Guild Wars 2

I was wondering, if you send out a /map need help with a skill point request; for example, and someone comes along to assist and that person takes a WP to get to you, would it be cool to mail that person a couple silver for their trouble?

After all it cost them some money to come help. I think next time I’ll “tip” for assistance.

What do you think? What would be an appropriate amount of coin for a tip?

I think paying for their waypoint fee is a very classy thing to do. Just be discreet about it so it doesn’t feel patronizing. A quick “Thank you for helping me out; the waypoint fee is on me” note will probably strike the right chord with the right kind of people.

I think Eveningstar’s response is right on the money (badum-tish!) Sometimes people who come to help are just people who happened to be in the area; for instance, I will help out if I happen to be near the area, but otherwise I only waypoint for a DE if it’s something that I really, really don’t want to miss.

I’ve had people offer me the exotics they’ve gotten from their area completion just for helping them get an especially frustrating skill point, vista, or both. I refused the offers but thought it was rather interesting how willing people are to “tip” for help. It’s true that I help other players simply because I want to; I don’t need paid and often the friendship of the other person is reward enough. Mailing the WP fee is a nice gesture, however.

Sil.4560:

… It’s true that I help other players simply because I want to; I don’t need paid and often the friendship of the other person is reward enough. Mailing the WP fee is a nice gesture, however.

This.

I’ll help another player if I’m in the area; even if I don’t need the skillpoint, waypoint or whatever. Compensation isn’t required. It’s how you meet people in my opinion. I’m not a big talker in the Map-chat but I do like meeting people in the field talking a bit and teaming up. If you send me money for the waypoint? I’ll just send it right back. I’ll appreciate the gesture but a simple “Thank you” suffices as I’ve been in the same situation myself on multiple occasions and I’m pretty sure other players have been as well at one point.

I met my best in game friend by doing this very thing. We just so happened to be exploring the same map (Orr), met each other randomly on the field. Needed the same Waypoints/POI/Vista’s etc and randomly just followed each other without saying anything for like 30 minutes.

After doing this insane event(Group event, with champion boss) with another random guy we both stood still a moment and we’re like “We make a kitten team don’t we?”. She replied with “Hell yea!”. She wanted to give me something for the trouble and I refused it stating that a simple thank you is enough. We then starting talking, grouped up and finished the map together.

Moral of the story? Be kind to people you meet, compensation isn’t needed in a monetary or item form (in my opinion). You might find a friend this way in the most unlikely places by simply being kind and being yourself.

Seriously, if I take a way point to go help someone, I expect in no way to be rewarded/reimbursed for it.
Similarly, if someone comes to my aid, I don’t really think about giving that person anything.

I give people potions and/or food if they are really helpful. lol, artificer to 400 I have a thousand of every potion ever

as to compensation: wp cost are fair if someone travels only to help you out. but nothing above 10 silver or so.. personally, I seldom even read mapchat, but if I pass someone fighting a mob for a skill challenge, I help out, even if I already have it. doesn’t take long and they might be glad for the help. for events/vets/champs I help out nearly always of course, as there are rewards anyway g
for downed/dead people I go quite a bit out of my way, but often I’m too late or they just port before my eyes (usually when I try to kill the mob first before attempting to ress, which probably would be suicide)

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Funnily enough, a couple times this week I’ve helped portal someone up to a jump puzzle (Simply because I was there and could), and they’ve either tipped me, or asked if there was a charge, :o

Of course I’m just happy to help, was a little surprised how widespread the view was

Helping people is fun! I do it for free, even at a cost to myself, because I think it’s nice to engender that sort of community spirit. Just a ‘thanks’ is enough for me.

I guess there’s a danger that if we start paying folks for their assistance, people will come to expect it and that’s not the spirit of the thing at all. If someone wants to give me some extra silver for helping out with an Event they’re having trouble with, no worries – but it wouldn’t be great for people to start feeling put out if they don’t receive extra money.

Well, I am a hero of Tyria after all… I help to guard cows and awake drunks, and kill a dragon here and there…
But nothing is better than help a fellow hero in a moment of need.
That is reward enough.

People always have the right to refuse. If somebody goes out of their way to help me, I usually try to start a chat and befriend them. Afterwards depending on how long I’ll mail them a thank you note with 10s or so. They always have the right to return to sender and politely decline.

OT: No, I don’t tip players for help. Never even thought about it :/ I am not rich yet though, I used to tip people in WoW for minor things like enchanting my weapon even though I had the mats for it, or giving me a portal to somewhere which took 5 seconds of their time. I’d tip big, too so they always there to port me again when I need it

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You start tipping people then everybody and their families will start chareging people for dumb things. Look what happened in GW1. People where constantly charging players to help them get from point A to point B.

For those not familiar. We had waypoints in GW1, and a lot where very far from one another. Each Waypoint in GW1 where quest hubs. We had to get to the next waypoint, just to continue questing. If you did not get the next waypoint you ran out of quests.

Basiclly. each renowned heart, and vistas between each point of intrest in GW2, well imagine GW2 with no Renowed hearts and vistas at all. Point of intrest where like waypoints in Gw1. We could not advance in GW2 untill we got to the next point of intrest(IE quest hub) So you start tipping people then everybody else will expect coin off of you from them helping you all the time. No, just no.

drifter.8453:

You start tipping people then everybody and their families will start charging people for dumb things. Look what happened in GW1. People where constantly charging players to help them get from point A to point B.

