[Suggestion] A SWTOR Style LFG Tool

[Metaphasic]

I support this thread and idea! Top notch suggestion!

 

/force-persuade "This is a feature you're looking for BioWare."

[Tyverus]

I like the sound of this. Would definately give players more reasons to visit Cantinas, and I can see the social side of it aswell (I can see RPers actually sitting in a Cantina and ordering drinks while they wait for a group).

 

/signed

Edited January 18, 2012 by Tyverus

[senshi]

Awesome idea. You have my vote.

[Ronamo]

It's really nice to see good ideas pop up from time to time. Or at least really creative ones that would actually fit into the game world.

 

Personally, I'd prefer more of a bulletin board type system being run out of Cantinas, wherein you could tick off your role, and which flashpoints you were interested in, and others could browse it at their leisure, with an easy contact method built in.

 

I believe some social interaction should be involved in forming a group. Just getting automagically grouped up is too impersonal and streamlined, but the current LFG flag system requires people to go too far out of what is for many of them a comfort zone of interaction with strangers.

 

Making the system centralized (always in the Cantina) but distributed (there's one on every planet), well known, and more usable would go a long way.

[Arandmoor]

No.

No.

For the love of god no.

 

This idea is terrible. It will not work.

 

Know why? The same reason this exact idea didn't work in World of Warcraft: People are too lazy. Given the choice to park themselves next to the quest terminals in fleet and spam general chat, or go to a cantina in a completely different part of the game and click an NPC, they will spam general because it makes them run less.

 

Or they'll just go questing and ignore instances completely until the level cap just like they did in WoW when it had this exact same system.

 

Again no.

No.

Just no.

 

No cantina BS. Keep galaxies out of ToR, and keep your RP BS to your selves.

[Ronamo]

Know why? The same reason this exact idea didn't work in World of Warcraft: People are too lazy. Given the choice to park themselves next to the quest terminals in fleet and spam general chat, or go to a cantina in a completely different part of the game and click an NPC, they will spam general because it makes them run less.

 

Or they'll just go questing and ignore instances completely until the level cap just like they did in WoW when it had this exact same system.

 

Again no.

No.

Just no.

 

No cantina BS. Keep galaxies out of ToR, and keep your RP BS to your selves.

 

I think you're misinterpreting something here. It sounds like you think the OP wants specific cantinas tied to specific flashpoints. That must be what you're thinking. It HAS to be. Because otherwise you just suggested that somehow the 15 second run from the daily mission terminal to the cantina in the center of the fleet station qualifies as traveling to "a completely different part of the game."

 

Signing up with your role and desired flashpoint, having a chance to vendor and repair, then getting shuttled directly to the flashpoint is not the same thing as using the old guidestone system. Not at all.

 

Now, if you actually had to sit there waiting on a group in a random corner of the galaxy instead of popping in, signing up, then going on your way, your crazy "lulzrp social iz 4 bads" rant might have a bit more merit. By the way, you do realize that camping by the mission terminal and spamming general is tantamount to the same behavior, right?

[Fernets]

Sending your companion to "cantinas" + this lfg idea = win Edited January 18, 2012 by Fernets

[Rhymez]

Awesome idea OP.

I feel the need for an LFG tool, which at first i thought i didnt.

This is a superb way to implement one.

 

Sending your companion to "cantinas" + this lfg idea = win

 

With this idea tho, isnt that basically the same as instantly clicking the "que" button to join the LFG que, but masked in a "send companion" button?

 

If so, i think i'd rather do without.

This game does need an LFG tool, but it should really b a bit of both effort and swiftness if u get me? lol

[XortiN]

No.

No.

For the love of god no.

 

This idea is terrible. It will not work.

 

Know why? The same reason this exact idea didn't work in World of Warcraft: People are too lazy. Given the choice to park themselves next to the quest terminals in fleet and spam general chat, or go to a cantina in a completely different part of the game and click an NPC, they will spam general because it makes them run less.

 

Or they'll just go questing and ignore instances completely until the level cap just like they did in WoW when it had this exact same system.

 

Again no.

No.

Just no.

 

No cantina BS. Keep galaxies out of ToR, and keep your RP BS to your selves.

 

The choice is what people want!

 

I think people should not be able to post that an idea will not work unless they have a better idea that is proven. Maybe you do have a better idea (which is likely) but stop harping on others. Instead just state what your idea is. Sounds like you do not like RPG's which surprises me why your here posting.

RP in RPG stands for something.

