Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Scam or service?
by Robin Torres 
Apr 30th 2008 at 8:00AM
A couple months ago, Daniel Whitcomb wrote a great post about maximizing your bag space which included how to get a 20 slot bag from Budd Nedreck (pictured above). In it he explained exactly where to go in a cleared Zul'Aman to complete Budd's Promises, Promises quest.
Zzmorriss wrote in to say that he was offering in the Trade Channel to run people through his guild's cleared ZA instance in order to complete that quest. He charged 10 gold to join the raid and be guided to the place to get the item for Budd. He then charged another 10 gold a person to run them through again to do Budd's follow up quest. He made a total of 180 gold for 15 minutes of work and then ran through 6 or 7 more groups before the reset.
Zzmorriss wrote in to say that he was offering in the Trade Channel to run people through his guild's cleared ZA instance in order to complete that quest. He charged 10 gold to join the raid and be guided to the place to get the item for Budd. He then charged another 10 gold a person to run them through again to do Budd's follow up quest. He made a total of 180 gold for 15 minutes of work and then ran through 6 or 7 more groups before the reset.
Zzmorriss calls this an exploit and thinks that Blizzard will stop this at some point to prevent someone making so much money off of these guided tours of an empty instance. I disagree. I think that Zzmorriss is actually performing a service for casual players -- and a cheap one at that. There are many, many World of Warcraft players who are unable to participate in content like ZA. Zzmorriss is allowing these people to see a zone and obtain a really great item for only 10 gold and for another 10 gold, they can make their money back on the follow up quest.
Of course, friends and guildies will offer this service to you for free. And even strangers might do the same to help the underprivileged player without charging a fee. Also, if you have access to a ZA instance that is cleared past the first boss, you can find all the information from Daniel's post. But I think access is the real key here and not all players are on friendly terms with guilds who clear Zul'Aman regularly.
Now you know my thoughts. I want to hear yours. Do you think charging for access to a cleared ZA is taking advantage of people? Or do you think it is providing a service?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Instances, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Troy Gates May 1st 2008 2:50PM
Most of you must not have played pre-BC where people would constantly be spamming chat with 'Paying 10g for UBRS key'. How is this any different? People used to pay someone to join the raid and unlock the UBRS door, then they would leave the raid.
Chris Hartgraves (Zzmorriss Horde - Skullcrusher) May 1st 2008 11:35PM
For your guys information - I do consider this an exploit - Not a quest exploit or whatnot - But I am exploiting the RaidID system using it to provide a beneficial service to people who are unable to run high end instances but could still benefit from a nice epic bag - Yes I know I am selling a raid slot for dirt cheap - And I know I could charge more.... But damn - That was my first time doing it and it was way more successful than I ever thought it would be - If you have a 70 on Skullcrusher and want a raidID spot - PST me - I am doing runs tomorrow (Friday)
Juliah May 5th 2008 12:54PM
I have no problem with this. He gets no real benefit from running Zul'Aman for free -- he could be doing dailies, or any number of other things in-game. Play time is valuable, and he's helping people. Nobody is there who doesn't want to be, so as long as they are getting what's been promised, I don't see it as being any different from a 70 getting paid to run a lower level alt through the Deadmines or some such.