Selling arena titles for fun and profit
by Amanda Rivera 
Jun 1st 2007 at 11:15PM
Death and Taxes has made WoW headlines for many things, mostly due to their raiding achievements. But today on the forums another aspect of the guild's performance made heads turn: their PvP arena teams. In the PvP arena 3v3 bracket Death and Taxes guild members have been using the current rule system to their benefit. What exactly does this entail? Well, to be specific, members of the top ranked teams are sharing their skill with lower ranked PvP players in order to raise their standings and get them the coveted Armored Netherdrake and an easy title. Seeing the success of one D&T arena team after another is frustrating their opponents, and therefore the vocal forum protest.
Members of D&T have naturally spoken up in their own defense, and fairly eloquently I might add. One of the accusations leveled at the guild was that they are using top crafted items to gain an edge in PvP, essentially using their power as a PvE guild to dominate the PvP domain.
In answer to this Schmity posted the following:
Just because people dont [sic] take the time out to advance their character to the fullest doesn't mean the people that do should suffer. If you want to PvP at the highest level, or do anything in life, you have to use the tools given to you. If you don't want to take the time, then settle for mediocrity.
The point he makes is a valid one. With anything in the game, be it PvP or instance runs, you have to prepare if you want to succeed. In our guild, for instance, we are requiring that our guild members build an arcane resistance set before we venture into Karazhan (we can argue all day long about whether or not this is necessary, but the point is we want to be prepared for what we may face when we are ready to enter the instance.)
When I asked D&T to comment on the arena team jumping issue, they explained that a lot of people simply neglect the 3v3 arena bracket, as so it is easier to dominate. Xi said:
... It's really easy to put teams into the top 5. You play ~50 games, give us the team, we put it in the top 5. Everyone wins.
It sounds reasonable enough, after all the rules state that the players on the team must play at least 20% of the games, but do not specify which 20% they must be. So there is no rule breaking here, only using the rules as they see fit. Or is there?
Something stated later on in the thread caught my eye and got me wondering. Both Xi and Schmity mention that the titles and Netherdrakes are not simply being given away to guild members, but are being purchased.
One might also argue that the gold farmers are providing a service that people are willing to pay for, and 20% of WoW players agree. That doesn't make it right. The title of Gladiator should be a symbol of PvP achievement for each and every person who attains it, something earned through the blood and sweat of battle. Before this information came to light I was actually with Death and Taxes on this issue. It looked to me about the same as porting someone into Outland before level 58. However, knowing that they are just selling the titles to people in their guild definitely changes my mind on the matter. The title is no longer a symbol of merit, is now a symbol of commerce, and as inventive as their system might be, I can't see how it follows the spirit of the PvP arena system. If I had bought my Murky on eBay instead of getting at BlizzCon, would it have the same meaning?
I applaud the players of Death and Taxes for their skill, but I cannot agree with the sale of arena titles. It's less an idea of morality really. The more I think about it, the more it makes me wonder how close they are coming to breaking the ToS, if indeed they haven't already.
[via an anonymous tip]
Filed under: Tricks, PvP, Raiding, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zevan Jun 2nd 2007 12:09AM
Bah, Death and Taxes are no better then gold farmers who offer powerleveling if they're selling off the arena titles. I'd say that's breaking the terms of service agreement but I'd have to check.
klink-o Jun 2nd 2007 12:16AM
I thought the arenas were a joke to begin with and this just enforces that belief. Can't say I'm surprised in the least, both with what's taking place and who's involved.
bwest0526 Jun 2nd 2007 12:51AM
Okay, let's not be hasty here, does it anywhere say they have to pay GOLD for their title and the sservice they are providing is for payment in GOLD? How do we not know it is merely the TIME that is the payment. Another thing, even if they are "paying" in Gold for the title doesn't actually put money in the guild bank to help the team get items and equipment they need to make it to the top bracket. So this "payment" is actually a cycle, instead of buying the items themselves the people are getting it from the guild and paying the guild for the items, no where did I see that they are actually paying RL Cash for the title. Which, in that case would be like gold farming and the whole breaking of the ToS/EULA.
