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No, the difference between me and everyone else is, I am exactly the same person in real life as I am in WoW. When a bum asks me for a quarter, I usually engage them in long-winded dialogue.
"Hey man, can I have a quarter? I need bus fare."
"Where are you going?"
"Uh, Maine, you see my girl stole my car and stuff..."
"Ok, so why go to Maine?"
"...uh...Dude, can I have a quarter, please?"
"You know, you'd get more luck begging for a quarter if you were honest. You see, honesty is in short supply in today's world."
"Um, so I should say 'Hey, gimme a quarter so I can get some booze and weed?'"
"Yes, I think you'd have more luck, just because people would respect your honesty and put you above the level of other homeless people. At the very least you'd stand out."
"Um, dude, I don't think that will work."
"Well, what you're doing isn't working so well, is it?"
"No..."
"Then why don't you try it?"
"....Ok. So could you give me a quarter please?"
"I gave you something better. Advice on how to get quarters. Will you try it? I don't think so. People are such cowards..."
Once, when I still maintained my eBay business, I stopped at the post office with a huge garbage bag full of packages that needed to be mailed. I still had to apply the labels, and didn't have enough time to apply them all before the office closed. I spotted a homeless person - he was a former college professor that had apparently fallen out of society due to substance issues. He was still intelligent though had very much settled into his manner of living. I called him over and offered him $20 if he helped me write all the paperwork up. He said yes and took the pen clumsily. As he transcribed from the shipping list to the USPS tracking forms, he mumbled, "man, it's been so long since I've written anything..." After it was all done, I gave him the $20, and he thanked me profusely. He also seemed much more lucid. I like to think I gave him something more valuable than $20.
Another time, I was at a flea market, getting inventory to sell. A child - about ten - walked up and asked me, "Hey, where did you get those games?" The flea market was situated on what used to be a livery auction, and on the premises were several barns filled to the rafters with an unimaginable diversity of junk. It was great fun picking through it, and amongst them I'd found some old SNES games, which I intended to resell at a profit. I opened my mouth and was about to reply when his father stumbled up, carrying a brown paper bag wrapped around a bottle. I changed my mind and instead said, "I found them, but you can have them." The boy's eyes opened wide and he took the three cartridges; his father shifted uneasily, then gave me a big brown bag he was carrying full of homegrown oranges. I thanked him and my mom drove us home. As we drove away, I said, "I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart. I did it because it proves I'm better than others. And someday, that boy will see the Commander on TV and say, 'I know him. He was kind to me when I was a kid.'" Later, I mentioned what happened to my brother, and he said, "Yeah, Mom told me. She said, 'whatever else may be said of your brother, he is one of the most righteous people you will ever meet.'" I don't agree; goodness comes from the heart, not the mind. Like everyone, the good and evil that I do are not so straightfoward.
I usually give street musicians that make an effort a few quarters, or sometimes a dollar coin - I carry them with me for this purpose. I don't give obnoxious street musicians, or ones that don't try, or who have themes I don't like, or worst of all those morons who sing along with loud recorded music or just sit by their boombox expecting tips.
I give money to the old and to widows and orphans but not to people who are strong enough to work or scavenge.
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