Another Well Known Trading Guild Basically bites the Dust

ElderSmitter

One of my All-Time Favorite Guilds Ankle Biters has put out a notice they are ceasing all Top Tier Raffles and giving up our Spot in Deshaan after Years of being a Staple to Local Buyers. The guild is not going out yet but will no longer Bid on Premium Spots. I was sad to see this upon logging in and checking my mail. Revenue has plummeted for the guild after the Changes made by Zos and the crumbling economy. Sad....

Orbital78

Hopefully bids drop in price as fast as sale values and crowns.

LaintalAy

edited

manatlarge

If a Mournhold guild was doing over a billion gold in sales and bidding 150 million for the kiosk and sales are now 400 million gold, the bids need to come down to match that or the guild will go broke sooner or later.

I have no doubt bids are already down, especially in the really expensive cities. It's always been high pressure in those locations, there's no shame in stepping down.

Bradyfjord

I only shop at the major cities with several traders. A lone trader in the middle of nowhere isn't worth my game time. It's just like monopoly money in the end.

SeaGtGruff

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

I also think that more "specific" or "specialized" trading guilds would be a good idea-- for instance, sellers who specialize in crafting mats, or furnishings, or potions, or crafting motifs, etc. It seems like most guilds try to be "your one-stop shopping destination" by carrying everything imaginable, but then you just have a lot of competition from everyone else. Not that having competition between sellers is bad, but I think having some more highly-specialized sellers might be a good thing.

ElderSmitter

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

That is incorrect... Craglorn is popular because Trial groups form there more than any other place. Stormhaven is popular because many PVP players practice there and the undaunted r there. Same for Deshaan and Grahtwood. There is 100% better spots then some others. Loyalty does not exist.

LaintalAy

edited

fall0athboy

ElderSmitter wrote: »

One of my All-Time Favorite Guilds Ankle Biters has put out a notice they are ceasing all Top Tier Raffles and giving up our Spot in Deshaan after Years of being a Staple to Local Buyers. The guild is not going out yet but will no longer Bid on Premium Spots. I was sad to see this upon logging in and checking my mail. Revenue has plummeted for the guild after the Changes made by Zos and the crumbling economy. Sad....

Okay, specifically what changes has ZOS made to "crumble the economy" and specifically how would you "save it"?

ElderSmitter

I am not offended. Just replying to your post and sharing my opinion. The fact you even state that Craglorn is not as popular as it used to be basically stamps the truth into my post. Certain places generate much more business. Many players buy being in a hurry have tons of gold and don't care to run around looking for cheap mats before a trial or dungeon for instance. Or while doing PVP there is a fire at the Undaunted in Stormhaven where people make potions really quick after buying mats of a vendor there.

ElderSmitter

fall0athboy wrote: »

ElderSmitter wrote: »

One of my All-Time Favorite Guilds Ankle Biters has put out a notice they are ceasing all Top Tier Raffles and giving up our Spot in Deshaan after Years of being a Staple to Local Buyers. The guild is not going out yet but will no longer Bid on Premium Spots. I was sad to see this upon logging in and checking my mail. Revenue has plummeted for the guild after the Changes made by Zos and the crumbling economy. Sad....

Okay, specifically what changes has ZOS made to "crumble the economy" and specifically how would you "save it"?

You do not know the changes? Read up then please. Many changes have taken place causing the economy to weaken... I am not complaining i have plenty of gold. It is just sad to see this taking place. there is another thread with tons of pages you can read up on it... I do not think there is a decline in players. I see folks everywhere. Best of luck.

Djennku

The economy is fine. Remember that Scribing recently came out and everyone and their mother is farming the heck out of everything for inks, so prices on mats (which a large many players specialize in making their money) are going to drop accordingly. Also, the PC server prices (NA especially), have been rising so much over the years with no real drops that its become very expensive to buy even basic things.


With the prices dropping, yes you are making less than you are used to, but everything just became much, much more affordable, especially to players that do not play the market, and do not have millions of gold in reserve.

In reality, this is much, much healthier for the game's economy and lifespan.

Stafford197

Honestly, the reason is not the listing duration changes. It is in part but not wholly.

People are losing interest very quickly in Gold Road and as a result the game itself this year. ESO feels neglected. There is such a long list of issues this year from terrible failures during the Anniversary and Transmute Events, the Environmental changes, and the Gold Road mini-Chapter. Constant boss immunity phases, a half-baked zone full of locked doors, and a much worse-Spellcraft system which was set up to be barely usable until months later.

