Official response on hidden guild bank items

Saturnana

The problem PC users are running into ever since CWC and update 16 were released on the 23rd of October (and which apparently has always worked this way on consoles?) is that viewing items in the guild bank is now tied to item withdrawal rights of said bank. (To clarify, viewing guild bank items does not have its own toggle like viewing guild bank gold. It is tied to the withdraw items toggle that can be set for individual guild ranks). Viewing the bank of a guild where you do not have item withdrawal rights, now shows this message instead of the guild bank contents:



After several threads had been created over the past few weeks, none of which got a response from ZOS, my curiosity got the better of me and I created a ticket to see if I could get some explanation on the matter. Mostly because this was not mentioned anywhere in any official sources - forums, news, patch notes or otherwise - nor did the guilds themselves seem to know what was up. The answer I got was as follows:

Hello!

Thanks for getting back to us. My name is Brad and I'll be continuing to assist you today!

I'm very sorry for the previous confusion with language in the process to submit feedback. This is indeed working as intended. The Guild Bank viewing and withdraw privileges are now linked on PC in addition to console as of Update 16 (Clockwork City). I apologize, this is not stated in the Clockwork City patch notes, though we encourage you to submit a /feedback report in game, or to write feedback on the Official Elder Scrolls Online Forums .

If you have any questions or concerns in the future, please don't hesitate to open a new ticket. Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Warm Regards,
Brad
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

So ZOS' official stance is that this is in fact intended, though the change was not communicated to the player-base, and that everyone who'd like to see this change reverted (or has another workable solution to suggest) should either submit a feedback report in-game or post here on the forums. So, at least now we know. Not a bug, but a feature. Can't say that I agree with this change (nor the way it was swept under the rug) but the only thing anyone can do at this stage is to submit the feedback as suggested.

So @ZOS_GinaBruno, @ZOS_JessicaFolsom, @ZOS_RichLambert, please consider this my feedback on the new guild bank feature. Not a fan. At all. While I'm not specifically impacted by this as I generally don't request items from guild banks I cannot withdraw from myself, asking an officer to withdraw something for you is in fact common practice in a lot of guilds. I can imagine that this change will give guild officers throughout Tamriel a lot of extra work in helping out their members (since the other option, just giving everyone withdrawal rights, has proven to be risky at best). Not to mention any guild's wish to offer some transparency has been completely thrown out the window.

I'm very interested to hear whether this was implemented to solve some issue GMs were having, for instance? (Not a GM myself so I wouldn't know..) Was there a specific reason? And if the change was only made to implement the same feature for PC as for consoles, why not just give consoles viewing rights as well?

Kel

How can you ask for something you need from the guild bank if you don't know it's in there?
I get not having guild permission to just withdraw. Players have been know to just empty banks on a whim selfishly...but if you need red meat, let's say, how can you see if the guild bank has any to begin with?
I'd rather bug my guild leader if I know something is in there. Now I have to waste his time as well as mine asking for a mystery. Or worse, what if it is in there and they still say it isn't?
This is one confusing change...

feyii

I agree, it is confusing and makes things more difficult. In one of the guilds I'm in, only the guild leads have withdrawal right, but before the patch everyone was allowed (and is still supposed to be) to look what items are in there and could just ask if they needed something from the bank. Now nobody but the guild leads are able to see what is in there and would have to check for everything themselves, if a requested item was deposited at all.
Same problem for people who just want to deposit something that they know others might need. They can't see if it is needed or how much, or if the bank is already flooded with it.

So, in my opinion, tying item viewing rights to item withdrawal rights in a guild bank doesn't make much sense. If there actually is the need to hide the bank contents from certain member ranks, it would be better to make this a separate toggle.

Saturnana

feyii wrote: »

So, in my opinion, tying item viewing rights to item withdrawal rights in a guild bank doesn't make much sense. If there actually is the need to hide the bank contents from certain member ranks, it would be better to make this a separate toggle.

That would be the best solution, probably! Just give it its own toggle, like guild bank gold has. And considering the view option was already separate from withdrawing (as anyone could view before CWC, regardless of whether they could withdraw) it should be technically possible - and probably not even that difficult - to separate the two again.

radiostar

I guess it's Z catering to trade guilds. But since I can't see the bank items even though I can't remove them, there's no reason for me to be in the guild any longer. I'm dropping my guilds, it's not worth it for 30 sell slots

sylviermoone

As a trade guild leader that has spoken directly with devs on this topic, I can say that I believe Brad is wrong and this is not, in fact, intended.

My guild uses the guild bank mostly to store prize items and odd pieces of gear that get mailed in. I like for my members to be able to see what's in the guild bank so that they know exactly where we stand on needed items.

What I WOULD like to see is all members to view bank contents and ALL members to be able to see THEIR gold deposits in the bank, regardless of bank gold viewing rights. The only thing that needs to toggle off is the *actual* bank balance.

Saturnana

sylviermoone wrote: »

As a trade guild leader that has spoken directly with devs on this topic, I can say that I believe Brad is wrong and this is not, in fact, intended.

That is.. mildly confusing. But hopeful, if true.
Still finding it hard to believe that the change was intentional, so if the feedback you've gotten from devs is that it's not, then maybe it's time for our reigning queens @ZOS_GinaBruno and @ZOS_JessicaFolsom to have a final say in the matter? Would love to have things cleared up.