[RachelAnne]

I think the idea is kinda funny if you think about it

 

As with every LFG suggestion, aslong people have the choice of grouping with others like

 

- I want casuals in my group

- I want elitist´s in my group

- I want to roll for all gear

- I only roll for my spec

- I want to rush

- I want to play for fun, slowly and peacefully

- etc...

 

then a LFG is ok and if it does not give more rewards than by going with friends, then it is something we can talk about. Add this to your idea OP and I dont mind such a system, even tho I am not a fan of annonym grouping.

But everything which automates a random selection, without any choice except the role selection - no matter how funny it is, will not work and lead to a disaster, like at wow´s LFG system and gets my veto.

Edited January 18, 2012 by RachelAnne

[Turence]

What a great idea, come on Bioware lets get this in

[Directsat]

If we are voting for this in a future patch count me as voting Yay.

[Arandmoor]

I think you're misinterpreting something here. It sounds like you think the OP wants specific cantinas tied to specific flashpoints. That must be what you're thinking. It HAS to be. Because otherwise you just suggested that somehow the 15 second run from the daily mission terminal to the cantina in the center of the fleet station qualifies as traveling to "a completely different part of the game."

 

Signing up with your role and desired flashpoint, having a chance to vendor and repair, then getting shuttled directly to the flashpoint is not the same thing as using the old guidestone system. Not at all.

 

Now, if you actually had to sit there waiting on a group in a random corner of the galaxy instead of popping in, signing up, then going on your way, your crazy "lulzrp social iz 4 bads" rant might have a bit more merit. By the way, you do realize that camping by the mission terminal and spamming general is tantamount to the same behavior, right?

 

Yeah no. I'm not.

 

WoW feature history lesson time:

 

A long time ago in late vanilla, the WoW devs implemented a LFG tool into wow that worked thusly:

 

Step 1: Walk into *any* tavern or inn in the game

Step 2: Right click on the barkeep or innkeeper

Step 3: Queue for a dungeon. *any dungeon*.

Step 4: Wait for people to be automatically added to your group

Step 5: Go to the dungeon you all signed up for, or decide to run after the group has formed

Step 6: Profit!

 

Didn't matter which inn or tavern. They all linked to the same queues.

The queue system would attempt to balance your group, but wasn't too picky.

The longer you waited, the less pickey it became.

 

I stayed in queue for days looking for groups with that system (*exactly* the same system the OP describes) and I never found a group. It never matched me with anyone. Nobody I knew every got a group through it. It took longer to find a group than it did to out-level the dungeon you were looking to run in the first place just by running quests. Then, when you reached the level cap you got groups for UBRS by spamming general chat and warlock-summoning reinforcements to the damn door.

 

I know...I was that warlock while I geared myself for MC.

 

This system was devised to fix the broken meeting stone-based queueing system that nobody ever used. When it was introduced meeting stones were converted to teleport your group mates to the stone so long as you had 2 people at the stone.

 

Guess what?

 

It.

Didn't.

Work.

 

A game with 10x ToR's population tried this system and it failed. Hard.

 

Sorry. The cantina idea is stupid. We've been there with healthier games that were just as devoted to instanced multiplayer content.

 

It doesn't work.

 

Try again.

 

Sorry.

 

WoW went from the exact system the OP describes, to the current LFG queue because the Innkeeper/Tavernkeeper/Cantina system sucks so badly.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Arandmoor

[DelvingAngel]

First off, to all of you who have written kind words I thank you. I don't usually post on these types of forums because of the massive backlash so many people seem to receive.

 

Now...

 

@derrate

 

I have nothing against this idea at all. In fact, I kind of like it. However I can see why others would not. If we allowed companions to just sign us up, and still had to do everything else ourselves it would get my vote.

 

@HydroMerano

 

I like this idea too. More convenience without less community. Perfect for this system's ideals.

 

@Cerec

 

The developers have pretty much said absolutely no to the standard LFG tool. So its time to start thinking out of the box. My idea may not be the best, but I've yet to hear anyone come up with anything better. Perhaps you can?

 

@Ronamo

 

I would love more social interaction, but we do need to make it as streamlined as possible for the other side of the divide. As an extension to my idea I was thinking maybe the bounty boards you see all over planets could also sign you up at the nearest cantina, or something of the like.

 

@Arandmoor

 

I'm afraid I fail to see your logic in regards to people being lazy. Currently it takes more effort to find a group than speaking with a barkeep in the cantinas. The developers have said they have no intentions of changing to a less social system in the foreseeable future. As I have stated, that makes coming up with a system that nods to both sides of the argument a must.

 

Also for the record, I never played Galaxies. I know nothing of how it was run, configured, or built. However, I do know that THIS game is designed around its story - making immersion/RP a chief concern of the development team.

