Guild Wars 2

I’ve read the other “nightmare wallet” thread, and this is a different complaint!
So please don’t shuffle this thing in that direction.

I play many alts in this game – I have one character for every class, 6 of them are 80, and the other two are not far behind.
I actively play all of my alts in this game, as I do in every game that doesn’t overbearingly punish you for more than one character.
I never create alts simply to advance a main character. While in most games (but not this one) I choose a main character to advance more than the others (this is required in games with raiding endgame), I will still advance each of my alts as far as I can until being blocked from doing so (typically alts are severely stunted or entirely blocked when raid content is reached). In GW (1 and 2), there are NO such blocks against alts (the worst GW2 has is fractal lvl being by character). Thus I have no main in GW2, and unless I decide I dislike a class (like my poor Ranger), every character is treated as if they were a main for the purposes of progression.
No one plays my account but me. No one else even has my password.

I greatly appreciate the wallet for streamlining my dungeon tokens, badges, relics, commendations, laurels, gems, (glory, I guess, but I don’t use it) and – Dude my Karma’s acct bound? That’s truly amazing.

However, gold is different than every other one of these currencies, for one very important reason: It is not an account-bound resource. It exists to be traded between players, and to purchase “convenience” or “luxury” items.
It is also the sole currency by which all players measure their in game wealth. (Some may use other currencies personally, but those people will still use gold too.)

(uhg small character limit. cont.)

For the above reasons, some (possibly many, but at least me and alt-players I know) alt-players use gold on a per-character basis.

• Some require each of their characters to “earn” their own gold for whatever you want to buy for them (be it armor, weapons, or costumes). Particularly for those who play many alts, and are working towards goals with two or more of them simultaneously.
• Some track how much they play a character, and how profitable that character’s usual activities are to them by how much gold they’ve earned with them.
  Some who want characters to fund their own needs (like armor, etc – and yes, this is desirable to some of us!), will lend gold between their own characters the same way you might lend gold to a friend. Then pay back the character the gold came from before that character is allowed to purchase other things (like armor skins, gems, dye, minis, etc)
• For role players, specific wealth levels are sometimes kept on a character to reinforce that character’s role. Such as, I have (in other games, but not this one actually) characters that are supposed to be poor, thus their gold is dumped into a bank (or sent to another character), to reinforce the IC illusion of “this character has little wealth”.
• For role players, individual character wealth (and its growth) is sometimes used IC. Specifically for characters who are not simply “rich”. (Ex. Noble characters are often simply rich, and thus ignore actual gold. Merchant or Adventurer characters will sometimes use actual gold to describe business as going well/poorly.)
• When you play many characters, you require more gold – to get each set up properly (armor, weapons, etc). So while you may have 100g, you need to use it to build up 3, 4, 5, etc characters. Compare to the person who only plays, and thus needs to build up, one character. When you see 100g sitting all together you feel like you’ve got some cash! … And are more apt to blow it on something silly. When you see 2-30g here and there, you know where you really stand: Sadly poor. And blowing a sizable portion of your total wealth on something becomes much more intentional, when you have to actually move the wealth into one place to even spend on something pricey.
• Yes, I really did just say above that 120g on 2 characters (which you play equally, and neither is created for the sole benefit of advancing the other) is less than 100g on one character.
• Since crafting updates were announced to be coming later this year, I am extremely concerned about tracking cost for leveling each one. Leveling a craft over a few days or weeks is much easier to track the cost of if it only effects one character’s gold. Additionally, if this is going to cost me a substantial sum of gold (I’d rather count on that and be surprised than the other way around), that’s easier to stomach if I see a few characters’ low wealth become no wealth, than when I see a couple hundred gold become half or less of what it was.

I realize that gold being in the wallet and thus tracked by account and not at all by character will not be changed back. Even if it was changed back, the damage is already done (since I assume the gold would be chucked into the bank and every character would have 0g0s0kittenil the bank gold was redistributed) unless alt-players start tracking their individual characters’ wealth by hand (and remembered to write it down before or as the gold was added to the wallet).
But that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a terrible change, and inconsiderate to those who want to manage or track their wealth while actively playing more than one character.

I think you have a lot of valid points, but it appears that this is the way things are now. I think all upsides and downsides included, it’s still better this new way. I always hated having to switch characters to move gold around. I switched characters, no exaggerating, about 10 times yesterday for this purpose.

One possible solution is to create guilds to store different amounts of gold in for different purposes. Obviously the 5-guild-limit might pose a problem there.

Maybe track it in a notebook?

Find a player you trust, and at the end of a session send them a “return to sender” mail with that character’s gold, and keep it in your mailbox. 10-mail limit might be a problem there.

Maybe a future feature will allow per-character gold to be stored in the wallet, and you can move it from character to character at will, or stick it in a pot.

