The difference being that you can still do that with an LFG tool. You don't have any problems? That's cool. But some people do. A lot of people do. A lot of casual players who have an hour or two a day to play the game and don't want to spend half of that spamming general and running to the instance. There's also people who, suprise, real shocking here, don't want to socialize. They want their Flashpoint gear so they can do Operations and that is their end goal. Slowing down that progression loop does no favors for anyone involved. This is far less than what I've seen in Flashpoints I've run so far. It's typically -spam general for ~30 minutes -wait 10 minutes for everyone to get together -do instance entirely silently -sometimes get a "good group" or "later guys thanks" at the end Sure is community building Why not? It's the best system for secure, accountable groups that are conveneient to form and works based on the players schedule and not the other way around. Every game could use it but the fact that a Bioware MMORPG in 2011 is releasing without even a rudimentary equivalent is disappointing.

You are right, adding new features to a game for convienence is lazy. I put forward that we should no longer level through quests and go back to the good old days of farming mobs to end level. I'm sure you will agree? First off, prove*. Normally not a grammar nazi but if you are going to run with the "it's science" line you might as well learn how to type correctly. Secondly and more to the point, a cross server dungeon tool like the one found in WoW has more accountability because it lets you /ignore people who you don't want to run with and you will never see those people again. Not only that but if they act a fool in too many dungeon groups they will have a smaller pool to play with. Perfect, automated accountability with no need to have a scratchpad next to your monitor for blacklisting players.

WoW player since vanilla reporting in and corroborating everything you say here. This idea that the LFG tool introduced in Wrath suddenly and irreversibly destroyed WoW's shining paragon of community is ridiculous. The only thing the LFG tool did was allow people to do content in their own time, at their pace, using an automated system that afforded convenience, security, and accountability. Not only that but the people who want to form groups the usual way are given that choice. I read and agree with everything in your post (good read by the way, well spoken) but this is the part I personally agree with the most and want to see implemented into this game.

Heh, hope you picked a good server to be on 3 months from now or you will be slightly less happy about their decision. Half the servers barely top medium pop during prime time 5 days after launch. I wonder how much "community" they will have in March.

Everyone's feedback is anecdotal. That said I find it far more likely that SWTOR groups aren't paragons of social interactivity than the idea that WoW groups are 100% failures, which seems to be the most common form of anecdotal evidence in this thread.

Easily the biggest design mistake this game has made so far. Called it this summer when they first announced their stance and called it again in beta, this is going to be one of the biggest reasons for subscriber loss 3 months from now, when people can't run content because the forum vocal minority thinks "community" is spamming in dead general chat channels. Implementing a WoW-esque LFG tool would be my #1 priority for this game post launch. It offers convenience, security, and accountability while also allowing the vocal minority who dislike those things to take part in traditional groups. Biowares stance on this is bewildering from a AAA company releasing an $350 million MMORPG in 2011.