As we all know, there is no Guild Bank system in Classic. However there are some addon alternatives for this, each with its own pro's and con's. Also much to my dismay there weren't any compilations of all the available addons, hence me writing this mini-guide!
Introduction
Classic Guild Bank
GuildHelperClassic
GuildBankExport
All these addons require you (or the designated member) to create an alt (alternative) character, specifically for storing items / gold, usually parked in a major city for ease of access. All of the addons ease the workload of a guild bank alt a bit, but the whole system in itself is cumbersome. It's a part of classic however, so we just have to accept it as it is (until we get Classic+ where guild banks are introduced! :razz:)
Note 1:
While donations are easy (just send them to the designated alt by ingame mail), there is no easy item retrieval; the member has to be online to send items. In the past this was circumvented by multiple officers logging to a same account so they could give away items when the main user was away. This was, and still very is, against the ToS. Account sharing is a bannable offence, and furthermore it is a security risk. Be warned.
Note 2:
Always remember the human element. Is your guild leader (or whoever has access to the guild bank alt) sometimes a bit of a dick? Remember that one time they rolled need on https://classic.wowhead.com/item=7717/ravager as a joke on their priest while majorly pissing off the pug warrior on the team, and you all 4 guild members thought it was hilarous? Well consider the possibility of someone with certain traits just taking every single item and gold with themselves and quitting the guild (or changing servers, if that is ever implemented). If someone is a total asshole to others but kind to their guild members, it only takes one rare drop ( https://classic.wowhead.com/item=19902/swift-zulian-tiger or https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18563/bindings-of-the-windseeker comes to mind) before they decide to cash in every single gold in the guild bank in exchange for the drop.
Addon Link
TL;DR - How does it work?
W0ZsZXhiYW5rXTtbLTEsLDAsQmFja3BhY2ssMSxXb29sZW4gQmFnLDIsTGluZW4gQmFnLDMsTGluZW4gQmFnLDQsTGluZW4gQmFnLDUsLDYsLDcsLDgsLDksLDEwLCwxMSwsMTIsXTtbMywyLDM4NjYsMV07WzMsMyw1NDk4LDJdO1szLDQsMjg0MiwxXTtbMyw1LDYzNDQsMV07WzMsNiwyNTUzLDFdO1s0LDEsNjA0NSwxXTtbNCwyLDM2MDksMV07WzQsMywzNjA5LDFdO1s0LDQsMjg4MiwxXTtbNCw1LDI1OTgsMV07WzQsNiw1Nzg2LDFdOw==https://classicguildbank.com/#/guild/readonly/k6owM3pjPkaUpbxjXMU8gg
The "project roadmap" for this addon states that they want to do the following.
- Add ability to request items from guild bank
- Add ability to track deposits to the guild bank by scanning in-game mailbox
- Add Guild 'wanted' list, so people know what should be deposited
and more.
Addon link
TL;DR - How does it work?
Addon link
TL;DR - How does it work?
Pros and Cons
+ Looks pretty.
+ Has great filters, so once the guild bank alt is full of items, you can easily search things.
+ The ability to request items would make things a lot easier, which is a planned feature.
+ The other users do not need to register, only the bank alt does.
+ It can support multiple bank characters in one guild.
- Is somewhat cumbersome, since you need to manually copy/paste the code every time you change things.
- People still need to go to a 3rd party website to see what's available, which can be off-putting for some.
+ Is easiest to use; just click on one button in-game to sync everything. It even has auto-sync every X minutes.
- It doesn't look all that classic-y.
- It does require other members to use the same Addon. Unless GuildHelperClassic becomes de facto addon for guilds, any addon that requires other people to also install the addon quickly fades away. Some hardcore guilds that can demand certain addons to be installed will find this one quite useful, while casual / semi guilds may have a hard time asking this of their members.
+ Exporting in CSV format means the freedom to use the data however you want. I'm really hoping someone makes a Discord bot out of this (or really any other addons') exported data. Perhaps even a bot that automatically updates a specific channel with a neatly organized list of items (in their own categories)! I'm waiting for people more clever than I am to take initiative :wink:
- It's also at the same time very bare bones, and the exported data as raw data looks ugly. The exported data just screams "use me in different ways!". I hope someone will!
I personally tried Classic Guild Bank in-game so far, and seems to be working fine.
Let me know if you have tried others or have other suggestions, so I can add them here.
Great job Gallow, thank you for sharing this :smile: I like the pros/cons at the end too that’s a great addition and will be helpful for anyone interested.
this is really cool! great write up!
I’ve seen two guilds using a banking bot in discord. One is Odyssey on Mankrik and I think the other was Good on Mankrik. Both are Alliance guilds. So, banking bots are out there :)