On console we don’t deal with the inflation that PC has, but I can tell you that my trade guild is also struggling. I guess in part because I, like many others, really have lost interest

IMO, these economy changes would have happened regardless. The trade update only sped it up - one more bad change added to the long list of mistakes this year.

Amottica

Managing a trading guild at the top level takes a lot of effort and is not easy to hand over to someone else and have the guild continue to thrive as most are unwilling to put in the effort required or do not understand what is expected.

quinancia

Location does matter. I am in three trade guilds. One with a great location, one with a good location, and one with a bad location. I list the same items (mats) at the same prices in all three. Literally. The same items, quantities, and prices. The difference in sales between all three is dramatic.

And yes. The economy is unstable right now.

Just_Attivi

Location very much is important. Sure, many veteran players run addons or use the TTC website to find good deals, but many players (and likely the vast majority of new players) simply go to an area with many traders and browse. to me, who has dumb amounts of money in game now, I just shop the 5 traders in reapers march for easily 95% of my purchases (mostly Mats, consumables, common stuff I dont care to farm out anymore)- theyre not usually 'the best' prices, but theyre competitive enough that I dont mind paying for convenience. porting around to a dozen towns only to find the 'deal' i wanted is already gone and then going back to a major town and just buying it from one of those traders instead and realizing ive only wasted time and spent the same gold gets tiresome.

For specialty purchases, I will still TTC shop around, be it something rare or just silly expensive, simply because it is likely something not listed at every trader.

for me, at this point in the life cycle of the game and me as a player, I value the time saved more than the gold. Majority of people I play with (mostly PVP'ers) are like minded and just dont care to waste time shopping around. It does suck when a 'less premium' guild takes over a popular trade spot, as their inventory reflects the lack of commitment (and a big kudos to those who enjoy trade hustling in this game, I cant be bothered lol). So, I am sad to hear a good trading guild is tossing in the towel, for whatever the reasons may be.

SkaiFaith

What I'm starting to see is: August is a month for vacations, so many players have taken out of sales all of their items because they would have lost a lot of money since the trading and mail systems have cut their duration. As a result, traders feel empty, even if something is still there.

This kinda discourage me to login.

Jaraal

Stafford197 wrote: »

People are losing interest very quickly in Gold Road and as a result the game itself this year. ESO feels neglected. There is such a long list of issues this year from terrible failures during the Anniversary and Transmute Events, the Environmental changes, and the Gold Road mini-Chapter. Constant boss immunity phases, a half-baked zone full of locked doors, and a much worse-Spellcraft system which was set up to be barely usable until months later.

Agreed. It's not one single thing, it's the continued erosion of the player experience, as well as the never ending quality of life nerfs purported in the name of performance.

fedouva

New guilds replacing old guilds is normal.

kargen27

ElderSmitter wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

That is incorrect... Craglorn is popular because Trial groups form there more than any other place. Stormhaven is popular because many PVP players practice there and the undaunted r there. Same for Deshaan and Grahtwood. There is 100% better spots then some others. Loyalty does not exist.

My trial guild will sometimes get the trader in Morkul Stronghold in Wrothgar and the sales I got there were comparable during the same time period to what I was getting in Wayrest. Only thing the high traffic areas give you over the other spots is you can charge more for the high end goods.

LaintalAy

edited

LaintalAy

edited

alpha_synuclein

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

That's all very naive thinking....

Location matters. Just like in real life, big supermarket close to main road or city center always attract more customers than small grocery store in the suburbs.

Most of us has limited playing time and when time is limited, convenience matters. Traders located next to wayshrines and in activity hubs, whether it will be Craglorn or one of the writ-convenient city, will always get more traffic.

As for the specialization, I think the concept is interesting, but it won't work in ESO.

Most trading guilds have rather small core of reliable traders. Other players come and go. ESOs business model is encouraging for seasonal players that comes back and are active when new chapter/content is introduced and disappear soon after. This is not good for continuity and specialization would require at least some of it.

Every trading guild I have been in had huge rotation of members. And please consider that lots of the guilds that have traders aren't necessarily trading guilds, but just social/casual guilds with a trader.
Enforcing trading with only specific items will work for neither.

alpha_synuclein

kargen27 wrote: »

ElderSmitter wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

That is incorrect... Craglorn is popular because Trial groups form there more than any other place. Stormhaven is popular because many PVP players practice there and the undaunted r there. Same for Deshaan and Grahtwood. There is 100% better spots then some others. Loyalty does not exist.

My trial guild will sometimes get the trader in Morkul Stronghold in Wrothgar and the sales I got there were comparable during the same time period to what I was getting in Wayrest. Only thing the high traffic areas give you over the other spots is you can charge more for the high end goods.

