Begging ..Follow

First an intro, then my issue @ begging:

My server (Altar of Storms, US PvP, released May 18, 2006) was dying. At one point it was a thriving new server. However, like most new servers, three months in the first hardcore guild killed Nef, and then suddenly a new batch of servers was released and half of population was somehow tired at this old (very old- 3 months) server and thought it was time for a fresh start.

Anyway - a few key players left, and chaos followed. There was a mass exodous that took it from a high pop server to a very-low-pop.

This lead to a DEAD server - the kind where it is nearly impossible to sell anything on the AH because there are just too few people to buy it. Combine the low-pop w/ most of the server being L60 and you have a very slow economy.

Anyway ...

Then Blizzard did something about it. At the same time as they put ads on TV, they made AoS a "Recommended" server- meaning random newbies who asked WoW to choose a server for them were sent to our realm.

About a month has passed and we are not a medium population server with a relatively rich economy again. In many ways, life is good.

However -

I am not sure what it is about this new batch of players but I am getting begged ALL THE TIME. It honestly happens 2-3 times during every session I play.

Often they open trade and THEN ask for money. Other times, they send me tells like:

beggar: Excuse me. Are you a nice person?
me: Yes.
beggar: Then give me 1g plz plz
me: No.
beggar: plz !

Another time:

/beggar opens trade
beggar: money pls!
me: no
beggar: /spit

It's endless. People generally ranging in level from 10 to 30 just running around begging. I've had people literally follow me around asking me "why not you're 60 you have money."

What is behind this trend? I'm not sure. Maybe people who choose thier games from TV commercials are more likely to be the kind of people who have an affinity for begging. Maybe someone made a money making guide that said "the best way to make money is to ask other people for it! L60s have lots of money and they love giving it away!"

I don't know.

What I do know is that I remember most of the names when I see them. When/if they reach 60, they won't be welcome in any of my circles. I don't think people realize that if you get a reputation as a beggar (aka loser) on a medium sized server w/ only a couple thousand active players, people are going to remember and eventually your pathetic excuse for gameplay will come back and bite you in the *** when you can't find a good group for anything meaningful @ 60.

I mess with such people, unless I have better things to do.

Beggar: omg like gimme 1g!!!

Me: I'm broke

Beggar: Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

Me: Look, don't you know about the money tree?

Beggar: whuz that?

Me: It's in Elwyn Forest. Get on the tram. Go to SW. Go into Elwyn Forest, and go allll the way down to the SE corner of the zone. It's a big purple tree that drops "nuts." You just right click them, and there's money inside! Sometimes 10G!

Beggar: omgwtf???!!! Rilly?

Me: Yes. Rilly.

Twenty minutes later I'll get a tell:

Beggar: Dude, wth I can't find the money tree!!!

Me: Are you in Elwyn?

Beggar: Yeh Dood, I went to the SE corner like you said. It's not hear and like I died ten timz.

Me: Oh, sorry. It's in the SW corner. GL!

Five minutes later:

Beggar: Dude I can't find the money tree. ANd this like Hogger guy gankd me like twice!

Me: Oh no! Hogger is active?

Beggar: Yeah!

Me: Oh no! That means the money tree has been moved to the Wetlands. If Hogger is active, the money tree is in the far NE corner of the Wetlands. Don't worry about the skull-level dragons. Even though they are red, they won't kill you....

It continues as long as ... as long as "how dumb they are." Loads of fun!

Enjoy!

I can believe people are that dumb, but still like you wouldnt ask anyone if it was true.

Ah god help them! :)

Thank god i never fell for that.

Ah, beggars. Probably the only thing they're good for are [hard-packed snowballs] targets.

In a similar situation as Jordster, my server (anvilmar) recently changed status from FULL to MEDIUM, allowing an influx of new characters around Stormwind fountain begging and yelling for gold.

The worst part was when someone joined our guild just to spam level 60s asking for "1g to buy a tabard". Asking the guild leader is one thing.... demanding it from multiple people on the guild is called asshattery.

My reflex is to just say no, and then if they reply I just /ignore them. If I'm in the mood, however, I'll reply back a few minutes later with a "what?". The n00b usually repeats his request. I'll respond every now and then with a "huh?" forcing him to re-type his request until he just gives up. I call it the "old senile man" approach. Works pretty well, and since my replies are only one word vs. his sentence, I feel like I'm making the n00b work more for nothing.

Edited, Dec 18th 2006 5:26pm by DoctorPepper

I am so frigging tired of beggars.

I might even pretend that the lack of comprehensible English in "u r pritty" does not bother me in comparison to the hate I feel for the rabid GDMFing beggars.

I don't even bother to respond. Just /ignore and shift+click their name. Done and done.

It never ends, I don't think. I just try to stay away from the big cities.

As of patch 2.0 you can actually right click on their name and select the ignore option.

Hum, My last server had a great exodus as well, I wonder if the same is happening there...
Anyhow, here are some responses I have used, when walking around with a 60, I tend to be amused by some beggars.

Noob: Can you spare a few silver?
Me: Sorry, I only have gold
Noob: ... You can still trade smaller amounts.
Me: Sorry, I don't know how that works, cya later.
---
Noob: Do you have any free stuff?
Me: Sure, *trade conjured water/food*
---
Noob: I NEED MONEY!
Me: ME TOO!
---
Noob: Do you have any gold?
Me: Yes.
*Noob opens trade window*
I wait.
Noob: Can I have some gold?
Me: You'll never get me pot o' gold!!!
---
Ahh, good times.

I love playing with them. Some may think it crul or rude but hey. They are all rude to me so why not. I have a few things I do.

1) Ignore them. If I'm busy I just don't reply.
2) Begger: Can I have a gold.
Me: Yes. In fact you can have as much as you want.

As i keep running to where ever I was heading with them going wait .. . wait wait. I will sometimes follow this with. You CAN have all you want. Just don't expect me to GIVE it to you.

3) My favorite if I'm situated for it. Like if I am getting ready to log. Go eat. Go to the bathroom. Any of a thousand things. Since typically I get hit up when I go to a main town. Which I typically go to to log or go AFK.
I say yes. Open trade with them and stick 10 gold in the window and go AFK.

We were discussing this the other day. For more funny responses, check out:

http://wow.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=21;mid=1165862456165047116;num=33;page=1

'sbeen a while since the last time I was begged for gold. It's more for doing runs.

Last weekend I was gonna run a friend thru Stockades. I arrive there and find 2 lowbies hanging around the place. I invite them so they can tag along. A few minutes later the instance is cleared and I HS back to IF. I had one of the lowbies asking me to boost him through the instance again up to four times that same weekend, usually just after I logged on, until I politely asked him never to whisper me again.

Makes me think again about taking randoms along on a boost.

I seldom have beggars ask for gold, but when they do, I tell them the various ways they can make it. Since it's not difficult to make gold, they usually thank me and I don't see them any more. Turning a beggar into a productive WoWcitizen gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Why not just cast the Underwater Breathing buff?