I have to admit, I have a major pet peeve in WoW. In all my 6 years playing WoW, I have always tried to be self-reliant in gearing myself, or at least helping out fellow players/guildies when I can.
I know that this post I am about to write is probably going to get me into trouble, or it might be just seen as me kicking a fuss about nothing important. But really, I personally think it is of SOME importance at least, and I feel the need to talk about it.
Now, let's start from the beginning.
Ever since the release of Patch 4.2 Rage of the Firelands, the essential mat known as Volatile Fire has gone down drastically in price in the AH.
I remember, pre-4.2, Volatile Fire was a hard-to-get mat that cost anywhere in the range of 14gold to 45gold per unit (if it was more, please let me know, dear readers). Fishing in the lava pools was the only sure guarantee of getting Fire, killing fire mobs just wasn't worth the time and effort due to the insanely low drop rate. As a result of this, I actually made quite a bit of gold from just fishing in the lava pools during off-peak hours (since during peak hours it would be difficult, with many other players doing the same) and selling them on AH for 14gold - 19gold a unit.
Post-4.2, Volatile Fire dropped in value. I can only say that this is probably because of the sudden increase in drop rate from fire mobs in Molten Front as well as some of the dailies mobs in Mount Hyjal. I found myself accumulating more and more of Fire, even though I don't need it anymore at the moment, with 3-4 units of Fire dropping from mobs either in Molten Front or Hyjal while doing my dailies. Don't ask me why, it just happens, and at the end of the day I have at least 8-10 units of Volatile Fire that I have no use for yet, and cannot sell because they are now going for at least 7gold-11gold per unit. I make more gold from doing dailies alone.
Now fast forward to my pet peeve.
Last week a fellow guildie (and also a real life friend) provoked the little peeve in me by asking in guild chat if anyone knew where to get Volatile Fire. He said he needed it for crafting. So a few of us volunteered information; I told him he could simply kill mobs in Molten Front or Twilight Highlands, although Molten Front might have a higher drop rate. Or better yet, he could simply just fish in the lava pools in Twilight Highlands, near the Bastion of Twilight. This option was repeatedly encouraged by other fellow guildies, since they've done the same too.
However, it soon became a facepalm situation when needy guildie's reply to the last (and best) option was that he didn't have fishing. I knew I had a stash of Fire in my Bank, so I offered him 10 units of mine. I offered 10 because he said he needed 10 to craft gear for himself. In the meantime, I suggested he take up fishing, level up a little bit (you don't need high level fishing to fish in the lava pools), then get his Fire that way. A regular supply, with 1-4 units everytime you fish from a node. I also suggested buying from AH, since at the time it was selling for 10g per unit in AH, totalling at 100g for 10 pieces, he could make more than that from just doing dailies alone.
It soon became obvious though, that he was not willing to buy them off AH, nor was he willing to pick up fishing to get them in the easiest possible way.
However, the shit really hit the fan when he mentioned that he was planning to craft 5 pieces of that gear, 1 for him to wear, and 4 for him to sell on AH. That was when my peeve FINALLY kicked in, in full gear. I had initially thought to send him all of my stash of Fire, but after revealing his plans, I changed my mind and only sent him just enough for his own gear.
I don't mind helping guildmates out, if they want to craft items for their own use, helping them with mats or maybe even gold if they are really in dire need. But I simply CANNOT handle it when my generosity is being taken advantage of. If you need gold, farm for it, or ask a guildie for a loan.
Everyone puts in a lot of time to painstakingly get their own mats so that they can gear themselves, help a guildie gear up, or sell on AH. To want to take shortcuts and expect people to help you is really taking it a bit too far, especially after having been given easier solutions to your problem. But that's just my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, the guildmate in question is a great guy IRL, a fun friend, so this ugly side of him came as a big surprise to me. I never expected him to be so lazy and presumptuous.
I just hope that he's only like this in-game, and not in RL.