More like you can charge more for big (or convenient) stacks of the most common things. When it comes to rare items it's more probable that your client go to TTC. Or at least that is what I'm seeing with motifs.

fall0athboy

ElderSmitter wrote: »

fall0athboy wrote: »

ElderSmitter wrote: »

One of my All-Time Favorite Guilds Ankle Biters has put out a notice they are ceasing all Top Tier Raffles and giving up our Spot in Deshaan after Years of being a Staple to Local Buyers. The guild is not going out yet but will no longer Bid on Premium Spots. I was sad to see this upon logging in and checking my mail. Revenue has plummeted for the guild after the Changes made by Zos and the crumbling economy. Sad....

Okay, specifically what changes has ZOS made to "crumble the economy" and specifically how would you "save it"?

You do not know the changes? Read up then please. Many changes have taken place causing the economy to weaken... I am not complaining i have plenty of gold. It is just sad to see this taking place. there is another thread with tons of pages you can read up on it... I do not think there is a decline in players. I see folks everywhere. Best of luck.

I do not know the changes. Tell me them, specifically, please.

DigiAngel

Djennku wrote: »

The economy is fine.

It's obviously not....otherwise you wouldn't see the myriad of posts asking/talking about it.

That said, what do people expect? ZOS keeps making changes that the bulk of people don't want...makes sense to me...less people playing, less people buying

runa_gate

perhaps Nonsensical and Inappropriate hyperbole and Capitalization is to Blame?

DenverRalphy

I'm struggling to understand how a guild "bites the dust" because they can't afford to bid on a specific guild kiosk due to the changes enacted by the evil ZoS empire.

There's no set minimum cost for the bid. If another guild can out-bid them for the spot, then why are they too not affected by the market changes that the evil ZoS has implemented? Any changes to the market aren't locking in and targeting the bigger trading guilds. The changes are universal.

I'd sooner blame it simply on the guild members not shifting with market trends to sell what's generating the most revenue. But realistically, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the ruling members of the guild probably just want to retire.

freespirit

I am in two big, one medium and one small trade guild.

I scan all the stores with TTC every day, I've been doing this for a very long time, last summer I saw the number of pages scanned drop, they are down again atm but by more than last summer.

What I am seeing right now, across all of those guilds is about a 20% drop in the number of listings, last year I was commenting to friends because I thought 10% was a high,. The 20% drop equates to between 1500 to 1800 less listings in the big guilds, I think that is a lot!

As someone mentioned above the holiday period plus the shorter listing time has people scared about losing stuff, we've seen people removing all their listings before their holiday, we've also had people actually tell us they are leaving and will re-apply when they are back.

I have always enjoyed ESO's trading system, it is very sad to see much loved guilds starting to suffer, as I have said in another thread the next few weeks will tell how bad this is going to be! 😕

Soarora

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

I also think that more "specific" or "specialized" trading guilds would be a good idea-- for instance, sellers who specialize in crafting mats, or furnishings, or potions, or crafting motifs, etc. It seems like most guilds try to be "your one-stop shopping destination" by carrying everything imaginable, but then you just have a lot of competition from everyone else. Not that having competition between sellers is bad, but I think having some more highly-specialized sellers might be a good thing.

This is not realistic, I don’t have 30 motifs to sell or 30 stacks of materials or 30 furnishing plans. If I’m looking for something specific, I’ll use TTC but otherwise I buy a range of items (PvP gear for my collections, motifs, style pages, furnishing plans…) from Alinor and if I’m really feeling it, Elden Root. I don’t care what the traders are, I care they have goods. Using TTC for every single item is time consuming but also leads you to a spiral of “oh someone bought this already, oh someone bought this already, oh som—“ when if you just go to traders you can find things before they even go up onto TTC.

oldbobdude

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

No spot is 'premium' that's a myth made up to pander to lazy players.
Or those players that misunderstood how much time is needed to play ESO.

'Ankle Biters' will soon discover what percentage of their customers are 'loyal'.

What guilds should could be doing is specialising in range of products so that people remember the name and not the location.

I also think that more "specific" or "specialized" trading guilds would be a good idea-- for instance, sellers who specialize in crafting mats, or furnishings, or potions, or crafting motifs, etc. It seems like most guilds try to be "your one-stop shopping destination" by carrying everything imaginable, but then you just have a lot of competition from everyone else. Not that having competition between sellers is bad, but I think having some more highly-specialized sellers might be a good thing.

Guilds sell what their members put in the guild store to sell. That is a hodgepodge of different stuff. People don’t specialize in what they sell. They sell whatever they’ve found while playing. Are you saying that guilds should restrict what their members put up for sale in order to be “specialized”?