So I just wanted to make this post to see what the general consensus was on this, and also to put my reasoning out there to as many people as possible so that I don't feel like I need to try and justify it to the countless people who whisper me with some rather insulting language.
So I found wow back when TBC was coming to an end. I levelled my first character to 70 and just as I got max level, Wrath of the Lich King was released 2 weeks later so I never really experienced any TBC endgame. I've then played retail on and off until Shadowlands. When TBC classic was released, I really wanted to go back and do everything I missed the first time. I started levelling a Warlock but quickly noticed how groups are literally spamming so quickly for a tank that I can't even read the messages before they have been replaced by another. I didn't want to be another DPS needing another tank so I decided to swap to Paladin and try and fill a tanking gap to help as many people out as I could. Like I genuinely get pleasure from helping others. Because at this point I'm already a week behind and my Warlock is level 45. I used a boost to get my Paladin to 58 so I could get to 70 this century to start doing these dungeons with people. Therefore I have no professions.
I've been 70 for about 4 days now and I've managed to gather a full pre raid BiS loadout. I've joined every dungeon I've seen looking for a tank and I've had a blast and made loads of good friends along the way. I always ask them to add me afterwards and offer to tank whenever they need it. Then off I go to try and level a profession. Before I even land from my flight point, I've already got messages asking for a tank. Never mind the looking for group channel which is still spamming. So I accept the summon and do the dungeon, and then try go back to level my professions. But the same thing happens.
I am now in the position where everyday I am losing more and more money ending each day at a loss. My repair bills are higher than the parties, and I am getting no time to gold farm or level any professions to make any gold. So each day I am losing anything I have to my name. I now have to make the decision to either ignore these groups asking for tanks and let them wait hours to complete their dungeons which will allow me to level proffs and ultimately make some money for myself, or I stop what I'm doing, waste an hour of my time for a dungeon I don't even need and then lose gold in the process to help people out.
I decided I'd still help people do their dungeons, but if I am going to be doing this I am going to need to start making some money rather than losing it so I offered myself to do the dungeons at 30g a run. The amount of messages I received in less than a minute calling me all sorts of offensive names was ridiculous. I was also put on about 5 ignore lists. I'll clarify I don't ask friends, I ask the random people in the looking for group channels for the fee.
I just wanted to make this post to get people opinions on whether I am being unreasonable or not. Is it reasonable for groups and the community to expect me to waste my own time in a dungeon I don't need, preventing me from using that time to level my own professions and make my own money, just to lose more money in repairs which allow the dps to get back to their gold farming and profession levelling quicker?
Conclusion!
Look, I want to help as many people as possible, and to do that, I've levelled and spent hours and hours getting this tank sorted. But the amount of groups needing a tank is relentless, and I'm bleeding money by repeatedly joining groups to tank for them, only to lose the roll on every single drop and get 3x the repair bill. It's simply not sustainable to be a good guy that does it all for free all the time.