Which Currencies Should Be Bankable?

Erickson9610

loosej wrote: »

I understand how the system of different currencies has grown over time, but I also have to agree that it can be very, very confusing.

After finishing my very first Endless Archive run for example, I was expecting my Archival Fortunes to be a currency like gold/ap/tel var. When I visited a banker and noticed I couldn't bank them, my first reaction wasn't "oh it's account bound" but "wait are these things character bound?". In retrospect it should have been obvious that they're account bound, but the game doesn't exactly help you reach that conclusion.

A simple solution would be for the currency page to just have 2 sections, one for "On Character" currencies and another for "On Account" ones.

One of the difficulties new players have with this game is that there isn't an online resource explaining how the game works right now. If you weren't playing the game when update X released in year Y, there's often no way to know how that particular aspect of the game works today. Frequent big changes to the game mean that a lot of online resources are outdated pretty fast. The only way for a new player to fully understand this game is by reading nearly 10 years of patch notes, and a lot of that work could be avoided by some simple UI tweaks or an expanded help system.

While an expanded Help section could potentially clear up confusion (if players know where to navigate to get to the information they need) I don't think that this solves the underlying problem.

The Currency list is meant to show players at a glance how much currency they have. Currently, it shows how much currency is on-hand, and ignores how much is in the bank or on other characters. It would be incredibly helpful if there was some way to see how much is on your character, as well as how much is on other characters and in the bank (i.e., how much is on your account), much like what the Inventory Insight addon does.

Erickson9610

TybaltKaine wrote: »

But the proposal is to make the currency account wide. That would mean that all characters would be credited as acquiring the AP. This would be the same as making the skill progression account wide, since AP is functionally the same as EXP for the purposes of PVP.

Unless the two were unbound, you can't make the currency account wide. That's a large headache to untangle in the code when the current system works just fine.

Amottica wrote: »

I may have missed something but each currency mentioned can be shared account-wide. Some require being banked but that means they are still account-wide, just not automatically stored account-wide.

Very minor and not much of an issue.

As some have pointed out, AP currency may not be so easy to change. That is something we do not know and assumptions on how easy it would be if it would be an issue at all is just that, an assumption.

EdjeSwift wrote: »

I answered this a while back.

Age.

The newer currencies are more streamlined when they have account wide benefits. This is why the older currencies are all the way they are, and they work fine as they are. Gold, AP, Writ Vouchers, Tel-Var, these are all from launch or near launch so they have older mechanics behind them. Crowns were added with Tamriel Unlimited a year after launch. Event tickets in 2018, so on and so forth. They changed undaunted keys from items in your inventory to a currency and this went account wide.

So it makes sense why some currencies went one way and others another, it's such a minor inconvenience to bank and withdraw a currency that leaving things as is is fine.

ShadowPaladin wrote: »

Some *older* Systems, based on *older* code can not always be updated. There can be various reasons for this. For example no one is left in the company who knows the older code (thats the case for some stuff in Star Trek Online) or another example would be that changes to this old code could and would create countless problems and bugs, which could not be fixed without major issues (that would be my guess for ESO).

The vast majority of the arguments against touching the Currency system are that it could break the game, that it's archaic code that nobody knows how to change, and that it's fine the way it is. These are all assuming that it's difficult to change — if it's wrong to assume that it won't be difficult to change, then it is also wrong to assume that it will be difficult to change.

So far, the only argument I've seen that lists a functional gameplay reason for keeping some currencies bankable is this one:

Soarora wrote: »

I bank AP so I don’t overspend in shopping sprees. I’ll pull out, say, 1mil and then buy a bunch of deadly boxes. Writ vouchers should be account wide though, I thought they already were tbh.

What would players of this game lose out on if some bankable currencies were updated? Players generally don't care about the technical challenges of updating old features in a game; they care about how the changes affect them. Players would find it convenient that they don't need to deposit and withdraw from the bank to manage certain currencies on all of their characters, but they would also find it inconvenient that they can no longer bank certain currencies to prevent from overspending.

We should be arguing about how this change would affect gameplay for new and existing players, not about the technical challenges associated with the change, because we don't know anything about the source code for this game.

Amottica

Erickson9610 wrote: »

TybaltKaine wrote: »

But the proposal is to make the currency account wide. That would mean that all characters would be credited as acquiring the AP. This would be the same as making the skill progression account wide, since AP is functionally the same as EXP for the purposes of PVP.

Unless the two were unbound, you can't make the currency account wide. That's a large headache to untangle in the code when the current system works just fine.

Amottica wrote: »

I may have missed something but each currency mentioned can be shared account-wide. Some require being banked but that means they are still account-wide, just not automatically stored account-wide.

Very minor and not much of an issue.

As some have pointed out, AP currency may not be so easy to change. That is something we do not know and assumptions on how easy it would be if it would be an issue at all is just that, an assumption.

EdjeSwift wrote: »

I answered this a while back.

Age.

