World of Warcraft Removes Two Achievements from ‘The War Within’ Warbands Questline

In a recent update to World of Warcraft, the developers made a subtle but welcomed change – they quietly removed two achievements related to the Warband Bank system introduced in the “The War Within” expansion. The removed achievements were called “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing”, and they previously required players to amass a staggering 3 million gold or more in order to complete them.

This is great news for World of Warcraft completionists who were dreading the endless grind required to earn every single achievement from the new expansion. Now they can rest easy, knowing they no longer have to invest an absurd amount of in-game currency just to tick those two difficult feats off their checklist. The removal of these overly grindy achievements is a sensible and player-friendly decision by the development team. The Warband Bank mechanic, while interesting in concept, was widely criticized by the community for being excessively demanding of players’ time and resources. Earning the “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements required depositing millions of gold into the shared Warband bank, which served little practical purpose for most players. Blizzard has recognized the feedback and acted accordingly, freeing up achievement hunters to focus on more enjoyable challenges in the latest WoW content.

The Removal of Warband Bank Achievements in World of Warcraft

The pre-expansion update for “The War Within” kicked off on July 23rd, but a few of its key features didn’t go live until a week later. On July 30th, World of Warcraft finally got the Warband Bank system up and running properly, squashed some lingering bugs that had emerged from the previous patch, and also launched the new Radiant Echoes pre-patch world event. However, that July 30th hotfix also brought about another noteworthy change. While the Warbands feature was now fully implemented, Blizzard had made the decision to remove two specific achievements tied to the Warband Bank – “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing”. Previously, the former achievement had been granted just for purchasing the first Warband Bank tab, while the latter required buying all five available tabs. With these two achievements now gone, players no longer have any real incentive to invest in unlocking every single Warband Bank tab beyond the extra storage space it provides. This is likely a welcome move for the community, as the Warband Bank system had drawn some criticism for feeling too much like an unnecessary gold sink. By removing these grindy achievements, Blizzard has eliminated a source of frustration for players working towards a 100% completion of the new expansion’s content.

The Warband Bank was originally introduced as a way for organized player groups to pool resources and coordinate their activities more effectively. Each Warband could have its own shared bank, allowing members to deposit and withdraw gold, materials, and other items as needed. In theory, this should have fostered a greater sense of camaraderie and cooperation within guilds and raiding parties.

However, the system was quickly overrun by players looking to min-max their progress and rack up achievements. The “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements, in particular, created a problematic dynamic where players felt compelled to dump huge sums of gold into their Warband’s coffers, often to the detriment of their own individual progression. This became an unhealthy fixation for many achievement hunters, who saw the Warband Bank as little more than a mandatory gold sink. Blizzard’s decision to remove these two achievements is a tacit acknowledgement that the system had become more of a burden than a benefit for most players. While the Warband Bank itself remains in the game, it is no longer saddled with these overly grindy feat requirements. This should free up players to use the feature in a more organic, collaborative way, rather than feeling forced to maximize their contributions for the sake of 100% completion.

It’s worth noting that the Warband system as a whole has received a mixed reception from the World of Warcraft community. Some have embraced the social and strategic elements it brings to group play, while others have criticized it as an unnecessary complication that distracts from the core gameplay loop. The removal of the contentious “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements is likely a calculated move by Blizzard to address the latter camp’s concerns and make the feature less of an onerous requirement. Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see if Blizzard makes any other tweaks or adjustments to the Warband system in the coming months. The developers may choose to revisit the achievement structure, introduce new Warband-related content, or potentially even overhaul the system entirely based on player feedback. For now, though, the elimination of those two unpopular achievements represents a positive step towards making the Warband Bank a more accessible and enjoyable part of the World of Warcraft experience.