 

If you want to break down this idea, its exactly the same as what WoW currently has for its LFG. It, however, is single server and masked behind story reasoning (you know, the entire point of this game?)

 

Warcraft, if they had something like this - and I truly do not remember it despite playing on and off since launch, must have done it wrong.

 

After signing up for a group, you would go about your business. Anywhere in the galaxy. Doing whatever you want. The tool would look for group members EXACTLY like a modern LFG tool would. No difference under the hood whatsoever. You just have more chances to interact with your co-players, something the developers have specifically stated they want.

 

Now, if you can point out what about this system is inferior to just clicking a button (rather than an NPC) and waiting, I'll be happy to hear from you.

 

 

---

 

Like my idea or not, I hope we can keep the discussion going. I think we all want to see the game succeed and for that continued improvements will always be needed. We may as well help by offering as many ideas as we can.

[Desiirea]

The problem with the other game was IT WAS CROSS SERVER! aka you knew you likely wouldn't see that person again. Keeping in where it is server only won't completely prevent bad behavior but it will minimize it to a degree. Knowing you may be likely to group with that person again in the future and wanting to avoid getting insta kicked because you have a bad rep on the server will see to that.

 

I am a highly social person, friendly to all. I am having problems finding groups for heroic quests. Specially ones in bonus quest line areas. I have plenty of guildies, but asking them for a hand every single time I have a heroic while leveling... well I would feel bad doing that. Having a way to find same server only folks without spamming General Chat (which is hit or miss) would be nice.

[seanisawake]

Awesome idea. +1

[HydroMerano]

Yeah no. I'm not.

 

WoW feature history lesson time:

 

A long time ago in late vanilla, the WoW devs implemented a LFG tool into wow that worked thusly:

 

Step 1: Walk into *any* tavern or inn in the game

Step 2: Right click on the barkeep or innkeeper

Step 3: Queue for a dungeon. *any dungeon*.

Step 4: Wait for people to be automatically added to your group

Step 5: Go to the dungeon you all signed up for, or decide to run after the group has formed

Step 6: Profit!

 

Didn't matter which inn or tavern. They all linked to the same queues.

The queue system would attempt to balance your group, but wasn't too picky.

The longer you waited, the less pickey it became.

 

I stayed in queue for days looking for groups with that system (*exactly* the same system the OP describes) and I never found a group. It never matched me with anyone. Nobody I knew every got a group through it. It took longer to find a group than it did to out-level the dungeon you were looking to run in the first place just by running quests. Then, when you reached the level cap you got groups for UBRS by spamming general chat and warlock-summoning reinforcements to the damn door.

 

I know...I was that warlock while I geared myself for MC.

 

This system was devised to fix the broken meeting stone-based queueing system that nobody ever used. When it was introduced meeting stones were converted to teleport your group mates to the stone so long as you had 2 people at the stone.

 

Guess what?

 

It.

Didn't.

Work.

 

A game with 10x ToR's population tried this system and it failed. Hard.

 

Sorry. The cantina idea is stupid. We've been there with healthier games that were just as devoted to instanced multiplayer content.

 

It doesn't work.

 

Try again.

 

Sorry.

 

WoW went from the exact system the OP describes, to the current LFG queue because the Innkeeper/Tavernkeeper/Cantina system sucks so badly.

 

 

 

Alright normally I ignore the trolls, but this time I'll only throw you a bone so you don't look like a total fool.

 

I've played WoW before, and I have never once seen or heard of the 'tavern lfg' thing, and my cousin who has PLAYED consistantly since Vanilla, hasn't even heard of it, so I am pretty sure you're pulling this out your butt, for three reasons.

 

One. No proof, at all. No screenshots, or any facts to back yourself up.

 

Two. You're the only person I've seen who detests RP enough to slam down an idea without giving any other helpful information

 

Three. You refuse to acknowledge that this will be a good idea even in the slightest because you don't want to be part of the solution but part of the problem.

 

Thank you, good bye. Go back to /b/

[ildarz]

OP idea looks very nice. Honestly, I will vote for any system which isn't cross-server and allows me to see some basic info about suggested players (name/guild at least) before I press "Yes" button. No more WoW-style dungeon farming, please.

 

 

Yeah no. I'm not.

 

WoW feature history lesson time:

 

A long time ago in late vanilla, the WoW devs implemented a LFG tool into wow that worked thusly:

 

Step 1: Walk into *any* tavern or inn in the game

Step 2: Right click on the barkeep or innkeeper

Step 3: Queue for a dungeon. *any dungeon*.

