On the matter of tipping

How does one do it, and how much should one tip for, let's say, a full PoF HP train?

You do it by sending mail to the person with the gold attached, and a note to let them know what it's for.

The amount is up to you. This isn't America, no ones relying on that money to live because they're not being paid an actual wage. Give what you can afford and what you think is reasonable for the service. Some people will suggest an amount, but even then it's up to you to decide if that's reasonable.

There have been a number of threads with people offering opinions on the practice and the amounts. You'll find a full spectrum of responses, from "they don't deserve it" to "I always tip gold" and everything in between. This holds true for those who host trains, too: some do it for the tips, and some do it just because they enjoy helping others.

I never refuse tips when offered (out of politeness mostly). I never tip anyone who mentions tipping (something rubs me the wrong way about that). I sometimes tip people even if I don't participate in their activity (because I want to support that type of community). Overall, though, I tend to send care packages to people who who are new rather than tip veterans for, well, being veterans.

@GW Noob.6038 said:How does one do it, and how much should one tip for, let's say, a full PoF HP train?

Bear in mind that they are probably getting the rewards from completing all the HP events as compensation, and it's more time-consuming than difficult (especially in PoF, where all the HPs are set up to be soloable). It's not like a Mesmer helping people through a JP, where they don't really get anything out of it other than tips and/or a warm fuzzy feeling. Depends to some extent on how valuable such a service is for you.

I’ll Give always 1 gold

The train will happen regardless and no one will follow up on you for bring stingy, so give as much or as little as you feel you got from it. Or nothing, 99.9% prob dont care. Its your money/values

I usually return tips as if i do something, i do it because i want to not because i want something back and a tip will annoy me (unless im in a bad mood and im already annoyed!)

i have tipped between 1 gold to 1200gems.. it depends on what this player does

I'd be interested in knowing if there's a difference between NA and EU. Tipping is such a big part of North American culture whereas it's a courteous but not mandatory thing in most of Europe.

If it's a small JP, I usually just thank. If it's something extremely challenging or as time-consuming as a HP train, I will usually tip 5g. (And asking for a tip does not disqualify someone from getting one. They are just doing their own kind of grinding.)

@perilisk.1874 said:

@GW Noob.6038 said:How does one do it, and how much should one tip for, let's say, a full PoF HP train?

Someone running an HP train almost certainly already has the HPs and is doing it to be helpful. I'd tip them.

JP ports deserve tips as well.

How much depends entirely on what you're comfortable parting with. Don't tip more than you can afford or think the assistance was worth just because you think you're supposed to. If 1 g is a lot for you, don't pay more.

Myself, I can't afford to pay every mesmer I get a port from, or I'd go broke. Instead of giving a pittance every time, i give a full gold now and then, usually when someone seems to be going out of his way to be helpful. But that's just me.

For myself, I tend to tip in one of a few set amounts: 25s, 1g, or whatever gold I have on hand over my last 25. I ended up sending 18g to the mesmer that patiently hauled me to the top of the Not So Secret jumping puzzle half a dozen times to get the dive achievement after I'd tried for literally years to get through that puzzle on my own. I offered the similarly patient mesmer who hauled me around the Chalice of Tears 10g, but they refused it, and I wish every blessing on them and their house.

For a jp daily, I tip 25s. That's a large enough amount that if even half the folks taking the ports are tipping, the mesmer is making a reasonable gold return for providing a service instead of doing things that would earn them coin more directly, while still being a small enough amount to not negate the point of my doing the dailies. I know someone who tips the contents of the jp chest for dailies, instead of coin. If there's a festival going, I'll often toss a festival food or drink item in as well.

I tend to tip a gold for things like people doing a good job of commanding a new or difficult event (I usually tip the commander for whichever wurm I'm fighting when I do Triple Trouble, for instance, even though it's old content), or running an HP or bounty train. For a train across multiple maps, I'll usually toss in a gold per map.

Chunk of Gold tips are for things that make me say, "Thank Melandru that I never have to do THAT again," or "I was having a bad day, and that thing you said in /map chat cracked me up," or "that was a really nice thing you just did for that new player."

