Guild Hall / Linkshell Meeting Area
I heard a rumor somewhere about a potential Guild Hall for Linkshells to meet and hang out. While the idea itself may be just a rumor up in the air, I was thinking why not get interest started in the idea (if there isn't already) and give it some good potential for growth. Below are some rough ideas that me and a few mates came up with that could be viable for Guild Halls if one is ever implemented.
Benefits of Guild Halls:
-Guild Hall, Rooms, and Upgrades will cost a hearty sum removing large amounts of gil from the server.
-Guild Halls can relieve cities of congestion, caused by large amounts of players who never log out, idle, or craft all day in the city.
-Non-members will have a place to conveniently can locate and meet Linkshells and their members in order to express interest in joining the shell.
-Players will have a place to call their own, perpetuating community growth between fellow Linkshell members.
Some Suggestions to Alleviate any Potential Problems:
Linkshell Allegiance: Before we begin in order to prevent abuse of the Guild Hall system by people with multiple Linkshells, a type of allegiance would be nice to implement. Basically a player will still be allowed to hold onto multiple Linkshells, however before they can utilize Members only facilities for personal use they must devote themselves to one Linkshell. That player can then utilize the full facilities for that Linkshell's Guild Hall, but cannot use Guild Hall facilities from other Linkshells. Players can change their allegiance, however there will be a minimum number of days (personal recommendation of 30 earth days) before they can switch allegiance to another shell.
Kick Features: Ok this might create its own mess of problems as much as solve issues; however some people do go out of their way to make people and their Linkshell’s miserable and other times people just get too rowdy and need to be removed to prevent problems from becoming worse. Any Linkshell Member who has allegiance can remove any non-Linkshell Member from the Guild Hall and said user cannot re-enter the Guild hall for a decent period of time (30-60 Minutes?)
Ban / Blacklist Features: For those who can’t take a hint or straighten up the Linkshell Leader / Sackholders can permanently ban a player from entering the Guild Hall, and possibly prevent entire Linkshells from entering a Linkshells Guild Hall altogether.
Suggested Rooms:
Lobby
Inn / Barracks / Resting Area
Crafting Center/Tool Room
Guild Stables
Greenhouse
Barber / Tailor Shop
Linkshell Store/Bank/Storage
Personal Storage
Lobby- Permissions: Anyone
Description: General Purpose area, anyone can enter the Lobby, speak with Linkshell members, and access other areas features of the Guild Hall. Upgrades entail nicer tables, chairs, perhaps something fancy like a bar or fountain, a Coat of Arms containing the Linkshells Emblem over the main doorway.
NPCs:
Announcement / Achievement / Roster NPC-
Announcement: Allows Linkshell Leaders / Sackholders to write announcements for upcoming events, that will be announced every time a Linkshell member enters the room.
Achievement: Allows Players to see the 5 most recent Achievements performed by players within the Linkshell.
Roster: Displays the roster of the Linkshell members and who is currently on/off-line. Linkshell Leaders can access the Ban / Blacklist from here too.
Game Table- Allows players to participate in a game of dice, Parley, and other games against each other or the computer, in other words a habitual time waster.
Inn / Barracks / Resting Area- Permissions: Linkshell Members Only
Description: A take off the upcoming Inns in patch 1.21, basically a large barracks like room that players can rest in and receive the rested benefits like at an Inn, view cutscenes, ect. However, the rested bonus builds up much slower unless upgrades are purchased for the room. When the maximum upgrade is purchased players can build up the rested bonus faster than resting at an Inn. Upgrades entail nicer beds, tables, and general items associated with living quarters, better rested bonuses.
Crafting Center / Tool Room- Permissions: Linkshell Members Only
Description: A room that allows Linkshell members to craft. At base level the room gives no benefit, however as upgrades are purchased Linkshell members receive added crafting facility bonuses like those from guilds and encampments. The facilities will be free to Linkshell members, with the possibility of allowing outside players to use the facilities for a fee which will go towards the Linkshell’s bank (described later). Upgrades entail better workshop tools, equipment, and upgraded crafting facility bonuses.
Other Upgrade Possibilities:
-Possibility that Crafting Room Upgrades can increase HQ / Meld rates.
-Possibility that the next double materia meld, triple materia meld, and so on can become 100% on the next attempt when the collective experience gained from all players in the Crafting room reaches a certain level. This effect will apply to Linkshell Members only.
Guild Stables- Permissions: Anyone
Descritpion: An open stable where players can freely view their and other Linkshell members (monster / chocobo) mounts. This is mostly a for fun room for players amusement like a petting zoo, however in the future when / if mount raising is implemented the room can be utilized as a center for caring for and raising players mounts. Any upgrades to the stables could have effects on increasing the care for a player’s mount, how fast their hunger drops, how healthy they stay, and so on. Upgrades would entail nicer feeding troths, cleaner facilities, better bedding.