Gold used to be per character. I’m pretty sure that can be reimplemented somehow.
Yes it’s going to be a pain since all alts’ money is going to be lumped together, but nothing a little work on our part can’t fix.

I’ve already made a post on this subject and I highly approve of the account wallet.
But when it comes to gold, I think the old system works better.
Heck, I would welcome, nay encourage the ability to store gold in the wallet, with the option to add/subtract at will.

To a lesser extent, I would suggest this for Karma as well.

Overall, the ability to add/subtract from the wallet at will (as in, not having to spend the tokens or whatever) would be the best solution.

As for roleplay, well I always deal in IC cash anyway so no problem there. Except at our two-weekly auction where real gold is used, since the goods are real game items.
(Note: It is not gambling we’re doing. It is an RP version of the BLTP).

I like the new system with gold and I have 10 alts. I just made a spread sheet. I know it isn’t really the same but it still works.

Lillium, players like us fit into what is probably one of the smallest niches in the game. When I first heard about this last week I nearly quit but I got over it (slowly). I don’t even want karma account bound what can you do? Nice to unload tokens, though. Always thought so.

It’s just a case of grin and bear with it. It’s been a very popular change and who am I to put myself before the masses?

For me it is a nightmare because i relied on the bank to keep the money out of my inventory so i didnt spend it all the time. Now I just see ‘hrmmm…. I /can/ afford that thing i dont really need…’

Karril Daltaya.4980:

For me it is a nightmare because i relied on the bank to keep the money out of my inventory so i didnt spend it all the time. Now I just see ‘hrmmm…. I /can/ afford that thing i dont really need…’

You know you want to… embrace the dark side…

I very much agree that giving us an option to deposit gold back in to our bank would be very welcome. For those who don’t want to use it, that is fine, but for those who want a bank to store their wealth… it should not be hard to provide. I am finding it very annoying that all of my gold is there on my person at all times. I would much rather have it stored in the storage/bank.

This is by far the most annoying (for me and how i prefer to play) change I have run in to in this game as it is one of the few times I can remember a feature being removed from the game entirely.

I am one of those that likes her alts to “earn” the money themselves, and the account bound gold makes that a bit more difficult. Not impossible, just more difficult.

What I plan to do, is simply remove all gold from my account and put it in my personal guild bank. And keep track (Excel would be a good choice) of how much a certain character has earned that day. And before switching to another character, first put all gold back into the guild bank so the new character will start with 0 again (or 10s, which was what I always kept at a character after visiting my bank).

With so many alts, I always have at least one in town close to the bank/guild bank…

We will get the bank space back eventually and they will be able to say it is a “content” update.

As an alt-o-holic I have to say… I love the account wallet, especially for gold. In fact, it was what I was most happy about. I have 3 80s atm, and working on my 4th (who is almost 50). My remaining 4 character slots (yes, I bought more) are in the 40s, since I’m planning to take all the rest of my slots to 80 en masse, and all at once.

The one thing I despised was needing to buy something for one alt, and then remembering “Wait… I think alt #6 had 2 gold on him! Let’s go check!” and finding out that nope, wasn’t #6… maybe it was 5? Oh wait, possibly 7. Dang, guess it was 8.

I no longer have to do that. All of my gold is now crammed into 1 spot, which makes my life 1,000x easier. If they went back to the old system, I’d probably rage lol

Having single character gold is a convenience to some people. Having account wide gold is a convenience to some people. Either way, people are going to be put out. Smart money is on the latter group being a much larger segment.

Before yesterday, folks who wanted to move gold around had to shuffle through characters to get what they wanted. Now the likely very small minority will have to take extra steps (keeping a ledger, etc) to get what they want.

Sorry man, them’s the breaks.

I don’t have a requirement for my characters to earn their own gold or anything but prior to this patch the main bulk of my gold was in the bank with a bit of gold on all my characters for general expenses. This was how i shared coin between myself and I. I of course weighed my expensive purchases against if i need to make other expensive purchases on other characters but i thought it was a nice system having character specific gold and a general pot of gold. Now it’s just a giant pot of gold.

I don’t think i’ll be going to the bank that much anymore. All that’s left is for Anet to create a wardrobe function for storing gear sets that you aren’t wearing and my bank will be empty and never used. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing except i increased its capacity the other month and they’re negating the usefulness of it!

Wow, this change is opening me up to a style of gameplay I didn’t know existed. I had no idea people made their alts keep only the gold they earned and didn’t share with the rest of their account. That’s kind of surprising. I can see why these changes would be disappointing.

