Paying Forward
Just a quick post today about something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I love being level 80 for lots of reasons. I love being at the end game, actively engaged in knocking out the latest obstacles Blizz has put up for us. I love my epic gear. I love that dual spec allows me to run into a crowd of mobs, pop 2 AOEs and a Barkskin and just rake up the loot. I love my titles and my gazillion pets and the toys I’ve collected over time. But nice as it is to have my in game accomplishments gently fan my ego, one of the things that I love most about being level 80 has much less to do with my ego and much more to do with humility. I love that the power and knowledge I have acquired about this game allow me to lend a helping hand.
This may sound silly or like I’m soft in the head, I suppose, but one of the most enjoyable parts of the game for me are the moments when I reach out to someone with less experience or knowledge or resources and help them out. I do this with some frequency, actually. I’m the person who answers questions in trade channel, not with a snide remark, but with a detailed whisper and offer for more help if needed. These offers have, in the past, led me to do things like give gold to people who seem really nice and in need of a bit of a break, run people I don’t know through instances for loot drops, stop playing to offer in depth explanations of game mechanics, call in other friends to help with services that I know they can offer but I can’t take care of myself, and generally do my best to take care of the larger community on my server. If lower level characters are in combat around me, I’ll check their health and mana and, if they’re in trouble I’ll heal them and help them bring the mob down. I buff everyone around me when waiting for boats. With my friend Bricco one day I followed around a toon for almost half an hour just healing them nonstop until they caught on and had a giggle with us about it. I help people out with quests when they ask in General chat, even if I finished that quest myself ages ago.
I write about this here not to toot my own horn, but just to offer it up for consideration and, perhaps, conversation. I’m wondering how many other players are out there like me. Do you engage in Random Acts of Kindness? There is so much written out there about the anonymity of the internet giving people the freedom to act like complete asshats, indulging every rude whim and socially questionable motive. I’ve seen this myself. I see it all the time. But when I was level… oh I don’t know… 16 or so… there was this player who took me for a run across the world because she knew it would be a help for me to have the flight paths in Ironforge and Stormwind, Night Elf baby that I was. One time a Warrior I did not know at all outside the auction house traded me 6 stacks of mana potions. Although I don’t have as many stories about being a recipient of this kind of act, I remember them. They made me feel great. But it makes me feel even better to give back.
There are 14 Comments to "Paying Forward"
Here here. I remember helping out a newbie to the game about 2 months ago. I was on my 20ish alt, looking for enchants on trade chat. This person comes on, says yeah, I’ll give you some for free to help me level up. She was in another town and I blizted to her, gave her piles and piles of enchanting mats. She was dumbstruck. Got onto my alt, just because she was such a nice person, and made some heavy frostweave bags for her, as well as a 22-slot enchanting bag. It was nice doing a nice thing for a nice person. I like being on general chat and (sometimes) trade just to help people out. You don’t get to 80 with 40-some played days without knowing a thing or two.
In conclusion, “ditto.”
Edit: Just realized your post was longer than a paragraph (dollar beer night). Helping lower level peeps, I do that whenever I can. Even if they’re just a few levels lower than me, with my gear it’s like 10. I cast HOTs on them, DOT their target, whatever is appropriate at the time and often get many thanks in return. It’s the people that make this game, not the content.
Hey
I’ve got my hunter and she is in a hardcore(ish) raiding guild and tbh in my free time i do just this. I remember one good time was when i got a /w from a low level hunter that i didnt know, she said “hi can you help me please” and at first i assumed she was a gold seller, but no she wasnt
i helped her with a group Q and from then on just offered advice, now she has her own guild and we speak ingame all the time!
Just goes to show helping is a great feeling for you and can also lead to gr8 friendships!
Shair, I totally agree! I have some great friends now on my server and the friendships started with me lending a hand to them when they needed help. I love that. =)
and THAT’s why I adore you, Hummy! /kiss!
That’s one of the fun parts of this game for me. If I’m doing a lower level quest, I always try to buff the lower levels around me and offer to help them with a quest if they need it. I’m currently leveling another druid (yes, I’m one of those) and have noticed that random acts of kindness still exist on our server. I’ve had higher level toons ask if they can help me with a quest, and come to my aid when I’m in over my head.