Removed World of Warcraft Warband Bank Achievements

The first tab of the Warband Bank only costs 1,000 gold, so earning the “Learning to Share” achievement was not particularly challenging. That said, each subsequent tab dramatically increases in cost, with the final tab costing 2,500,000 gold – for a grand total of 3,126,000 gold to buy every tab. With no extra titles, mounts, or other rewards granted for completing “So Much Sharing” beyond having access to the tabs, this achievement was as egregious as the “Support Your Local Artisans” achievement from WoW’s Love Is In The Air event, which originally required players to burn 70,000 gold to get, though it was reduced to 50,000. Needless to say, fans are near-universally happy to see this particular change. While the first achievement would have been a nice and easy bonus, few players have the extra gold to buy all five tabs. Completionists can rest easy knowing they will not have to empty their wallets buying their Warband Bank tabs in order to earn every achievement in the new World of Warcraft expansion. There is an achievement players can earn that will help their Warband Bank, however. Reaching max level with five characters of different classes will earn the “Quintessential Quintet” achievement, which reduces the cooldown of the Warband Bank Distance Inhibitor – a spell unlocked from a short questline added in the World of Warcraft: The War Within Pre-Patch – by one hour, letting them access the storage area for 10 minutes every hour instead.

The removal of the “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements is likely a calculated move by Blizzard to address concerns about the Warband Bank system feeling too much like an unnecessary gold sink. By eliminating these grindy feat requirements, the developers have freed up players to use the feature in a more organic, collaborative way, rather than feeling forced to maximize their contributions for the sake of 100% completion. Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see if Blizzard makes any other tweaks or adjustments to the Warband system in the coming months. The developers may choose to revisit the achievement structure, introduce new Warband-related content, or potentially even overhaul the system entirely based on player feedback. For now, though, the elimination of those two unpopular achievements represents a positive step towards making the Warband Bank a more accessible and enjoyable part of the World of Warcraft experience. The Warband Bank was originally introduced as a way for organized player groups to pool resources and coordinate their activities more effectively. Each Warband could have its own shared bank, allowing members to deposit and withdraw gold, materials, and other items as needed. In theory, this should have fostered a greater sense of camaraderie and cooperation within guilds and raiding parties.

However, the system was quickly overrun by players looking to min-max their progress and rack up achievements. The “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements, in particular, created a problematic dynamic where players felt compelled to dump huge sums of gold into their Warband’s coffers, often to the detriment of their own individual progression. This became an unhealthy fixation for many achievement hunters, who saw the Warband Bank as little more than a mandatory gold sink. Blizzard’s decision to remove these two achievements is a tacit acknowledgement that the system had become more of a burden than a benefit for most players. While the Warband Bank itself remains in the game, it is no longer saddled with these overly grindy feat requirements. This should free up players to use the feature in a more organic, collaborative way, rather than feeling forced to maximize their contributions for the sake of 100% completion. It’s worth noting that the Warband system as a whole has received a mixed reception from the World of Warcraft community. Some have embraced the social and strategic elements it brings to group play, while others have criticized it as an unnecessary complication that distracts from the core gameplay loop. The removal of the contentious “Learning to Share” and “So Much Sharing” achievements is likely a calculated move by Blizzard to address the latter camp’s concerns and make the feature less of an onerous requirement. One potential issue with the Warband Bank system that has been raised by players is the lack of flexibility in how the shared resources can be used. Currently, any items deposited into the Warband Bank can only be withdrawn by other members of the same Warband. This can create logistical challenges, especially for larger guilds or groups that may have members with different needs or specializations.

For example, a raiding party composed of players from multiple Warbands might find it difficult to quickly access and distribute valuable consumables or gear upgrades from the shared storage. This rigid structure could hamper the kind of collaborative gameplay that the Warband Bank was ostensibly designed to facilitate. Blizzard may need to consider giving players more control over the Warband Bank’s permissions and access settings if they want to see the feature truly embraced by the community. Allowing Warband leaders or designated officers to manage withdrawal privileges, set item sharing rules, or even permit access to non-members could go a long way towards making the system more flexible and user-friendly.

Additionally, the developers could explore ways to better integrate the Warband Bank with other aspects of the World of Warcraft experience. For instance, they could add unique vendor NPCs or faction-specific rewards that can only be purchased using Warband resources. This could create new strategic considerations and incentives for players to actively participate in the Warband system. Ultimately, the success of the Warband Bank system will hinge on Blizzard’s ability to strike the right balance between player agency, collaborative gameplay, and meaningful rewards. By addressing issues like the overly restrictive access controls and the previous achievement grind, the developers have taken a step in the right direction. But there is likely more work to be done to fully realize the potential of this new feature and make it a integral, enjoyable part of the World of Warcraft experience.