The new Guild UI and Permissions...yikes (Part 1)

From the Redux thread, some marvelous commentary and suggestions by Druunah:
10/29/2018 07:07 AMPosted by Druunah
10/28/2018 10:39 PMPosted by Mceuan
While we're at it, why can't I mass mail everyone in my guild on the same day? Why am I stuck with a roster that tracks Achievement points instead of ilevel? Why does the MotD load before system messages? Why don't I have some means of communicating with my guild ingame, instead of relying on Discord or Facebook or something else? Why can't I see several days worth of bank activity on the logs? Why can't I have an ingame means of tracking alts of people I've kicked? Crazy as it sounds, sometimes those people want to come back and be disruptive.


Great ideas.

Let me list them for Blizzard:

As Guild Leaders we need:

A mass mail System so we can mail everyone in our guilds on the same day.

Why does the guild roster track Achievement points instead of ilevel?

Why does the MotD load before system messages?
This has always been but should not be.
Few read it, because many don't see it

Why don't I have some means of communicating with my guild ingame, instead of relying on Discord or Facebook or something else?

THAT! Seriously! I made several guild sites before settling on creating a Facebook group for our guild. (My reason for Facebook? I could never get many guildies to check out the amazing guild pages I made for us. It occurred to me however, that most people had Facebook pages. So a FB group it was. An in-game alternative would still be much more preferable.

We need to be able to see several days worth of bank activity on the logs,

Why can't I have an ingame means of tracking alts of people I've kicked?Sometimes those people want to come back and be disruptive.

For that last one, perhaps a way to not only ban toons from our guilds, but accounts as well. As a Guild leader I have often had those who were booted from the guild attempt to return days, months, even years later. Some people can get major chips on their shoulders. Several times over the years I have had to open tickets to Blizz because either myself or guild-mates were being harassed by someone with a grudge. A couple of times, the person being harassed knew nothing of the person doing the harassing. They were being targeted simple for being in the guild.
Wouldn't it very likely save Blizzard time and money to create a feature (ie: account bans / blocks) for guilds eliminating this issue?

"Guilds need to have more incentives to do things together, and it needs to accessible by all manor of guilds, not just raiding ones."

Agreed.

One idea: Guild only quests. A series of quest chains that are accessible to those in guilds and / or guild groups only. (I know, it's not all inclusive. Not everything needs to be)

Rewards could be gear both practical and cosmetic.
Pets
Special abilities (mostly for show-off / bragging rights) or access to elixirs / potions for the more practical.
Achievements (duh)
How about the ultimate prize maybe being a guild hall?
We as a guild still have guild meetings the old fashioned way. We gather our toons together at a specified location, and have a meeting. We usually meet in an out of the way place, but there isn't really any place in the open world there isn't someone doing something, and sometimes we get interruptions. Especially from the noobish and the annoying. A guild hall would be a nice place to gather, maybe show off awards and guild achievements in some way. A "display case" of sorts for guild rewards comes to mind, but there is probable a better way. How about a readable in-game "history of your guild" tome in the guildhall? Open it and read: "Your Guild" was created on xx/xx/xx by "Toonytoon" a warrior of great renown. Long ago during the great Cataclysm, "Your Guild" reached level 20 (before Blizz took away such things as guild leveling) Etc...etc... (Silly? Maybe)

(Blizzard! You could also throw on that long promised dance hall next door! Hint hint) uh huh..

These quests and rewards should be accessible to all guilds including the small ones so this would require scaling.

Also: Restore our guild permissions please.
As I've indicated before, I'm really interested in the guild hall ideas and rewards that smaller guilds can attain.
A guild hall would be amazing.

It is not owned by the GM, so it can't be sold. It just comes with the guild. Guilds should be able to fly banners from every faction they're exalted with, hang heads of raid bosses, display older legendaries (yes, even Thunderfury), etc. In other words, in game displays of guild achieves and it's cosmetic stuff.

A pvp arena would be a blast.

The only NPC I really want is a vendor who sells booze. Beer is a key component for dwarf-led parties!