The newer currencies are more streamlined when they have account wide benefits. This is why the older currencies are all the way they are, and they work fine as they are. Gold, AP, Writ Vouchers, Tel-Var, these are all from launch or near launch so they have older mechanics behind them. Crowns were added with Tamriel Unlimited a year after launch. Event tickets in 2018, so on and so forth. They changed undaunted keys from items in your inventory to a currency and this went account wide.

So it makes sense why some currencies went one way and others another, it's such a minor inconvenience to bank and withdraw a currency that leaving things as is is fine.

ShadowPaladin wrote: »

Some *older* Systems, based on *older* code can not always be updated. There can be various reasons for this. For example no one is left in the company who knows the older code (thats the case for some stuff in Star Trek Online) or another example would be that changes to this old code could and would create countless problems and bugs, which could not be fixed without major issues (that would be my guess for ESO).

The vast majority of the arguments against touching the Currency system are that it could break the game, that it's archaic code that nobody knows how to change, and that it's fine the way it is. These are all assuming that it's difficult to change — if it's wrong to assume that it won't be difficult to change, then it is also wrong to assume that it will be difficult to change.

So far, the only argument I've seen that lists a functional gameplay reason for keeping some currencies bankable is this one:

The fact is any change can cause problems and often does. Those of us with years of experience in MMORPGs have seen it time and time again.

Further, all the currencies listed are account-wide. As several of us have noted, that difference in how they are handled is extremely minor. As such there are a thousand things Zenimax should deal with before even considering making a change to how these tokens are handled.

That is pretty much what we are saying.

So the second point is the most significant aspect.

Erickson9610

Amottica wrote: »

The fact is any change can cause problems and often does. Those of us with years of experience in MMORPGs have seen it time and time again.

Further, all the currencies listed are account-wide. As several of us have noted, that difference in how they are handled is extremely minor. As such there are a thousand things Zenimax should deal with before even considering making a change to how these tokens are handled.

That is pretty much what we are saying.

So the second point is the most significant aspect.

You are right that any change can cause problems, but that doesn't mean that changes shouldn't be made and the problems (if any) fixed. I distinctly remember a time where some cosmetics made you invisible, and where new abilities were bugged. Any change to any existing system like combat balance changes or new cosmetics could break things, so why is it that those are still being made?

It may be an extremely minor thing to the experienced player, but it's still an inconvenience. It's also not intuitive to new players.

ZOS most likely has an internal priority list of things they choose to focus on first, and they may have an unequal number of programmers to artists and so on. Even if ZOS really has "a thousand things" to focus on first, there is no harm in suggesting a quality of life improvement that they can consider for a later date.


An aside — it's genuinely exhausting to have people comment on every suggestion thread that ZOS should focus on other aspects of the game instead. Those comments only serve to derail the thread.

There are many areas of the game which need help, but saying something like "ZOS should balance PvP instead" on a thread about improving Companions or Tales of Tribute doesn't add anything meaningful to the conversation.

spartaxoxo

Erickson9610 wrote: »

There are many areas of the game which need help, but saying something like "ZOS should balance PvP instead" on a thread about improving Companions or Tales of Tribute doesn't add anything meaningful to the conversation.

I agree. Also, they have time dedicated specifically to quality of life improvements. So the idea of "no pvp if we have qol" isn't a something that would happen anyway as they do QOL improvements regardless.

Amottica

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The fact is any change can cause problems and often does. Those of us with years of experience in MMORPGs have seen it time and time again.

Further, all the currencies listed are account-wide. As several of us have noted, that difference in how they are handled is extremely minor. As such there are a thousand things Zenimax should deal with before even considering making a change to how these tokens are handled.

That is pretty much what we are saying.

So the second point is the most significant aspect.

You are right that any change can cause problems, but that doesn't mean that changes shouldn't be made and the problems (if any) fixed.

As I noted in that quoted statement, problems caused by such a change is not the significant reason why this change will not be happening anytime soon.

As many of us have noted, the minor differences in how these currencies are managed are not a big deal That means making a change to homogenize them would not be significant nor offer a notable QoL update. As such it is extremely unlikely this will get serious consideration anytime soon. That is simply the reality of the situation.

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The fact is any change can cause problems and often does. Those of us with years of experience in MMORPGs have seen it time and time again.

Further, all the currencies listed are account-wide. As several of us have noted, that difference in how they are handled is extremely minor. As such there are a thousand things Zenimax should deal with before even considering making a change to how these tokens are handled.

That is pretty much what we are saying.

So the second point is the most significant aspect.

There are many areas of the game which need help, but saying something like "ZOS should balance PvP instead" on a thread about improving Companions or Tales of Tribute doesn't add anything meaningful to the conversation.

Also, I did not speak to PvP, companions, or ToT. However, there are a thousand QoL things that offer a much greater improvement to the game than changing this.

DinoZavr

i guess, the priority of making Master Writs voucher account-wide is very low in the Developers plans, if it is even there.
it works, no whines about that, why to change it.

good you have mentioned Transmute Crystals, as they are special. They have cap.
and there is a tricky method to bank them. For example, when your subscription expires and you are over regular 500 cap, then you can reconstruct arena weapons and bank them. Deconstructing will return you crystals.

and earlier Event Tickets were material things.