Great post, as always
@Ysinnia it’s so nice to hear that people are both the givers and receivers of kindness out there. =) makes me so happy!
When I first started playing WoW, I was killing some murlocs in Elwynn Forest but not getting the fins to drop so I asked another player. She not only answered my question, but alsooffered me a lot of help that sped up my understanding of the game and progress. She took me to Stormwind (I didn’t know where it was!) got me the flight path there, led me to the tram to get the flight path in Ironforge, and used her tailoring to make me 4 bags when I had nothing by my backpack. It was so helpful that I find my self remembering it when someone asks for help. I try to heko out the way I was helped and I find people are quite appreciative.
@ryan aren’t those memories great? I really hope that when I am helping people out it is giving them lasting, positive memories tied to the game. =)
I try to help out as often as possible. About a month ago my guildies and I were running all the heroics because we were bored. We picked up a lvl 80 druid to fill the last spot and he and I got to talking. Turns out his duel spec was resto, but he didn’t know much about it. He put on his resto gear for me to take a look at and it was…pretty bad..to say the least. He had slim to no spirit, a lot of it had hit on it, despite his duel spec being feral/resto and in general just didn’t know how to play a tree. I crafted him the LWing boots and legs, I also sent him 3-4 gems for sockets in resto gear upgrades he got that night (the *right* upgrades) and told him never to hesitate if he has questions. I’ve helped out a random lvl 30 in stormwind trying to get his first mount, he was trying to sell portals, but nobody was biting. I whispered him and asked how much he was short, gave him that amount and a little extra..because when I got my first mount, someone did the same for me. For as many jerks as there are in game, the few very very nice people around all but make up for it.
Briane, wow you really went the extra mile for that druid! That’s awesome! I’m sure he appreciated your help so much! Up the Druids! RAWR! =P
I started keeping a “Newbie” kit in my mage’s bank. Enough bolts of Netherweave cloth to make several 16 slot bags. I hand them out like candy to every lowbie that can’t afford decent bags. Bags are one of the best ways I know of to ease the burden of being low level. I also will give out (very) small amounts of gold if needed. When they ask me for runs through instances, (too much time for me to be willing to do usually) I’ll counter-offer to craft new gear. More often than not, I can replace > 5 of their pieces of gear for a greater net gain than the one blue they’re aiming for out of an instance, and it doesn’t take much time or money from me.
I have two really good friends that have kept up with me ever since they were L25 because I gave them both big bags. Now they’re both 80 and good raiding buddies. I love being able to be helpful to people.
@jzar that is so awesome! It never really occurred to me to make new gear for lowbie players, but I’m maxed in LW, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t start. Thanks for a great idea!!! I’ve given away tons of bags, too. You’re right, it’s one of the best gifts you can give out to people new to the game. =)
It’s so nice to hear of these things going on in game. And I agree with above poster, it’s the random acts of kindess that you remember, that make the game. I’ve one to share. I recently rolled a rogue to play with, my main is a resto druid. While grouped up doing a fairly easy quest, the other rogue asked me if I needed some boots and opened trade. I’m kind of weird, when I roll an alt I start out naked and only wear what I get as quest rewards. Go figure. Anyway, he puts in a nice pair of green boots, a 4 slot bag and 50 silver. It was such a sweet thing to do I said thank you, logged my LW’ing alt and made him enough gear to last thru lvl 30 and a few 16 slot bags I had in my bank. When I relogged the rogue and showered him with these gifts, it turned out he has an 80 main himself and was displaying just the kindness you all are talking about. I made a friend that day and we still run heroics together. Making random people happy makes me happy. This whole post makes me happy. Man, I need a tissue now. ^-^
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Long time player, but new druid.
Especially with the SmartBuff mod, I automatically buff everyone around me. It costs me nothing but a bit of mana regen time. I also toss heals on anyone I see questing in the same area that I am, and, if I’m just a bit too late, I can at least toss someone a rez to prevent a long corpse run.
As a long time Hordie on PVE realms, my best fun is helping out alliance when they don’t expect it. When I see folks getting in over their heads, I’ll grab any of the mobs they’ve already tagged. If I’m out mining or herbing and come across a node with an alliance player fighting by it, I’ll help them kill their mob, then I’ll jump up and down next to the node until I know whether or not they were after that node. It’s more fun to me than the sociopathic behavior one often sees from either faction.