I'm a solo player, so the social aspect of guilds does nothing for me. I join trading guilds only for the GUI interface to sell things and nothing more. If there was a global auction house, I never would join a guild. I only try to be a member of two trading guilds at any given time.

Anyway, there was this one guild who marketed in the beginning on the lines of: "New casual trading guild for casual players. No dues and no sales quotas ever. The only requirement is to use the guild trader." Basically, this guild in its infancy really expressed to everyone who joined that it's a laid back trading guild and nothing is ever expected from members other than to please use the guild trader. I certainly did use the guild trader daily as I was selling things daily, so I did my part.

After a couple weeks of being a member and as membership grew dramatically, the GM began heavily soliciting for donations of all kinds, gold, mats, recipes, you name it. Sound familiar, guys?

The daily spam was always unwelcomed, but I knew it was a necessary evil that GMs of trading guilds must do in ESO. I really wish this game had an auction house instead, but if I was going to sell things to other players, I had to join a trading guild just for the GUI interface and it allows me to sell stuff without ever having to directly interact with other players.

As time went by, the guild's GM eventually failed to win the trader one week. I get it. It can happen. As long as the GM faithfully tries hard to secure the trader and considers this their top priority, I won't mind so much if the trader is lost on rare occasion. But losing the trader had better not be a frequent occurrence if your guild is marketed as a "trading guild."

After losing the trader, the GM really dished out the inbox spam to solicit for donations and would even constantly remind us in guild chat. All the spamming and reminding was a major turn off, but the way the GM originally marketed the guild, I felt that if I started donating gold and stuff, I could help him win the trader consistently. I personally do not care where the trader is, what matters to me the most is that there *is* a guild trader every week. So I voluntarily started donating a few hundred gold and various goods every week.

A couple weeks later, the GM was again unable to win a trader. This time, the GM explained that he was trying for a better spot for the trader but was outbid. After this second fail to win a trader, I didn't think much of it other than I tried to be reasonable and understanding because I realized that operating a trading guild in TESO is very tough, especially when you could be outbid any week.

Then it happened yet again, the very next week, there was no guild trader. As we all know, a trading guild without a guild trader is quite useless. Now comes the part why I finally decided to leave this guild. The GM apologized for there being no guild trader two weeks in a row, but he had some "good news." He announced that the guild now has its very own guild hall with numerous crafting stations! Everyone was welcomed to visit the hall and make themselves at home.

What a slap in my face.

After all the donations I gave to this guild every week, both gold and items, the GM never placed the guild trader as a top priority. Instead, he was more focused on a getting a guild hall. Look, guys, I really don't have a problem with any guild trying to acquire a guild hall and crafting stations over time. I get that it makes a guild feel accomplished. But if you are a trading guild, then as the GM, your number one priority every week should be to secure the guild trader above everything else.

This particular guild is still around today. Nowadays, this guild is no longer a casual trading guild with no dues. The GM now advertises that there is a weekly due and I think a sales quota too.

My lesson learned was to be wary of any guild that advertises at first no dues, no quotas, no requirements, etc. Eventually, the guild may turn on you.

Dominoid wrote: »

Mandatory weekly fees.

yeah, same here!

rfennell_ESO wrote: »

Drama

If I see drama, I either leave the guild or remove them from my main chat tab.

THIS!! I can't stand guild drama. I log on to play and have fun. I don't need to hear your life stories...or how so-and-so player is treating you.

Voxicity wrote: »

Lesson learnt: Play selfishly

This above all. It's a videogame and there's no point playing it if it isn't fun

Trade guilds

Incap

cloak

loading screens

lag

magicka sausage is OP!!

NERF NB'S!!!!!!!!



oh, sorry, wrong discussion. oops.

Trading guilds have purpose (obviously) and it's really sad that social aspect is much better in trade guild if is big and famous than in all those specialized guilds.

So many guilds promise a lot and have nice ads and in reality... disappointment .

And discord this, discord that...

Bullying, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.

Doesn't matter if it's directed at me, I have no time for that ****.

I can live with fees/dues, although prefer trade-minimums if it's for a guild I use a lot. But it's people being ****s I can't stand.

At this point, I'm in 3 guilds, all trading guilds. Two have no dues (with traders in out-of-the-way places) and one has weekly fee (but always a trader in a capital city, mainly Mournhold). The chat in all three is almost nonexistent, but between all three I get my stuff sold so it works out.

I'd probably only leave one if I hit a long dry spell in sales or decide I needed a break for longer than a week.

Inactivity and large weekly fees

Lack of guild activity esp. no guild trader.