Quote:
Originally Posted by ribaldron
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Seriously... have we matured a bit since live past asking people to *pay* for their port?
Honestly, if you're *expecting* a payment from someone, in any form, and will not procure your services without what you call a donation, what's the point?
I watched a conversation unfold today where a cleric was paid 200pp for a rez, and denied a player IN HIS OWN GUILD who was next to their corpse because he did not have 50pp to donate for the rez. A little argument ensued, needless to say, he didn't get the rez.
Seems to me that if you claim you're accepting donations, extra credit should possibly carry over to those who are less fortunate.
Anyway, genuinely interested in everyone's mentality on the matter, as I'm not afraid to simply tell a person, "Hey, if you can afford it, I want some money for my time." I could be out grinding instead.
I'd also like to take this time to write that I'm not cheap, I may not have a ton of cash yet, but I also haven't requested any ports / rez / etc.. just see the "Donations" thing a lot, and the above situation really kind of bothered me. I'm not insinuating that the community is all like that in any way.
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You've never played a druid or a wizard, have you?
Porting players is not as fun as you probably think it is. 90% of the time it's not just a port, it's also a sow and invis, or any number of other buffs. That mana adds up. As does the amount of sitting to regenerate that mana.
When a porter goes into taxi service mode, they're trying to make money, for any number of reasons. They're not going to make money if they're spending all their time and mana porting newbies from Butcher to Commons (especially when there's a perfectly good translocator less than 3 minutes from the druid rings) at no charge, or people on "a long CR" who could have easily swung by the bank and picked up a donation before they started sending tells to every non /anon druid/wizard on the server.
I see your point of view. "It's just a button click". You need to consider beyond that. Most druids and wizards don't play the game to port you. It's a tool in their arsenal of utilities, and it comes in handy. But it's for their benefit, first and foremost, not yours.
There is no rule in the EULA or the game manual that says you have to donate for others to get you where you want to go faster. But, on the other hand, nowhere does it say anyone has to port you, either. There will always be players who will never charge for ports, who will gleefully and willingly drop whatever they're doing to come play the game for you. But you should be advised that the other 99% of the players aren't like that, and that doesn't make this other 99% bad people, simply because they expect to be compensated for their time.
Enough of the players on P99 are smart enough to know that the best way to get a port from a total stranger is to offer a donation. Look at it this way; How would you like it if someone, a complete and total stranger whom you've never spoken to before, sent you a tell asking you to leave your SolB group to come to Gfay and teleport them to Butcherblock? Sounds absurd, doesn't it? Happens every day. Now, how would you like it if, after explaining to said complete and total stranger (who is level 20, we'll say, and is perfectly capable of running to Butcherblock themselves) that you're in an xp group, and are unable to acquiesse to their request, they proceed to whine and beg for 10 minutes? (come on d00d itll only take a minute, its real important) Or, even worse, nerdrage? (port me dr00d its ur job!!111, ill tell ur guild ldr KYEW KYEW!!!!). Now, imagine this happens about fifteen times a night, until you finally /anon and /afk and start ignoring all the tells.
It's not just the mana, or the time, or the fact that it's a service provided. It's simply a mission statement. Just follow these tips:
1). If a porter advertises "Porting for donations"....don't send a tell saying "how much"? If you do, you're officially a moron.
2). If you start going down the list of non-anonymous porters, refrain from starting your tells with "Hey bro, can you..." Unless you're sending a tell to your brother, that person is not your "bro", and calling them "bro" isn't going to change their mind if they're not porting. Other examples to avoid are "Hello friend...", "Sup homeslice", or the ever popular "greetings, kind soul"...
3). If you really need a port, it helps if the words "will pay" or "donating for" or "paying x pp" appear in your post. After all, the entire point is for you to get somewhere in a hurry, isn't it?
4). If you're a newbie and legitimately can't afford to donate for a port, then perhaps you should stay in your area and make some money. I can't count the number of courtesy ports I've done over the years where 3 minutes later the newbie sends a tell "I died, can u port me again?". Additionally, if you claim to be broke, and show up wearing full bronze and a lammy, then either hand over the lammy, or take the boat...
5). If you offer to pay, and then once you're at your destination you type "thx dewd ur cool" and run off, chances are you just got put on /ignore.
6). If you're one of those players that strips your gear and fakes a corpse run to avoid paying for your port, at least have the courtesy to get out of visual range before you don your gear. Otherwise, you're definitely /ignored, and you might as well expect to see your name in Rants and Flames.
Again, no one is making you donate for ports. Conversely, no one is preventing you from making the trip on your own, either.