Tipping for Ports: Apparently I've Been Doing It Wrong

[bolobaby]

Let me start by saying that I'm returning to the game after 17 years - I haven't been playing on Blue or anything like that. That means I'm working off my memory from 17 years back.

Anyway...

I like to move around, but I play a Ranger. So that means I'm always wanting SoWs and Ports. Up until about level 15, I was paying 1-2pp per port. More recently, my earning potential is up, so I've been going 2-5pp, but 5pp has been more of a outlier for when I've really needed the port, or it was clear the porter was going out of their way to port me.

This aligns with what I remember from back in the day. My girlfriend at the time played a druid, and she'd always get only a few plat per port. Later, after we earned our first 1,000pp and were walking around with 1k+, we amped up our donations and started paying 10pp-20pp per port. Whenever she ported and got a few people paying 10-20pp, she would gloat about the "easy money."

Wellllllll...

I needed a port today for a corpse run, so a guildie of mine tagged along to help pay the cost of the port. She rarely ports so she had no idea what the going rate was. I didn't want to put her out since she was covering for me, so I was like, "I dunno - toss her a few plat."

This is when I learned the error of my ways. The porter explained that people are typically tipping 15-50pp per port. Naturally, my first reaction was, "Whaaaaaaat? That's outrageous!" But, I asked around my guild and some of the people who have been playing on Blue confirm that - yeah - that's the expectation.

Well, sh!t.

So - if I've stiffed you by being a cheapskate in the past, I apologize. 15-50pp is not at all how my memory serves me for a level 17 like myself. I assure you that I wasn't knowingly being chintzy. I sort of feel bad, but also recognize that - based on the number of ports I've done - I could never make up for my underpayments any time in the near term.

In the same vein, it sure seems like I'll be stuck running everywhere for a while. With the amount of traveling I do, I can't possibly fund porting anymore.

Finally, I can't help but wonder if I've been blowing it with SoWs. For those, I've only been going 1-2pp...

Sigh.

Alendarr