OK to answer the op's question:
# The participation system's primary function is to qualify players for the component reward tables.
# Once a player qualifies for a component reward, the final block of choices presented to the player are rolled randomly. If you qualified for a component reward, you reached the level of participation for yourself and your league needed to have a chance at any component type.
* We will continue to monitor the data from the trials, and if we find instances where this is not the case, we will correct them to ensure that this is the case.
* It has never been possible to guarantee that you will receive a Very Rare. Once the participation system has done a handoff to the random table, it no longer has any effect on your reward. While reports of multiple Very Rares are not unexpected, these occurrences are evidence of consistent league success combined with a large amount of good luck.
# The 10 Thread table is present to make sure that everyone receives something for their efforts in completing the trial, regardless of whether they had to leave their computer temporarily, suffered numerous disconnections or any of another host of circumstances that could happen when content is out in the wild.
* We are aware that this also awards the door-sitters, which leads to the perception that this is a consolation prize.
* We are also aware that this is a point of consternation, because it is possible to get this table through acts of nature or acts of league beyond your control.
* The second item above is exactly why we felt it was better to offer some minimum tangible reward (which is the equivalent of half a Common component) to everyone for their efforts, even if they are affected by events beyond their control, rather than reward nothing.
# You are cooperating together against the challenges of the Trial. Rewards earned by you at the end of the trial have no bearing on what rewards other players can potentially receive. This is not a case of “there are only so many Very Rares to go around.” There’s no group loot table: everyone is rewarded independently and has the potential to qualify individually for a Very Rare. If your league does well, and you are a factor in that success, this will only increase your opportunity to earn a Very Rare component. You are not in competition with other players.
# To illustrate this in a different way: team and league contributions for completion of goals found in the trials are an extremely important part of your overall individual participation score.
* When your league is successful, you are successful, and your efforts at achieving goals help everyone else in the league. A rising tide lifts all boats.
* This aspect of the system is why people can sometimes seem to be rewarded for aberrant behavior. Your league has succeeded in meeting the goals of the trial, and their success carries over to you.
# Earning a decent individual participation score does not require an immense amount of effort, but it does require consistent effort. This is specifically because we are aware of the limited nature of some power sets in regards what they can throw at the enemies encountered.
* We know that leading one of these trials can take significant effort on the leader’s part, which is why our threshold for participation takes that into account.
* We also actively monitor the data from the trials to assess whether the thresholds are achieving what we hoped. We have made adjustments in the past, and will continue to do so as necessary.
# Four things that definitely do not affect your level of participation:
* Tagging targets
* Healing points or damage points
* Interrupting powers mid-cast
* Cycling powers on and off
# Any success that may have been achieved while performing actions which do not affect your level of participation listed above is, as noted, due to the success of your league and random chance.
And 9 times out of 10 said reward will be Uncommon.