Forum Post of the Day: Pay to play
by Elizabeth Harper 
Dec 1st 2006 at 3:30PM
Oh, sure, we all pay our $15 a month to play, and I'm not referring to that. No, what I'm talking about is something a bit beyond that -- paying people in-game to play with you. Poster Cruc on the general forums complains of an inability to find priests for groups -- and that the last time he was looking for a healer, the only thing he got was an offer to heal the group in exchange for 2 gold per player. As a priest myself, I've occasionally been offered gold in order to heal people -- as if an offer of gold will suddenly make me forget that I have to log off in 10 minutes. So is this just supply and demand at work? Or is requiring more than a standard share of the loot in order to participate just being greedy?Filed under: Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Omerta Dec 1st 2006 3:52PM
No, I will not heal your pet.
Doodzin Dec 1st 2006 7:45PM
My main is a lvl 60 priest. I've raided up thru Chromaggus.
My feeling as a student of this game and also a student of economics, is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with paying for or asking to be paid to heal (or do any other role for that matter).
There is nothing worse than logging in and even before the mailbox in IF is drawn, I already have tells asking (wanna come to UBRS?, Need a healer for Scholo, etc.) Don't get me started on the time period when I was guildless and getting a zillion guild invites/inquiries.
There is a serious shortage of people willing to play healers, and even fewer who are any good at it. I tend to believe healing, especially raid healing, is one of the most difficult aspects of the game and people who do it deserve a premium for their services.
If healing was so fun and easy, there would not be a shortage.
Kahja Dec 1st 2006 4:06PM
@1 Heal my water elemental... it's not a pet per say... IE: I can't name him or heal him myself (mend pet or whatever it is that locks get)
Will Dec 1st 2006 4:31PM
Yes, I expect it's supply & demand at work. Which may be in even less supply after the UI changes make it that much more frustrating for folks to play healers.
Prauche Dec 1st 2006 5:43PM
Excuse me?!?!?
If I PAY you to heal, you'd damn well BETTER heal my pet.
If I don't PAY you, I'll heal my own pet TYVM.
James Dec 1st 2006 4:58PM
I don't care how in demand you are: no pet heals = get kicked from group..quickly.
Another fine reason to avoid PUGs.
James Dec 1st 2006 5:12PM
And two more thoughts:
-As a warrior who has an increasing amount of epics, I'm not chipping in extra gold to a priest unless I survive the run largely intact. A TIP of 2g for a good priest is great, but that should be money paid on the back end of a run, not a fee paid on the front end, because if my armor repair bill starts going up, their tip starts going down--and that could mean 0 gold if it gets bad. I've got no problem paying for a good priest, heck, it could be alot cheaper in the long run.
-And if you don't believe in healing pets, as a tank I've been in situations where it takes me and the hunter pet to hold off the mobs. Its been awhile, but it happens every once in awhile. That pet may be the only thing keeping the critters off your cloth wearing butt, especially if things head south or an extra pat or two show up.
FrozenHeart Dec 1st 2006 5:46PM
Quote #5: And if you don't believe in healing pets, as a tank I've been in situations where it takes me and the hunter pet to hold off the mobs. Its been awhile, but it happens every once in awhile. That pet may be the only thing keeping the critters off your cloth wearing butt, especially if things head south or an extra pat or two show up.
Very true...
jpc Dec 1st 2006 6:37PM
I'll heal, if you do father flame.
And your pet shouldn't need heals, let the warrior/bear_form_druid/pally do the tanking.
Octagon Dec 1st 2006 9:06PM
Well, speaking from "Can you summon me?" experience, random people coming up to you and asking you for stuff, for free, is annoying. It's even more frustrating for Priests since they have more they could give to another player, but they don't get to deal any "fun" damage. I have no problem helping out my friends with healthstones and summons, because it's recipricated with help in other tasks (like completing quests). Not enough people really understand or appreciate other players when they ask for help, instead they treat other players like they're a pet, there to back them up and then they dismiss you when they're done. Support classes can really suck because you're rarely appreciated for it. DPS and PvP is what most people worship, so why be a priest if you don't get anything out of it? Pay him the 2g a person!
I don't know why people think it's ok to just look for Warlocks in a zone they want to go to and then message them for a summon. They just assume I have two other people handy and a shard I want to burn on them. Random people even ask me to soulstone them. Having someone just throw up an empty trade window and ask for a healthstone is not polite either. Especially before you get an expensive shard bag. I could also complain about the many bad group experiences where I've been used as a stone and summon vendor, and then getting bailed on because they're done with their quests, but me and the healer aren't.
It's perfectly acceptable to expect money, loot, or help in return for services. I have a priest friend because I don't take him for granted. If you don't want to pay for a healer, roll one, or make friends with one. They appreciate recognition and support that they rarely recieve. It's hard out there for a pimp.
