Mage Portals

[neoscorpio]

What you call being an asshole I call taking advantage of lazy morons.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you.

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it. If portals go for 20g, then why not sell them for 20g?

I don't understand why someone hasn't put this guy in his place. Free market baby! You must live in some third world country still trading chickens for eggs! People make a profit from people who are willing or capable of paying. You can't pay or not willing, then find a different source. Only people who thinks like you run around whining because someone else had the bright idea to make a few gold from a service they posses.

BTW you have to level and train a mage in order to get portals. So you can take that BS about it only cost reagents and stuff it.

Wow, thanks to guys like you, we have greedy capitalists all over the world.

Fair enough on the anger, but I still can't see how someone is a jerk for taking advantage of a service they're capable of providing. I don't see it as any different than charging 20 gold for a gem cut or an enchant. If someone doesn't desire the service for that fee, they're welcome to either find someone charging less, or forgo the service altogether.

You just explained the very reason why cyber pirates exist. Sell music or movies or games at a fair price or do away with annoying crap like DRM or else it gets pirated.

There's a key difference, though. An enchant or gem cut requires quite a bit of time and monetary investment by the person performing the service. They had to level the profession and obtain the recipe, which could be something as simple as buying it from a trainer, all the way to getting a rare drop or having a rep at exalted. There is always a component of time and money investment when paying for a profession-related service.

We get portals as a byproduct of leveling our class. The only thing we have to do is buy reagents. It's not even something like rogues, where they have to go out of their way to level lockpicking. All we have to do is buy the spells from a trainer that's almost always right by a mage trainer anyway.

Any mage who tries to charge me more than 10g for a portal gets put into my badapples mod so I can later refuse to tank/heal/summon them in the future unless they pay the same ridiculous price they wanted for the port.

Of course I also enjoy hoping on my mage and undercutting them every chance I get.

Thanks to guys like you, there is some humanity left in this world.

[flargen]

I don't understand why someone hasn't put this guy in his place. Free market baby!

Put me in my place? About a free market? Perhaps you should look up the definition of free market. Free market doesn't mean "Charge as much as possible", it means that people are able to charge (and pay) whatever they want, and let the market sort it out. It's very much a case of free market, my price happens to be nothing to undercut mages who charge exorbitant prices. I am not the one whining about it... from my angle, it looks like its the people attempting to capitalize on the ignorance of others who are whining about the cut in revenue that people like myself are causing.

Ever undercut on the AH to sell more? That's what I'm doing, except my price is free, and I'm doing it to spite you, because it amuses me greatly.

BTW you have to level and train a mage in order to get portals. So you can take that BS about it only cost reagents and stuff it.

If you level a mage, you get portals. The only way to not get portal spells as a mage is to not buy them from the trainers. There is no extra effort on your part, as a mage, to be able to port people aside from doing something you (should) want to do anyway.

[pionock]

Good lord those reagents are so expensive, don't ya know?! I should've totally charged people pre-4.0 for getting 30 min pally buffs, because damn are those reagents expensive!

/sarcasm

I didn't level a mage to charge people for ports. Same reason I leveled JC and Engineering on the my DK. I didn't do it for the profit, I did it because that provided the largest boost in damage for me.

[wizdro]

In the limited time I actually spent in cities last night, I gave at least 15 free ports. Not because I'm particularly benevolent, but because I really like undermining opportunistic assholes.

EDIT: I've also been giving free ports out on a very regular basis since the Pilgrim holiday started. Entire groups full of people, all getting ports for free.

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar. +1 interwebs to you. If I had a higher mage than 60, I'd be doing the same. : /

Frankly, opportunistic Jews charging through the nose for ports deserve worse.

[beeler77]

I don't comprehend why.

Because there are actually some nice people left still playing WoW.

[flargen]

Frankly, opportunistic Jews charging through the nose for ports deserve worse.

I don't want your interweb if you're gonna be like that, bro.

[Mildennais]

Guildmate made about 400g.

Generally, I don't ask for tips. I normally get a tell on my mage asking for a port and I'm happy to oblige, gold or not.

[unholytestament]

Wow, thanks to guys like you, we have greedy capitalists all over the world.

You say this like it is an insult.

Thanks to guys like you, there is some humanity left in this world.

You are confusing humanity with charity.

[K3rnel]

Put me in my place? About a free market? Perhaps you should look up the definition of free market. Free market doesn't mean "Charge as much as possible", it means that people are able to charge (and pay) whatever they want, and let the market sort it out. It's very much a case of free market, my price happens to be nothing to undercut mages who charge exorbitant prices. I am not the one whining about it... from my angle, it looks like its the people attempting to capitalize on the ignorance of others who are whining about the cut in revenue that people like myself are causing.

Ever undercut on the AH to sell more? That's what I'm doing, except my price is free, and I'm doing it to spite you, because it amuses me greatly.

For the most part you make the best sense of the majority of these posts. However, your "spite" toward mages who charge for portals goes against your argument. The reality is that most people are more than willing to pay 20g or more to save themselves the travel time from point A to B. The fact that you don't charge 20g come from your inherent satisfaction of sticking it to other mgaes who do. This means that you yourself gain at least 20g worth of the economist term "Utility". Utility is just a measure of satisfaction and can take many forms including currency, or something more....inward, as appears to be your case. Both parties, those charging currency and those not, are profiting from the experience, just in different ways. From a free market perspective, mages who charge have no real claim to resentment toward you, because you, who do it for spite, and others who do it do be kind, have found an alternative way to profit that does not involve the de facto currency. Similarly, those who do not charge currenty have no claim to spite towards mages who charge as those mages are providing a service which their clients are all to grateful to have

No reason for all the harshness guys.....

