The purpose of my forum posts and this survey is to understand how players actually use guild history, pricing data, sales history, exports, and guild-management tools.

I'd like to share something from Malcolm Gladwell that I think is relevant to this discussion.

"The mind knows not what the tongue wants."

And later, discussing customer preferences, he said:

"If I asked all of you, for example, in this room, what you want in a coffee— You know what you'd say? Every one of you would say, 'I want a dark, rich, hearty roast.' ... According to Howard, somewhere between 25 and 27% of you. Most of you like milky, weak coffee. Which you will never, ever say to someone who asks you what you want..."

The point is not that players do not know what they want. Rather, it is that there is often a difference between what people say they want, what they think they use, and how they actually use a system in practice.

Asking only "What features do you want?" is unlikely to provide enough information to understand how guild history is actually being used. The more useful information comes from understanding what data players look at, what data they ignore, what tools they use, and why.

Several responses have already highlighted differences in how players use these systems. For example, I was surprised by how many respondents indicated that craft-cost information was not particularly valuable to them, despite the widespread use of tools such as WritWorthy that rely on material costs to help evaluate Master Writs. Some players focus almost entirely on current pricing. Others care more about guild operations, reporting, historical records, exports, or member management.

When discussing possible future improvements, it is easy to focus only on pricing. However, guild history data is used for much more than pricing.

Imagine if some of the following information or functionality were available directly in-game, whether through the guild roster, tooltips, configurable options, or other guild-management features:

* Guild roster indicators showing sales, purchases, taxes, or requirement status
* Better visibility into member performance without manually sending reminder mails
* Built-in guild donation tools instead of relying on mail or guild bank deposits
* Better tracking of guild raffles, contributions, and events
* Easier access to information that currently requires exports, spreadsheets, websites, or Discord bots

These are the types of questions I have been trying to understand since 2020. Not because any specific feature is guaranteed to happen, but because without data it is difficult to know what players actually use, what they find valuable, and what would meaningfully improve their experience.

Many players feel that suggestions disappear into the void or that nobody pays attention. Whether that perception is fair or not, this is an opportunity to provide actual data instead of assumptions. If enough responses are collected, there is a much better chance of understanding how players really use guild history and what parts of the system matter most to them.

If future improvements are ever considered, detailed usage data is far more useful than a simple list of requested features. Without that information, only the most obvious or minimal changes are likely to be considered. With it, there is a better opportunity to understand the full workflow used by traders, guild members, officers, and guild masters.

This survey is not about predicting what will happen. It is about collecting the information needed to understand how these systems are actually used so that any future decisions can be based on data rather than assumptions.