Hi, I am looking for some help in getting started in managing my site's DKP system. I just need someone to walk me through the process of automating the DKP management system. We are currently using the in-game point system but we would like to use the site's DKP features. Unfortunately I am clueless and do not know what to do or where to start. Could someone contact me or either post a step-by-step guide. I know it has something to do with the /whoraid command but I'm not having any luck with that. Do I need additional programs or plug ins? How do I generate a raid attendance log? If someone would be kind enough to steer me in the right direction I would be very appreciative. Has anyone been able to synchronize the in-game dkp with the dkpsystem? Thanks in advance.

As an EQ2 guild, you'll have to use the EQ2 Raid Attendance log uploader to get that information into the site.

There is not currently an officially supported mod for EQ2 that works with our DKP system here.

I think this is my problem. Where do I get the EQ2 Raid Attendance log? Is this the same as my character log file?

Download this file (Originally provided by DKPSystems to me)

The use of this program is vital. If you attempt to upload your actual log file, it tends to crash out due to the size of the file. This parser will strip out all non-essential data for the purpose of the DKP upload.

Make a shortcut on your desktop to the location of the EQ2Preparser.

Start with an empty log file (Rename or delete your old log file for EQ2)

Make sure you have EQ2 Log on(/log)

Do a /whoraid at the start of raid (and at any other point where you need to make an attendance check, such as hourly, per boss etc).

When you are done with the raid either Log off EQ2 or do a /log to turn the logging in game off.

Drag the log file to the EQ2Preparser icon on your desktop.

The PreParser will create a new file with the same name as your log file with .new added.

On the DKP site go to ADMIN->Upload EQ2 Raid Attendance Log
Browse to your Log file folder and select the correct file and click Upload.



You will now have a page divided into several sections.



The first section allows you to set the Calander event that the attendance logs/loot should be tied too (I never bother to select this as it doesn't seem to actually work, I use the raid event associator in the Admin menu after submitting DKP)

The second section is the loot. This will show all loot that appears in your Guild Events from the beginning of the log to the end of the log. (I believe the parser was intended to only pick up items after a /whoraid, but it picks up all loot in the log). Please make sure that your members have event logging turned on in their guild window or anything the loot will NOT be picked up by the log parser. Also, make sure you have someone keeping track of the loot dropped and the DKP value spent on the items as non guilded members who get loot also will not appear in the parsed log as it only pulls the info from Guild Events.

EXAMPLE of what we keep track of in Notepad during raid:
3.4.09 PoAO/Inner Stronghold

Void Tunic of Mauling - Muted
Bellowing Voice Crystal - Muted
Dark-Metal Ingot - Becker - 60
Everling Bracers Pattern - Prima - 15
Breastplate of Petrified Mushrooms - Muted
Wrist of Sharpened Blades - Samedai - 100
Vampiric Gloves Pattern - Glok - 100
First Time Kill - Strange Stalker
2pts Stand By DKP - Zekari

The Next section(s) will be the attendance. At the top of this section is a little box asking if you wish to record this raid, Choose Yes or No. Next is the date. This is pulled by the date of the /whoraid in the log. Select the destination (this may be an hourly check, boss mob, etc. depending on how you have set up your DKP system), you can chose to select it as a learning encounter if you wish to keep track of those. Then there is the point assignment. This can be left blank if you have set up Destinations in your system and have default point values. However if you wish to override the default or do not have set values for destinations, you can enter the point value here. There is then space for a description if you chose to enter one. From here, we move to the attendance list. It will show each toon that was in the raid when the /whoraid command was issued. Occassionally this may be an alt and you wish to change the point value to the Main.. you can do this with the drop down boxes located next to each name.

If you have multiple /whoraids you need to determine whether you want to record them all, the destination for each one and the point value for each, verify the attendance etc.

For our guild, we do a /whoraid at the beginning of the night, and I do a 2nd at the end of the night. I compare the 2 for attendance, but only record the first one.

Our system is set up with 2 destinations. Weekday and Sunday. Weekday raids are worth a default of 5pts (2pts per hour rounded up). Sunday raids are worth a default of 12pts (2pts per hour). If we run over the allotted time we award at 1pt per half hour, rounded up so 20 mins over would = 1 additional pt).

If we go over on the time, or have first time kill bonuses etc, we just override the default points. If someone leaves early or joins late we adjust it next to their name in Admin->Raid Attendance section of the site.

I hope this helped. If you have any other questions, please feel free to send me a PM or post here.

Edited for Typos

Okay, this is awesome! Thanks so much, this is perfect for what I was trying to figure out.

Much appreciated!!!

This is working flawlessly. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm sure there will be others that will benefit from your post.

I would also like to thank Shianne for making this post. It's certainly more extensive in detail than the documentation currently on EQ2 log-file support.

With your permission, I'd like to include it in the official documentation (credit given to you and your site, with a link, obviously).