Thomas Dec 3rd 2006 3:57PM
As a priest I do not accept tips nor ask for bribes (that's what they are effectively) to heal for a party/raid. My role in that group is as Main Healer, I will work in that role. I also heal pets - and happily do so without being asked. I however heal characters first and foremost and pets second. I.e. MT getting beat down as is a pet, I'll keep the tank up for certain as they have more tools at their disposal than the pet to keep mobs off the rest of the group. And I usually giggle at the amazement of those in my PuG that I do what I do. Guess more priests need to actually play their role - I know warriors don't say "I'll tank for the healer, but not for the mage - you're on your own!".
Bigtimeagitator Dec 4th 2006 8:28AM
I started a priest alt to help my guild about 3 months
ago, and I can say that priests have it really hard.
I don't see anything wrong with paying for services.
You pay someone to enchant your weapons, and you pay
to have engineers and blacksmiths to craft you items.
I don't see how paying for a priest to run your group
through an instance, especially if they don't know you
or your mates, be wrong. As for you people whining
about pet heals, know this. We have limited mana, and
in the middle of a fight, I will let your pet die if I
have to choose between healing your pet, and the MT.
Heals come in this order for most priests. MT, OT,
him/herself, DPS, and last on our list are pets.
Pets by their very nature are expendable, if they weren't you'd think twice about sending them in first.
So next time you wanna complain about pet heals
remember, priests will more than gladly heal your
pet if it doesn't interefere with keeping the party
from wiping. If you feel that's wrong I'll concede
you that comment the next time your pet comes around
and rezzes me because it couldn't hold aggro.
Heymish Dec 4th 2006 9:14AM
If we have to pay priests to heal, then priests should pay warriors to tank and keep aggro off their sorry asses. Priests get paid by getting loot from instances like everyone else. Wanna knock these over zealous priests off their high horse? Rely on Druids and Pallys to heal, and let the priests solo instances for awhile. They'll change their tune soon enough. They need us just as much as we need them.
andy Dec 4th 2006 11:44AM
well now, as far as healing in an instance goes, i bring a priest for a reason, and if they wont do it gratuit, ill quickly show them the exit.
As a warlock i will gladly soulstone the healer, hand out healthstones to the party, summon the imp for the parties stamina buff and summon any f**king lazy party member that is sitting in IF spamming party chat every 30 seconds with "summon me warlock pls"
that alone could be 10 shards of my shiney 24 slot soul bag. but its my part to play in an instance. the same applies to a healer.
but outside an instance is another story, "can you summon me pls" is gracefully responded by "no, sorry no shards"
and then followed by:
"no im not going to waste a shard and my time finding a group to summon your lazy arse only for you to walk away without even a f*cking thank you."
summon = 2 g
healthstone =1 g
soulstone = 3 g (30 mins, 1 silver a minute)
shame they dont often take me up on my bargains :(
Ben Dec 4th 2006 4:09PM
in reply to 14, might want to drop down your prices for the soulstone, 1 silver a minute is .3 gold, it would have to be 10 silver a mintue
Zules Dec 4th 2006 3:25PM
I think the point isn't paying priests to heal whatever specific way you want, the point is finding healers to be in your group at all. Of course no one wants to pay someone else to go on a run with them, but the issue is one of supply vs. demand.
I have a level 60 priest that's done a lot of end-game raiding, and there is very little that is going to convince me to go along with you on a 5 or 10 man run somewhere. Nothing personal, I've just been there, done that, and I don't feel the need to pay $15/month to help you do a dungeon I'm long since sick of.
Back when I was still running those dungeons, myself, I never asked to be paid and was never offered money, either. But I was pounced on if I even hinted at wanting to go, and I had (and still get) plenty of random tells about joining runs. I didn't join all of them, for the usual reasons. (No time, not running with person X tyvm, just got out of there 2 minutes ago, etc etc etc.)
If a bribe manages to convince some reluctant healer to join you, then why not. (That doesn't mean you need to put up with diva behavior, either.) It's really not that different from people charging to come in and unlock UBRS for groups without the key.
Zules Dec 4th 2006 3:33PM
I want to add something:
If you offer money to a priest (or other healer) to join you, that's one thing. I imagine you and/or your group would be doing so because you've already tried the non-bribe way. But if a priest comes in and THEN expects to be paid, that's just rude.
I imagine some priests, if this were to catch on, would advertise their services on LFG for money. I doubt this will make them very popular, but I don't doubt people might pay them, despite the flaming they'll get, just so they don't have to wait an hour to form a group with healing in it.
Finally, I expect this is less of an issue in guild runs. Pugs only?