EyeRekon Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 A lot of good advice in the thread. I'd like to be able to "Queue an account" in an LFG tool. I'll log on tonight, and I have no preference if I run my sniper (DPS) or my operative (Heals). My main criteria is to keep the wait as short as possible. +1. Novel idea. Have not seen that anywhere before. A pretty advanced feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EyeRekon Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 (edited) There is not an option for none... i took no preference in that I do not have a preference for the feature at all. I prefer the: be social, make friends and have accountability for your social actions approach. It is what builds communities. It is what levels out the classes across the 3 archetypes. It is what keeps people playing longer. And you are still able to play that way. Continue building groups as you have always done. For the rest of the playerbase that does not wish to be burdened with building relationships just to play the game, they will now have a tool so that they can enjoy things too. When you get off of work you do not want to login to a game and do yet more work before you can play. It is an unnecessary barrier. Edited April 24, 2012 by EyeRekon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banza Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 FP > HM > Ops Flashpoints first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabbathesloot Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 TBH I hope the cross realm finder does not come into play, one main reason language barriers, now I know I may get flamed here, but in wow some servers were unofficial homes for certain countries that weren't supported by blizzard , i was in the same battlegroup as the other realm, and when they first implemented the dungeon finder it was restricted to your BG. It was very frustrating trying to help/explain to others not speaking the same language. ( communication is key to any team ) Then other times seemed outright rude when you were faced with GO GO GO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_of_Mu Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 (edited) Like many others who have already mentioned this, please do not: * Make a cross realm group finder of any kind. * Transport players to the flashpoint / operation / what ever * Reward specific roles for participation * Make the system too convenient at the cost of community. * Eradicate the need for 16 man raiding guilds * Make current flashpoints and operations easier due to a select group of inept players. * Design flashpoints to be completed in 15 minutes or less. Making major improvements to the current LFG system would be welcome but please do NOT follow the path of World of Warcraft. Convenience has done nothing but destroy the community in that player base. And please, don't make any players feel entitled to something. Special bonuses for being an in demand role only makes obnoxious players. Edited April 24, 2012 by Lord_of_Mu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasgruberg Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 while group finder would be great, character transfers/directed transfers so we can fill some servers up leaving others for you to shut down (thus decreasing costs???) / or simply merges is much more desirable. Went to freedon nadd for a sneak peek after playing since early access on scepter of ragnos, and felt envigorated by the sheer size of that community. Found groups for any FP, pvp ques popped rightaway etc. Ide rather sit an hour in a que than play on my server atm. Shame if ive "wasted" all that time and effort on my main characters if i cant play on a populated server. group quests/ economy (atm we are 4 artificers just lowering the prices to ridiculus amounts while noone is there to buy anything anyway) /world pvp are also issues that can be fixed by merging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthjanus Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 In order to compete with other games (referring to WoW of course) all of the above would be preferred, but given that Heroic Missions are not instanced, the implementation of a group finder in those cases would be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoMonster Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Flashpoints are an absolute must. My server is fairly full during peak times and even if I spam a planet in my level range I rarely get anyone to join. Heroic quests are a close second. They provide a nice challenge and decent rewards and it's a shame that nobody does them anymore. You would think they would be easy to start but most people skip them, have already done them for the day, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remsomnos Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 As quickly as this game has grown and continues to grow, a group finder can be a helpful tool in expediting group formation for under 50 flashpoints and heroic quests. When I started playing, two weeks before launch, I was already in a guild and all of us were around the same level. For my first character getting a group was extremely quick due to this. Now that I am leveling my third character to 50 the player landscape has changed. It is often more time consuming to find a group for a flashpoint or a heroic quest than to skip the content and just level on soloable quests. For new players this can have a detrimental effect on their game play experience. A group finder will not only allow new players, and veterans in my position, to not only experience content without standing around and spamming the fleet, but also opens up opertunities to gain friends, which is the heart of any MMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satans_Chosen Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I just started a new Republic Trooper character on Kaas City server, and from how under-populated even the fleet is (40-60 players, half are lvl 50 doing their own things, each time I checked between 7-9 PM CST), I don't think a lfg tool wil be enough. Much of the game's group content (excluding ops and pvp) can be done with just two players + companions. If the game implements a buddy system, some way to pair up players who are similar in level and have similar play habits, it will go a long way toward making the game accessible to everyone below end game. