Selling Runs Getting Out of Hand

[ralphie]

5K is nothing.

[Tiev]

The flaw to your argument is the whole "buy gold" portion of that.

People do get banned for buying and selling gold, frequently.

So it's not pay to win in the same sense- you have to earn your gold somehow.

Would it be any different if someone was trading Arena wins for a Flex raid run? Maybe they're good at PvP, but can't find a group for PvE, and other people feel the opposite.

It's also been in the game pretty much since the beginning. Buying/Selling mount runs for various dungeons, boosts through dungeons, GDKP runs, etc.Blizzard has never done anything about it, because it's part of any active economy. People get creative with what they can sell. As long as it's for real-world currency, there's no problem with it.

Wait, they get banned? I have two friends who do it constantly. I'm not going to tell on them but they have never been banned. And dude, they buy lots. Not only that but one of them buys rep grind services. They've been doing this for more than 3 years. Never so much as harsh words.


Also "If you would rather pay someone gold to do all the legwork and put together a team for you to join, then I think you should have that option."

I don't think you should have that option at all.

Prestige should remain prestigious.

[BurningSkies2018]

On my server the flex runs want to charge 10k per wing. Laughable to me at least.

[mistahwilshire]

It hasn't changed in nine years. Selling MC runs or Flex runs, who cares either way.

[Tiev]

Sure they can. If people hear that buying gold is definitely resulting in a ban they will think twice before doing so.

I'm pretty sure my friends have spread the word about nothing happening to them and other people they know may have bought gold as well due to the fact that there is no negative repercussion to doing so (at least that they know).

If the first guy got banned soon after, the second wouldn't have tried to and so on.

You'd have to go to such extremes to buy gold that it just wouldn't be worth it anymore.

As is stands, it's pretty easy. And safe.

[theostrichsays]

On my server the flex runs want to charge 10k per wing. Laughable to me at least.

WTH?

That's more then most groups sell full normal clears for.

[Dequanacus]

WTH?

That's more then most groups sell full normal clears for.

Maybe on your server. One of the highest pop servers and most if not all ads I saw were selling a full normal clear for 200k.

[Chrispotter]

Earlier in 5.4 we were selling flex for 100k per person for 14/14.

[britishbubba]

"We can't make it without you, but you'll have to pay in order to join!"

That's what I gather. I was "offered" to join for all bosses in Flex for achievements, but they would charge me for it...10k. My main is 575 ilvl with 8/14 HC experience, so it was fairly obvious they wanted me there for my contribution but still acted like they would be doing me a service...-_-. I had just been asking in /trade for a flex achievement run.

They are doing you a service, they're getting you the achievements.

[JemiS]

Wait, they get banned? I have two friends who do it constantly. I'm not going to tell on them but they have never been banned. And dude, they buy lots. Not only that but one of them buys rep grind services. They've been doing this for more than 3 years. Never so much as harsh words.


Also "If you would rather pay someone gold to do all the legwork and put together a team for you to join, then I think you should have that option."

I don't think you should have that option at all.

Prestige should remain prestigious.

So buying and selling gold is wrong, but they're your friends, so you won't report them so they can get punished?

How are you not a part of the problem here? You're enabling people to actually cheat at the game by not reporting them, and continuing to play with them.

[Dasani]

I sell 9/9 gold challenge mode carries. I can bring people through start to finish every dungeon without them lifting a finger because my team is a perfect comp, with perfect gear, and loads of experience and skill. However I do like if the person getting the run actually tries to contribute a bit. It makes the runs go a little faster the more they do because selling all 9 dungeons already takes 2 and a half hours, any time we can shave off that and get on to some more entertaining things in our day, the better.

My guild also sells garrosh kills and requires the people involved to actually do a little work. They are paying for being there and getting the kill and the loot. That doesn't mean they don't have to contribute nothing. If they could kill garrosh without us, then there would be no reason to pay us. We CAN kill garrosh without the buyer, we just choose not to, because it is more profitable to bring them in for their gold than to do it ourselves even though doing it ourselves would make it significantly faster and easier.

While I don't openly advertise it, a lot of people on my server know that i'll tank anything for them for a fee. I've had people pay me to tank LFR for them, tank flexes for them, even tank old raids like heart of fear/terrace heroic mode and TOT heroic mode. Most common request I get is tanking Garrosh normal difficulty either in pug groups or guild groups progressing on him that need help and tanking Heroic Siege fights on groups that are progressing on them and want a tank who is better and better geared than their own to get the boss down for them as well as provide useful tips and suggestions to tactics and the like if they ask for it. Otherwise i just keep my mouth shut and do as i'm told. It makes sense. When you need a tank that knows exactly what to do, has the gear to do anything you could ever ask of them, and will stay with you for as long as it takes without ever worrying about them getting sick of it and leaving, you have that option by paying someone. I charge a flat rate per hour to do basically anything they want me to do. My reputation for being a skilled tank with 580 ilevel and doing honest work is known locally. I don't get too terribly many requests of this nature, but at least once a week it happens.

