Are you the guy on 70% of your servers ignorelist because you beg for water, or are you just unsure on how to behave when asking? Perhaps you are a mage constantly getting kicked out of groups for not following an list on unwritten rules regarding the serving of meals and drinks? Or perhaps you’re just curious to see if you’re doing things right, or want to check out if what I’m writing is true.
Read on, get wiser and enjoy your water!

This guide covers water/food, portals and gems. It's only based on personal experiences, so keep that in mind: other mages might think different!

Bread and Water

Town-begging
The non-mage:
The most common and by far the most annoying water situation for a mage. Many people downright refuse this, but with a few tricks you can improve your situation dramatically.
A few common tips to get you going:

1) Find a mage on your level who is where you are
- A level 70 mage will most likely provide a 14 druid with water: too damn troublesome. Find a mage your own level and ask him. Also make sure he’s not a the OG BG masters hut, when you’re at the AH, so don’t go /who mage Orgrimmar and whisp the first and the best. Scout around in the vicinity, but remember 2)!

2) Find one who’s not busy
- A mage grinding/trading/etc is busy. A mage standing around in OG is not, and MIGHT give you water. Simply find one who not looks like a mage not really doing anything and ask him.

3) Don’t just open the trade window
- Wait for approval and then open the window.

4) Ask the right way
- Most common mistake, so this section is long.

Good tips when asking
- Improve your grammar
Usually the whisp is a “can u giv water plz” meaning auto-ignore for many mages case (mine included). The first thing you need to improve is hence your way of asking. Going from “can u giv water plz” to “Could you make me some water, please” is a major improvement, and will most likely result in more water getting handed out.
Above all: Please >>>>>>>> plz. Do. Not. Say. Plz. Thank you! Plz is not a word, it’s a sign saying: “I’m too lazy to type out my words!” Use 0.1245 seconds more and say please: odds of you getting water will improve dramatically.
- Offer something in return
A buff, 50 silver, lockbox opening etc. Just offer something, so the mage KNOWS he’s not wasting his time. In by far the most cases the easiest thing to do is throw 50s per stack of water: you’ve saved money and the mage hasn’t completely wasted his time.
- Take a no for a no
Always keep in mind when asking that water is a benefit, not a privilege. If a mage turns you down, don’t bug him any further: a no is a no. Either visit the vendor or find another. Also keep in mind if you’re going grinding, that using 15 minutes to get some water will result is less grinding = less income, usually much less than that stack of water costs at the vendor.
- Create a macro!
This is a tip to save you trouble: create a water-asking macro. Some along the lines of with the mage being your target of course, should work:
/w %t Hey, could you make me some water, please? I will pay you 50s a stack, plus I can [open lockboxes, give you MotW/PWF, give you a healthstone]. If you’re too busy or don’t want to that’s fine :-) (I know nothing about macros, and dunno whether this will work)
Most likely the mage will get so overwhelmed with the good grammar, correct capitalization and the word please spelled out completely, that he will gladly trade you the water.

The Mage
Always remember you have the right to say no, and please say no to people going “water plz” and close the trade when people just opens the window: it helps us all. Also, at least reply to people using somewhat correct grammar and/or offering something in return, and let them know you’re busy so that their efforts are not in vain.

In groups/raids
The non-mage
There are no rules and tips here (Ok, a few), because the mage should provide you and the rest of the group with water. Consider this a buff (in groups/raids ONLY! Battlegrounds are another story) and something you should get and give. If a mage doesn't give out water, he's not buffing properly and is thus an ass: please don’t judge the rest of us based on him.
Still there are some things which are good to keep in mind :
- Not all mages have Ritual of Refreshment
It’s more than a 10g skill: you need rank 9 conjure water and rank 8 conjure food, and both tomes go for upwards a 100g depending on servers. If a mage can’t give you Glacier Water don’t get mad, just accept the 5 seconds extra downtime. You complaining will most likely take longer anyway.
- Don’t be unfair
You don’t need 12 stacks of water for one time through Black Morass. Only ask for what you need in the dungeon itself. If you’re a warrior there’s no need to ask for water, is there?
- Ritual of Refreshment contains 50 charges…
…. which is enough for one dungeon. That’s 10 stacks per person, 200 drinking sessions: don’t ask for a second one, just clear some bag space and stock up!