[JFetch]

Guildmate made about 400g.

Generally, I don't ask for tips. I normally get a tell on my mage asking for a port and I'm happy to oblige, gold or not.

This. Just don't use the guys advertising ports. Ask nicely the ones standing around(not the one in front of an auctioneer though). I've never turned someone down that asked nicely.

[ThewF]

Charging for Portals is stupid, sure cover the cost of the item needed for the teleport I can understand doing that but profiting on something like that is just assholish. Do people charge you for Resurrections?, how about a Tanking Fee?, Did you forget about those Warlocks running to the raid popping a stone down and teleporting you in?.


1 - 60 = Free Teleport
61 - 79 = Cover the reagent
80 - 85 = 5 Gold

That is how I've done it and that is how it will stay.

[holyman]

i hav to say all that maged has done is make me from now on charge them double or even tripple if they want something from me

[Deleted]

I wish I had a mage

[altiris]

Charging for Portals is stupid, sure cover the cost of the item needed for the teleport I can understand doing that but profiting on something like that is just assholish. Do people charge you for Resurrections?, how about a Tanking Fee?, Did you forget about those Warlocks running to the raid popping a stone down and teleporting you in?.


1 - 60 = Free Teleport
61 - 79 = Cover the reagent
80 - 85 = 5 Gold

That is how I've done it and that is how it will stay.

In all of the other situations you mentioned, the person providing the service has a vested interested in helping you. In the case of a Mage charging for portals, the Mage is not at all concerned with whether or not you get where you need to go. That is why charging for Mage portals is fine. Stop comparing apples to oranges.

[Solstark]

I make portals for free, But I wouldn't say no for a gold or two. As long they ask nicely I'll keep on giving them out for free. I just ignore rude messages.

[K3rnel]

Wow, thanks to guys like you, we have greedy capitalists all over the world.

Greedy capitalists are the only reason you have a game to play, and a forum to post on, and a computer, monitor, and electricty, along with tens of thousands of other goods and services you consume. Your resentment is misguided.

[Deleted]

Generally, I don't ask for tips. I normally get a tell on my mage asking for a port and I'm happy to oblige, gold or not.

Really ? I usually cba to do for free.

- Each portal disturbs me from what I'm doing.
- Each portal costs a reagent, which brings me closer to the moment I have to move my ass to the reagent vendor.
- Am pretty sick of mouth breathers who take the free portal don't say as much as a "ty", like it was my duty to give them a portal or something.

[Deleted]

I don't comprehend why.

because in the spirit of a cool patch day i thought it would be nice to just help people along at little cost and very short time to myself.

That said i only did it if i wasnt busy exploring or queing for HC's

[Tuvok]

For the most part you make the best sense of the majority of these posts. However, your "spite" toward mages who charge for portals goes against your argument. The reality is that most people are more than willing to pay 20g or more to save themselves the travel time from point A to B. The fact that you don't charge 20g come from your inherent satisfaction of sticking it to other mgaes who do. This means that you yourself gain at least 20g worth of the economist term "Utility". Utility is just a measure of satisfaction and can take many forms including currency, or something more....inward, as appears to be your case. Both parties, those charging currency and those not, are profiting from the experience, just in different ways. From a free market perspective, mages who charge have no real claim to resentment toward you, because you, who do it for spite, and others who do it do be kind, have found an alternative way to profit that does not involve the de facto currency. Similarly, those who do not charge currenty have no claim to spite towards mages who charge as those mages are providing a service which their clients are all to grateful to have

No reason for all the harshness guys.....

If only such colourful analogies and descriptions were actually applicable to the situation. It sounds so grand, doesn't it? "Your point is invalid, as you are profitting as well, just in a different way!" I feel like I've landed on the fucking Ferengi homeworld. Give me a break, you're acting on the non-existant premise that he's working it like a normal business, that deals in "currency" in the form of "satisfaction". Nearly all of our actions are designed to yield positive results for ourselves, through your reasoning it can all be considered aiming for profit, but we don't refer to it as such because it's convoluted and impractical to do so. If your reasoning is that he's "selling" these portals for emotional profit, you'd be wrong. He's not selling them at all, it costs the buyer nothing, there's no business going on there at all. The mere fact that he gets satisfaction from greedy mage's dissatisfaction does not make it a goddamn business transaction, and referring to it as such is a mistake that you've based your whole argument on. Colourful comparisons sound good, but what's this one's use and relevance?

There is cause for disdain against such mages as well. Many people don't approve of such opportunistic, greedy, methods. The existence of people too ignorant or lazy to circumvent these charges doesn't justify anything either. People often hide behind the word "free", to justify their right to engage in activities and actions of questionable morality, and while I have not cemented my opinion on the morality of it all, I believe this "free market" garbage is one of those times.

One thing is for sure, if you are surprised that people get upset when someone is basically charging a markup of 1000s of % on their "service", for a 10 second cast that you don't even have to work to obtain, then you are lacking in sense.