Feedback on new guild stuff

[knightgf]

Update: See bottom of Post.

I haven't been able to get real high of a level yet(nor have many guilds at the time of the post) so I probably won't be able to describe my feedback in the best way. However, I've collected enough information that I can give some constructive feedback to the devs, admist their chaos in fixing the game.

One thing I can say right off the bat is, wow. They weren't kidding when they said it was going to be tough to level up in a guild. Now, I understand that guild scaling is off, so I might be overestimating the difficulty in leveling up in a guild. But all I can say is it is challenging to level up. Speaking of scaling, one question I have in mind to a dev is, "How is it going to work for small guilds?" It's a interesting question really, because it could do many things for us.

I'll admit, the vendors aren't bad. I like the discounts that I can get at them, heck, they're so good, that in fact, if I had a tweaked hagglebard, I could buy items from the vendor and sell them at base value in the auction house for more than a 2% profit that I currently have on my normal bard. Im not sure if I could still make a profit with that 2% on the lowest posting fee, but you never know. Gotta do the math myself, I guess. What disappoints me about the vendors so far is that both vendors don't sell components for their sub-class spellcasters, meaning bards, rangers and paladins can't go there to buy discount components. I feel disappointed that such a mistake could slip by with the guild stores, and I would greatly appreciate it if those stores had such components in stock.

While my guild level is only 8 out of this post, and while I probably wouldn't benefit from this much because im in tweaked raid gear, I did decide to take a look at the 'gems' you could buy for guild-level required weapons. I guess it can be good for the weapons or items, but 6 hours? For some reason, I feel that it is a short duration for the weapon, especially considering that in order to recharge it, you gotta put it through a stone of change. I know that I could get a guild airship and put a stone of change on it, but I feel that at low and medium levels, its too much of a hassle. I think this part should be changed, maybe make it so you can just simply embed the gems in their by hand? Be worth the 6 hours. If you feel its a issue, I suggest raising the prices on them and making them non-stackable, if they do not have that trait.

Also, maybe I didn't look in the right place, nor did I probably try hard enough, but I felt that I was left in the dark when it comes to finding out information about obtaining renown, putting items on airships, exc. I still have no clue how I would put crew and ammenities on an airship, but I found out myself that you can get 5 renown from killing x ammount of enemies(Where x is an unknown number), and you can get 50, 150 and 500 renown from chests or quest rewards. To be fair, I wish there was something by the developers that gave more information about this guild stuff, but I don't know if either such information was unavailable or if I was an idiot.

One other thing that comes to mind are the reward descriptions. While minor, I know that theres a bug where there is no information pertaining to the discount guild general vendor in the House K marketplace that is available at level 4. There's also a bug that tells the guild they have obtained guild chat at level 2. In addition, there appears to be a discrepancy with the guild amenities; in the rewards tab for guild chests, it says that the chest can be accessed by anyone in the guild, but in the DDO store, it says only officers and the leader may access this chest. Well, which is it? Everyone or just the upper rankings of the guild?

Overall, the guild update to DDO:EU has its potental to become even better, and as of now, has good benefits. However, one thing I would still like to see(Though it'll be difficult) is the ability to create ranks and modify the powers each rank has. I believe this was suggested before several times, and I feel it would be a great addition to guilds if such features were added in-game. I would also like to see clearer descriptions for the rewards, better descriptions of how to do various guild airship actions, as well as improved stock for the various guild vendors.

Edit:

The guild slot items are a bit absurd when it comes to item placement. I find it absurd that I can only put a haggle guild bonus on a necklace, when there are haggling items available on more than necklaces, such as rings, for example. While I am happy that a future update will allow people to wield gl items but not upgrade them, personally, I say do away with the weapon/item restrictions on most effects, and make it so only elemental damage can only be applied to weapons. Most anything else should be applicable to weapons/armor/items.

Found out that renown obtained is 5-50 on random kill of monsters. Also discovered Legendary Battle renown, gives 1,000 renown and I believe can only be obtained in raids.

I found out that the DDO store chests are the ONLY way to allow chests that can only be accessed by officers and the leader. I can honestly say that big guilds WILL want to have non-DDO-store chests that allows only officer and leader access to these chests. While it is ok to allow early access to items via the DDO store, what's not ok is restricting guild airship items to DDO store-only items, because not all big and small guilds will be able to organize a way to pay for these chests, especially with the current prices that are set. While it is understandable to restrict powerful items such as the Siberys Spirit Cake to only the DDO store, what's not understandable is why a useful, not overpowered, feature such as a 'special' small guild chest is restricted to only the DDO store rather than just being simply slightly or preferably the same guild level as a similar chest of its size. For some reason, I can't find it again in the store, probably because of how idiotic I am, but I know it was there.

Most guild members will probably be relying on VIP's to purchase store-contracted amenities because VIP's get a steady income of 500-1000(for a limited time) Turbine points a month, and since these contracts last 7 days, they will need to buy them 5 times a month. Let's look at the cheapest amount that a contract is: 150 for a variety of low level items, such as the mailbox. 150 * 5 = 750 Turbine Points. While it would cover the expense no problem if VIP's had a constant 1000 Turbine Points a month and the occasional 2000 points per month, with the current model, its gonna be tough, especially at high levels, to find ways to cover the expenses of renting guild amenities. If a guild wanted a officer-only chest, they're REALLY out of luck because no matter how quickly or how much they grow, they'll never be able to buy it with in-game currency.

Hireling vendors are a slap in the face to guilds, especially big ones. But why would you stop the levels at 16? It makes no sense, especially since there's a level 17-20 vendor in the marketplace for hirelings. Personally, I think of it as a almost useless feature, because while it might be somewhat useful in a small guild, its not worth having a shop with discount hirelings unless there's REALLY something special about them, like they can use more commands, can summon 3 instead of 1, exc. Even then, I still think that a big guild will have enough players to at least shortman a quest of whatever kind, so what's the point of having discount hirelings that only go up to level 16? I don't know, I they levels 12, 14 and 16 should have been used to unlock something better. And im definitely sure that if you ask players for their response, you'll get great results.

[Khimberlhyte]

I just looked at the purchase prices for the guild general vendor, and see a potential problem.

Right now, most vendor junk goes to the brokers. This vendor junk is mostly stuff that isn't worth posting in the AH, but there are people who don't want to take the time to post. I've bought some nice items from the brokers in the past.

The problem I see is that the guild general vendor gives even better prices than the pawn brokers, and the gear disappears from the game. I expect to see slightly more money circulating in the game, and the only place to spend it will be at the AH, which will increase prices. I believe that this will make it more difficult for new players to gear up properly. The good twink gear is already unaffordable, and now even the second best stuff will be out of reach.

[knightgf]

I just looked at the purchase prices for the guild general vendor, and see a potential problem.

The problem I see is that the guild general vendor gives even better prices than the pawn brokers, and the gear disappears from the game. I expect to see slightly more money circulating in the game, and the only place to spend it will be at the AH, which will increase prices. I believe that this will make it more difficult for new players to gear up properly. The good twink gear is already unaffordable, and now even the second best stuff will be out of reach.

Well then, I can only hope that the future vendors, such as the scroll and potion vendors, will have some nice stuff that players will burn their money on. I'd love to see scrolls of meteor swarm, summon monster IX or True Resurrection scrolls in there. Though I understand some players may complain, look at it this way: Those scrolls along with many others can be obtained in chests as well.