GDKP is a loot system most commonly found on the World of Warcraft Classic Progression Realms (Presently Mists of Pandaria Classic). The GDKP loot system originated as part of the original World of Warcraft game decades ago.
Standing for Gold Dragon Kill Points, GDKP is a spin-off of the popular DKP loot system. The primary difference is that you use Gold as a currency to bid on items you want, rather than points. At the end of the raid, the gold pot is split up among the raiders.
GDKP was banned from Season of Discovery in Phase 2, and then disallowed on WoW Classic Anniversary Realms from the start. Initially, the Season of Discovery Ban was cited to stop RMT (Real Money Trading) when the Anniversary ban was announced; however, it was noted for social reasons.
The Case For GDKP
The Perfect Loot System
At its core, GDKP solves one of the oldest frustrations in WoW: losing a key item to a random roll. Instead of watching a trinket go to the least deserving player because of a lucky roll, everyone gets the chance to bid. If you lose out (because you either have less gold or value the item less), you still walk away with your share of the gold pot at the end, which can be saved for the next raid or spent at the Auction House. No one leaves empty-handed, and loot feels more merit-based than roll-based.
Open to Everyone
GDKPs are accessible from multiple angles. Strong players with great parses can join and be rewarded for their performance. Players without top logs but with healthy banks can still participate. Even those with neither can farm gold, follow profession guides, and work their way in. Every participant contributes value, and bad behavior, such as going AFK, wiping the raid, or trolling, can cost your cut.
That transactional accountability is what many players appreciate.
RMT? Lesser of Two Evils
RMT is the elephant in the room. Without hard data from Blizzard, it’s difficult to measure exactly how much gold-buying happens around GDKPs. But one argument in favor is that gold spent in GDKPs tends to circulate between established raiders and leaders rather than flooding the broader economy. This “closed loop” can reduce the inflationary impact compared to widespread Auction House buying.
Of course, the risk remains: GDKPs provide a direct incentive for players to purchase gold, since BiS loot can be instantly secured with enough currency. Whether that makes GDKPs a pressure release or a pressure cooker depends on your perspective.
PvP Participation
In TBC and beyond, PvP players often need a handful of PvE items to be competitive. Ideally, Blizzard would separate PvE and PvP gear, but since that isn’t the case, GDKPs offer a straightforward way for PvPers to gear up without being tied to guild politics. In that sense, they serve a practical purpose, raiding for gold and items, not long-term social commitment.
The Case Against GDKP
The Community
For players in mid-tier guilds, GDKPs can be a constant temptation. One or two frustrating raid weeks, a string of bad loot luck, and suddenly those shiny heroic GDKPs calling out in trade chat look more appealing. Skilled raiders know they’ll pump, get loot, and walk away paid.
But as more players drift toward GDKPs, guilds begin to hollow out. Recruitment pools shrink, attendance falters, and eventually rosters collapse. When a guild dies, many of its members quit the game soon after. Blizzard hasn’t shared hard numbers, but anecdotally, history shows that guild health and player retention are tightly linked. GDKPs risk accelerating that decline.
New Player Experience
For new or inexperienced players, the barriers to entry are steep. They arrive at max level lacking:
- Gold
- Gear
- Experience & Parses
Without friends or a guild, these players struggle to break into GDKPs. Instead of helping them integrate into the community, GDKPs can reinforce a sense of exclusion: you need gold to get in, and you need to get in to earn gold. That feedback loop leaves new players stuck on the outside.
Conclusion
Not everyone can or wants to commit to a strict raiding schedule, and for those that do, raiding guilds should absolutely remain the backbone of WoW Classic. Keeping guilds healthy should be a priority for both Blizzard and the community.
But for the players who can’t commit, the current state of pugs leaves much to be desired. This is where GDKP found its foothold, offering structure, fairness, and a clear reward for participation. At the same time, it also created powerful incentives for RMT and botting, and has at times pulled players away from guild communities.
Perhaps the answer isn’t a full ban or a free-for-all, but something in between:
- Taxed/Capped Bidding – a 10% tax on trades, removing gold from the economy (ideally over a certain cap, as a disincentive to bid higher amounts, but that would be very hard to police).
- Better Pug Tools – In-game support for clear loot rules, raid leader reputation, and performance tracking could make traditional pugs more reliable.
- Guild Incentives – Extra rewards for guild longevity and consistent raiding could encourage players to stick with social groups rather than drifting to GDKPs.
Ultimately, the debate around GDKP isn’t really about loot, it’s about how World of Warcraft balances player freedom with community health. GDKPs solved short-term frustrations, but unchecked, they risk undermining the foundations of Classic. If Blizzard can find a middle ground, something between rigid guild raiding and pure gold transactions, then both the economy and the community may come out stronger.
What would be your perfect loot system for The Burning Crusade or future iterations of Classic? Let us know in the comments down below!
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