What are the plans FL has as far as DP flag drops? What I mean is how will they be awarded/handed out? My assumption would be /ran 1k as that's been Furro's policy on everything thus far. I suggest a change in policy for these. To my knowledge there are 2 flag drops in DP 1 of which will be far out of reach for us at the time we begin raiding here (correct me if i'm wrong). So to me that sounds like we may get 1 per raid if we're lucky.
Call me crazy but I think doing Sendaii every weekend to keep freelance in DP is a huge waste of time. That event takes all night it seems and so far FL is shooting about 15%-20% on that event. If it were fun it might be acceptable. 
Lets not waste DP flags on players who don't show up to raids frequently. That would be a tremendous waste of our time. Sure we'll still need to keep doing blood raids anyway I have a feeling but we can at least keep them to a minimum. The time investment vs. the reward on those is really bad. You could do 3 random raids in TSS/PoR/DoD or clear CoA in the time it takes to do Sendaii practically. Or just have the night off to do other things.
My reasons behind sticking to /random 1k is that it's just the fairest possible way we can distribute loot in an open raid system. The moment we start implementing a special case ruleset for certain zones that favours regulars, we will have crossed over to a completely different raiding force. It also has the potential to rift regulars against those who can't show up weekly. This is something I want to avoid; I want us to work together and treat each other equally and offer a fair chance at rewards to all.
Is DP like CoA in the fact that you cannot loot anything else till you have that flag? If so that really blows because people who arent flagged wouldn't have much incentive to go to DP then if what i'm suggesting is applied. Unless they show up more often than not.
In short, yes. Just as with CoA, you can't loot anything in DP until you have your flag done. The incentive for those people without flags to attend is their chance to win a backflag piece.
Like CoA, you can't just loot the backflag seal and you're done. With CoA you needed Sigs to be able to zone in. With DP, you have to have your Monocle of Blood done in order to zone in.
So a brief overview of the flags are:
Monocle of Blood and Blood Raids = Full Demiplane flag.
Monocle of Blood and Looted Backflag = Full Demiplane flag.
Monocle of Blood = Access to zone, without rights to loot anything.
I pulled that from my writeup of DP flagging off the main page
here.
I'm not saying all this out of some self serving reasoning. Not directly at least. IE I plan on being flagged through blood raids prior. I just don't want to see FL trapped in the early stages of DP because of flagging issues. I'm not against anyone or the idea of open/casual raiding. I know the /ran 1k rule is what brings in a lot of people and FL wouldn't have made it this far with some complex loot system. I just think this is one of those rare situations that sticking to the /ran 1k everything rule will really burn us and not help FL at all.
I understand and respect your opinion Breniar. Blood raids and DP in general are known guild killers. We as a raiding group are susceptible in the same way as guilds are in this regard when pursuing progression goals. However, I'm very optimistic and I look at these difficult progression arcs and see them as a challenge. They are designed to weed out the weak, and I have no issue with that. We will always help those who show up and dedicate their time in a collective effort to help progress their characters and others.
Sticking to the /random 1k system here isn't what will burn us. What can burn us is those who now have their flags done and decide to not show up for the next round of blood raids. We have a really good group of regulars and I can only hope that recent newcomers to these blood raids decide to come on board and help others who have helped them.
I will never pressure anyone to raid with us. The best I can do is rally others in a positive way and for them to encourage their friends and guildmates to do the same; as we work towards our progression goals.
- Furro