This is just the kinda thing I don’t wanna see happen; I remember early in GW1 when people helped each other because it was the thing ta do, but it got so ya couldn’t get anyone ta flip that pre-searing switch for ya if you didn’t somehow have a gold piece in yer bank. Me, I figure what goes around and all that – I’ve needed help plenty of times, and I try ta help others when I can; builds community.

Lots of good points here. I figure if I feel the urge to give a gift I’ll stick to potions and food.

Funny story, I got yelled at and told I was going to be reported because I helped someone with a kill. They said I was stealing their loot. LOL

I think it’s better to not tip so we don’t start a culture that expects tips like it seemed to be in the first GW… If someone shows up to help that was their choice. I tend to feel uncomfortable if someone tries to send me silver but a potion or food seems like a nice compromise!

I think I figured it out. The one gift item that should be loved by all as a fun gesture… let me buy you a beer Stein[s] of Highlander Beer

In WvW jumping puzzles I always tip my mesmers for having the patience to sit there offering players a shortcut.

It’s very generous for players to tip others for helping out, but I generally decline and/or return tips/gifts for such things. It’s in my best interest, and the community’s, that those around me in-game feel helped and enjoy the game and people around them. If they didn’t,…if the community was a bunch of rude “I won’t says” that tells everyone who asks a game mechanic question with reply ‘Alt+F4’, it would cause people to leave the game.

If they left the game, we not only lose population, but also they tell everyone who asks about the game that the community is full of a bunch of rude trolls and not worth their time.

I rarely use mesmer portals for jumping puzzles, I kind of think it’s missing out on the point. but there are occasions in the EB jumping puzzle when I just want to get the stuff and get back to contributing. In those cases I tip the mesmer generously, they aren’t getting anything from standing there waiting on portal cooldowns, they might as well get some compensation.

For helping fighting mobs I typically won’t go far enough out of my way that a waypoint is required, but I also don’t expect compensation. I get loot for the mob or event, that’s enough for me.

i gave a player 50 silver once, because we were trying to coordinate a dungeon meet up location, and they must’ve spent loads traveling around because of poor miscommunication.

i also gave a player that ressed me at Penitent 2 silver for res, during the days when there were bots there. sometimes if players res me multiple times in a row, i give them something for their commitment and risk-taking.

now, if only there were homeless characters in the HUBs, that might be a bit much.

drifter.8453:

You start tipping people then everybody and their families will start chareging people for dumb things. Look what happened in GW1. People where constantly charging players to help them get from point A to point B.

For those not familiar. We had waypoints in GW1, and a lot where very far from one another. Each Waypoint in GW1 where quest hubs. We had to get to the next waypoint, just to continue questing. If you did not get the next waypoint you ran out of quests.

That’s only half of it. See, the popular thing were “Runs” where experienced players would load up a few people into a group already calibrated to make all tasks trivial. The best known of these were “Droknar Runs” . . . often starting from Lion’s Arch in the late years since it would catch people coming from other campaigns. The reason for this was that Droknar’s Forge offered the highest armor first for every character in Prophecies and also was the starting point for the Southern Shiverpeak missions. The fees varied wildly, but a professional runner could get you through the three surprisingly long-and-difficult areas of the Southern Shiverpeaks with little fuss.

Other “Runs” existed, such as those offering to do the Underworld for Black Widow Spiders (only available there after finishing certain quests and in limited numbers), Dungeon Runs in Eye of the North (where some would ask payment for the service), and so on. Such things also snuck in with Nightfall – the maximum armor was available just outside Kamadan (the starting major city) but you had to have a certain quest ready in order to pass through. People advertised “ferries” which were just taking people through to buy their armor.

Note a lot of this came into being because armor and weapons in GW1 did not have level requirements; weapons had “required attributes” but no level requirements. Likewise, there were no checks on whether you should be in an area – once you reached a town/city you could travel there at any time . . . including combat.

On topic -

I would suppose tipping is all right, so long as it doesn’t end up where it’s an expected courtesy. A kind gesture is one thing . . . an expected payment is another

Greiger.7092:

I rarely use mesmer portals for jumping puzzles, I kind of think it’s missing out on the point. but there are occasions in the EB jumping puzzle when I just want to get the stuff and get back to contributing. In those cases I tip the mesmer generously, they aren’t getting anything from standing there waiting on portal cooldowns, they might as well get some compensation.

^^ I appreciate this. I’ll usually hang out in the EB JP for a while after completing it, offering portals to anyone who wants them. On a good day, maybe 1 person in 15 will tip; on a bad one, I won’t get a single tip at all. I never ask for compensation for ports (and don’t intend to ever do so), but I always appreciate it when someone does it (and I thank them), and to be perfectly honest if I’m being tipped I do usually stick around longer to help out. Also, on rare occasions you do get someone who tips very generously (~25s), and that pretty much can make your entire virtual day.:)

Confession: When I first started doing this I had people occasionally drop the siege blueprints they’d gotten from the chest behind me without saying a word. I didn’t pick them up, because I didn’t realize they intended them to be for me, so I think more than a few probably rotted on the ground those early weeks.;) facepalm