A new plague is annoying the community in World of Warcraft. Anyone wanting to run dungeons is expected to tip. But is that allowed?
In the last days and weeks, those searching for a group for high-level content in Mythic+ have been increasingly encountering groups that display strange behavior. The group description states that a “tip” is expected, meaning a gratuity. You are supposed to apply to the group with the appropriate amount in the note.
What is the problem here? Over the past few weeks, finding a group for dungeons has become difficult. Because when you are excited to find a tank or healer in the group finder who appears to have no other companions, a look at the group description brings disappointment. There, it mentions a “gratuity” that you are supposed to offer the corresponding character.
The promise for that: You will receive a “Res” run, which means a “Resilient” run—a high-level dungeon run that will most likely succeed and provide a rating.
This is nothing more than selling dungeon runs.
Is this even allowed? No, because such requests for “tips” are an attempt to circumvent the rules for groups that Blizzard established a few years ago. In groups in the “Looking for Group” tool, offering so-called “sell runs” is prohibited. This means dungeon runs where a part of the group pays experienced players with gold.
By stating that a “tip” is expected, you are essentially offering exactly such sell runs—you are simply waiting for companions who are willing to pay the expected price.
If you encounter such groups, you can report them, as they violate Blizzard’s regulations. Such groups will then be removed from your personal listing, and if too many reports occur, penalties will be imposed.
Generally, sell runs are legal and can also be advertised—but only in the appropriate trade channel, which was specifically set up for these services.
How the community is reacting: In the WoW subreddit, more and more screenshots are being shared in recent days where players express their annoyance about such groups (some of which you can see in this article). The general consensus is negative, as most people realize that this is merely an attempt to circumvent the regulations regarding advertising dungeon runs.
- “Somebody is listing +17 runs for 15,000 gold all the time, and every time the group fills up, I’m disappointed. But I still report them.” – MissMarvel
- “The only reason they keep doing this is unfortunately that they still find people who pay for it.” – Ghstfce
- “I just report every group where I see this. Advertising in the LFG tool is not allowed. Why the hell would I give someone a tip and then help them push their key? We both benefit from it. He gets a key that is above his “Resilient” level and I get a key that I haven’t yet completed within the time limit. That’s a win-win.” – smogedancer
Have you also experienced such groups and observed them in the group finder? How do you handle it when you discover such groups and players? Are you perhaps even glad about such indirect offers? Or do you rigorously report the affected characters?
Gold can currently be earned in WoW in other ways – not as easy as it has been for a long time.
