Yes, actually.

“Presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution” is not the same thing as giving something freely as a gift, especially not as a grant or contribution ( which both hold implications of expectation. If I gave you a donkey but presented it as a cat, would you have a donkey ? Idk weird analogy, but rarely in life is anything ever truly a “donation”. If it weren’t for tax breaks, financial loop holes, the “presentation” of being generous, or just the need to pat themselves on the back - how often do you think people would actually give something of their own ?

Everyone knows that you don’t have to tip a waiter, but obviously they provide that service with the expectation of a tip. That waiter/waitress is giving you their time and it’s not because they want to.

A gift is precisely that, not having the expectation of a reciprocal act.

A tip is almost the complete opposite, “ : a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated”. The act performed or anticipated would in this case be the port. It’s an argument of semantics, but here it’s fairly clear. Asking for a tip is much more accurate than saying a “donation.” One anticipates a reciprocal act, the other does not. So porters/sow/buffs, the person should realistically be asking for a “tip” rather than a “donation.” Colloquially people ask for “donations” and the motivation might well be for a tax break or loophole etc. That’s still not something expected of the donee, though, but rather something the donor does irrespective of the donee actually performing some act for them.
So if OP asked for a donation and received none, then he’s SOL. Asking for a tip is a different story. They made sound the same, and possibly used with the same “intent,” but they aren’t the same.

I was thinking this, myself.
The amount of ports and potential gain that having the dap tag on your toon has given you should not be stepped on by your entitlement.
A tip by no means is mandatory to DaP or anyone. Hell no one really even owes you a thabk you as youre offering a servvice, its kind of someone to thank you. your not a port for pay service youre a port for donation service. if you want to start to expect a cirtain amount then drop your tag and /auction selling ports fir plat, scum bag. and we will see how ahead you come out

I'm a DaP and I'll quite swiftly add you to ignore if you're not kind enough to tip or even say thanks.
We are a taxi service and its not free unless you're on CR.

- Splixx

And that is your right. But i think if you're flying a DaP flag, and wanting all the benifit of ppl being able to /who all you from any zone and getting some of the best tips for ports and none of the drawbacks without crying on RnF then its pretty pathetic. If its mandatory for people to pay then why does dap advertise donations excepted and not have a flat rate?

That's precisely why someone DOES owe them at least a thank you. They're offering a service.

Cry harder

Not really sure which of my lines you mistake for "crying on RnF".
Unless having another opinion than you = crying.
If that's the case, I'll award you a snowflake sticker, which you can put on one of your participation trophies, since you sound obnoxiously entitled.

I'll just leave you ranting on and stop posting here (as you can see from my post count I'd rather enjoy the game than play Board-warrior), but feel free to post your char names so I can be proactive and ignore them.

DAP is 100% a paid service. Leadership has stated this and says do no use things such as donations in your /ooc. There is a give and take. We don't set a flat rate because every person's financial situation is different. CRs are free. Being a DAP member gives you access to the tag, and people can look you up for ports. This is to make money. The downfall? You have to be anon when not porting. Until just recently this meant you had to be anon while LFG. So you could only ask the zones you were in for groups If you are unable to port you ask the /guild for others to accommodate these requests.

If you didn't already know this, consider yourself informed