Runner's Plight

Heh thanks, but it wouldn't be much of a guide. I just sit in a lot of trading districts and get a lot of runs.

I personally am against running. I figure that if you want to play the game PLAY IT! Getting a run to Droknar's Forge so you can beat on people in Ascalon and Beacon's Perch arenas that are using the PROPER armor for their level, is annoying. If people were made to use have anything from end areas at a low level don't you think that A.net would have just had us all start off with the stuff?

That's the biggest drawback to running, twinking.

Most players (at least I think) get run to skip past tedious parts of the game they've already played through a few times. I just want to get my characters to Tombs and unlock certain skills.

Ever think some of these people deserved it? I mean, I only ran my last character slot <my monk> to droks for armor, I felt it was deserved as I never did that with my first 3.

But yes, people buying money off ebay and running, although somewhat far-fetched <except for people with more money then time>, is the drawback to this.

--The Shim

So, what was your problem again...?



Yes, it is annoying when people beg for things. Yes, it is annoying when players get run to Drok's but can't afford the armor.

But, if I occasionally run a guildie somewhere, say ToA, why shouldn't I ask if anyone wants to come along for free? No skin off my teeth.

We have no trade agreement here, where I am forced to charge something just so you can stay in business.

Also, your services, although valuable to some, are not essential to for people playing the game. In the same vein, the money you make by running, is luxury, not necessary to playing.

Go back to economic 101

The demand and suplly laws apply here. Therefore if someone offers a service for free, you can't blame him for that. It is his choice to 'waste' time (most likely it will be fun not work for him).


Running is a legal business. Saying running is 'lame' or stuff like that is like saying 'how lazy must someone be to go by taxi or bus instead of WALKING LIKE A MAN'.

People buy gold from EBay to pay other players (not) to play GW for them. Then people whine about others not wanting to pay them in compensation for them having played GW.

If people think this game sucks so bad that they pay not to play it or demand to be paid for having played it maybe they ought to deinstall it and throw it in the trash.

I run people for tips all the time. In the end, I make more gold than if I set a fixed figure for a variety of reasons.

#1 Less people try to "scam" you by not paying if they know before hand any payment is voluntary and the figure is at their discretion.

#2 Decent people know what other overpriced runners are charging, so they tip very well as a reward for you giving them the choice.

#3 Some people with little or no gold are the most appreciative, and may not be able to give you 2500 gold but they give you what they can - often an item or upgrade you can sell.

#4 Running for tips, you have a much larger customer base. Several times I've seen people spamming "RUNNING TO DROKS 4K AT RANKNOR" while my group is filling. Those same people are spamming "RUNNING TO DROKS 4K at RANKNOR 2 SPOTS LEFT" when I get back after just running a full group.

#5 If people don't pay, it's not the end of the world. While you have to chase people down and PM and scream and report, I will be with the next group "for tips" halfway to the destination.


In the end, it's all about choices. You choose how to spend your running/playing time and how to generate income, as do us "tip" runners. I prefer the volume and quick turnaround of my current setup, as I would rather be doing the run than sitting in an outpost waiting to fill a group.

And one fact is indisputable: If one runner is advertising experienced runner with 100 runs running for 4k per slot, and a second runner is advertising experienced runner with 100 runs running for tips upon safe arrival -- one group will certainly fill much faster than the other!

Best of luck in your game.

When did I blame runners? Im talking about people that get pissed off when you DONT run them for tips. Im fine if people want to do it for free, I dont care, but its another thing when the people that run for free say people that want payment for running are scum.

In my opinion no one deserves to get a run to another area. If this was the purpose of the game then there would be no monsters in the areas. The whole purpose of the game is to get a group and fight your way through the game. If you think you deserve it you mine as well say "Well I didn't cheat on my wife with the last 3 girls that hit on me. So now I deserve to."

At the end of the day people can charge what they want for anything in game, be it a service like running or an item, people will either pay or they won't, if people arn't willing to pay what you want either lower your price or wait for a new batch of customers (of which i'm sure theres many).

i made the run from war camp to citedel with my monk after the runner failed :P

i don't see a problem with running and the only reason most ppl charge lots for the run from ascolon to perch is cos its a long run

and i normel do donation runs, but you would be suprised how many ppl give you a donation...........

So while we on runner topic here wat do you think the price for running to Droknar Forge from Yak Bend or Beacon Perch should cost

You cannot be serious. PvE is ridiculously easy. There is no conceavable way runners can justify running people past segments of the game otherwise 'they probably wouldn't have gotten past there without being run'.

hmmm.. I ran a guildie from yaks to beacons before using a ranger with maxed WS and expertise and packing all stances. I have to say it was surprisingly easy. Go figure.

I feel this is a VERY bad analogy. You can't seriously equate running to cheating =) But I still feel, when I see characters all twinked <ON ALL CHAR SLOTS> before level 2, I feel justified that with my LAST character slot, it's FINE AND DANDY =)

--The Shim

And to quote "They probably wouldn't have gotten past" is for the most part, true, unless they don't have the time to sit and level, do the missions, and whatnot. If you're a casual gamer and you need to get an alt from here to here, running is fine. But I do agree with the comment you made. As I runner, I don't NEED to justify anything, I just do it. I'm not performing a service for a "Weak" character to go from "point a" to "Point b" and beyond, I'm simply offering a business that is an alternate way to make money, other then farming/trading/playing the missions.

--The Shim

This is true. I think the proliferation of runners and people with excess money ruins the gameplay experience for anyone trying to play through the game the way it was designed. I started a new monk PvE character last month and I had to do about 4/5 of the non-mission quests and outpost runs with a party of henchmen because hardly anyone bothers to do them anymore now that they can just pay someone to get them through.

Unfortunately, until the end of time, there will always be people who want to speed through games/be lazy. It just won't change, it's not the runners fault. without the demand FOR running, warriors would have never ran anywhere for money, in the first place.

--The Shim

This is exactly why I run for tips.

Thats how I run too, I can run almost anything, even do chest runs with my build. Its very easy to do it as a Ranger, and its even more surprising how many people say "OMG Rangers can't run" and they won't join your group. I always run for tips, so watching that same person join the only other runner that was in Ascalon and was charging 2k made me laugh. I ended up getting to Beacons before that warrior did, as I watched that person that turned me down come into town.