Do People Actually Pay Guild Dues?

Kwoung · January 2021

I run a PCNA guild and yes, we require very small "dues". Our requirements are somewhere in the 1k a week range, which you can meet with a raffle entry, participating in one harvest party a month, making donations of stuff we use for prizes and other things... or by simply generating 1k in sales tax for the guild (about 29k in sales). We do not have awesome trader spots, but we get into decent ones and have kept a trader for close to a year now. In that time we have also managed to add every set crafting station (including Markharth), a transmute station, clothing stations, vampire goodies, many target dummy areas (trial included), and all the mundus stones to our guild hall for all our members to use.

Everyone has worked very hard together to make these things happen and we are proud of what we have accomplished working together.

So why have dues? Our members do not need to travel the world or PVP in order to craft master writs, make gear, change mundus buffs or practice their rotations, they simply pop by the hall where most everything they need exists. They also feel much more like they are a part of something, and not just in another guild to fill out or join groups from.

merevie · January 2021

Both my current trade guilds are in excellent spots and are free. They have never not had traders and do not beg for money. In return, people totally back raffles and donation drives, and of course, buy own guild first. Both guilds have reasonable pricing so that's doable. Neither guild has a 'you must sell this much or we will throw you out' rule either. I can't keep up with posting things for sale as fast as they go out the door.

This suits me because when I have a few hundred k of writs sitting in my bank (no way I'm paying to do legendary writs lolz) I can pass them to guild, but I don't have to remember to keep giving them cash each week.

With TTC, the 'best spots. are not necessary like they were. You will turn up to a DLC thieves dungeon trader and find a 300k shield listed 5mins ago already gone. At the same time, it's harder to move less in demand items.

At present there are so many new players and the stickerbook mania that you could sell your grandmother's shoe so it's not worth paying for a spot in an expensive guild. That'll wear off post-Covid and sales will dry up.

A word of warning though -I was in two guilds where the GMs started charging 50k a week. Deputy leader quietly informed other people where that money was going -and it was not the guild trader or guild prizes. They kicked within hours of them not getting their money and had no loyalty to any player, no matter how many years they'd been in guild or how they'd helped out.

Currently, one of those guilds is listing columbine for 800-2k each. Just trash people. So be careful.

Cirantille · January 2021

I donate voluntarily

I mean I appreciate my trader guild because they secure great spots + compared to all the profit I get, it is a small token

Thanks to like minded individuals we get the best spots in months

Vanya · January 2021

Nay, Independence and Freedom, I have my own Guild with myself inside lmao to pay guild fees , True Nord would never do that.

GreenhaloX · January 2021

Well.. freeloaders aren't really a welcome thing anywhere, you know

.

Anotherone773 · January 2021

Kwoung wrote: »

I run a PCNA guild and yes, we require very small "dues". Our requirements are somewhere in the 1k a week range, which you can meet with a raffle entry, participating in one harvest party a month, making donations of stuff we use for prizes and other things... or by simply generating 1k in sales tax for the guild (about 29k in sales). We do not have awesome trader spots, but we get into decent ones and have kept a trader for close to a year now. In that time we have also managed to add every set crafting station (including Markharth), a transmute station, clothing stations, vampire goodies, many target dummy areas (trial included), and all the mundus stones to our guild hall for all our members to use.

Everyone has worked very hard together to make these things happen and we are proud of what we have accomplished working together.

So why have dues? Our members do not need to travel the world or PVP in order to craft master writs, make gear, change mundus buffs or practice their rotations, they simply pop by the hall where most everything they need exists. They also feel much more like they are a part of something, and not just in another guild to fill out or join groups from.

This explains some of the services that many trade guilds provide besides just having a trader. The time saved to use a "guild hall" will be a big plus to a lot of people. Especially people who are on lower end systems that take forever to load into zones. If you do a lot of master writs, this could save you hours of play time a month alone.

