"We need more gold!"

We’ve all had the experience. You’re minding yourself in some metropolis trading hub, and a random Madoff leans over and asks you for some spare change. Now most of the requesters ask for anywhere from some “spare gold,” or perhaps, “a couple of g’s man,” while others ask for a specific amount.

The other day I was minding my own business in Thunderbluff (loyal patriot of cow city, and Ienjoy having being able to actually see the bank and auctioneer), and I get a message from gold lurker. On rare occasions, I’ve given a few pieces of gold to a people who have made me laugh, for doing things like turning tricks or dancing like a monkey. But almost always I flat out deny them. Before that though, I will ask them why they need gold (to hear the creative excuse) and then crictize them for giving said lame excuse. My correspondence the other day, went something like:

“Can you spare some gold?” – Shiftless Beggar

“Why do you need gold?” – Giant Cow Thing (Me)

“I want to buy epic flying” – S.B.

- At this point I do that slow turn so I can try to identity the face…err avatar to the person talking to me. The culprit turns out to be non- other than the 61 Tauren sitting atop an epic kodo mount targeting me. This ladies and gentlemen is what I identity as a special kind of Shiftless Beggar – Douchébag class. He’s obviously at a significant level and has an epic mount, so unless he’s been turning tricks and begging for gold up to this point, I would assume he’s capable of earning his own money (but he was a hunter…), by you know, doing things like…quests?

“You’re level 61…why don’t you go earn it like the rest of us?” - Me

“It’s so annoying, lol” – S.B.

“So are people like you.” - Me

“lol” – S.B.

Once in a great while as you’re selling your bounty of riches and flaunting your wealth by, you know, having the ability to purchase repairs and buy that expensive 100-something gold head enchant, you’ll get the vindictive fellow who feels that the world, i.e. you, owe him something, like a piece of your wealth. Those are the fun ones, the players who have no money, and like spamming you with a barrage of vulgarities on the slim chance you’ll give them cash, or the more probably reality that they get a the virtual finger and /ignore.

Whenever I meet a beggar or some nude avatar dancing on the mailbox, I always get this quasi-queasy feeling like I’m witnessing with the lowest slums of society; I can feel pretty confident that this persons’ status is because of their own volition – laziness.

I eventually always come to realize and make the connection between the economies Blizzard has made for the seething masses in my digital world and with the encapsulating place we call RL. There are beggars in both worlds, but at least in WoW you can assume that they are shamelessly peddling their digital buttocks atop of the postbox because they are far too lazy to be bothered to earn 20 silver for repairs on their level 37 gear.

That or they’re bored, to which they should politely get the hell out of my game.