So I got frustrated waiting to find tanks to run 5-mans, on my server it was impossible for a DPS to get in a group. So I decided to reroll a new druid so I could tank and heal if needed to make the LFG process go faster. So my first few runs as a tank went well. Last night I was tanking WC for a group that was not very good. One of the Dps would walk around and pull mops and at one point they hit the fear which caused a wipe. On the next pull the healer left the group( not sure if they DC'ed but they never came back). So I had a big repair bill and incomplete quests right in the middle of the run. My question is "since my server seems low on tanks, should I require a deposit or charge for tanking?" I really don't like the fact that I made several runs from the grave and had a big repair bill because of inconsiderate players. Unfortunately, I don't think I will have time to be in a guild to get consistent players. What do you think? Am I being an A-HOLE?
Charging for something you were planning to do anyway is a judgement call on your part, but charging for tanking in general isn't unheard of. Skarm (tank streamer) recommends it, or at level 60 saying you'll tank, but reserve the first righteous orb drop from Stratholme, or something to that effect.
If I die several times not of my own mistake I ask for a donation voluntarily at the end of the dungeon as opposed to a charge - you’ll find most people are quite reasonable about this.
In all of my time playing Vanilla, Private Servers and Classic I have never ran a dungeon where a member of the party charged us as a requirement for tanking or healing.
Granted, this doesn't mean that you can't. You're entitled to how you spend your time in-game, and you should certainly state your requirements up front. However, I should warn you that I strongly suspect a whopping majority of players will kindly inform you to fuck right off.
If I die several times not of my own mistake I ask for a donation voluntarily at the end of the dungeon as opposed to a charge - you’ll find most people are quite reasonable about this.
teebling, yes this sounds most reasonable. I would be hard pressed to inform the requester to fuck right off in this case.
You should only charge to tank dungeons that you don't need anything from. No one wants to pay to lose gear to you or watch you pick serpentbloom for your quest. It'a borderline a carry service. A healer who's chipping in to pay for a tank reasonably expects not to have to put on his tryhard pants. You need to be in a position where you can essentially say "I have no earthly reason to be here but I do need gold, and you guys need a tank" in order to avoid being an A-Hole, as you say.
One of the Dps would walk around and pull mops and at one point they hit the fear which caused a wipe. On the next pull the healer left the group...
Welcome to tanking....
I have never ran a dungeon where a member of the party charged us as a requirement for tanking or healing.
Seriously? I saw tanks charging ALL the time! How did you not see this on private servers?
but IMO, it is fairly common for a tank to charge to tank a dungeon, or to reserve a drop / loot in exchange for tanking.
I would only charge if I was offering a service. If it's a dungeon I plan to run there is no need.
I honestly thought this was a subject about opening up with "charge" if your tanking... Lol
I have never ran a dungeon where a member of the party charged us as a requirement for tanking or healing.
Seriously? I saw tanks charging ALL the time! How did you not see this on private servers?
but IMO, it is fairly common for a tank to charge to tank a dungeon, or to reserve a drop / loot in exchange for tanking.
I don't know man - I can easily believe that I had a blind spot there, but it just wasn't happening to me! Could also be that I relied heavily on guildies and RL friends when it came to running dungeons.
You need to be in a position where you can essentially say "I have no earthly reason to be here but I do need gold, and you guys need a tank"
This has always been my stance on it. I never charged for tanking (or healing) unless the content was absolutely irrelevant to me and I over-geared it, because then I feel I'm providing a service, which makes it somewhat 'professional' and I will not be wasting people's times by being undergeared, unpotted, unrepaired, no food, bad talents, taking quest items and so on.
The things that happened to you are just the sticks and stones of tanking. Rage-quits, dc's, ninja-pulls, ignorance about using fears and cc has always been part of it. Everyone is chipping in (or trying to), and I think that just because the tank role is a minority doesn't entitle me (as a tank) to start requesting fees for something I'm going to be doing anyway at that level.
The only time in vanilla I've seen plate repair costs being covered by others rather than the tank was guilds covering those costs in raids. Maybe Teebs 'donation' idea works, I've never tried or seen it. But yea, tanking is a hard life.
Thanks for the feedback guys! I am having a great time with classic. I think I will just accept the roll for what it is! Take the good groups with the bad groups.;)
Charging for something you were planning to do anyway is a judgement call on your part, but charging for tanking in general isn't unheard of. Skarm (tank streamer) recommends it, or at level 60 saying you'll tank, but reserve the first righteous orb drop from Stratholme, or something to that effect.
This is exactly what I did during several SM Cathedral runs, calling dibs on Mograine's shield. It was probably a bit unnecessary given that non-tanks don't usually roll on tanking shields anyway.
Take the good groups with the bad groups.;)
As a tank, heck as a player, I literally fill my friends list with competent people as I run dungeons and put in a note "Good Tank, Good Healer, Good DPS". I ALWAYS pm these guys first when I need to run a group. Usually I will only 'pug' out one or 2 spots in the 5 man, as the guild and the friends list makes up 3-4 of the spots if not all 5.
I have insulated myself from a lot of the horribleness of tanking as a result. Being in a guild that is mostly made up of current mythic retail radiers, or people returning who have done progressive raiding in vanilla, bc, and wotlk, I don't have a lot of the problems that are SOOOO common with dungeon pugs. the dps doesnt do the initial pull. I dont even have to speak, ill just chuck a moon up and people know what to do. AOE doesnt take place when it is innapropriet, healers announce oom and off heals come in, or people stun mobs so I can shift out of bear pop regrowth and shift back in, Skull and X are followed EXCLUSIVELY, and locks and priests know not to dot off mobs until after they see fearie fire on the mobs. get into a guild like this, put these types of peeps on your list, and your dungeons will be smooth as butter. You can even run back to back dungeons in less time than it takes to run a single pug.
This has always been my stance on it. I never charged for tanking (or healing) unless the content was absolutely irrelevant to me and I over-geared it, because then I feel I'm providing a service, which makes it somewhat 'professional' and I will not be wasting people's times by being undergeared, unpotted, unrepaired, no food, bad talents, taking quest items and so on.
You need to be in a position where you can essentially say "I have no earthly reason to be here but I do need gold, and you guys need a tank" in order to avoid being an A-Hole, as you say.
Yes, I must soften my original position - I agree with both the points above. There are circumstances in which I can see myself paying a tank for this kind of service, but I don't think the demand is going to be very high for OP to expect that he can regularly charge for tanking.
I understand your frustration. Tanking 5 mans so far for me has been mostly good, with a sprinkle of anger on top. Some of the players I've come across are still trying to rush at a BFA pace. I can tell when they don't understand how threat works in Classic and open up on two mobs with an AoE ability the moment I've charged in. Then I'm chasing after X, blowing taunt, trying to get rage, and the whole thing just feels messy. I have come across some great players though. Mages who resheep on the money, classes that know to use their de-threat abilities before they pull threat, etc.
As for charging, I agree with what's been said. I won't charge as I'm leveling, unless I'm re-running a much low level per request. I've already started getting whispers asking for me to help run lower level dungeons. I'll probably do this at 60 a fair amount to make gold on the side.
I usually tank everything so I don't run into this. But if I saw any player trying to charge gold to join an instance I'd laugh him out of the group. And if that meant I couldn't run that dungeon that night then so be it. I'm not paying other people to play with me, I don't care what kind of value they bring. If this means I gotta play with subpar players than that's just how it's gonna go.
But do what you want. If you can get people to pay you to play then I respect your hustle. But I'm not paying you or others running your hustle out of principle. I'd rather go level fishing or something if that's how its gonna be.