Ported up about 100k during the early days of Dial a Port.
After all that time porting with my Dial a Port tag up I can say that you're better off /anon at SF ramp if you want more plat. Dunno how it is now a days but back then people would hardly make the effort to come to a druid ring and expect you to go to remote places like Lake of Ill omen for 15pp.
Many times people would ask you to come to KC for a port/EJ and as you were about to make it there they would send you a tell saying 'nm got another port'. Fucking rage inducing. I learned very quickly to never respond to a blank "hello" as those were always the fuck you ports.
At the end of the day the plat isn't super crazy. You'll have your lucky days of generous tippers, but those days are evened out with the slow days. It's a reliable income, people will always need ports. Obviously get a movie/podcast/something to watch while porting.
A few helpful things I've learned over that time of porting is this.
If you're wanting a port
- Send 1 tell with all the info that is short and easy to read, example /tell Treeitek "WC -> DL (amount of plat)?" (We are sometimes flooded with tells)
- Make an effort to be at the druid/wizard rings or close by.
- Most of us port for plat, that doesn't mean shower us with plat, but don't expect us to make a trip to you if it's not worth it. I could run 3 zones over for a low payout or I can sit at SF Ramp and make much more.
- If you ask someone for a port stick with that porter. Don't send multiple tells to everyone on the /who list. It's fucking annoying.
For DaP
- During my brief time back this year, I noticed that some of you do not SoW unless asked. SoW should always come with a port. I can't believe I had to ask, specially after giving 50pp.
- Be smart, if you're porting someone to DL also give them a levitate. Keep a good stock of bat wings with you.
- Also be mindful of KoS people when porting to NK/WC/ect... Invis them.
- If you need to med up go /anon. Don't let tells back up and have people wait forever as you get your mana back. It makes DaP look bad and you'll end up getting less tells in the long run as people will notice you as a slow porter. During my time back I had this happen to me multiple times, sometimes waiting 15min+. At the very least let them know you're LoM and it will take a while, or that you wont mind if they ask someone else.
- Port assholes to Toxx
I also never kept track of how much plat I made an hour as it always varied. It's dumb to advertise porting as plat per hour.