Zero - sum DKP Zero - sum DKP means that DKP is distributed based on the value of items that drop . All members in a zero - sum DKP start with a score of 0 . When an item is given to a raid member , they have to pay for it in DKP ( going negative if necessary ) . These DKP spent are immediately distributed among all the raid members . Thus the amount of DKP , i . e . the sum of all members in the system , is always zero . The idea here is that inflation is impossible , since no points enter the system from the outside . Although " zero - sum " describes only a method of earning DKP , and it would in theory be perfectly possible to combine this income method with bidding for finding the item prices , nearly no raids actually do that . Instead , about every real - live zero sum system uses fixed price s , thus the terms " zero sum " and " zero sum , fixed price " have nearly become synonyms . Criticisms . In its pure form , zero - sum has the disadvantage that learning new content is not rewarded . There can be no bonuses for anything - punctuality , killing bosses etc . A much bigger problem with zero - sum systems is that they don ' t actually do their job properly . Zero - sum was invented to fight Inflation , but the underlying problem is not solved by Zero - sum . The deeper problem with Inflation is that it ' s impossible for new raid members to ever compete for a top - of - the - line drop . In non - zero sum systems the effect is very obvious , if an average run yields 40 DKP , and the top 10 members each have 1000 DKP or more , it ' s a rather simple matter for a newbie to figure out when he will get his first highend item ( maybe after 1 year ) . In zero - sum systems , the very same deeper problem exists too . The fact that no points enter the system from the outside doesn ' t prevent veterans from building a large point lead over new members . The system maintains its advertised properties as long as the group is homogenous . If the whole raid starts out with similar levels of equipment , and everybody does the same number of runs , players will stay close together . But if there are differences ( and there always are ) , if for example some run members have filled some equipment slots with PvP items or drops from heroic s , these members will earn more DKP than they spend . If newbies with sub - par equipment enter the system , they will feed DKP to the well - equipped raid members , see The DKP Gap . In summary , the obvious brick wall which every new member can clearly see in the standard systems is replaced by a glass wall , which in the long term has the very same effect , but more subtle and not so obvious . The frequently raised concern that new players enter the system at 0 points , right in the middle of the veteran players , and thus can take drops away from veterans , is usually a non - issue . After a few runs , newbies will regularly find themselfes at the very end of the ladder , because they will get quite a lot of drops which the veteran run members just don ' t need any more . Most raids actually formalize this dynamic by introducing a rule that newcomers may only get uncontested drops on their first few runs . Point Bank . One method to remedy the problem that no bonuses are possible is to introduce the bank as a member in the system . If the bank takes part in every raid ( as 11 . , 21 . , 26 . or 41 . member ) , a pool of DKP will be available which can be handed out as rewards . This same pool can also be used to " buy " all BOE loot from the raid . If the income of the bank is too low , it ' s possible to give the bank more than one share . Taxes . A good solution to the DKP gap are taxes , in zero - sum as in any other loot system . Of course nobody likes taxes , but in zero - sum they have the nice effect to be sometimes negative ( i . e . increase players point score ) . Relational DKP . Relational DKP systems are a more radical alternative . They allow more flexibility on gaining points , while still being fair to newbies and veterans . Rewarding raid time . As criticised above , Zero - sum systems normally reward only presence at the moment of loot distribution . Beyond the bank solution , there is a more sophisticated system to reward the total time spent raiding , and even to weigh instances differently . To do this , the DKP spent are not immediately awarded to the raid members , but instead held back until the end of the raiding week . At the end of the week , all spent DKP are distributed to the raid members based on the weighted amount of time they spent . An example : Assume a raiding week is spent as follows : Each evening , the run is fully added to the database , all items are assigned to players and spent DKP are subtracted immediately as well . Only DKP earned will remain at 0 until the end of the week . After the week is over ( on Tuesday night ) , first the total DKP spent is calculated : Assume that the Thursday , Monday and Tuesday runs were labeled as progress runs , so their hours get a factor of 1 . 5 as bonus . Then the weighted number of hours spent is calculated : So each hour of raiding is worth the following amount per raid member : Thus the individual run members will receive ( standard zero - sum reward in brackets ) : For control , multiply the DKP handed out per player with the number of players in the runs and compare the sum to total DKP : Comparing the points earned in this system with the rewards from zero sum , it can be clearly seen that progress ( wipe ) runs have become much more interesting , while farm runs were demoted . Even if no weight was used , farm runs just have the same value per hour as wipe runs . With the introduction of the weight , guild masters and run leaders have a very finely scalable instrument to make runs more or less rewarding . There are two known drawbacks to this system . The first is that points are not handed out immediately . If two players competing for the same drop are very close to each other , so that one run could make a difference on who gets the item , a system which is updated daily will produce different results from this one . Whether this effect is really a problem can be discussed , because it affects everybody equally . The second drawback is that when rewards is solely based on attendance time , a run with a lot of interruptions and afk time will be rewarded just like a raid with many corpse runs . This can be taken into account by a weight - if the run leader feels that there was a lot of idle time , a factor smaller than one could be used as weight for that run .