Let's get all the facts before ostracizing someone!
enkafiles Jun 2nd 2007 12:55AM
I'd say it depends on whether they're selling the titles for ingame gold or RL money.
The first would be similar (in my view) to pulling a lowbie through a dungeon for gold.
The second is selling ingame stuff (items, gold, titles) for RL money.
And *that* does go against the TOS.
theRaptor Jun 2nd 2007 1:05AM
Hah, as if most PVP has anything to do with PVP skill.
"The title of Gladiator should be a symbol of PvP achievement for each and every person who attains it, something earned through the blood and sweat of battle"
What like Rank 14? Which was mostly achieved before the PVP change by people begging or paying people to play their characters 24/7?
Anyone with half a brain could for-see that requiring only 20% games played for arena, would lead to ringers and score buffing of this kind. While ever PVP offers rewards people will play against the spirit of the rules to attain those rewards.
Jason Jun 2nd 2007 1:33AM
@theRaptor: Arena titles and rewards have far more to do with player skill than the former Honor System's pure out and out grind. You can play all the matches you want, but if you lose 90% or more, then you'll get next to jack come seasons end. No title, no mount.
As to comparing what they're doing to a powerleveling service, give me a break. If you want an accurate comparison, then compare it to powerleveling a lowbie, or paying a PvE guild for a spot in the raid. IMO, you practically Godwin'd the discussion before it began.
theRaptor Jun 2nd 2007 1:43AM
@6 Would people please stop using "Godwin'd" for any comparison they think unfair.
Also I never compared it to a powerleveling service. I said the previous honour titles where devoid of merit due to people getting "power levelled", grinding green PUGs with T3 pre-mades etc. And the arena ones are likely to be as well due to people using ringers. I only said it was against the spirit, not the words of the rules.
PVP in WoW is about who can grind the best gear, not how good a PVPer you are (after you get past the people who simply can't play their class).
Mask Jun 2nd 2007 1:50AM
They need to make some kind of change for season 2 to prevent ringers from powerleveling teams into the top ratings =/
oshin Jun 2nd 2007 6:05AM
I think this mercenary thing idea is actually pretty fun idea, there should be more of a service industry in wow (outside of professions).
At the end of the day its just like being paid to be run through an instance, just on a much larger scale. At the end of the day its fine, clueless people will always find a way close to the top, just look at Paris Hilton.
Keysdawg Jun 2nd 2007 10:45AM
How is this any different than other high level guilds selling MC/BWL epics to other players to fund the material requirements for further guild progression?
On numerous servers, high end guilds would offer to run people through MC or BWL (even AQ40) for in game gold to fund the flask or resist gear requirements for the guild to progress in AQ or Naxx. I don't see this as any different. To be a World first team, there are things they will need. This is one way to fund that if indeed it is in game money. If it's RL money, then that's a whole different story.
Rakuen42 Jun 2nd 2007 11:37AM
How is this different? It's quite simple.
There are, in theory, an infinite amount of epics that will drop in raids. Ergo, paying to receive these epics from a high end raid group is just like paying to buy an item off the AH (which also theoretically have an infinite amount). It doesn't harm the system in the least.
By contrast, there is most DEFINANTLY a finite amount of titles and mounts awarded through the arena season. The top 0.5%. That's what bracket you have to be in to get anything. With this limited amount of supply and an incredible amount of demand, what D&T is doing is tantamount to stealing.
Fing Jun 3rd 2007 1:12AM
If they didn't have to pay 100g every day to spec from PVP to PVE and back again it never would have happened.
photons Jun 4th 2007 1:25AM
@11 - You are using faulty logic. The top TEAMS get the rewards. The D&T teams would be at the top with or without the pay to play people. So they are actually expanding the number of people getting titles and mounts. Remember, we are talking about teams.
Juliah Jun 4th 2007 12:08PM
If you buy/sell your way there then you've turned the game into a business, and it's no longer a level playing field.
Every character starts off at level 1. Ideally, that's the level playing field. Everyone is supposed to come into WoW equally. From there, it's what you invest in the game that reaps the rewards. When you go outside the game, you're changing that field in a way that brings real-world advantages and disadvantages into the game space. Games don't work well without fair play.