I have used my garrison. Officer meetings in the hall building in front of the fireplace are perfect. Also, egg hunts for Noblegarden are pretty fun in the garrison. Would much rather have a guild hall in SW/Org.
1 Like
11/01/2018 03:17 PMPosted by Mceuan
A guild hall would be amazing.

It is not owned by the GM, so it can't be sold. It just comes with the guild. Guilds should be able to fly banners from every faction they're exalted with, hang heads of raid bosses, display older legendaries (yes, even Thunderfury), etc. In other words, in game displays of guild achieves and it's cosmetic stuff.


11/01/2018 03:17 PMPosted by Mceuan
I really want is a vendor who sells booze. Beer is a key component


Sir.

Your thinking is genius.

/Cheers

=)

11/01/2018 03:17 PMPosted by Mceuan
display older legendaries (yes, even Thunderfury), etc. In other words, in game displays of guild achieves and it's cosmetic stuff.


Thank you for adding that!

The train of thought had occurred to me regarding old legendaries, but at the time I posted, I could not word it correctly for some reason. (lack of coffee and or good dwarven booze me thinks)
11/01/2018 03:17 PMPosted by Mceuan
Guilds should be able to fly banners from every faction they're exalted with, hang heads of raid bosses, display older legendaries (yes, even Thunderfury), etc. In other words, in game displays of guild achieves and it's cosmetic stuff.
I like these ideas.

I was thinking a cool thing for a guild hall would be a "Leader Board". It would display guild member rankings in various categories. Maybe about a half-dozen categories. I'm thinking along the lines of things on the statistics tab that apply to guild achievements the guild is actively pursuing. Critters killed. Flasks made. That sort of thing.

But really, the list should be as flexible as possible because each guild has its own style. Some may want to post PvP rankings. Others may enjoy seeing how many times their fellow guildies died this week. Of course, the guild master chooses the categories, but they might do so based on a vote of the guild, or the executive officers, etc. And the categories should be easy to change, especially if they're being used to track who's contributing most to a particular guild achieve. Once an achieve is earned, there's no point in tracking it--unless the guild wants to.

Because choice and customization should always be a priority.
11/01/2018 07:34 AMPosted by Megarie
I would be happy if the roster list was correct.. it shows names online that are not. lol


The /guildroster command, which you can macro, addresses that issue. Also adds many of the easier guild management commands that were and are still in the game. :)
11/01/2018 06:26 PMPosted by Cheheals
11/01/2018 07:34 AMPosted by Megarie
I would be happy if the roster list was correct.. it shows names online that are not. lol


The /guildroster command, which you can macro, addresses that issue. Also adds many of the easier guild management commands that were and are still in the game. :)
But, sadly, does nothing to fix the all-in-one permissions under the "is officer" label. :(
11/01/2018 06:29 PMPosted by Brahmina
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The /guildroster command, which you can macro, addresses that issue. Also adds many of the easier guild management commands that were and are still in the game. :)
But, sadly, does nothing to fix the all-in-one permissions under the "is officer" label. :(


Sad but true. In all my years as Guild Leader I never micro-managed in this way, so the subtlety of all the ranks certainly is something I'm not missing. One advantage which I can clearly see from Blizz's choice to do it this way is the avoidance of the guild scam scenarios. The way it is now, YOU choose as guild leader, whether or not someone gets access to your guild bank, actively.

The Guild Leader is right now, on the hook for all the choices about permissions. I've never had an issue with this; hasn't impacted the majority of guilds on our server, (as you can see from the fact that only one other Guild Leader has posted here from our server besides me) and when I try to drum up support on our server about this issue...it simply has no traction. No Guild Leaders on our server want *more* permissions for officers is what I hear.

There's a lot of things we *could* have for sure! The guild hall...man! Been wishing for that for years! But, having more guildies have more permissions in our guilds is, after many years of experience with big guilds, *not* something you ever actually wanted and we're better off without it. After seeing so many guilds get robbed, fake guilds get set up to steal mats/gold from guildies and be untraceable afterwards, it's easy to see why we wound up here.