By all means Chops
Glad to help =)

BTW: I was trying to find info on the EQ2 Log File Support and couldn't find where it is in general on the site.
Maybe a separate heading for EQ2 support might help those customers find it more easily =)

Chops,

Are you working on any in-game DKP management mods for EQ2? (Like you've done for Wow?)

I'm guessing that EQ2 doesn't have the same in-game 'add-on' ability, so maybe something non-in-game would be needed to run as a live-log-parser?

Feeling left out of all your GRSS Mods/features.

Is this Preparser still around somewhere? The link isn't any good anymore, and it sure would be helpful when we upload our raid logs.

Here it is: http://dkpfiles.com/www/files/EQ2Preparser.exe

I updated Shianne's post to include an accurate link.

You are my hero!

Let me know if you have any questions. For as long as it's existed, it's kind of been a little black-magic, and not terribly well documented.

Is there any format that will allow DKP values ("cost") to be imported along with the items? Currently after the upload you'll get a list of attendees, and a list of items looted (if they exist in the file), but the costs are all 0. For example:

(1381927570)[Sat Oct 20 21:18:29 2012] /whoraid search results for Skyshrine: The City of Dracur:
(1419578182)[Sat Oct 20 21:18:29 2012] [92 Mystic] Wyzyppp (Human)
(1519328572)[Sat Oct 20 21:18:29 2012] 24 players found
(1385718975)[Sat Oct 20 21:35:51 2012] Wyzyppp looted the Fabled \aITEM -1552087196 -1770585289:Awakened General's Stud of the Underdepths\/a.
(1325919785)[Sat Oct 20 21:52:59 2012] Wyzyppp looted the Fabled \aITEM -199440150 -7030990:The Eye of Theldek\/a.

What is the format of the last two lines to also import cost values? I've tried various combinations such as:

(1325919785)[Sat Oct 20 21:52:59 2012] Wyzyppp looted the Fabled \aITEM -199440150 -7030990:The Eye of Theldek\/a. @ 50

But it's not happy with it. Any clues? Thanks!

I'm afraid there are currently no hacks for the importer that would deal with that, since the logs themselves don't create it, it would be a real pain to support.

It ultimately means you're either manually entering the points into the log files, or you're manually entering them into the system when you upload the logs.

Either way, it seems like the same amount of work.


THAT SAID, the point values for items should be getting retrieved from the database. If you head to Admin > DKP > Items, you can pre-set the point values for items so that you don't have to enter them each time you upload.

However, that only works if you run a "Static item price" system. If you run an auction-type system, that won't work, unfortunately.

Thanks for the reply! I understand that EQ2 does not automatically generate the logfile in that format, so I would handle generating one myself using an external tool (that I would develop). This tool would perform the same function as the pre-parser, except it would be real-time so the DKP officer can enter the values as they are won. At the end of the event, there would be an "Export" button in the tool that spit out a file to upload into the dkpsystem importer (containing /whoraid output and items won with DKP values).

I'm only curious, but one thing I don't understand is why it would be a pain to support (other than agreeing on the file format). Is the log file importer not written and maintained by dkpsystem?

Thanks again for your time.

I see. Sounds interesting.

If you're willing to distribute that tool, I'd be more than happy to add the prerequisite changes to the importer.

The only reason I say it would be a pain, is because I thought you were intending on manually editing each file, in which case, having to tell other (particularly non-savvy customers) to edit the log file in Notepad, add the "@ 50" to the end of the pertinent lines, then upload the file. That would 100% lead to confusion.

I mean, in all fairness, the current method isn't even the most straightforward, relying on starting a log, preparsing it, then uploading it.

But, as I said, if you're willing to put together some kind of tool, I'd be happy to recommend that tool to customers (just as I recommend a handful of services like Cooltext for logos and DNSMadeEasy.com for DNS services). No doubt, that would be a valuable tool for the EQ2 community.

Which reminds me: The Preparser, if you had noticed, is just a perl script compiled for Windows. It was a one-off thing a few years back and has never really been official supported. I should see if I can find the code for it and post it up on Github.

I hadn't thought about distribution; it was just going to be something quick and dirty to help automate some of our guild raid administration. Will upload/import support depend on public availability of the tool? If so, I will need to think about it a bit to take things like maintenance, bug fixes, feature requests, etc. into account.

Hello! I've written a simple app to do this, and am currently testing. What would be the "official" way to request import support for the above format:
(1325919785)[Sat Oct 20 21:52:59 2012] Wyzyppp looted the Fabled \aITEM -199440150 -7030990:The Eye of Theldek\/a. @ 50

If it helps, the regex grouping might look like this:

(?<looter>\w+) looted the (Legendary|Fabled) \\aITEM (?<itemid>-?\d+) [-\d ]+:(?<itemname>[^\\]+)\\/a\.[ ]*\@[ ]*(?<cost>\d+)

Thanks!