Crusaders of Skadoosh

We are working on  very cool quality of life things for you guys.  Things are still in the works, and too much is up in the air to really say WHAT were working on... but its... something.  Anyways... stay tuned, and enjoy this clip from one of my favorite movies in the meantime!

Also, it looks like quite a few of you are playing D3.  I'd love to see some comments about your experiences so far on the forums.  You MIGHT convince me to try it :D

Happy 2nd birthday to... US!

Its been a fun ride, am I right?!  Over the last 2 years we have had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people, and build the greatest guild community that I could imagine being a part of.  Every time I log in, I look forward to seeing everyone and I still looking forward to getting know many of you guys even better.

Take a moment if you will to post something fun or interesting about the guild, or people you have met in the guild on our forums... maybe a story, or a fact, or whatever.  I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

In the meantime... enjoy your cake, it was freshly stolen from Orgimmar!

So, over the period of the expansion, Crusaders has gone from doing a mainspec > offspec roll in raids to our current EPGP loot system.

Overall, I think everyone has been very happy with how things have turned out.  Of course you cant make everyone happy all of the time... but all things considered, the loot system implimentation has gone exceptionally well.

That being said, we have recently made a few minor adjustments to the system, and I wanted to quickly outline those.  Be sure to check out the full EPGP page (link available on the last post of this page).

So lets look at the changes and why we implimented them as well as a few general thoughts related to EPGP.

• Alts may now gain loot priority (both EP/GP) when a raid leader specifically needs a spot filled because no main toons are available.

There are a few reasons why we decided to take alts completely off of the loot priority table in the first place.  The first reason is that we ARE a social guild... and our vision is to allow the more casual players in the guild to advance their main toon.  We seriously considered using a suicide kings loot system because of this... but frankly, I do want players who put forth a lot of effort to be rewarded by gaining loot priority for their favorite toon.  We did, at one time, allow mains and alts to share the same loot priority table... and that was a pretty bad idea as it created balance issues between mains.  The only trouble with all of this is that we do have alts running with raid groups very consistantly, and it comes to a point where you have geared 18 main toons for a 10 man raid... and because of personal schedules only 5 of those mains end up in that raid, and the other spots are filled with the same (typically poorly geared) alts that come every time. One reason that I have been hesitant to adjust the loot system is that we value players who enjoy raiding for the sake of raiding... and not for the "gimme all the lootz" mentality (if you know me, you know this is a huge pet peeve of mine).  I honestly dont want to raid with a player who isnt excited to see another guildie (or even player for that matter) win an upgrade that they themselves could have used... not that I think this is a trait that our guildies have, but keeping alts off of the EP/GP system strongly discourages players with this kind of attitude from raiding with the guild (at least on their alts), and I like that.  Also... keep in mind... I have raided on alts as long or longer (or often) than anyone else has, and I am subject to the same loot rules... I have gained no PR in the past for any alt raiding, and I'm fine with that.  I was persuaded to give this a shot by a few guildies who were NOT running alts that wanted to see a more fair distribution of loot to everyone who was helping in every raid... and thats a good argument to have made.  It will also allow groups who commonly bring alts to fill spots to continue progressing.

So a few minor clarifications: 1 - It is completely up to the raid leader to allow you to bring an alt.  2 - Just because you dont need a piece of loot on your main doesnt mean you can bring an alt in... it must be necessary.  3 - This makes the distinction between main toon and alt slightly less hard-lined.  That being said, your main toon is the toon that you can rank in the guild on, receive more repairs, perform the best with, have the most gear on, etc. At this point, if you have been raiding, your current main toon will be your main until MoP is released.

• On time / Completion bonus

The on time bonus has been implimented for some time.  Just a minor clarification in case there was any confusion.  Your raid leader should typically form the raid at least 5 minutes ahead of time.  On time EP of 300 will be awarded at the raid start time for players who have 1 - been confirmed for the run at least a full day in advance 2 - are in the raid group at the time it is awarded.  Accruing EP will start immediately at raid start time, even if you are unable to start because a player is absent.  A completion bonus (300 EP, equal to the on time bonus) will be given to all raid members who 1 - recieved the on time bonus 2 - scheduled any AFK's so that they align with normal group breaks 3 - stay until the regularly scheduled end time or until the raid leader calls the raid.

• Gathering EP/PR adjustments

Bene is making some adjustments to how EP values for donations are calculated over this week.  Basically EP for donations will either be calculated by the value of the items you donate (based on AH price) or a custom EP value for items we specifically need (such as lavascale catfish, or other).  The weekly cap has increased to 500 EP.

If anyone has any questions about these changes, feel free to comment on this article, or create a discussion thread.