Greenhouse- Permissions: Anyone
Description: In the event that Gardening is ever implemented in FFXIV this would be an open area that allows Linkshell members to raise and take care of plants. Each player will get a plot that can support a certain number of plants / flower pots. The plants can be either cosmetic and offer no rewards (just look visually appealing) or be harvested after they reach a certain stage similar to FFXI’s gardening system. Upgrades will entail more / clearer windows, better watering systems, better gardening tools, higher increase in yield and HQ rewards when harvesting.
NPCs:
Gardener- Offers advice and will take care of your plants in the event your away for long periods of time. You can set up a schedule with the Gardener who will care for your plants and harvest them for you, provided you pay a standard fee and supply all the materials necessary to take care of your plants to them.
Barber / Tailor Shop: Permissions: Linkshell Members Only
Description:
Barber Shop: Offers Linkshell Members the ability to change their appearance such as hair, tattoos, scars / birthmarks, skintone, (maybe race / gender), etc. for a hefty price. Mostly just possibility for future content when changing the appearance of characters becomes possible around 2.0.
Tailor Shop: Offers Linkshell Members an option for changing the color of their armor, or take existing armor and use it to create a “costume” that visually covers their equipped armor. Basically the Tailor can change any non-Untradeable gear and make it into a “costume” for the player. The player will not receive the stats from the “costume”, however when worn will always have the visual appearance of that “costume” piece regardless of what armor is currently equipped.
Notes:
-Neither store’s have upgrades.
-Either store could just as easily be utilized as a non-Guild Hall shop.
-Prices for the Tailor shop can vary according to the grade of the armor being changed.
-Costumes can be changed back into useable Armor.
*Linkshell Store / Bank / Storage / Upgrade- Permissions: Store: Linkshell Members Only, Bank / Storage / Upgrade: Leader / Sackholders Only
Description:
Linkshell Store: A place where Linkshell members can sell personal goods for a discounted price to other Linkshell Members in need. A portion of the sales go to the seller, while a percentage goes to the Linkshell Bank, once a transaction is completed the Gil will be received upon the next visit.
Linkshell Bank / Storage: A storage place for Gil and Items that belong to the Linkshell as a whole. Any Linkshell member may freely view the contents of the Bank / Storage as well as see who has put in and taken out from the Bank / Storage. Any Linkshell member may donate Gil to the Linkshell Bank, however only the Linkshell Leader / Sackholder may submit and remove Gil / Items from the bank.
To prevent any players from abruptly trying to steal Linkshells of their Gil, there should be a fixed limit to how much Gil the Linkshell leader / sackholder can remove from the Linkshell per-earth day. This will allow other members to catch any suspicious activity through the transaction listing, or get more people involved in why they need the Gil. Upgrades to the bank can increase it’s maximum storage size limit.
Upgrade: When the Guild Hall is purchased it will only consist of a lobby area, the Game Table, and the Announcement NPC, and a few scattered chairs. When your Linkshell wishes get additional rooms and upgrades, the Linkshell leader / sackholders may purchase upgrades, features, and rooms for their Guild Hall through Gil in the Linkshell Bank. As rooms are upgraded new features, bonuses, and new furniture are implemented to give the room a more homely look. For now, I’m going to base upgrades in levels rather than customization to keep things simple.
Example:
The Crafting Center / Tool Room
Just Purchased Room: No crafting bonuses / Graphics: Simple workbench
Level 1 Upgrade: Common facility craft bonus / Graphics: Toolboxes, Finer looking workbenches
Level 2 Upgrade: Moderate facility craft bonus / Graphics: More equipment, Workshop Tools (Sawmills, Tanning Vats)
Level 3 Upgrade: Advanced facility craft bonus / Graphics: Professional looking workshop, More advanced tools, Smithing Furnace, ect. (You get the idea)
Considering the benefits of upgrades will take out a large surplus of gil that would normally be removed from outer sources (Crafting facility bonuses for example), the price for upgrades that I had in mind would not be by any means cheap. I was thinking around 5million Gil to access a room, 10mil for the first level upgrade, 10-15mil for the second level upgrade, and 10-25mil for the final upgrade to each room. The prices are subjective of course, however it can take a Linkshell years to break even on the benefits / cost ratio at those prices giving it a bit of balance.
*Personal Storage- Permissions: Player Only
Description: Just like a Mog Safe or Retainer, allows players to store personal items for later use. This is the only item that is not associated with the Linkshell itself, however the player may be able to upgrade this themselves through the Upgrade feature in the bank with Gil from their own pockets and access them from various implementations such as Inns or personal Rooms.
*Note: Can be considered an NPC or accessed via room selection.
Overall, there are many ways for players to use a Guild Hall, it can help address some server wide issues, and potentially allows the development team some flexibility introducing new features in the future. With that in mind, I hope both players and the development team express enough interest, that we might see some form of Guild Halls or Linkshell Meeting areas in the foreseeable future.
Many Thanks,
Sword Coheir (Trabia / Hyperion)