Reduced permissions are NOT because of the good guys, like many of us. It's because of all the bad guys that caused drama and ripped people off. Those concerns are why, in my estimation, Blizz reduced permissions. Sadly, you won't see people posting here about their bad experiences with guild scammers. It's embarrassing to admit...BUT they do talk to Blizz about it. In my opinion, that's how we got here.
11/01/2018 10:22 PMPosted by Cheheals
In all my years as Guild Leader I never micro-managed in this way, so the subtlety of all the ranks certainly is something I'm not missing. One advantage which I can clearly see from Blizz's choice to do it this way is the avoidance of the guild scam scenarios. The way it is now, YOU choose as guild leader, whether or not someone gets access to your guild bank, actively.

The Guild Leader is right now, on the hook for all the choices about permissions. I've never had an issue with this; hasn't impacted the majority of guilds on our server, (as you can see from the fact that only one other Guild Leader has posted here from our server besides me) and when I try to drum up support on our server about this issue...it simply has no traction. No Guild Leaders on our server want *more* permissions for officers is what I hear.


Really?

Cheheals cared enough to post the following on October 9th. Less then a month ago as of this writing:

"Guild leaders have created a thread of almost 100 pages with no responses and in my 14 years in the game, I have never seen anything like this. I just thought something *must* be wrong somewhere...I'm sorry to hear it was your health however. The team did extend our thread several times but I'll admit the level of disappointment and rancor increased after July turned into October...if you have the time and resources can you please take a look at this thread?"

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20769736950

"We really are looking out for the best interests of the game and our guilds. We feel hamstrung by the the newly implemented controls and have some very detailed feedback on how to improve the guild interface."

You specifically said: "We feel hamstrung by the the newly implemented controls and have some very detailed feedback on how to improve the guild interface."

The link to where I found the above: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20769696779?page=1#detail

That doesn't sound like someone that's very happy with the new permissions.

Cheheals was also the one try to derail this thread (starting on page 97) because their own attempt to make a new thread in the 'bug forums" was met with a less then enthusiastic response from the posters here. (Why? Because this issue is not a bug!) Once Cheheals realized no one wanted to migrate this thread to their "alternate thread' she/he has been actively been trying to throw a monkey wrench into this thread in one manner or another since.

Proof?
Please see here: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20765907165?page=97

Approx page 97 is where Cheheals starts her/his attempts to derail this thread once she/he realizes no one will be migrating to the new thread she/he created. In pages before that, one can see Cheheals's apparent concern and dislike for the new system, afterward, once the new "bug thread" is rejected, it's an active battle against this thread.

For anyone not familiar with Cheheals's actions simply leaf through this very thread (Approx in pages 96-100) and you'll see her/him trying to trash other guild leaders for other threads they may have posted on, or the level of their toons, or the amount of activity she/he personally sees in your guild.

Cheheals when from being very concerned about the new guild ui and permissions. Concerned enough to quote the following post on her/his "new thread"

10/21/2018 05:39 PMPosted by Cheheals
07/17/2018 04:43 PMPosted by Polgara
We had 2 different levels of officers before the changes - only the GM and the GM's alts were able to edit the Guild Info and MOTD. Our setup is no longer possible. For now we have removed officer permissions from everyone until we see where this is going.

Public Notes were a very significant part of the social fabric of our guild and everyone was able to edit their own note. (Perhaps this is why when we logged in every rank was set to 'Is Officer'.) The public note helped people get to know one another.

You don't build 'communities' by removing the tools that allow improved social interaction.

Add me to the growing list of discontented customers.

I've never complained about the game before. But these changes seem arbitrary and a bit foolish.


^^ This


Cheheals simply stated "This" after the quote, but that one word implies total and utter agreement with the quoted poster.

So what happened to that apparent deep concern?

Here's Cheheals trying to convince us (on page 97) that there were too many trolls, posters who were not actually guild leaders, and guilds that did somehow not measure up to Cheheals's standards so Blizzard would ignore this thread:

10/21/2018 12:02 AMPosted by Cheheals
So...many of you may have not taken the time to see who is actually posting here. There are numerous people here that are posting and posing as guild leaders who are simply regular trolls and *known* to Blizz as such on the forums. This is not helping our cause.

