Breakfast Topic: Instance for sale
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 29th 2008 at 8:00AM
Ixus sent us a question about hiring mercenaries in World of Warcraft: he's a level 20 Warlock who paid a level 57 a whopping 1g to run him through Deadmines since he couldn't find a group for it. We have mentioned this topic before, but it's usually in posts about beggars, and I don't know if we've actually considered what could be a cottage industry: actually setting rates and hiring out higher levels to complete various tasks for lowbies.Is this an OK thing to do. I'll admit that I've run lowbies through instances before, but never for gold -- usually it's a friend of mine who just wants some extra gear from a certain instance. And I've been offered gold for an instance run, but I've never accepted it, and I'm not even sure what I would charge to actually run someone through an instance (I'd probably have pretty high terms: 5-10g and a portion of the drops, depending on what class was going through).
Have you? Do you think this is the kind of thing that's legit (and if so, should Blizzard maybe even implement a "looking for mercenaries" channel for lowbies to find their benefactors?), or should lowbies all go find their own groups like you had to and stop pestering you to run them through Wailing Caverns for their pittance?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Instances
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Neesan Feb 29th 2008 8:14AM
I have only done onyxia for gold, 50g+loot gold is pretty nice :>
Lizardking63 Feb 29th 2008 8:16AM
I get asked from time to time to run someone. Unless it is a friend or family member, my reply is usually-
"You don't have enough gold."
When they ask me to give them a price, I reply with-
"Make me an offer so I can laugh."
Basically, there are much more lucrative ways to spend your time in Outlands than running someone through Deadmines or some other Vanilla Wow Instance.
imparush Feb 29th 2008 12:13PM
I just say if they are not friends or guildis alt. If they ask me to do it free that I gonna lose money on repair, and I could earn money by doing q's or just farm mobs.
pittMAN Feb 29th 2008 8:15AM
Heck yeah! I get a sick thrill out of taking my epic kitted 70 mage through low instances to both help guildies/friends and also for profit. Sometimes I get twinks who want to farm all the blackened defias gear so they pay me by the deadmines run. At like 18 minutes a pop for a gp or two a piece, I'm better off running dailies in terms of gold/hour, but where's the fun in that?? So yeah (A) I enjoy it and (B) I typically won't turn down some currency if it's someone I don't know.
As for the ethics of it, I think it's a great way for folks to flex their muscles and get revenge on places of old. From the lowbie's PoV, I hope at some point, on some character, they did it for real. I still remember my first Deadmines run shortly after launch...wiping on the docks a couple times, laughing with my teammates about the Goonies-ness of the final room. If someone is buying a merc for their first time through, that's a mistake.
morgil Feb 29th 2008 10:53AM
Typically I'll give my price to be hired out to do an instance and they usually go indignant on me. I figure I can farm over 50+g in an hour, so to pull me away from that to run some random through an instance, I'm gunna need comparable recompense.
kevan Feb 29th 2008 8:25AM
Agreed, I love taking my main through old school dungeons and getting that sweet revenge on those monsters/bosses that use to knock me every-which-way.
Most of the time I wont charge, or I will say I will - but never ask for the gold. Many, many, many people helped me along the way and I feel as if I'm helping give back to the community in a small way.
-It's just a game.
Chris Feb 29th 2008 8:31AM
My first run through of most pre-tbc instances were just that , run throughs. I hop on a friends account and two box myself through instances. Definitely interesting exploring the zones for myself, but I obviously don't get the same effect.
Then again, there are no groups available for mid level instances. I rarely ever see anyone around anymore.
SaintStryfe Feb 29th 2008 8:15AM
It sounds like an excellent idea, I would support a "Mercenary" channel.
peaglemancer Feb 29th 2008 8:48AM
So long as people get more realistic with pricing I'm in. Given you can earn an easy 120g with dailies in an hour, why people thing you should run them through an instance which will take at least that long for less than 100g is beyond me. All of BRD for 10g? Yeah, sure, I'll pack lunch.
Bloodchills Feb 29th 2008 9:06AM
To counteract any replies under this comment about what you can make with daily quests in an hour...
You can only do those once a day. The other 23 hours can be spent running lowbies for about 5g per run, or 25-50g if they get all the drops.
Any time I've run a group, I always stipulated that any blue boes are mine. This is a good alternative to farming motes if you are on a highpop server because lots of people are looking for runs and lots of people are overfarming mote areas. Pvp servers are also rough when they are highpop so instance farming is good.
This also helps a server economy because stuff from instances at every level will appear on the server's AH in higher quantities thus lowering the prices and making leveling easier for everyone.
It's really win-win.