Erickson9610

Amottica wrote: »

As I noted in that quoted statement, problems caused by such a change is not the significant reason why this change will not be happening anytime soon.

As many of us have noted, the minor differences in how these currencies are managed are not a big deal That means making a change to homogenize them would not be significant nor offer a notable QoL update. As such it is extremely unlikely this will get serious consideration anytime soon. That is simply the reality of the situation.

I do not expect this change to happen anytime soon.

But, I disagree that the difference between currencies isn't a big deal. It's a big enough deal for someone to draw attention to it. It wouldn't be a huge quality of life update, but it would be a quality of life update nonetheless.

Amottica wrote: »

Also, I did not speak to PvP, companions, or ToT. However, there are a thousand QoL things that offer a much greater improvement to the game than changing this.

I mentioned PvP, Companions, and Tales of Tribute as an example for a side point I wanted to make. We may disagree over what quality of life improvements this game should eventually receive, but the point of that quoted text is to highlight the tendency of people to derail suggestion threads, not to accuse you of speaking to PvP, Companions, or Tales of Tribute.

TaSheen

I just don't see the problem here. Literally, I know what's account available, and what I need to put in the bank to make it that way.

Sorry. Can't agree.

tomofhyrule

loosej wrote: »

A simple solution would be for the currency page to just have 2 sections, one for "On Character" currencies and another for "On Account" ones.

Just FYI: It does.


This is default UI.

Treeshka

I hope they turn those Arena Proof things to a currency so they stop taking inventory space.

Amottica

TaSheen wrote: »

I just don't see the problem here. Literally, I know what's account available, and what I need to put in the bank to make it that way.

Sorry. Can't agree.

Exactly. At best it is a minor inconvenience.

SilverBride

It's more than a minor inconvenience if we want to use some writ vouchers, for example but have to log on all our characters one by one to put these in the bank so they can be picked up by the one that is going to use them.

There is no good reason these can't just go directly to the bank so they are readily accessible to all our characters, especially since they aren't character bound and some other currencies already work this way.

Bobargus

All of them.

TaSheen

SilverBride wrote: »

It's more than a minor inconvenience if we want to use some writ vouchers, for example but have to log on all our characters one but one to put these in the bank so they can be picked up by the one that is going to use them.

There is no good reason these can't just go directly to the bank so they are readily accessible to all our characters, especially since they aren't character bound and some other currencies already work this way.

Um. The only characters I have who do writs for vouchers are my mains. When one of my alts needs something (furnishing, research scrolls etc) my mains pick up whatever it is from Rolis or whats-her-name, and puts them in the bank for the alt.

Takes less than 5 minutes including porting to Deshaan, and 2 login/logout cycles.

SilverBride

TaSheen wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

It's more than a minor inconvenience if we want to use some writ vouchers, for example but have to log on all our characters one but one to put these in the bank so they can be picked up by the one that is going to use them.

There is no good reason these can't just go directly to the bank so they are readily accessible to all our characters, especially since they aren't character bound and some other currencies already work this way.

Um. The only characters I have who do writs for vouchers are my mains.

Not everyone plays that way. I like to do master writs on all my characters for the achievements and for the convenience of not having to pass these back and forth to just one character.

There is really no reason not to have these go directly to the bank since they aren't character bound and other currencies already do this.

Erickson9610

TaSheen wrote: »

Um. The only characters I have who do writs for vouchers are my mains. When one of my alts needs something (furnishing, research scrolls etc) my mains pick up whatever it is from Rolis or whats-her-name, and puts them in the bank for the alt.

Takes less than 5 minutes including porting to Deshaan, and 2 login/logout cycles.

It would save you under 5 minutes if you didn't need to do this in the first place. That would be a tangible quality of life feature.

I understand that this quality of life feature is much smaller than something like curated item set drops (especially in regards to the amount of time saved) but if given the option between having this feature or not having this feature, why not opt to make things a little easier?

I can't imagine people would refuse curated item set drops because it saves so much time, so why is it that this small quality of life suggestion is so controversial?

Necrotech_Master

i think most currency as is to be fine, the only one i would say that doesnt make a lot of sense is writ vouchers

writ vouchers should probably be account wide

loosej

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Just FYI: It does.

Lol I had no idea that was there, thanks for pointing it out!

BigMakatak

Erickson9610 wrote:

Which Currencies Should be Bankable?

All of them.

jtm1018

All currencies should be bankable.
There should be no daily cool down when trying to earn those currencies.
Everything, anywhere, anytime.

Erickson9610

I wanted to mention that now Key Fragments have become a currency, and they're non-bankable. I really do think Writ Vouchers and Alliance Points should work the same way, since the only currencies which can be lost (Gold and Tel Var) have a reason to be banked.

ZOS_Icy

Greetings,

We have closed this topic as it was originally created in November 2023. In many cases, it's better to create a new thread on a topic that you want to discuss as opposed to bumping one that is rather old.

Thank you for your understanding.