It is now my opinion that having been infiltrated by trolls unknowingly, that we will likely not ever get a response. Do your own research. See how many posters here are actually not guild leaders. See how many posters on this thread are running multiple threads or in multiple threads on the forums. You can look up my guild easily by clicking on the name underneath mine; you will see I am the guild leader. Many, many posters here are not. Or they are guild leaders of essentially bank guilds that have not completed anything as a guild in any recent xpac. As I mentioned before this, probably above anything else has given this thread the kiss of death.

It struck me as odd, after 14 years in the game that Blizz would treat us in this manner. However, knowing Blizz as well as I do, they will never bow down to trolls or lifetime forum dwellers. I won't stop posting here but it would be nice if everyone took a minute to see who is actually a guild leader (of an active guild) and who isn't. Then decide what next steps we should take.

*Takes cover anticipating the rain of poop about to drop from the forum dwellers and trolls*


Cheheals (apparently) cared enough about this thread on October 19th to write the following on page 96:

10/18/2018 05:03 PMPosted by Cheheals
Not gonna make this thread 100 like this!

Let's go people! :)


Now she's / he's the only one I personally have seen in all these months over several threads actually endorse the "new and improved" guild permissions and ui.

After seemingly hating it as much as the rest of us do.

In parting, Ceheals for all his white knighting Blizzard via white knighting the new guild ui and permissions in her/his last posting here above, also posted the following only yesterday on her/his alternate thread"

10/31/2018 03:47 PMPosted by Cheheals
So far we have not seen this issue brought up at BlizzCon nor has it made it to live Q&A. It would warm my heart to see *something* mentioned in the next few days...


Please see: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20769736950?page=2

Quite the contrast in this posters humble opinion.

At best this is "wishy-washy" behavior, at worst, trollish.

Neither build credibility.
Now she's / he's the only one I personally have seen in all these months over several threads actually endorse the "new and improved" guild permissions and ui.

After seemingly hating it as much as the rest of us do.
Meh. People are allowed to change their minds, I guess.

What I don't understand is this:

11/01/2018 10:22 PMPosted by Cheheals
The Guild Leader is right now, on the hook for all the choices about permissions. I've never had an issue with this; hasn't impacted the majority of guilds on our server, (as you can see from the fact that only one other Guild Leader has posted here from our server besides me) and when I try to drum up support on our server about this issue...it simply has no traction. No Guild Leaders on our server want *more* permissions for officers is what I hear.
Right now, there ARE *more* permissions for officers. The permissions are all lumped under "Is Officer". No one can make separate officer ranks and give them separate permissions. THAT'S what started this thread.

Then we were told to offer more feedback about OTHER changes we'd like to see implemented for guilds. So I've been going back and quoting posts that offer interesting suggestions, or that clearly define the problems with the "is officer" heading.

So, quite frankly, Cheheals, I'm wondering if you really even understand what's going on here. Because it sincerely doesn't sound like it from your posts.
Going back to the early days of this thread, here is a post from page 41 with a suggestion about the looking for guild tab (as well as asking for a permissions reversion):

07/30/2018 05:01 PMPosted by Unclescar
I'm not an officer in my guild and this is still very frustrating. Our GM is pretty meticulous about who he trusts with what, including officer chat, inviting new people (or alts of people already in the guild) editing notes, promoting active members or alts to specific ranks etc.. and now no one can do any of that unless they are an officer. It's not just watered down, it's essentially removed and a huge step backwards.
Please, revert this poor decision. This has a negative affect on a GM's control over their own guild's hierarchy and individual rank's allowances.

If you really want to revamp something that could help guilds, revamp the looking for guild tab. It is over saturated with hundreds and hundreds of guilds of 1-10 inactive members that posted their guild years ago and have since stopped playing. I'd suggest a 30 day duration of a post and if a guild want's to keep recruiting they can repost their guild. Also, a second tab that shows individual characters that are guildless and looking so actively recruiting guilds can reach out to specific people without having to search /who or be in the same zone.


