Updated info on guild banks
by Amanda Rivera 
Oct 22nd 2007 at 6:01PM
Does your guild run out of space, even after spending cash on a second account to run your bank alt system? Have 16,000g lying around collecting dust? Well, you're in luck, pretty soon a new feature being added to the game will change all that. Niko at WorldofRaids has posted an update on what we can expect with the guild bank feature being added to the game in Patch 2.3.
Each guild will have access to six tabs, each with 98 slots of available storage space. The first tab will cost 1g to purchase, with the costs rising exponentially until you reach the sixth tab, which will cost you 10,000g. Doing the math, Niko figured out that it you will have to spend 16, 111g for all 588 slots currently available on the system as it stands on the PTR. Access seems a bit tricky. It's either a you can remove items or you can't kind of system, which means you really need to have faith in those with access. Those who do have access can also use guild funds to repair their equipment should they need to do so.
Does this seem a bit expensive to you? I know it does to me. On one hand I know that with my bank alt I was full rather quickly, so all those slots will be most welcome. But I don't see anyone other than officers in my guild ponying up the cash for bank slots. So the guild banks might end up being a tough sell to the smaller guilds. I'm just not sure yet. We'll have to see.
[thanks Atryd]
Each guild will have access to six tabs, each with 98 slots of available storage space. The first tab will cost 1g to purchase, with the costs rising exponentially until you reach the sixth tab, which will cost you 10,000g. Doing the math, Niko figured out that it you will have to spend 16, 111g for all 588 slots currently available on the system as it stands on the PTR. Access seems a bit tricky. It's either a you can remove items or you can't kind of system, which means you really need to have faith in those with access. Those who do have access can also use guild funds to repair their equipment should they need to do so.
Does this seem a bit expensive to you? I know it does to me. On one hand I know that with my bank alt I was full rather quickly, so all those slots will be most welcome. But I don't see anyone other than officers in my guild ponying up the cash for bank slots. So the guild banks might end up being a tough sell to the smaller guilds. I'm just not sure yet. We'll have to see.
[thanks Atryd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ajima Oct 22nd 2007 6:16PM
16,111 g for bank slots....that makes me laugh...really out loud..am i the only one??
Dprice Oct 22nd 2007 6:33PM
Yes, you are. (not really)
Considering that one bank slot is the equivalent of an entire character's worth of bag space (not their bank space), its a good deal. And while the cost does rise pretty dramatically, even a reasonably small guild can come up with a couple hundred gold to get the first few tabs, which turns out to be a lot of space. How much stuff are people actually storing?
Zeplar Oct 22nd 2007 6:33PM
It isn't a strictly "you can withdraw or you can't" kind of system. You have the options of each rank in the guild being able to deposit or withdraw, for each tab. So maybe white profession mats go in slot 1, and phat epics go in slot 2. Then the new recruits can deposit or withdraw to slot 1, and deposit to 2, and the officers can deposit or withdraw to 1 and 2.
SourNote Oct 22nd 2007 6:44PM
If it's actually exponential cost-wise, a small guild shouldn't have to worry about it. This assumes that a small guild doesn't really need as many guild bank slots as a large guild, which stands to reason, right?
SO... (I'm not on the PTR, so this is a guesstimate)
1g : 98 slots
11g : 196 slots
111g : 294 slots
1111g : 392 slots
6111g : 490 slots
16111g : 588 slots
No sweat up to that 294 slot point, even the 392 slot point isn't bad.
Baluki Oct 22nd 2007 6:48PM
Nah, it's not too much money. If your guild REALLY needs that much space, then it's probably a high-end raiding guild. Let's say you've got 25 people in your guild. That's 644g per person, total. Easy.
Dave Oct 22nd 2007 6:55PM
I think it's a bit overpriced for the amount of storage, but I'm sure it's to discourage someone from making a gimmick guild with all of their alts and suddenly getting 20,000 slots worth of packrattery.
That said, my bank alt will get 3 tabs worth to start, and i might spring for the 4th tab if i'm bored and have a load of cash some day.
I think they really should have made the tabs priced according to guild size rather than flat rates if they wanted to discourage people (like me) from just making stupid guilds for bank alts for extra cheap storage. Or set some sort of guild size restriction on being able to make the tabs or something. Just being expensive isn't real cool. Will guildies that leave get a refund on purchasing their portion of the bank? Will new recruits be forced to donate 500+g towards the bank? This opens up a lot of potentially crappy requirements for guilds in the future...
hpavc Oct 22nd 2007 6:59PM
That's a lot of snowballs.
Paul Oct 22nd 2007 7:18PM
@7 lol
Nelson Oct 22nd 2007 7:18PM
The design of guild banks sounds a lot like how corporate hangars work in the MMO Eve Online. That system works pretty well.