I don't see the problem though. If you don't want to pay for something, don't pay for it. Why go to a group of strangers like this forum and complain about some activity you have seen that you don't want to take part in? There are a lot of folks out there who provide services to others, but they do want to be compensated for the time they put into it. You think I want to tank flex or LFR for pugs? No. I do it because i'm paid. I'm happy because i'm paid. They're happy because they have me as a tank. Everyone is happy.

Now there are of course dishonest people who try to take advantage of others, and I don't care for dishonest people. I am always completely straight forward and up front about what i'll do and won't do and how much I charge. It's a good way to make money in game because even though I dislike tanking groups that wipe on bosses I had on farm last year, it is still more fun and better money than farming.

I think it should be noted however, even though my team for CM's likes people to help contribute damage-wise, that is basically all that is asked of them. We do all the "heavy lifting" as I like to say. We manage all the mechanics, deal with all the CCs and interrupts, everything really. All they have to do is follow me around and shoot things. We would never ask someone to come in and be responsible for interrupts or special mechanics or anything like that, that is just silly. We try to keep our runs fun and entertaining for carries. A lot of them are people who don't raid and have never done any really "difficult" content and after running with us, they felt like they actually helped and contributed and we get told by about 80% of the people we run that we made it look very easy.

[LET JIMMY RAID]

If people want to spend their gold on runs through different content, they can do as they please.

At the start of SoO, my old guild sold full flex clears and normal garrosh kills... enough of them to add about 1mil gold to our gbank. In my current guild we sell heroic kills, CM runs, etc. If you have the means to carry someone, and they have the desire to spend their gold on it, then it's a win-win situation.

People buy runs for different reasons. Some people are on a low pop server, some people have kids/jobs during typical raid times, some people just want to see the content once, some people want the achievements/mounts/feats before they are removed, some people are hoping for gear/xmog, etc. Buying and selling things like this in game has been around forever, and, like it or not, it's part of the in-game economy.

[xxkingxx]

I don't know about 10 man but in 25 man heroic, guilds will either accept your help if you can or they ask you to die, that way they don't have to worry about someone who can't contribute.

[kamuimac]

Actually, this has been fairly common since GDKPs came into play. I first started seeing those around ICC. People realized that not only could you severely outgear the encounters to the point that you could carry a group of players, but that people were willing to PAY for gear that dropped.

aand what is funniest it nearly always same group of people who cry loudest of "do not nerf content" so that they could keep selling those

it should have been bannable years ago doesnt matter if its for ingame cash or real (and ton of those is being sold for real cash ) - my favourite is how those idiots spam trade on their lv 90s about CM boosts and then in whispers offer with real $$$ payment - but at least i have fun and got ban for least a couple people for doin so so far in MoP (there a very easy way to do so - once u find such idiot tell few people to whisper him for details and then all report him blizz usually checks it pretty fast and then those chars dissapear beautifully )

[Durandro]

Whatever it is (5-men, raids, challenge modes) if people are paying to get it done to them then that is the utmost definition of pay to win. Not being done by the company but it's still pay - win.

Buy gold - buy run.

The fact that it's done so openly and blizzard does nothing to it is appaling.

No flying + LFR arguments be damned. This is even worse to me. Big deal breaker.

Okay. So what do you expect Blizzard to do then? Buying Gold is against TOS and you can get banned for both buying and selling gold. What more do you want?

Oh, nothing? You just wanted to complain about something pointless? Okay then.

[ey b0ss]

I'd like to see runs for items other than gold imo, like tf2 promos, unusuals etc.

[Azrile]

I would easily pay that for a few easy full flex clears on some of my lower geared alts. Sounds like a bargain.

Not to mention that after 6.0, those alts will also all be getting a heirloom from Garrosh, 100% droprate for your spec for first kill.

[Sliske]

It seems like almost daily I see advertisements for dungeon runs. That I can live with. However, recently, I started seeing a lot more advertisements for flex runs (any ilvl) for 5k. To see that on a somewhat constant basis is kind of disheartening. Its like saying, we will use you to get through, you better contribute, but we will charge you anyways. That really kind of falls shy of the concept of making friends through Flex... its more like making employees.

I fail to see the problem.

Are you implying everyone's goal in WoW should be to make friends?

Have you heard of introverts?

Also, with a signature like that, no wonder people don't want to make friends.

Bottom line is this:

I'd rather hang out with my GF and a few friends any day of the week than go and 'suffer' the obnoxious attitudes of people in LFR / Flex. If i can exploit them for resources, you can be damn sure i'll be doing that.

[Deleted]

Earlier in 5.4 we were selling flex for 100k per person for 14/14.

Its because you're in one of the worlds best guilds I can tell you that much, nobody would pay that much for a flex-run from a random guild.

Also in what way is this relevant to your interests OP? Dont want to buy a boost-run simply dont do it.

[xenogear3]

I would pay if youtube or LFR don't exist.

F2P caused P2W meta shifted.
People are ok with that.

You can buy Rift and SWTOR raid gear.

Online games are never about skill because of the input lag.
Gear is everything now.