I usually have a quick scan of my favourite wow related forums, when I have an extended breather at work. This post caught my eye, and gave me some inspiration to rant!
Even though I am somewhat guilty, well I think pretty much every player is guilty of some minor offences, except maybe Shell ? Judging by Shell’s incredible disdain to quest-helper (She reckons its cheating) she may be one of the few innocents.
I have boosted friends to get shinies and those precious bars of xp. Mogs got some help in ZF and some other dungeons for all those dungeon quests and recently I took my fail, but pretty rogue along to a Kara guild rep run hoping to score some of TBC’s haute couture to flash about in Howling Fjord.
So yes I am guilty, but in my defense I only boost guildies or friends and I only accept boosts from guildies or friends and as its an instant yawn fest, this does not happen often.
But seriously and really, I am not a fan of boosting. It’s mind numbingly boring and in my mind it’s a short cut, short cut meaning you are only putting in half the amount of work to get to the same goal as someone who is giving 100%. Where is the satisfaction in that? Yes most of us have at some point taken an easy and fast route in our lives but I am sure most people can also admit, it is not as fulfilling as doing it properly unless it involves travel!
I cringe when [2.Trade] lights up with boost requests, “10g for boost plzzz. I think Blizzard should just make “boost, b00st, boosting” and any other derivative illegal in public channels.
Not only is it one step above, annoying gold spammers, it creates a very negative impression for new players, as its only a matter of time before they think (at RFC level nonetheless) that boosting is, the only way to run an instance.
But if I’m guilty why am I ranting?
Well as I mentioned at the start of my boosting vent, posts like those make me /facepalm. This is a small example of what I mean when I wrote short cut. I have seen these sort of requests in quite a few realm forums for Ulduar treasures. Okay, regarding the example I linked, the player does not deserve the full brunt of my attack, he merely wants to get a quest done and he is not paying for The Light of Dawn or the Invincible’s Reigns
Its the really ridiculously rich individuals paying for snazzy titles and mounts reserved for the elite guilds, that I am actually targeting here. Sure some may say, its not much different than paying for a boost to get that item in 5 man soloable dungeons. However, this type of boosting is on a grander scale where coffers of gold are offered and 24 people are involved, so it does make it slightly different.
The elite guild who used their blood, sweat and tears to progress, have every right to parade around Dalaran, flexing their prowess with their titles and mounts. The individual who payed his way to the top, I dont think so.
Those players of course will argue, its their gold and they can do what the hell they want with it. Yes, they are right, as looked at a different angle they are merely conducting a business transaction, as are some of the guilds that are selling their time. But the fact that these players didn’t get those goodies by their own merit, makes me wonder if they are any different to those kind of people offering golden “laden” handshakes everywhere they go?
I know those players don’t give a rat’s arse on what I think, if I was one of those players neither would I. I will never have any current raid related “elite” title nor will I have that uber current mount, hell I wont even have any Ulduar covetables. I am okay with that and I would be too embarrassed to even approach a guild offering gold for their time . As much as it can be interpreted as a business transaction, I still sigh at people trying to buy their way through the game. Now your opinions please?
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AH spec ftw!! it allows the gainfully employed people to keep pace with the great number of unwashed “job seakers” who can devote all there waking hours to raiding 5 chars in 5 guilds and then flaming people who arnt in full 254’s for noth must die! I love the fact that you can almost kit yourself out compleatly in BoE’s if you have the gold to do so, its a victory for the little guy! however not meaning just mindlessly write shite in this post i will try to offer some different points of view……
You have to ask yourself who is at fault when it comes to cash for boosting the the “elite” guilds didnt do it then there would be no people offering money for such a service, to bring it down to a base point i dont see anything different between that and asking a mage to port you to dala just because you cant be arsed to get the boat and fly.
I was in a late night Icc 10 run on a tuesday night ( you know the sort i mean ) 5 people who hadn’t got round to doing the weekly run at it and 5 people who had no right at all being there! however with the reset closing in we pressed on in the hope of some rep and maybe just maybe a frost badge or 2 when we got there our 1st problem was we only had one healer he said he could 2 heal it if one of us had an offspec so we sent a pally of to the trainer with some cash and ended up with a priest covered in 264S and a palla in greens and blues (stay with me im coming to a point) the long and short of it is that the priest pretty much solo healed all the trash and we got beaten up to a pulp my the first boss lord something or other ( yes i was one of the people who had no right there) i asked the priest about his gear and why he was in icc10 and his answer was “im bored and thought i could help out” at first i thought you arrogant s.o.b but then after chatting to him about his gear he explained most of it was BoE and he used alts to grind saronte to fund it.
so then i looked at him in a different light, if these are the kinda people getting boosted and buying there way up the ladder then im all for it, as the guy took the time to help out a ( lets be hinest here ) compleatly fail raid but we got some gold and some rep and i know a bit more about raiding and raid leading. (stop me if this is in anyway bad for the game)
so i would love to see more “im bored and thought i could help out and less [raid] [anybody] OMG summon pls ffs!!!!!
to sum up..