Reverb · January 2021

It depends on the platform. On PC trade guild “dues” are most commonly met with minimum sales minimums. Anyone who doesn’t meet the mins has to supplement with donations or raffle entries. This is to ensure that everyone contributes their share towards the trader bid costs.

It’s easy enough because there are addons that report on everyone’s sales and taxes collected for the bank, and to extract bank deposits.

Console is lacking guild management tools, and many (most?) trade guilds on those platforms have flat rate dues instead. And yes, people pay that to be in a guild in a good location.

PrimusNephilim · January 2021

No, I belong to guilds who ask for donations and my guild is strictly donation only.

Odovacar · January 2021

Yes they do or with at least paid Guild Traders that have consistent locations in Mournhold/Eldenroot. My last trader guild (who just stepped back from it altogether; now we're a social guild

) would remove anyone by Sunday who hadn't paid (15k per week).

Some more laid back guilds that require dues may be more lax if a payment is missed or two but I'm sure over time once the GM or officers go through the active dues-paid players you'll get the boot. No dues to me means ofc everything is donations based so there's a lot of raffles and ranking up within usually means the more your pay in the better "in" you have. It really depends on whos the GM though.

PrimusNephilim · January 2021

nukk3r wrote: »

People who want to keep their trader at the best spot. It is impossible to bid for traders with tax gold even with hundreds of millions made in sales.

and those selling in high traffic areas are usually more expensive, I'll take the time to visit the other traders and I always walk away with a good deal. You also have to wait for certain times, because those low selling traders get bought out by those high dollar traders, I've seen them, they'll visit those low dollar traders and scooped up that low dollar loot so as to keep their inflated prices up.

Chrysa1is · January 2021

Absolutely! 10k a day to get carried easily through vet dungeons and trials. You don't even have to try hard. Not saying the guild name though.

phileunderx2 · January 2021

On console you have to pay to be in a guild with trader in a capital city.
Pc it varies.. I'm in 3 trading guilds and pay no dues in any of them.

Kwoung · January 2021

phileunderx2 wrote: »

On console you have to pay to be in a guild with trader in a capital city.
Pc it varies.. I'm in 3 trading guilds and pay no dues in any of them.

I guess that depends on the definition of "dues". In my case/guild it means some sort of participation to support the guild, like actually USE our guild trader we pay millions a week for. The members we remove first are those that haven't logged in for a while, but after that the folks who have no trouble asking in guild chat for people to fill out their groups/trials and never once supported the guild in any way shape or form, they go next.

Gotta love when people feel they are "entitled" to use all the guild services and PUG recruit in our guild chat... without ever lifting a finger to help our little community. Someone said it above, no one likes a freeloader... IRL or in games.

mickeyx · January 2021

The game gives you option to join 5 guilds. Its funny when certain guild leaders feel you have to be only loyal to them. 🙄

Just find a casual guild which doesn't expect you to treat the game like a job. I am sure there are plenty

SeaGtGruff · January 2021

merevie wrote: »

A word of warning though -I was in two guilds where the GMs started charging 50k a week. Deputy leader quietly informed other people where that money was going -and it was not the guild trader or guild prizes.

Let me guess-- so the GM could buy crowns for gold? maybe even turn around and sell those crowns for IRL money?

50,000 gold x 500 members = 25,000,000 gold a week(!)

If even just 10% of that were going into the GM's personal bank for his or her personal use, that's a lot of gold.

I can possibly see using guild dues to pay guild officers if they're performing regular time-intensive chores for the guild, such as regularly going through the guild bank to withdraw, stack, and redeposit stackable items; or going through the history tabs to update spreadsheets of which members deposited or withdrew what; or keeping track of who bought and sold what in the guild store and for how much; or anything else that's essentially a "regular job."

I can even see using guild dues to pay members who organize guild events, whether they're just a one-off scheduled event (in contrast to something like a spur-of-the-moment request for a random dungeon group) or an activity that's repeated weekly.

As for how much gold these types of things are worth-- I guess that's not for me to decide.