I really like the idea of a list of characters looking for guilds. Mostly, though Unclescar doesn't say this, I think having some way to invite offline characters would be very helpful. An invitation that pops up when they log in or one that shows up in the mail are two possible ideas. (I prefer one in the mail because it's not as obtrusive, and if the player gets multiple invites, it's easier to look through them all before accepting one.)
Okey doke, had food and am thinking clearly. I see some drama, but will ignore it because that's not what I'm here to address.

Lets toss a suggestion into the pot to keep it legit:

After reverting Guild Permissions to their former functionality, howzabout a Guild Artisan NPC (That Ideally can be placed in a Guild Hall *wink* *wink*).

This NPC (Or NPC's, split by profession) will allow you to access the highest level of crafting profession available to your guild and will know all available recipies/plans/designs etc. currently known by guild members. Any guildie with appropriate permissions could visit this NPC to produce desired items, with the mats for said items drawn directly from the guild bank if available OR if the person has the mats, they can use an interface similar to the scrapping one. GM's and/or officers with appropriate permissions would be able to set limits as desired. This eliminates the need for "that dude who always makes pots/feasts/flasks" to be on all the time. Would also be a hell of a boon to alts and people uninterested in leveling production professions. AND....you could even put in an option for the GM to set a fee for usage of the Artisans, which will go straight to a Guild Repairs-Only fund...
So many good suggestions, alas if the guild permissions are not reverted all these other things seem moot. Please Blizz throw us a bone, show us a sign, i still don't feel were being properly heard. I'll be here waiting, posting , and hoping.
The disconnect is so real right now.

I feel for the Diablo fanbase (I'm one of them). Even an MVP started a thread voicing their disappointment.

Yikes.

Anyhow, please revert permission controls or at least admit that you tied it to Communities functionality and that's whats taking it so long to revert. Cheers!
11/02/2018 11:05 AMPosted by Delirium
So many good suggestions


Agreed.

To keep going with the guild hall ideas:

Perhaps a guild mount? I think there was something along those lines. The "lion-like" one is what comes to mind, but I can't think of the name and I am not logged into Wow presently.

Blizzard could build on that basic idea though.

A guild mount that would perhaps allow access (maybe limited in duration) to the guild bank / guild vendors / etc...
If it was up to me, I'd allow it to be a flying multi-seater with vendors and perhaps not allow use of the auction house, but the ability to view the auction house.

Of course, it seems like Blizzard wants to do less with guilds not more and I am dubious of any of these wonderful ideas posted above (or my perhaps overly imaginative ones) will ever see the light of day.

Oh, and Blizzard.

Our guilds are still broken.

Please return them to pre-BfA condition.

Thank you.
11/02/2018 09:36 AMPosted by Venjin
Okey doke, had food and am thinking clearly. I see some drama, but will ignore it because that's not what I'm here to address.

Lets toss a suggestion into the pot to keep it legit:

After reverting Guild Permissions to their former functionality, howzabout a Guild Artisan NPC (That Ideally can be placed in a Guild Hall *wink* *wink*).

This NPC (Or NPC's, split by profession) will allow you to access the highest level of crafting profession available to your guild and will know all available recipies/plans/designs etc. currently known by guild members. Any guildie with appropriate permissions could visit this NPC to produce desired items, with the mats for said items drawn directly from the guild bank if available OR if the person has the mats, they can use an interface similar to the scrapping one. GM's and/or officers with appropriate permissions would be able to set limits as desired. This eliminates the need for "that dude who always makes pots/feasts/flasks" to be on all the time. Would also be a hell of a boon to alts and people uninterested in leveling production professions. AND....you could even put in an option for the GM to set a fee for usage of the Artisans, which will go straight to a Guild Repairs-Only fund...
This is an amazing idea!

Yes, the NPC(s) should only be able to produce items already known by one or more guildies, and only using mats available in the GB or owned by the character accessing the NPC. As you say, this eliminates the need for a guild member who can make these things to always be online.

This NPC (or NPC's) should, of course, have some sort of requirement to make them available in the guild hall, but it shouldn't be so onerous that only 50+ member mythic raiding guilds can manage it. Maybe one or more simple quest lines related to professions. Your Herbalist guildie has to pick some herbs, the Alchemist has to make some pots, the Scribe has to make some glyphs, that sort of thing. The resulting items to be placed in the GB, of course (but the quests reward gold and/or xp to the character completing them, like any other quest).
11/02/2018 01:37 PMPosted by Venjin
The disconnect is so real right now.

