said by Immer:I was highlighting the fact that my statement wasn't refuting yours... but allowing for multiple factors and a range of experience.
Of course. Here's what I think our disconnect is. I'm reading the OP and what I take away from it is, he would like to know some gifts ideas for lower level players, not raiders. That's what I ran with. Both you and DarkLogix obviously are running with players who are level capped, as you pointedly mention "your raiders" in the below quote. "Gifts," in my mind, aren't really something you get when you're level capped and contributing to the guild as a raider. At that level, it is expected that being in a raiding guild, casual or not, is a give and take relationship. You can't raid and expect to have all food/flasks/pots provided to you 100% of the time with no contribution by the individual player. Contributions can then range in tiers as well, from providing mats and enchants/craftables to researching fights thoroughly and then explaining a strategy to the rest of the raid.
said by Immer:If your server is highly competitive... handouts are handouts and turnover is rampant... so best to just drive on and have everyone earn everything... by sticking around and contributing. But if turnover isn't an issue, but burnout is... then gifts can serve as incentive to keep at it... that you are not forgotten, even if you couldn't log on in the past week due to RL.
What type of "gifts" in your opinion would drive a player to keep at a grind for rep/gear if they don't like what they're doing? Honestly, I might do daily quests if I was the only enchanter in a raid group and the group needed those high level enchants from Shado-pan if the GM paid me 1,000 gold per week. Maybe.
said by Immer:Also in low-pop/casual situations, if I know my raiders don't get a lot of play time, I'll still gear them up, so that when they do get the chance to play, they can make the most of it, rather than grind out some profession on their own... further burning them out.
Okay, I think I addressed this in my first rebuttal paragraph. I still think level capped toons is NOT what the OP was thinking about.