But I'd like to point out that whenever I deposit my spare recipes, blueprints, motifs, etc. into the bank account of one of the guilds I belong to, I always look through the items in the bank to see which ones can be stacked; then I withdraw those items, stack them, and redeposit them, without having been asked to, without getting paid for it, and without holding an "officer" rank in the guild. And guild members are always trying to recruit other members to form a group to do dungeon runs, world boss runs, join them for a few hours of fishing, give them a free ride to some zone or specific wayshrine, craft them some item for research purposes, etc., all without being paid by the guild to do so or offering to pay other guild members to do so (except maybe in the case of crafting an item with an expensive trait).

In other words, while it might be true that "time is money," and that different people put different valuations on their time, it's also true that there are almost always people who are willing to donate some of their time for free.

spartaxoxo · January 2021

Kwoung wrote: »

phileunderx2 wrote: »

On console you have to pay to be in a guild with trader in a capital city.
Pc it varies.. I'm in 3 trading guilds and pay no dues in any of them.

I guess that depends on the definition of "dues". In my case/guild it means some sort of participation to support the guild, like actually USE our guild trader we pay millions a week for. The members we remove first are those that haven't logged in for a while, but after that the folks who have no trouble asking in guild chat for people to fill out their groups/trials and never once supported the guild in any way shape or form, they go next.

Gotta love when people feel they are "entitled" to use all the guild services and PUG recruit in our guild chat... without ever lifting a finger to help our little community. Someone said it above, no one likes a freeloader... IRL or in games.

I always leave when I see those second kind of kicks in my free guilds, even though I always donate and support. Because I just like guilds that follow their advertising. If it's supposed to be free, then people shouldn't be punished for not giving anything. If dues are required, just say that upfront and how much you need and let everyone pay it. That's just my philosophy though

barney2525 · January 2021

Akisohida wrote: »

What does a Guild Trader do, anyways? How does that benefit the guild folks?
Can anyone give it stuff to sell?

Its ESO's answer to the Auction House. The only way to sell something to other people, without using a guild trader, is to shout in Chat. Being able to list an item and wait for someone who is Looking for that item to come by, is more productive than the limited responses you might get from players who just happen to be online at the moment you send out your WTS Chat.

And you must be part of the guild if you wish to use the Guild trader.

Lysette · January 2021

I actually prefer to be in trading guilds, where I can pay a weekly fee and trade if I like to, but are not bothered having to trade, if I don't want to, have nothing to sell or just have no time to play. I can contribute nevertheless to those guilds by paying dues and buying from "our" guild stores (I prefer to buy from fellow members rather than getting the cheapest offer available).

This way I have the freedom to trade, if I want to, but I'm not forced to do anything more than paying those dues. I don't have to be frequently online, I'm not forced to participate in guild events - nothing like that, I'm paying my dues and that's it. We have really good traders as well thanks to the skilled management of our guilds - friendly, competent and a pleasure to have.

So this is what I'm getting for a small weekly fee.

Lysette · January 2021

Chrysa1is wrote: »

Absolutely! 10k a day to get carried easily through vet dungeons and trials. You don't even have to try hard. Not saying the guild name though.

I will never understand people like this - why do they even want to play at all, if they just cheat their way up?- They basically miss out on all the good things in the game - and get what in return?- a bunch of numbers, because that is all it is in the end.

Grianasteri · January 2021

When I played pretty much every day, for hours at a time, and I was playing an active and involved role in my guilds, absolutely I paid into the guild bank every week for each guild.

Now, with kids, work, life, other games... I am less inclined to do so. I pop some cash in occasionally, its not a conscious decision not to pay dues (these are not compulsory in my guilds), but simply through lack of play time and engagement, its just not a priority.

I would also add, my decreased ESO engagement has also coincided with the senior management of a few guilds I am in, also becoming less engaged in ESO and certainly less engaged in running of the guilds. So, as I have commented elsewhere, the guilds are on a slow decline with not much happening and if I happen to pass a bank am I thinking yeah I must pay my dues for this awesome, helpful guild... no, not anymore.

