Suggestion - Gear Checking via the Guild panel

[obastable.5231]

As the title implies - this is meant to be a tool for Guilds, not for parties, squads, or individuals.

PvP already has the means of doing this, and it's more than a little unfair that it's exclusive to the one game mode and yet banished from all others. I can't fathom how it violates peoples privacy in one game mode but not in others. I do understand how it could make people uncomfortable, which is why I recommend it being an individual preference we set in our client, which then allows us to share (or not) certain information via our Guild panels.

Dedicated guilds are already using third party sites to verify and check their rosters gear and builds via API keys.

My suggestion: Make it a toggle in the Options panel to enable/disable gear & PvE / WvW build checking (they could all be separate toggles) in the Guild panel. If enabled then Guild leaders, or whichever ranks my leaders give the perms to, can right click an online person from the roster and view that characters gear and build.

This keeps the power of sharing in the hands of individual players, but gives Guilds the utility to use these tools more readily in game rather than resorting to third party tools outside of it. PvP players don't have to jump through hoops, it's about time the rest of us had a more efficient means of gear and build sharing, too.

[mindcircus.1506]

If there's a case for Guilds, then there is surely no reasons parties and squads.Make it a toggle and get instant kicked for not having the toggle on.No thanks.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Not something that would interest me...sorry.

[obastable.5231]

There is a reason to not have it for squads and parties, and that's exactly the reason - to prevent abuse.

Preventing abuse of a tool with pugs and casual players doesn't justify not having the tool available to less casual & more competitive players. It's been standard in PvP forever. If a means of implementation can be done that gives the individual control over it then I see no valid argument against it.

Having the option to share information, or not share it if that's your preference, isn't intruding on your privacy. In fact it's far less intrusive than the existing implementation in PvP (by participating in PvP you automatically make your gear and build available for public scrutiny) and, I would argue, less intrusive than DPS meters which we have no control over as a personal option.

I'm perfectly open to discussion on the pros and cons of the idea, but let's keep it in the scope of the existing tools in the game.

Build and gear sharing already exists in PvP so we know Anet doesn't believe it's a violation of privacy to share this information.

Build and gear sharing already exists via third party sites using the API, reiterating the fact that this isn't deemed private information and can, in fact, be shared at our discretion.

Build and gear checkers already exist as unapproved/bannable third party ad-ons that some people out there have been using for ages.

People want access to this information. The reasons for not making it available with an in game tool have been to prevent abuse of it against the common non-competitive player on the basis that it would foster an elitist and toxic environment.

Solution: let us choose whether or not to share it, limit the sharing to Guilds. We choose if we share it, we choose where to share it, and most importantly we choose who we're sharing it with.

No, it won't interest everyone. No, it won't be used by everyone. It's just a tool to help a few thousand people have a slightly easier go of things from within the game itself, rather than relying on the continued existence and evolution of third party tools.