tends to happen a lot in situations where you have new players in the raid, a new raid leader, or anyone with thin skin. After all, when you screw up, the last thing you want to hear is someone calling you on it in front of a bunch of people. Worse still is if you get called out on it and insulted to boot (that's pretty much the definition of adding insult to injury).