As a guild leader you cant expect guild dues unless you are actually running an active, positive guild. Thats just the harsh reality. Nor can you turn up occasionally to run some content or a guild activity, and magically expect guilidies to jump on board when theyve not seen you for weeks. #rantover

wolfbone · January 2021

Akisohida wrote: »

Since this game launched, and my time playing off and on, I always see Guilds recruiting with the line 'No Guild Dues!'

Who would pay their own in-game gold to be in someone else's guild? Eps. when there's hoards of free, friendly guilds around.

I saw a guild on ps4 eu that demanded a weekly fee of 10k. they had 420 members. turns out they didnt even actually do anything so I think it was more of a scam for someone to make gold off of people

Tsar_Gekkou · January 2021

If you want to be in a good area, you have to pay for the real estate.

Danikat · January 2021

On PC EU the only guilds I know of charging a fee are trade guilds, and then it's as an alternative to the sales quota. So the idea is you have to contribute towards the weekly cost of the guild trader and normally you'll do that by selling enough stuff that the tax will cover your contribution, but if you have a bad week for sales or you're not online much or whatever you can pay the remainder (or the full amount) directly so next week they're still able to afford a good trader for you to sell your stuff through.

If you don't want to be in one of those guilds there's plenty of others who don't charge anything, including some who sometimes/usually have traders, but it's not guaranteed they'll always be able to afford one.

I've also been in non-trade guilds who sometimes ask for donations towards something like a guild hall or crafting stations or whatever, but then it's optional - you only have to donate if you want the thing they're raising money for. It's also very clear if they're being honest or not because they'll say in advance how much it costs and it will be obvious to everyone if they didn't spend the money on that thing because the guild won't have it.

If I was ever in a guild who started charging a fee for no apparent reason, or asking for donations without saying what it's for, or if I suspected the leader was skimming money out of that for their own benefit I'd leave, but so far that hasn't happened in ESO.

xilfxlegion · January 2021

I am in nine trading guilds --- only one is free. i dont sell too much out of it but it is a social guild also which makes up for it.

my paid guilds are in elden root and mournhold --- and i make a ton of money on all of them. so while some people complain about paying 20k a week for a prime spot --- i sell a few million a week out of them -- well worth the cost.

Inaya · January 2021

I make my sales quota every week and STILL donate 50k or 100k. Taxes are not enough to maintain a trader in a solid high traffic location and I like the way both of the guilds are run.

Scardan · January 2021

Akisohida wrote: »

Since this game launched, and my time playing off and on, I always see Guilds recruiting with the line 'No Guild Dues!'

Who would pay their own in-game gold to be in someone else's guild?

Somebody like me, who benefits from access to a guild merchant.

BXR_Lonestar · January 2021

Akisohida wrote: »

Since this game launched, and my time playing off and on, I always see Guilds recruiting with the line 'No Guild Dues!'

Who would pay their own in-game gold to be in someone else's guild? Eps. when there's hoards of free, friendly guilds around.

I'm in 2 trading guilds and I pay dues to them totaling 18K a week. Its worth it because I usually make 75-100k in sales every week, even on a slow week. If I have nothing to sell, I craft pieces of furniture and list them and make money that way.

If your on sporadically, it may not be worthwhile for you to join a guild where you have to pay dues (Because if you aren't online for periods of time, you will get kicked). But if you are on regularly (at least a few times a week) and you have a crafter character, its worth it. BTW, EVERYONE should now have a crafter character with the new stickerbook collection system because it makes it easier for you to reconstitute and upgrade the sets you've obtained for your collection.

SeaGtGruff · January 2021

barney2525 wrote: »

Akisohida wrote: »

What does a Guild Trader do, anyways? How does that benefit the guild folks?
Can anyone give it stuff to sell?

Its ESO's answer to the Auction House. The only way to sell something to other people, without using a guild trader, is to shout in Chat. Being able to list an item and wait for someone who is Looking for that item to come by, is more productive than the limited responses you might get from players who just happen to be online at the moment you send out your WTS Chat.

