GDKP in Season of Discovery

WoW Classic Season of Discovery
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Starting with Phase 2 of Season of Discovery, we are going to experiment with a policy change: We will no longer support or allow GDKP or “gold bid” raids and dungeons in Season of Discovery. We’ve seen many questions about this policy change, so please read on for our answers and more information.

What is GDKP and why is it being restricted in Season of Discovery?

GDKP is a loot system some players use that essentially allows all loot to be purchased in a dungeon or raid using gold rather than being rolled for or awarded using another loot system. How this typically works is that an item drops and is then put up for gold bid among the members of the group. Players will submit their bids in gold, and the highest bidder wins. After the item is won, gold is traded to the loot master, and then that gold is usually divided among all the raid members.

It’s fair to say that GDKP has some benefits to individuals who don’t want to be tied to a guild or set raid schedule. GDKP raids are, while mostly transactional in nature, another social activity in the game, and we’re hesitant to discourage anything that gets people into groups to play together. However, we’ve been concerned that GDKP erodes traditional guild and social structures that are in many cases the basis of our most fond memories of early versions of World of Warcraft. It’s also undeniable that GDKP contributes to and drives a lot of illicit activity, such as real-money trading (RMT) and botting, as it creates a demand for in-game gold that would not otherwise exist. GDKP can create an “arms race” effect that encourages participating players to purchase gold to be able to compete for the best items.

We’ve seen a lot of feedback and requests from players for us to try putting restrictions on this system, and since Season of Discovery is highly experimental in its nature, this seems like a good opportunity to try to support a version of WoW without GDKP. This is something we’ve been discussing for quite some time, and this is not a decision we’ve arrived at lightly.

What exactly constitutes a “gold bid” or GDKP raid?

  • We’re defining GDKP as any raid or dungeon run where items are awarded in exchange for gold. Please note that we have multiple detection methods for GDKP that are effective both inside and outside of dungeon or raid instances.

What are the penalties for engaging in GDKP in Season of Discovery?

  • Account actions up to and including suspension and permanent account closure.

When exactly does this policy go into effect?

  • We’ll enact this policy alongside the release of Phase 2 of Season of Discovery on February 8, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. PST.

Does this policy change affect WoW Classic Era, WoW Classic Hardcore, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, or any other version of World of Warcraft other than Season of Discovery?

  • No. At this time, this policy change will only affect WoW Classic: Season of Discovery.

Have there been any changes to policies around what is allowed to be advertised in Trade or LookingForGroup chat in Season of Discovery?

  • Yes. To go along with this policy update in Season of Discovery, it is no longer permitted to advertise gold bid/GDKP runs in Trade, LookingForGroup, or any other in-game chat channel.

Player feedback is what led us here, and we’re still keenly interested to hear your thoughts and feelings on this topic. Ultimately this is a test, and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll revisit this policy for later phases of Season of Discovery. We really appreciate the feedback we’ve already received on this topic which helped us arrive at this decision.

Thank you!

70 Likes
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Big Win. Thanks for this Change.

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Worst decision ever. Thx for killing my prefered type of raid , probly gonna quit. and for all the haters : i never bought gold.

11 Likes
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I’ll never forget in era watching mage bots run to the tree behind LHC, flying straight up into the air. Then going to strat ud and watching them drop down from the sky in front of the instance. Hundreds of mages and locks inside strat and dire maul.

Went on for almost a year.

You’ll ban gdkp, but you ignored them. Good job.

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You may not have bought gold, but the ones who gives you the gold could have. Some players have been banned due indirect goldlaundering due this issue.

But honestly the GDKP spam was already overwhelming trade channels as well as other forms of play.

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GDKP groups are already discussing switching to using items as currency to circumvate this, any response?

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Terrible decision, i just dont get why people complain about it … nobody has to go to a gdkp if they dont want to. And if there is so many people that prefere it over any other typ of pick up group that you cant find a group for yourself, that means the big majority likes the system(btw this is not the case, there is plenty SR / MS>OS runs). Why change it for a few that dont like it? Also not allowing people to play the game the way they want to is kinda sad.

And RMT and BOTS have existed before GDKP and will continue to exist. Just find a way to get rid of bots instead of ruining the game for real players.

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Our guild uses the GDKP system, we usually only advertise if 1-2 player is missing, but I guess even if we were a closed community of 10 this is no longer permitted.

It’s a shame, really.

I will personally probably quit over it, roll systems are too RNG, and Loot Council can be hard work to implement or corrupt.

GDKP was a simple way to try and spread loot evenly without masses of spreadsheets. We all play a little, and move gold around the group week by week. (Also without penalising people who need a few days away, like a DKP system where others get ahead).

RIP to SoD, at least for a good % of the community.

I doubt many GDKP players will give “feedback” but if you see a drop in numbers it is likely the large 20-30% GDKP player community going to other WoW versions. Not just attrition.

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lmao, pretty much. They really don’t think these things through.

I bid 3 black lotuses. What now?

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I bid 5 ectos…

Wait, no that was Guild Wars 1 community way around restrictions (that worked extremely well and was the main form of currency for 99% of trades)

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So now my favored Loot system gets banned because blizzard cant fix the bot issue ?
dont really see the logic there. also the community aspect thats is being talked about makes 0 sense. GDKP´s are communities too , very similar to a guild tbh

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This is very good decision, should have been done long time ago, but I guess, better late than never.

GDKP is one of those things that hurts very soul of an MMO game. Geared people are supposed to be those who put a lot of time and effort in the game, surround themselves with good friends to whom they trust and do dungeons and raids together, not ones that can just afford swiping credit card more than the others.

Blizzard needed to stop greedy and lazy players from turning fantasy game world into marketplace and that’s what happens now. Good job!

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u are talking about the fraction of people who buy gold , most gdkp players dont buy gold

fyi current gold cuts are 2g , u get items for 5
thats 2 quests worth of gold

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Best decision ever ! Thank you Blizzard !

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This is a great day! I had hoped you would have done this earlier but on the other hand honestly not believed it would happen.

Now evaluate the policy change and apply it to Era and WotLK and we are good to go!

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Neither of us can say for sure - you think majority dont buy gold, i would expect it to be quite a reasonable % of “buyers”.
Some admit it, some dont. Some are “clever” about it, some are dumb.

Bots are not the only component in RMT rings, just the most obvious.

Plus, the bot issue is caused by the fact that RMT is so profitable that botters can have many many accounts banned, and still remain very profitable.

This type of move is designed to try reduce the profit margins.

Unfortunately, you can blame a portion of the GDKP community for this happening.

Are they not being penalised due to the lack of gold they farm on those days?

If you are a fully GDKP guild, isnt your BOE wins outside of the raid that you sell for gold a form of RNG giving you an advantage?

This is so badly written that it opens up loopholes. This will cause GDKP communities to use various items as a currency. Basically anything that isnt gold is ok. 5000 silver? SDKP?

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The term “Gold” defines the currency of WoW, this applies to coppers and silvers. There’s no point trying to play on that.

It is certain that an alternative will be sought and possibly found, there is too much money to do so. But this will be much more complicated to set up and organize.

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keep your dirty hands off era.

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This is my point though - they could have said Currency.

That would have put a full stop on any form of currency, whether gold, silver, copper or a replacement item being used as a form of currency.

Specifically stating gold was a bit dumb on their part and does open it up for,
or attempts at, interpretation.