Sark
07-12-2009, 02:33 PM
I have managed several guild banks in the past in a few different games, but I have never been to the point where the guild is so successful that it really becomes a large amount of work. This is a good thing of course, and I enjoy managing this aspect of the guild, but I am looking for advice.
Just a little bit of background, the guild was started from scratch in the fall of last year with no assets to speak of. We did not start raiding actively until T7 in Wrath, so at that point we began really building the bank. By selling off BOE epics that were not needed, we were able to fund our bank tabs and offer free repairs and fish feasts on progression nights. By the end of T7 when we had everything on farm, our income was pretty decent and we headed into 3.1 with around 20k in the bank. We've always tried to encourage everyone to be self sufficient, bringing their own flasks, food, pots, etc. So I know we have a good group of people that can take care of themselves.
Since 3.1, our income has gone up substantially and I have been looking to find ways in which to translate this into more success as a guild. The first things we did was to supply fish feasts for our entire raid, even trash. We also opened up repairs for all raiders 24/7 (which I initially thought would be ridiculously expensive, but we are easily covering that cost). Since pygmy oil was such a common bank donation, we have started supplying potions of speed and wild magic as well. We have never sold an abyss crystal and always hand those out for free to people who need enchants, but those are starting to pile up in rather large amounts as well. We have also never sold any runed orbs, but we are starting to come to the point where not many people will need those here soon either.
We are still making money at a very fast pace though, just from the BOEs, and I have started contemplating new ways in which to spend money :) Infinite dust, cosmic essences, eternal belt buckles are all something that would not be too tough to supply. Flasks would also be one of the next major items we could finance. However, I do not want running the bank to turn into a full time job here. I have always tried to keep it simple and straightforward both for my sanity sake and so I do not have to worry about policing what we are financing to make sure someone is not reselling items or anything like that. I have even considered just paying out dividends when I know a big expense is coming (say epic gems when 3.2 goes live).
So I was wondering what are common approaches other people have taken to running their guild banks. How much cash do you really want to bank for that rainy day? How do you spend your extra money? What kind of tactics do you use to minimize the time you spend managing the bank? One thing I am leery about doing is to start supplying something (like flasks) and then be at some point in the future where people expect that from us but it becomes prohibitively expensive or time consuming for us to do.
Just a little bit of background, the guild was started from scratch in the fall of last year with no assets to speak of. We did not start raiding actively until T7 in Wrath, so at that point we began really building the bank. By selling off BOE epics that were not needed, we were able to fund our bank tabs and offer free repairs and fish feasts on progression nights. By the end of T7 when we had everything on farm, our income was pretty decent and we headed into 3.1 with around 20k in the bank. We've always tried to encourage everyone to be self sufficient, bringing their own flasks, food, pots, etc. So I know we have a good group of people that can take care of themselves.
Since 3.1, our income has gone up substantially and I have been looking to find ways in which to translate this into more success as a guild. The first things we did was to supply fish feasts for our entire raid, even trash. We also opened up repairs for all raiders 24/7 (which I initially thought would be ridiculously expensive, but we are easily covering that cost). Since pygmy oil was such a common bank donation, we have started supplying potions of speed and wild magic as well. We have never sold an abyss crystal and always hand those out for free to people who need enchants, but those are starting to pile up in rather large amounts as well. We have also never sold any runed orbs, but we are starting to come to the point where not many people will need those here soon either.
We are still making money at a very fast pace though, just from the BOEs, and I have started contemplating new ways in which to spend money :) Infinite dust, cosmic essences, eternal belt buckles are all something that would not be too tough to supply. Flasks would also be one of the next major items we could finance. However, I do not want running the bank to turn into a full time job here. I have always tried to keep it simple and straightforward both for my sanity sake and so I do not have to worry about policing what we are financing to make sure someone is not reselling items or anything like that. I have even considered just paying out dividends when I know a big expense is coming (say epic gems when 3.2 goes live).
So I was wondering what are common approaches other people have taken to running their guild banks. How much cash do you really want to bank for that rainy day? How do you spend your extra money? What kind of tactics do you use to minimize the time you spend managing the bank? One thing I am leery about doing is to start supplying something (like flasks) and then be at some point in the future where people expect that from us but it becomes prohibitively expensive or time consuming for us to do.