The Mage
Providing food and water is a duty of yours: fulfill it! Have 10 stacks of water ready when you enter the instance and serve it! Pop the ritual of refreshment if you have it. If you don’t have RoR, going “/p Trade for water” reduces serving time significantly and thus speeds up the run, in the interest of all.
Also, if you don’t have out water you’re an idiot. Just hand it out. Please. At least for the rest of us. Hand. It. Out. Thank you.

In Battlegrounds (AV, AB, EotS, WSG)
The non-mage
Sometimes the mage will provide the water sometimes he won’t. If you buff the mage up odds will increase that he will pop the RoR if he has it, because it gives us a vague assurance that the group is not composed of selfish players. If we do pop it, don’t spam click it, take 1 (if in AV, you can take more in WSG/EotS and AB obviously) and let that be it. Let the mage have the remaining charges for later playing. Giving the mage 20 silver for the trouble can be nice, but in most cases it’s too troublesome: just say thx in /bg, and the mage should know he has provided something useful. Keeping a extra eye on him if you’re a healer won’t hurt either. : -)
If a mage provides a RoR at least throw your buffs back. I’ve stopped throwing RoR in BG’s because I find people don’t buff anyone, but the themselves. Even if I don’t pop RoR, I give every mana user a round of AI, and you should do the same
If a mage don’t have RoR don’t ask for water: it will be a pain finding each other, and supplying 35+ people with water is a tedious task. Just bring some yourself, like you should. Don’t count on mages to give it to you.

The Mage
Once again it’s entirely up to you. However, I suggest throwing a RoR if you have it, if you find that people are buffing up properly: observe. If people only throw PWF on themselves, don’t. If you have MotW, PWF and a blessing, throw it. You can try to announce that you will throw RoR if people buff up properly, but I can imagine it would become a mess, with people going “just throw the ritual, damn it” etc. Always buff with AI though.
Another trick: Cast the RoR away from the gate, minimap ping your location and /bg “Ritual at ping”. Most likely only the intelligent and observant people will notice and go grab the water. At least in theory 
Also keep in mind: A RoR is 16 silver: that’s 1600 copper for 50 stacks of water = 32 copper for a stack. It’s damn cheap and will save people a lot of money, so if you’re feeling generous, pop it. Killing one monster in Netherstorm will give you those 16 silver back, anyway.

Guilds
The non-mage
In most cases a mage guildie will help you if he passes you on the streets of Orgrimmar: I consider helping each other out a part of being in a proper guild, a helping water will reduce your expenses, which means you can afford better gear/gems/flasks, meaning you do more damage in raids/groups, meaning higher chance of success, meaning the mage have a higher chance of getting his items. This example is extreme of course; just remember that if a mage gives you water, buff him back, thank him – the usual stuff, which is higher up in the guide.
Still it’s annoying to ride across all of Undercity to give you 2 stacks of water, which some guildies of an earlier guild of mine expected. Keep that in mind : -)

The Mage
A guild is, in 99% of all cases, a friendly place where people help each other out: helping out is providing water, portals and buffs, so give those out whenever you pass a guildie/if he asks for it and you’re nearby. (opening random trades when a guildie is busy, even with good intentions, is annoying. AI buffs will never annoy) In many cases you’ll get a buff in return! : -)


Portals
The non-mage[/b]
Always offer something. 1-5g will cut it depending on the mage. Refer to the town-begging section for the rest of the rules, which also applies. A portal is not free so pay up! Knowing when we get the different portals is not a bad thing either, and will save you some humiliating moments.

The Mage[/b]
Nothing new, except you should expect a fee, unless you’re feeling generous. I usually charge upwards 5g depending on how I’m feeling: I’m saving people a lot of trouble, and most of the time they’re willing to pay for that. I also use grammar as a price indicator: bad grammar = nice price


Mana Gems
The non-mage
These are soulbound to us, and as a result you can’t get them. Don’t ask, we will laugh at you : -) Go to the AH and get mana pots if you’re desperate.

The Mage
You may /r “lol, those are soulbound : -)”. You have my permission.