I feel for the Diablo fanbase (I'm one of them). Even an MVP started a thread voicing their disappointment.

Yikes.

Anyhow, please revert permission controls or at least admit that you tied it to Communities functionality and that's whats taking it so long to revert. Cheers!


This is a very good point indeed. It's very likely some of our former controls were removed as a result of the communities function.

On my server, I have a guild leader community. We have not seen any interference with guild controls but *definitely* noticed the change. What's quizzical is, why would the micro-management tools from our guild controls be affected by Communities? Like you said, an explanation of this would be enlightening.

I've already gone on record as not being affected by it, but I understand other Guild Leaders are concerned. A reply from Blizz would lead to a discussion at least. Right now, we're in the wilderness, guessing as to why things have changed.
Ninja unlock... and still no communication from Blizzard.
Continuing my read-through. I was going to focus on posts that present additional improvements for guilds, but this (as usual) excellent post from Æthelwulf was too good to pass by. It very clearly and succinctly explains why having separate permissions is vital for large or growing guilds.
07/30/2018 07:06 PMPosted by Æthelwulf
The granular permissions (Please see my or others quite lengthy posts on why lumping them all together is a bad idea) are a tool that allows a guild master to divide up the work of managing the guild. This gives the various ranks something to do to help the guild (other than game related content) which effectively increases both morale and esprit de corps, gives lower ranks something to aspire towards in the guild, and takes what is usually a benighted task out of the gm or officers hands and performs a task like recruitment that brings new blood to the table. By placing all of that functionality in the hands of officers and gm's only you effectively relegate it to only being done when the gm or an officer is online.

In this way Raid Leaders can concentrate on progression, Recruitment officers can concentrate on reviewing resumes and or advertising to the realm or across realms, Class Leaders can concentrate on their classes just to name a few. It does not make sense to lump all of those permissions together and it causes gm's like myself and others unneeded pain in the realm of a task that is already pretty darn thankless . That of running a guild.
11/02/2018 10:03 PMPosted by Holliday
Ninja unlock... and still no communication from Blizzard.
I prefer to look at this as a good sign. They still have nothing to say, so there really wasn't any point in another blue post. But unlocking the thread at least shows it's somewhere on their radar.

I have expectations (perhaps unwarranted) that the permissions will be broken up as soon as they unravel the code. I'm hoping that will happen with the next patch if not sooner. Meanwhile, suggestions like guild halls and improving the "Looking for guild" functions might be planned for the next expansion. Sure, I'd like all of that sooner, but I think such major overhauls require more work. We certainly don't want any of it rushed!
11/03/2018 07:49 AMPosted by Fumel
I prefer to look at this as a good sign.


Same.

The fact that it was locked for at least several days and then opened gives me hope that someone is actually paying at least marginal attention to this thread, and of course our mutual concerns.

11/03/2018 07:49 AMPosted by Fumel
I have expectations (perhaps unwarranted) that the permissions will be broken up as soon as they unravel the code.


What I have can't be described as expectations, but I do have hopes. High at the moment that a fix is (finally) on the way.

11/03/2018 07:49 AMPosted by Fumel
Meanwhile, suggestions like guild halls and improving the "Looking for guild" functions might be planned for the next expansion.


These things should happen.
There are a LOT of amazing ideas here. Blizzard needs to pay attention to them, and hopefully implement some of the better ones.

(Personally, I like the idea of banning a person's entire account when they are booted from a guild (the option to undo made available to Guild Leaders of course)

I also like the idea of seeing a more detailed guild log. Who joined, when, what class, etc...
Also. More space in the guild notes. As a Guild Leader, I sometimes need to be able to make detailed notes at times as a guild leader. I know, "there's an addon for that." I have / had it. I'm a bit of an addon junkie along with being an alt-o-holic. However, there's seemingly no reason these things should not be made a part of the game proper.
Sadly, addons come and go unpredictably.