Sometimes I send food consumables to people who've picked up an obscure reference I've dropped into /map and run with it, or who've patiently walked someone through solving a problem.

As far as accepting tips, I never ask for them, but I do generally accept them if offered. If it's a really new player, I'll usually return it with a note to just help someone else in the future. The tips I've received have ranged from 15s to 5 Black Lion Chest Keys, though they have tended to cluster around the 25s-1g range, and the keys were for my having taken someone in to my home instance to node farm every day for several weeks while she tracked down and purchased all the nodes for her own, so that was an unusual situation.

Even as American, tipping is a strange custom to me. I understand tipping a JP Mesmer more than a IRL waitress. Eg. eat a small steak, and cube of beef broth in a cup of water they call something fancy then charge $115 for a roughly $16-$21 meal, and expect a tip. Some places try to require you to put tip amount on the receipt so they can deduct/tax it, and charge you sales tax when tips are personal between you, and your waitress. Though I do/have tipped time to time, some places seem to try, and take advantage of a custom based on generosity. Not everyone should be tipped every day is my opinion, just as not everyone wins first place in a race, The meaning has been devalued. To be back on subject rant over I think I tip music players the most even though most are using scripts I enjoy the fun/uniqueness they bring to that place, that day. I'd like to tip mesmers for ports more, they deserve it, but often I forget with friends/guilds/other things going on in real time. Though I help players in need from time to time with new to content "to them", back to GW1 for vq/missions, etc. I don't want or expect tips "I feel odd being tipped", I like to share the knowledge I've gathered to make their experience easier.

I didn't even know this was a thing. I've always just thanked people and moved on. :S

@avey.4201 said:Even as American, tipping is a strange custom to me. I understand tipping a JP Mesmer more than a IRL waitress. Eg. eat a small steak, and cube of beef broth in a cup of water they call something fancy then charge $115 for a roughly $16-$21 meal, and expect a tip. Some places try to require you to put tip amount on the receipt so they can deduct/tax it, and charge you sales tax when tips are personal between you, and your waitress. Though I do/have tipped time to time, some places seem to try, and take advantage of a custom based on generosity.

Not to derail the thread, but restaurants in America are allowed to pay waitresses way below the minimum wage because they are expected to make it up on tips. So, you may THINK that not everyone deserves a tip every time, but that just means you are stealing the wait staff's wages, because the system is set up for you to pay them directly so the restaurant can pretend their prices are lower than if they paid their labor's wages themselves. (And blaming and penalizing the lowest-paid employees in the building for the price of the meal is pretty silly.)

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

@"avey.4201" said:Even as American, tipping is a strange custom to me. I understand tipping a JP Mesmer more than a IRL waitress. Eg. eat a small steak, and cube of beef broth in a cup of water they call something fancy then charge $115 for a roughly $16-$21 meal, and expect a tip. Some places try to require you to put tip amount on the receipt so they can deduct/tax it, and charge you sales tax when tips are personal between you, and your waitress. Though I do/have tipped time to time, some places seem to try, and take advantage of a custom based on generosity.

I have a little internal policy when it comes to tipping, mostly in regard to three things regarding influence, but in general it boils down to "random acts of kindness". If you think the person deserves a tip, go ahead, send a little coin. But ultimately, the choice is yours.

it depends, that stupid Orr jumping puzzle with the checkpoints? Porting me through it? 50-100 ectos.

A nice mesmer porting me through Charlice of Tears? 250 ectos

A com standing at the end of some stupid daily jp, I have done before but don't want to experience again? Squadjoin&tp to friend? 1g.

I mentor a lot and a couple of days ago some very nice player I spend some hours on send me 10g and a thank you email. That was a really pleasant surprise.

I've never thought of tipping a HP train comm nor a training raid leader (sounds absurd). I see them as things people do as a favour to the GW2 community like helping noobs new players. It's a selfless act. However if I'd tip a hp train leader maybe 1g per map?