Our household has 6 copies of GW2 at this point. This includes my two nephews. They don't live in my household but I fund their gaming since I'm the one who started their obsession. *smile* With the exception of my son and I, who tend to lavish our attention on a single character, the others are altoholics. And of them, only two actually get all of their alts to max. I suppose we can't count the 6 year old I've infected already with the MMO bug, who leaves alts around like cookie crumbs.
With all the alt junkies and the limited amount of gear that's actually locked to a single character with a soulbound mechanic, I figured a family guild and bank would be helpful. I started an alt guild with a gaming friend from my former guild, Casualties of War. We put our alts in it and tried to remember to represent every once in a while to earn influence but the going was very slow. Even when I do remember to flip my main over to earn some,the influence only trickles in.
Our influence amount was just reaching the mark where I'd be able to pay for the level needed BEFORE you can build the guild bank. I was running my nephew around Southsun Cove, explaining about harvesting and selling Orichalcum ore, when I lamented the predicament of needing additional influence so we could share items more easily. He and I had been mailing items back and forth all day. As luck would have it, he told me that he had an influence item drop from his Personal Story but didn't know what it was for so had it sitting in his bank. I was all uh???
When he retrieved and used the item, Letter of Commendation, the guild instantly gained 400 influence. Intrigued, I searched the GW2 Wiki and found out that there were other versions available for purchase with in game gold. Oh my! I had more than enough gold to spring for a few rounds of Drinks for the City. For 6 gold, I instantly pumped 3000 influence into our family alt guild. Woot!
As of this writing, we're 35 minutes away from the Guild Stash (bank) starting it's 2 day build cycle. No more mailing them crafted goods. No more having to ask if they can use something before I send it. I'll probably be doing most of the deposits since I'm the only one who crafts. The only thing I've asked of them is to return items when they're done with them, if their use didn't make them soulbound. This way other toons can make use of them or I can salvage back some of my materials to make other items.
Happy times and so glad that the people of Divinity's Reach are not above being bribed with spirits. If you're ever in need of some quick influence, speak to Nolan the Guild Promoter. He's standing near the auction house in Divinity's Reach.
