Empty guild traders - 7/16/17

NinthPrince64 · July 2017

A listing of guild traders that had no items for sale after winning bids on 7/16/17. I've only been to two places post auction, Alik'r and Rivenspire.

PS4 NA:
Uuwarion in Sentinel - still empty
Frenidela in Shornhelm - now occupied by a guild different than the one that won the bid.

JUGSoMILK · July 2017

What is this @NinthPrince64 ?

idk · July 2017

NinthPrince64 wrote: »

A listing of guild traders that had no items for sale after winning bids on 7/16/17. I've only been to two places post auction, Alik'r and Rivenspire.

PS4 NA:
Uuwarion in Sentinel - still empty
Frenidela in Shornhelm - now occupied by a guild different than the one that won the bid.

An empty trader an also be a small guild that has not stocked their store because they normally do not have one.

Bonzodog01 · July 2017

No, these were holding spots for larger guilds to use in case back-up was needed. Expect the sentinel one to change hands in the next few hours.

Saturnana · July 2017

As much as I'd love to 'out' shadow guilds - or anyone exploiting / taking advantage of in-game mechanics, for that matter - naming and shaming is not allowed on the forums.

NinthPrince64 · July 2017

lnsane wrote: »

As much as I'd love to 'out' shadow guilds - or anyone exploiting / taking advantage of in-game mechanics, for that matter - naming and shaming is not allowed on the forums.

I don't think I either named or shamed. This is really just an empirical exercise to provide data. Admittedly, the data at this point is purely anecdotal, but maybe it can be fleshed out further now, or expanded in the future?

I am essentially agnostic w.r.t. the appropriateness of conduct that is alleged to be associated with empty guild traders whose ownership subsequently changes. I can understand both sides of the situation.

For me, it is really just trying to get a sense for the phenomenon and how pervasive it may, or may not be. I am not judging the behavior to be shameful. (In fact, to the extent that it is deemed okay by Zenimax, you could say it is evidence of a guild's commitment to their members.)

GreenhaloX · July 2017

What's up, NinthPrince.. Oh yeah, there are other dummy guilds showing elsewhere and constantly popping up every week. I'm not really for it, but I guess I can give a bit of kudos for people's ingenuity to think outside the box. Every new guild popping up seemingly every 5 minutes or so, and with "alliance" guilds taking over/control territories in the bigger market areas, I guess you can't blame those that does this dummy guild thing in order to secure a spot for a guild. However, yes it is seemingly unfair to other guilds that are trying to play by the rules (whatever that is or if there really are.) Also, when a dummy guild(s) is/are occupying a spot for the entire week; yes, that is quite messed up.

Saturnana · July 2017

NinthPrince64 wrote: »

lnsane wrote: »

As much as I'd love to 'out' shadow guilds - or anyone exploiting / taking advantage of in-game mechanics, for that matter - naming and shaming is not allowed on the forums.

I don't think I either named or shamed. This is really just an empirical exercise to provide data. Admittedly, the data at this point is purely anecdotal, but maybe it can be fleshed out further now, or expanded in the future?

I am essentially agnostic w.r.t. the appropriateness of conduct that is alleged to be associated with empty guild traders whose ownership subsequently changes. I can understand both sides of the situation.

For me, it is really just trying to get a sense for the phenomenon and how pervasive it may, or may not be. I am not judging the behavior to be shameful. (In fact, to the extent that it is deemed okay by Zenimax, you could say it is evidence of a guild's commitment to their members.)

I understand your approach, and agree that it's interesting data regardless of context. But listing guild traders with platform + area makes it awfully easy for anyone to log into the game and check out for themselves who these guilds are. I don't particularly agree with shadow guild practices (I understand some arguments can be made for them as well), but this could invite people to harass them in-game. A lot of people have very strong opinions of what they believe is, as GreenHaloX put it, a "quite messed up" situation. If this is just about the data, then I suggest not logging the particular trader's name publicly (and if the practices of these guilds bother you, you could always report them to ZOS without mentioning them here).