I’m a mid-40’s original player from 2004 who also played in 2019 and SoM. I play Vanilla exclusively. I’ve always been in progression guilds varying from casual to sweaty, usually with LC systems of some sort. Coming back to Era now, I decided to give GDKP’s a try. Here’s my take…
I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s a pretty efficient system, isn’t it? It allows super geared Naxx players to profit from running newer players through content and teaching them the mechanics. That’s cool. Otherwise, why on earth would they run these raids? They probably wouldn’t, and new players would get stuck and stall out.
They get paid. I get to do the content and get geared. Everybody wins.
For the record, I didn’t swipe my credit card. I had about 3k gold saved by the time I hit 60. I immediately got into a few ZGs, looted some decent items for minimum bids of 300/500g each, then progressed to MC and BWL, where I got 1 piece in each raid for the minimum, and I still have 1.5k leftover. That’s an average of 1 loot per run, WAY more than I ever got playing progression guilds in 2004, 2019 and SoM. Mostly, my cut paid for these pieces, or I lost a little bit of gold overall if I splurged on something really good. No biggie. I’m slowly getting geared, I’m having fun, and they’re getting paid. Everybody wins. A few weeks of this, and I’ll probably be ready for AQ40.
Does it fuel RMT? I dunno, I’m skeptical. It certainly hasn’t in my case. If anything, I’ve felt less of a need to buy gold this time around because I have access to GDKP’s now. If I’m smart about buying stuff for the minimum bids, I can loot decent stuff and still get a small cut to grow wealth. Or, if I forego looting for a run or two, I grow wealth faster.
The GDKP’ers I’ve met so far have all been insanely chill. They’re clearly very experienced players and they run smooth raids. They move fast (which I appreciate), but still somehow seem patient towards new players at the same time, which seems like the perfect blend, doesn’t it? They are just happy you’re there to buy stuff and increase their pot.
The GDKP add-on (Gargul) is also super cool and very efficient. It’s like shopping, I love it!
So anyway, I don’t see what the big fuss is about. As an old-school gamer who remembers the original days of Vanilla very fondly, I kinda think this is a great little evolution that’s probably helped to keep the server going. I could be wrong, but I doubt Era would still be so active without it.
If RMT is really the concern here, then crack down on bots and the gold buyers. But don’t ban community driven ideas. I don’t think that’s where the root of the issue lies.
Just my 2 cents.