And you must be part of the guild if you wish to use the Guild trader.

Just two clarifications, which may seem obvious but that I've seen newbies ask about, so apparently they aren't obvious:

(1) "The only way to sell something to other people, without using a guild trader, is to shout in Chat." This should read "without using a guild store," not "trader." Even if a guild doesn't have a trader for some reason-- not enough money to bid on one, making a bid on one but not winning it, or just choosing not to be forever raising money and pumping it into weekly bids on traders-- players can still use the guild's store to buy and sell items with their fellow guild members-- assuming the guild has enough members to "unlock" the guild store feature. The downside is that non-members can't buy anything from the guild store, so you're selling to a smaller number of potential buyers. If the guild bids on and wins a trader, everything listed for sale in the guild's store becomes available for non-members to purchase through that trader, which vastly increases your chances of actually selling the items you've listed for sale. Nevertheless, even without a guild trader you might still be able to sell your items through the guild store if there are enough active members who regularly buy from the guild store.

(2) "And you must be part of the guild if you wish to use the Guild trader." This should read "if you wish to sell through the Guild trader." Non-members can still "use" any guild trader as far as buying from it, but only the members of a guild can sell through that guild's store, and hence through that guild's trader. As strange as it may seem, there are some newbies who don't realize they can buy from a guild trader even if they aren't in that guild.

I would add that you must use the "search" feature to see the items that are for sale in the guild store or guild trader. I've seen newbies make comments such as "WTF?!? The only thing for sale in the guild store is the guild tabard?!?" I even saw a player leave a guild immediately after posting that, before I could post a response explaining how to see everything listed for sale. When I saw the message that "So-and-so left the guild" pop up, I thought about whispering to them to explain it, but I figured they would find out soon enough when they joined another guild and complained that it, too, had nothing for sale but a tabard.

Lysette wrote: »

Chrysa1is wrote: »

Absolutely! 10k a day to get carried easily through vet dungeons and trials. You don't even have to try hard. Not saying the guild name though.

I will never understand people like this - why do they even want to play at all, if they just cheat their way up?- They basically miss out on all the good things in the game - and get what in return?- a bunch of numbers, because that is all it is in the end.

While I agree that it's better to play your way through content than to simply be carried through it, some players might not be able to see and experience certain content at all unless they're part of a group and are essentially being "carried." Hopefully they're contributing something to the group, but I suppose it's better to be "carried" up front by agreement than to have other members of the group making toxic comments about how you aren't pulling your weight. There's a huge amount of content that I haven't experienced yet and which, to be honest, I don't particularly care whether I ever do. And if I did want to experience it, I'd certainly prefer to actively contribute to the group's efforts in whatever way I could than to simply be carried. But to each their own, I guess. And the OP said "You don't even have to try hard," not "try at all," so hopefully they are still being encouraged to make some effort. But "10k a day"-- is that a typo? 70k a week? 490k 3,640k a year? That's a lot of gold to pay just to be in the guild, even if it means you'll be carried through the game's most difficult content. Edit: Believe it or not, I can do math in my head; I'm just not very good at it!

xilfxlegion · January 2021

PrimusNephilim wrote: »

nukk3r wrote: »

People who want to keep their trader at the best spot. It is impossible to bid for traders with tax gold even with hundreds of millions made in sales.

and those selling in high traffic areas are usually more expensive, I'll take the time to visit the other traders and I always walk away with a good deal. You also have to wait for certain times, because those low selling traders get bought out by those high dollar traders, I've seen them, they'll visit those low dollar traders and scooped up that low dollar loot so as to keep their inflated prices up.

i farm other traders for good deals --- what is an inflated price ? if the price is too high it simply doesnt sell.

SeaGtGruff · January 2021

Unfortunately, high-priced items do sell. They might not sell as quickly as bargain-priced items, but it seems like they do sell eventually. And that helps keep the asking prices high, because players see that somebody was willing to pay an outrageous price for something, so they keep asking for outrageous prices when they're listing things for sale.

But this thread isn't that thread.