By whatever means necessary x
A couple of points here Moggy :p
1) I fully understand why people “buy” achievements. It’s an easy route to feeling good about themselves, or in some cases – to inflate their already large sense of own self importance. Personally I think I’m the former. It’s no huge secret that I’m goldcapped but I choose to spend my dough on vanity items. Admittedly this is reserved for Hogs or ilvl 264 BOEs from the AH but if I had the raiding time free I would probably ask to go on Runs with elite guilds. Though I would stres it woudl be for gear/experience as opposed to Titles or Mounts. It depends really on the person behind the the “achievement”. IF you have the means at your disposal then I don;t see why you shouldn;t make use of them. IN saying that if the person was a GScored 5.5k and only putting out 3k dps then I would feel differently as they would definitely then bing carried. I know myself that I could hold my own or at the very least not disgrace myself. That’s the height of my elitism – geared people sucking donkey balls as DPS – and there;s more of those than people who can actually play.
2) After that little rant I would like to larf profusely at those “10g for boooost in rfc” plonkers. Why on earth would anyone would ever want to spend 15-30 mins boosting someone for 10g when if they were clever enough could make 100time that amount playing the AH or lesser amounts by doing dailies. Those boosters should join a decent social guild ifthat;s what they want. It;swhat they need tbh.
Magpawacar´s last blog ..Under Siege
Tab and Magz some valid points there.
I was in a pug for the weekly (only an annual event for me) where my DPS was a disaster, my fps dropped hideously (had graphics card problems) and my internet connection reared its ugly head and I was sitting at 1,8k ms. No-one and some of the folk in the pug were from some of the top guilds on Horde, said anything. Its the last time I do a raid in peak afternoon, I was just mortified. Nor, have I heard any members in the top guilds demand GS, achiev etc on trade. 9/10 when I do a shift click on a person that demands ridiculous things (5,
(….meh hit submit before finishing)
anyway…..(5.7k GS for Noth) its usually people unguilded or from one of the flavour of the week guilds.
You are right Tab, this all probably did start with guilds selling boosts. I was going to concentrate on that aswell but did not want to turn this into a novel. As did the requests for boosts in RFC pl0x I gief 10g start with some muppet selling it.
As we all know the casual, hardcore, WOW is ezmode debate will probably rage on through to Cataclysm and beyond.
I personally think it is also great we can buy awesome gear and if you have the means go for it but thats gear.
Its just the buying and selling for that matter of the elite achievements and mounts that makes me sigh “a bit. “
Thing is Magz, you earned all that gold yourself by playing the auction house.
You worked hard and therefore you get to spend your money any way you please.
And surely that’s the point: making money so that you can spend it on improving your own gear or some guildie’s gear, having a few nice things, or just having an easier time of it generally.
Just as in real life, some people are incredibly altruistic with what they have, and others hoard the wealth.
So it goes.
I’m guilty of running various instances with my main in order to kit out an alt or three, but my take on it is that you’re playing the game to get some reward; some kind of feel-good factor that involves having nice stuffz.
Paying for a boost? I don’t have a problem with it.
As for people who just spend all their lives playing, yes, I despise them.
But only because I’m envious, and that’s a beastie that should be driven away as soon as is convenient.
B
Regarding boosting low levels.
I wouldn’t call it a shortcut, because I would never take the long route. Soloing Stratholme on Necrall takes me about half an hour. How long would it take with an appropriate levelled group of 5 players? Or Black Rock Depths? Or Sunken Temple *shudder*
They take way longer than they’re worth. The difference? Maybe another 5 or 6 strength or agility on my gear.
What does that mean for levelling? I need one or two less Heroic Strike or Sinister Strike to kill the mob. I want to level as fast as I can, boosts give me a near full level in experience and blues to kill faster. It’s Win Win.
Now the first objection will be “But you’re not learning your class if it’s that easy”, I won’t be learning my class ANYWAY.
This is what I do on my rogue: Stealth, sneak behind enemy, Ambush with Premeditation and Pick pocket macroed in for 5 combo points, Eviscerate. If mob’s still standing, Hemo/Ghostly Strike till he’s dead. (Yeah I’m subtelty)
That’s nothing like what I would need to do in raids, for one I’d be specced Muti or Combat not Subtlety, secondly I’d pop Rupture and Slice n Dice like its candy when I touch neither solo.
Personally I have no problem with someone buying into a raid, so long as the cash has come from a legitimate source (ie, not bought) and the raid agrees.
To me, its only the same as buying some 4000g BoE Saronite epic off the AH.
There are some people who for one reason or another will *never* get into a high level raiding guild as a full time member (perhaps they can only raid one night a week). So once they’ve topped out on heroic badge gear and craftables, there gear progression effectively stops.
There only alternative is to grind cash and piggy back on a raiding guild.
There is a difference between buying into a raid at level 80 and asking for b00st plx, 10g at level 10 though
I am a great believer that, in MMO’s, yyou should have as much freedom to play the game your way. Way, way back in EQ (EQ1 not 2) you could level up trade skills without levelling your toon (actually, I think you used to be able to do that in wow…) and it was kind of good that you could have an ‘ordinary’ citizen of the world, it gave colour and depth to the place.
I’d like to see that spirit live on as much as is practical, so if people want to work hard to get gold and buy gear then it’s OK. If they want to buy a trip to visit sonme instance, well… that ain’t so different to paying for a RL experience – for instance tomorrow I have paid for me and the misses to spend a day off-roading on some of the toughest ‘roads’ in Britain.
Where I do draw the line is if people buy there gold. Gold sellers spam chat, devalue the AH, steal from players and guilds! Bah!
As for asking for boosts for gold – Like Mags says, it’s simply not worth it. Giving boosts for free, well if it is somewhere you ahve been many many times on alts then it is understandable; if it is your first toon then you’re mssing content – sometimes very good, fun content!