Don't get stuck on the price tag. 111g (ie: 1 hour farming) buys you 3 tabs, that's a lot.
Paul Oct 22nd 2007 7:22PM
Re: 6, Woah, how come i didn't think of creating a guild just for my bank alt when i first saw those patch notes!? I have 3 separate bank alts for all my crap, i can finally unburden a couple of them.
I wonder if Blizz will eventually prevent this somehow, like require a minimum number of guildies or something.
Well, when I get home, I'm forming a guild right now to avoid the possible rush to do so once the patch comes out and other people start realizing this.
Mats Oct 22nd 2007 7:22PM
I think this article should focus more on the fact that only the last 2 slots are overpriced, and that only a few guilds would need that much space.
And that most people should fare well with 1 or 2 slots at max. If your storing more then that, perhaps you should try to liquidate some of your guild possessions into guild funds. Why store 40 stacks of cloth when you can store the money to buy 40 stacks of cloth?
Paul Oct 22nd 2007 7:25PM
This got me thinking, since there aren't really any banks that are more than 50 feet away from a mailbox, you should be able to mail things directly from your bank.
Call it a "transfer of assets to another bank account" or whatever, it would be a nice convenience.
Kadaan Oct 22nd 2007 7:28PM
"Does this seem a bit expensive to you? I know it does to me. On one hand I know that with my bank alt I was full rather quickly, so all those slots will be most welcome. But I don't see anyone other than officers in my guild ponying up the cash for bank slots. So the guild banks might end up being a tough sell to the smaller guilds. I'm just not sure yet. We'll have to see."
Yeah, 111g for 294 slots is SO EXPENSIVE! I mean damn, for 111g I could go and buy... maybe 1/4 of a primal mooncloth bag for 2 extra slots. I definitely only see guilds who can kill Illidan able to afford something that costs 9 daily quests worth of gold.
(anyone notice the sarcasm? ^_^)
Paul Oct 22nd 2007 7:31PM
@11, i know that this is incredibly dumb, but i have a bank alt entirely devoted to being able to independently level my engineering up from 1 to ~250 to avoid a run on lower level engineering mats if one day blizz fixes engineering to be an actually good profession.
If that ever happens (a small chance, i know), the mats would be stupidly expensive/non-existent on the AH for a good month after a patch, and this would get around that much better than just having the gold i made if i sold all those mats today.
Paul Oct 22nd 2007 7:33PM
btw, i know, i'm crazy :)
Medros Oct 22nd 2007 7:59PM
I have 4 mules. I am planning to make my own guild in order to but the first 3 slots and free up 2 or 3 character slots. :D
makabak Oct 22nd 2007 8:31PM
How is Blizzard going to keep players from having an alt that is a guild/bank/AH mule? The only thing I see coming out of this is that everyone will get bank slots this big in a year or two.
Cyneric Oct 22nd 2007 10:49PM
Overlooking the costs of the guild banks (It's not that much, really...) I think there should be awardable tokens for donations.
Hear me out: If I have a successful guild, and theres lots of people, how do I easily know how many of my guildies are just looking for free or better things and aren't contributing at all? If every time there was a donation of a green item (of the appropriate level), the donater would receive a token saying "good for one green..." or something along those lines, and if they donated a blue, a token worth 3 regular tokens, so-on and so-fourth. So that way a good guild can essentially have it's own market place based off of donations to better the guild community...
Or you could just AH it...
Sirg Oct 23rd 2007 1:57AM
even 3 tabs is ALOT of space. How much JUNK do you need anyway? The concept is called bank, not junkyard, so the idea is to store what is valuable or useful, and if it is not, then disenchant the stuff none needs (or sell it) and store the mats.
I think who needs more than 4 tabs is very slopy and unorganized person (as a guild master). If people would get unlimited space then the bank will end up being a huge junkyard, like email accounts that have thousands of old emails because the quota isnt an issue anymore.
The idea is to use the items from the bank, not store them for ever!
I think Blizz made the right choice and the prices are OK. The last bank slot is a typical Blizz thing for hardcore players ;) a Naxx of banks ;))
Lios Oct 23rd 2007 3:21AM
I love it. My current bankalt has been the GM of my alt-guild for a long time, so guildbank here i come! I have bought all current bankslots for the bankalt and now i can get almost 300 slots extra for a fraction of the price of bankslots and banks! It's nice. I'm storing every stone, ore and gem i get while leveling mining (enough to powerlevel engineering and to sell the remainder) and i can use some more space :-) Plus i can store items all my alts use, so they can access it directly from the bank, instead of first logging in with my bankalt and mailing the items.