Final Words
These rules are not final, and may differ
If you remember that mages are not vending machines, you’ve come a far way. We can

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Q u o t e:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=299066285&sid=1

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Whoops, missed that :-) Now we have two :P

Also, final words in someone left out due to post size limit. Here it is

Final Words
These rules are not final, and may differ depending on the mage, guild, party etc. I think they will work in general though.
If you remember that mages are not vending machines, you’ve come a far way. We can provide you with goods and will in many cases do so, if you offer something and act politely.
Also ignore grammatical mistakes etc. I suk @ engrish, rolfmao kkthx-.-;;

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Q u o t e:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=299066285&sid=1

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This one is cleaner :)

Could be even cleaner and simpler imo.

'water'

'food'

'table'

'portal'

'mana gem'

FFS GIVE NOOB

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Q u o t e:


FFS GIVE NOOB

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Back in the old days when i was raiding (pre tbc) i always had 2 bags full of water before even going inside, it's what everyone expects from you and it saves alot of time. But as you said, it's a give and take situation for ppl who place random whispers at you, i usually just give it to them if they ask nicely. And before i log out from my mage i always clear my bags from conjured water and food by giving it to the closest person who needs it.

lvl 64 fags who go "water plz, 100 mana 100 bread" and then just opens a trade window
will always get the "*@@@ off" from me ;P

sticky this post plx xD

Requested for sticky ;)

yeah request for sticky on ALL forums =D

Meh... i just give it to them.

Who the hell cares, it takes 5 seconds and a little mana.

Seriously, you ignore them because they type in 'leet speak'?


As for portals, i can see why you charge, you levelled up the mage and the reagents cost money so fair enough, i just give it free... hell it's like 20s, i can kill a mob and sell the grey it drops for that


Edit: And yes i realise i'm the sort of person responsible for beggers not being polite, you can thank me in the mail

Edit 2: This doesn't count Battlgeounds, i couldn't care less there, too difficult finding people, if they trad eme then sure they can have some but otherwise.... nah

Well they want something i can give them, but it's not my God given duty to do so, so they might as well be civil when asking.

Sure, if they're rude then they ain't getting a thing off me, but ignoring because of 'leet speak' is slightly elitist imo

"Water plz" spamming won't get you far :p

Spamming = a no no

If someone comes up to me while i'm regenning or just sitting around out of combat and says 'Water plz' without opening a trade box then sure, i give him one spell cast worth (16 atm) which is plenty enough to get him back to a town, help each other it's just a nice thing to do :P

when I refused to make RoR the noob told me to "OMG noob lrn 2 make table" a few times. He stopped when I got out of combat and starting using 4 letter words back at him. I don' t think he saw that coming.

Giving stuff that I can make is NOT a duty. If they arn't even so curtious or polite to ask nicely, they can go without

I would also consider that offering a portal to a capital city at the end of an instance run is part of my duty as a mage. I don't charge for this but I do ask for just the cost of the rune (18s) when i get random whispers for portals. Of course if offered a couple of gold to make a portal i'm not going to say no. Recently I levelled a priest and grouped with a mage, among others, for a PUG to ZF. I was amazed at the end of the run when he said he would make a portal out of there but he would charge us for it!

One of my biggest irritations has been random whispers from rogues and warriors who ask me to make food for them (which I don't mind doing) and expecting me to ride across 2 zones to deliver it to them (which I do!).

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Q u o t e:
I will add this to the Informative and useful Mage threads sticky. You can never have too many threads encouraging common courtesy.

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=305840615&sid=1

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Yes you can.
Do you really think that the poor priest, who just met a mage who wouldn't give him water, will come to the mage-forums to know why? If indeed he did, would he then proceed to look under the stickies instead of just opening his own topic?
And is it really needed to create a post 100 miles long just to say "Ask politely and accept a no."?
Copy/pasting a link to the sticky is certainly more work that simply writing the above.

I'm so tired of these threads telling other classes to be polite when in fact the most rude people I've met are generally mages. Mages who think they're better than the other classes and find it funny to come up with some dumb remark to feel cool.
With 100 days played on my mage, I've never, not once(!), met someone who started a conversation with "food and water, now!" Stop exagerating the problem when you can just write "No" in whisper and/or ignore if it's really that bad for you. (I don't believe it is though =) ).