Lucas Feb 29th 2008 9:15AM
Why would you get the drops... You're running them through an instance, if they wanted XP they would probably be questing...
theRaptor Feb 29th 2008 10:49AM
@5 BOP blues.
yeah Feb 29th 2008 8:17AM
On my most recent character I decided to put a "wtb run through ZF" on the trade channel. I figured since i have been there so many times i am entitled to a run through. So i pay this lvl 70 10g for it. As we get to the 2nd boss he starts asking for the boss loot that i dont want (?) - "your lvl 70" i said "why do you need lvl 40 blues" - he says "i want to DE it" - but i do too, so i offer him 7 more g to finish it off and let me keep all the loot (i had alot of quests to do there). and sure enough he boots me from the group after i pay him and gives me the old /lol.
So next day i make a nice post on the realm forums with some screenshots of his mature behavior (he was talking alot of sh*t) and let his GM (a good raidind guild on the server) know of his guildee's good morals and got him kicked out of his guild. I run a /who to check on him once in a while and he's been bouncing between scrub guilds that past month or so.
needless to say,no more run-throughs unless its someone from my own guild, kinda sad how a lvl 70 flips out because i wont give him some lvl 40 dungeon loot after i paid him a good amount of money.
moral of the story - Dont buy run throughs kiddies, you never know who is desperate for gold on the other side.
Chais Feb 29th 2008 8:17AM
I don't really think Blizzard would do somthing like that just yet. It's work for Blizzard and they don't really like doing work.lol. It would be pretty cool though. I have run low levels through instances in my time and even I got a run through DM when I made a pally. Blizzard is still trying to make it so that you run through an instance with a full group of the appropriate level, so you can get used to doing stuff in groups. WoW is almost always about instancing or raiding, and Blizzard wants to keep it like that.
My main point is that Blizzard doesn't care about PvP. I do belive that making a profit off of running nubs is legit. Somtimes finding a group for somthing really isn't possible, so they improvise by paying for some muscle. It also helps the economy flow too I guess.
well enough of my rambling....back to school work... :(
:D ignorance ftw lol
steven.russell820 Mar 1st 2008 7:34AM
it's a sorry state of affairs when someone has to PAY for help in an instance.
If you can't muster up enough friends to get a few groups going then your probably playing the wrong game...
ColonelChris Feb 29th 2008 8:20AM
Real newbies don't ask for Deadmines. Ppl who ask for being pulled through instances are usually (pvp-) twinks of rich players. So I usually charge them the amount of gold I would earn by doing dailies instead (5-20 gold).
bulgur Feb 29th 2008 8:22AM
As a level 70, I am able to make 100g an hour, or at the very least 50g if a slow grinding class/spec. So, if I do an instance run just for gold, this is the fee I would, and should charge.
If the lowbie is a main - he will not have that money, but then he should experience the game and content properly, learn to play etcetera and not get boosted through anything.
If the lowbie is someone's alt (twink or not), on the other hand, I can understand why he wants to speed level it. But in that case, he should be able to afford a 50-100g per hour fee, as he can make that gold himself with his 70 main in the same amount of time as I am spending on him.
Cynra Feb 29th 2008 8:27AM
I'm of two minds in this. On one hand, I've taken gold before to run people through instances. These individuals are usually complete strangers who have been begging and pleading in multiple channels for runs through instances. When it's a late morning or early afternoon and I have no pressing responsibilities, it's a good way to pass the time, see some of the old content that I wouldn't otherwise see again, and interact with people that I would normally never get the opportunity to meet.
On the other hand, I believe that the lower levels serve two distinct and vital purposes. One, going into these dungeons with people of similar levels is your first real taste of working as a group and learning your class/spec's role. You're pressured to learn how to heal properly, how to tank multiple mobs, how to control aggro, how to crowd control successfully, and many other aspects of the game that will become much more applicable later on in the game, especially when you hit the level cap and begin doing end-game content. This is something that you'll miss out if you are run through instances repeatedly.
Secondly, running these instances with people of similar levels helps you get acquainted with other people of talent. Many people - myself included - keep lists of people that they wouldn't mind grouping with again in the future, whether it's through the friends list or through an add on. Being run through an instance means that you've found a player, yes, but is he really good or just performing well because he's 70 in a lowbie instance? However, if you find yourself in a group with a damned fine healer or tank, these are the kind of gems that you'll want to keep in contact with in the off-chance that you'll need either in the future. You build more relationships this way, which can also be more beneficial in the long run.
andyjay220 Feb 29th 2008 11:11AM
Well said! Every lowbie who is run through an instance (assuming he doesn't have a bunch of 70s already) is another endgame group player/raider who doesn't know their class and makes pugs all the worse for those who can't get guild runs in.
Not running lowbies through instances is an investment in the future of WoW. lol
Buuty Feb 29th 2008 8:29AM
Welfare epics!
LOLZ