But I have to say, I would be really frustrated if they went back to the old way. I have 8 level 80s right now spread all over (although most are in level 80 areas). While two are what would be considered my primaries, I use the others every day to gather materials or play certain events. Previously it was a pain to keep all my alts stocked with money, which between the occasional waypoint cost, costs of buying picks and axes, and the money it cost me to sell things on the trading post, was a slow battle of attrition. It meant I had to keep at last 30 silver on all my characters, but even that would run out in a few weeks. Which meant I would have to haul all eight characters back to a city to replenish. It also meant that at any one time around 2 gold was basically inaccessible for purchases because I had to maintain a pool on all 8 characters. Not having to worry if I can sell something on the trading post because an alt has been out too long is huge for me, and since my computer is something of a dinosaur, traveling to major cities is something I try to avoid. All that being said, if they went back to the way it was, it would be a pretty heavy blow.

Frankly I don’t see anything in the OPs thread that isn’t already in others (despite his/her opening statement) except the point of measuring how much they play a toon based on how much gold they have. There is a better track for that, type /age. Tracking by gold accumulation is inaccurate at best because playing a short time in some areas nets more gold than playing triple the time in others.

For other points, I say look at the other threads again.

Invictus.1503:

Frankly I don’t see anything in the OPs thread that isn’t already in others (despite his/her opening statement) except the point of measuring how much they play a toon based on how much gold they have. There is a better track for that, type /age. Tracking by gold accumulation is inaccurate at best because playing a short time in some areas nets more gold than playing triple the time in others.

The OP is (was) not using gold to see how much they play the character, but how financially viable it is. This information is “gold earned” / “/age”, not simply “/age” on its own.

Of course playing alt A always in queensdale and alt B always in Orr will yield different results due to factors independently of profession, skills, gear and level. But if you go about your daily routine on alt A today and alt B tomorrow, of course over time you will have an indicator of financial viability.

And that is actually a good and valid point that I hadn’t seen in other threads.

Karril Daltaya.4980:

For me it is a nightmare because i relied on the bank to keep the money out of my inventory so i didnt spend it all the time. Now I just see ‘hrmmm…. I /can/ afford that thing i dont really need…’

How is it ANets problem and that the rest us should have to go back to the more inconvenient system because you have a problem with self-control?

Karril Daltaya.4980:

For me it is a nightmare because i relied on the bank to keep the money out of my inventory so i didnt spend it all the time. Now I just see ‘hrmmm…. I /can/ afford that thing i dont really need…’

Solo guild bank, if you can do it.

Honestly, this is a moot point. You’e adapted a measurement that works for you to measure performance of your game play time. It is more niche than anything… your casual to dedicated player doesn’t care about these measurements. The account wallet is extremely convenient on many levels and that out ways personal preference. That being said, if we could deposit gold in the bank like before that would be a way around it. I personally love having access to all my currencies, that way I can grind and farm on my main and buy stuff on my alt.

if you’re looking for a way around this, then create a guild for each alt and create a guild bank then deposit there, and you have a bank of gold for each alt ^^

I loved having gold on each of my characters. I very rarely used gold from one character to fund equipment or purchases on another. I liked being able to see my mesmer ALT accumulate her small fortune next to my main Engie’s small fortune. If I had a choice, I would prefer it to remain this way.

That said, the inconvience of having all my gold lumped together is small in comparison to the benefits of the wallet. In this case, the benefits outweigh the negative for me.

I’m confused by those pointing to this as niche. As far as I’m aware, don’t most MMOs basically encourage this sort of behavior with those that have alts? GW2’s the exception to the rule by making all currencies accessible accountwide.

Personally, this just seems like a huge security risk on Anet’s part to me. In the past, if an account was breached, the account jacker had to figure out where the player kept their money. Now they know they can just get into any character and try to transfer the money away (unless there’s a measure to prevent this that I’m unfamiliar with).

Ignoring that, it seems a bit strange that they wouldn’t just keep both systems in play. It’s not impossible by any means, I think, and it doesn’t mess with any players’ playstyle. You want to use the more inefficient way, go ahead, you want to use the efficient way, go ahead. The way they’ve done it now is comparable to cutting out the ability to traverse between areas of Tyria on foot and instead forcing you to use the fast travel methods available, except that’s a significantly more niche complaint than this.

As long as I can keep lumping my gold together.

I like the wallet more than the previous non-wallet way.

Gmr Leon.1846:

I’m confused by those pointing to this as niche. As far as I’m aware, don’t most MMOs basically encourage this sort of behavior with those that have alts? GW2’s the exception to the rule by making all currencies accessible accountwide.

We seem to be niche compared to the bulk of players on the forums. There’s probably more players running around who haven’t come here that, after the update, have said to themselves “WT….! What are they doing? We never had this in game Z.” I’ve never played an MMO that didn’t have individual bank storage, and up until this point its been my only black mark against GW2.

Its a non-issue anyway. There’s plenty of new content to take my mind off it anyway (until I log my next alt on…). The overspending guys – that’s something I never thought of.

I feel like I am missing something. All my characters still show having their own money. When I open the wallet it is only showing my gold for the character I am currently on.