Step 4: Wait for people to be automatically added to your group

Step 5: Go to the dungeon you all signed up for, or decide to run after the group has formed

Step 6: Profit!

 

Sorry, but I played WoW since May 2005 (no LFG at all) until June 2011 (most recent LFG incarnation except LFR). There wasn't anything like things you described. If you like, you can find patch notes of WoW patches (begin from here, for example - http://www.wowwiki.com/Patches/1.x) and try to prove me wrong.

[lobson]

Support! Excellent idea

 

Edit:

Although I'd suggest that instead of speaking to the bartender, that we would speak to some ''Agent <insert name here>'' that will be added to all the cantinas, it would make more sense story-wise.

Edited January 19, 2012 by lobson

[Khemizt]

Yea from what i have seen it's the crossover realms they have a problem with, I would be surprised if something like this isn't added sometime soon.

[imtrick]

How do you rate a thread?

 

You'll have to reply again, and when you do, look down before you submit it.

[imtrick]

I like the idea, except the shuttle part (for reasons I just described in another thread, but since this isn't that thread...)

 

I think the whole "instant teleport" thing is as big, if not bigger, of a problem with other games' LFG systems as the cross-server aspect. I'd personally rather not see the travel time eliminated, since I think it discourages communication, and dehumanizes the other people in the group a bit.

 

Even if all anyone has to say is "I'll be there in two minutes," at least people get a chance to talk a little before they hit their instance. It helps the other players actually seem like people. Without that, I think they're just about as human as your average NPC, and that probably makes them a little easier to be jerks to.

 

I think the rest of it is great, but I'd say no to the shuttles.

[Sheneria]

Welcome to the cantina, can I buy you a drink?

A plausible SWTOR LFG Tool

 

 

SWTOR's community is split, and the devs have taken a side and stated their reasoning. However, I have come to the conclusion that they are just looking at one game's integration of the LFG and thinking they would have to do it exactly the same to be functional.

 

I have a different idea. . .

 

Let's give those Cantina's more use than filling up our rested XP bars, let's have them serve one of the purposes they do in the actual star wars universe. Let's hire bodyguards and mercenaries over a round of drinks.

 

The interface is simple, you would go to a cantina and talk to the bartender. This would open up a classic LFG tool where you designate your role and desired goal. Once you've "placed your ad" you can go about your business as normal. Should a group be found for you, you would be contacted via holo-recorder, and offered a shuttle back to the cantina.

 

The entire group would come back to the cantina to finalize their outing. Giving all members time to stock up on stims or last minute repairs. Once ready the group leader would be able to talk to the bartender again, and shuttles would be dispatched to carry the group to their desired group activity.

 

While the details are sketchy, and perhaps a bit convoluted, a system like this could encourage community interaction

 

Personally, if this method was used I feel that the tool should be planet specific. While flashpoints would be available from all planets and the fleet station. Meaning that to find a group for a heroic quest on Tattooine you would need to visit a cantina on the planet. However, to get a group for Maelstrom Prison (or any other flashpoint/op) you could go to any cantina in the galaxy.

 

TL;DR

• Cantina based LFG
  
• Shuttles to gather groupmates
  
• Server based to preserve community
  
• Brings life to empty cantinas around the galaxy
  

 

Thoughts? Reactions? Flaming balls of hate?

Tell me what you think.

 

every good post. just the part with the shuttle is not really a good idea.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Sheneria

[Shadowfour]

I'm still not a fan of LFG's, mainly because I think they do hurt the community. However, this sounds interesting to me. I'd like to maybe make one or two suggestion/alterations to this cantina idea. feel free to shoot me down as if I'm a troll.

 

1) fee. LFG is a tool, LFG is like an ad in the paper for the help wanted section. I'm not saying an astronomical fee, but something you would notice. It would vary depending on the FP.

 

2) put more power in the players hands. Not so automated. Yes, it would still look for and pair people on its own, but maybe add the option to opt in as an employer/leader. Someone not wanting to wait, could possibly place bids on the mercenaries waiting for the LFG to pop. Effectively, the person COULD see who else is interested in FP's and could buyout a person to be placed in a group for a small fee again. This, IMO, would stop the pro-lfger and anti-lfgers from absolutely ruining the other's existence.

 

No more /1LFG complainers and the ability to still create, almost better than before the LFG tool, personal groups. Both sides get what they want with a bit of RP involved.

 

"BH seeks work, will tank for food"

 

Ok, feel free to trash my idea! Lol

[Shadowfour]

Oh, and I actually like the idea overall. Forgot to mention that. Sry.