Poledo, after you have logged into each of your characters one time, your gold should be combined. Before you log in with them, each character still has their individual gold. That may be causing your confusion.

Nikkala.5842:

Poledo, after you have logged into each of your characters one time, your gold should be combined. Before you log in with them, each character still has their individual gold. That may be causing your confusion.

Thanks Nikk, that clears it up!

can’t please everybody

I love the wallet so much.

Gmr Leon.1846:

I’m confused by those pointing to this as niche. As far as I’m aware, don’t most MMOs basically encourage this sort of behavior with those that have alts? GW2’s the exception to the rule by making all currencies accessible accountwide.

Personally, this just seems like a huge security risk on Anet’s part to me. In the past, if an account was breached, the account jacker had to figure out where the player kept their money. Now they know they can just get into any character and try to transfer the money away (unless there’s a measure to prevent this that I’m unfamiliar with).

Ignoring that, it seems a bit strange that they wouldn’t just keep both systems in play. It’s not impossible by any means, I think, and it doesn’t mess with any players’ playstyle. You want to use the more inefficient way, go ahead, you want to use the efficient way, go ahead. The way they’ve done it now is comparable to cutting out the ability to traverse between areas of Tyria on foot and instead forcing you to use the fast travel methods available, except that’s a significantly more niche complaint than this.

I don’t see how keeping your gold on one character to hide it would prevent somone that hacked your account from taking that gold. I think they would go through all your stuff and liquidate everything.

CreativeAnarchy.6324:

Gmr Leon.1846:

I’m confused by those pointing to this as niche. As far as I’m aware, don’t most MMOs basically encourage this sort of behavior with those that have alts? GW2’s the exception to the rule by making all currencies accessible accountwide.

Personally, this just seems like a huge security risk on Anet’s part to me. In the past, if an account was breached, the account jacker had to figure out where the player kept their money. Now they know they can just get into any character and try to transfer the money away (unless there’s a measure to prevent this that I’m unfamiliar with).

Ignoring that, it seems a bit strange that they wouldn’t just keep both systems in play. It’s not impossible by any means, I think, and it doesn’t mess with any players’ playstyle. You want to use the more inefficient way, go ahead, you want to use the efficient way, go ahead. The way they’ve done it now is comparable to cutting out the ability to traverse between areas of Tyria on foot and instead forcing you to use the fast travel methods available, except that’s a significantly more niche complaint than this.

I don’t see how keeping your gold on one character to hide it would prevent somone that hacked your account from taking that gold. I think they would go through all your stuff and liquidate everything.

It wouldn’t, of course, but it would very slightly slow them down and inconvenience them at the very least. Then again, it could be argued the mail system may also contribute to that, but nevertheless, I do seem to recall GW1 players who had their accounts hacked being surprised to find that some of their alts still had some items/currency on them while their bank was indeed wiped out.

I dunno, maybe they’re confident their security’s better this time around or something, but having all that gold in one place just screams potential problems to me.

they all seems good point, but if i must be honest they are all silly to me. especially when it comes to roleplay…
i really love having my gold account wide, i can pick trading post earning with every character now, i can buy things in the trading post with every character etc etc.
i still know where i stand wealth wise and i new how much gold i had around even before it was stored in the same wallet. i think you can still have the common sense to not buy silly things you don’t need even if you have enough gold to do it.
the gold you earn is your to use (and it is till you the player that earn it, the character alone couldn’t do it, could he?), i don’t really get how can be an issue if you earn it with another alt for some other alt. if you really need that difference that badly you can still decide a budget for all your alt based on your own preferences.

for me the wallet as it is now is the best thing that could ever happen in the game.

Gmr Leon.1846:

It wouldn’t, of course, but it would very slightly slow them down and inconvenience them at the very least. Then again, it could be argued the mail system may also contribute to that, but nevertheless, I do seem to recall GW1 players who had their accounts hacked being surprised to find that some of their alts still had some items/currency on them while their bank was indeed wiped out.

I dunno, maybe they’re confident their security’s better this time around or something, but having all that gold in one place just screams potential problems to me.

Good point… I was hacked in GW1 and interrupted them cleaning out my characters (they didn’t get a lot of gold as I always sluiced that way to my second account…)

But gold isn’t the problem if you’re hacked, I think your armour/weapon worth is a lot higher than your gold worth (at least for the average player) unless you’re a real gold hoarder…

Its quite simple to put settings for the wallet and its done some people can stay the way before or this new way

This nightmare to be addressed properly at some point. After almost 5 months being one from this game I am seeing ZERO reason to return atm. Indeed tis gotten worse with this ludicrous thing being forced on us that didnt want it. Its all well and good for those that did, but they should have made it optional instead of forcing all of us that wanted this basic functionality into single player guilds.