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just a brief survey after a player picks her advanced class asking a couple of broad questions about play time and maybe desired activity (heroics, fp, role-playing, etc.). The system can then provide a list of other players with similar responses + character level & class. Any player can opt out, of course, and those that want new partners later can use the system again. It doesn't even have to be just 2-person. Larger groups could eventually evolve into guilds. I do not want to just randomly join a guild purely for the blind hope of finding someone to group. I may find the guild unsuitable and want to leave, but a high turn-over rate in guilds is never a good thing. Casual guilds that do not reach a certain size are too loose to be useful anyway. A small group that has at least some common ground in the beginning has a better chance of staying together. Because of the pain with finding a group and the randomness of pvp modes, swtor currently feels multiplayer-unfriendly for peopel who play without peers from outside the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vasala Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I would say all of the above with Flashpoints and Heroic missions being the priorities. As several have said eventually it will need to be cross server to deal with the issues low population servers have. If the big worry is about players needing on everything due to lack of consequences then take the step that World of Warcraft is for the Mists of Pandaria raid finder groups and have the who and what of loot determined by a behind the scenes roll instead of player rolling. Other misbehavior there is not really any way to eliminate beyond reporting and allowing players to ignore the troublemaker so at least they won't ever have to see that player again. My overall experience with the random dungeon and raid finders in World of Warcraft has been positive and a big improvement over the stand in town spamming or hoping someone notices that you flagged yourself as looking for a group alternatives. Yes, I have had days with groups with issues and wipes that should not be happening but I have also seen plenty of successful groups and met some nice people that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuval Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 there is a LFG system going on but it is not basic it is even primitive and ppl even do not know where is it so whatever the outcome of this poll it is a huge step of giving life to FP and HC missions. maybe pugging storymode ops will even possible with this good job. the community will wait eagerly. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanye Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) All of the above. X-server is fine. Loot is the main issue with this though. Please add gear swap while in the instance. Vote-kick works fine for mis-behavior. Edited April 25, 2012 by Vanye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funktion Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I'd love a group finder!! I've had to skip heroics on probably 4 or 5 planets. I've also not done any of the flashpoints past essclees (sp) because I can't get a group! I think a group finder for OPS is a bit much, but for flashpoints or quests (heroics) I think its a wonderful idea! you might even offer a checkbox for same server or "all servers", and implement a different ruleset for the "all servers" choice, like you can only roll on gear for your specific class or armor type. Since that seems to be what people freak out about when they think about cross server grouping. (some person on a server I'll never see again is going to ninja my hunter lewts!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosdefined Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) It still amazes me how so many people seem to believe that Group Finder + Cross Server searching = EVIL MAGIC = nobody talks anymore or joins guilds. It's like the MMO equivilent of superstition. "My mother used to tell us stories at night...terrible stories...of soldiers who went off to fight in Cross Server Group Finders and then came back changed men...they didn't talk anymore...they became trolls!" Edited April 25, 2012 by chaosdefined Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cataphractone Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Single server queues will be worthless. What if you are on a low population server? What if you work nights, and on your days off your play time is 3am to 8am? Do these people just not to get to do Flash points? Rift tried a single server queue. I don't know if they still do, but it was a failure. I would queue up with a tank, healer, support, and one DPS at midnight EST and we would be in queue for over an hour. This is while someone was standing around the capital looking for a 5th. I guess these people just aren't allowed to do the content. If you are going to do it, do cross server, or do nothing at all. Don't go in the middle like your already horrible combat log. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucrothop Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Flashpoints first for sure. But I for one would like to see an operations option in a group finder. Maybe one that simply organizes the people interested into an easy to navigate table? This way the organizers can see who they are picking (class, role, maybe item level, etc). This would allow a PuG or guild run to pick up that last spot. I'm in a dead guild that gets MAYBE 5 50s on consistently and only maybe 2 of which are interested in endgame instances. I am very interested in experiencing all the content but have been with the people in this guild for years and wouldn't know how to go about getting into a different one anyway. I don't know alot of people who set up operations and its rare on my server to see anyone LFM [insert operation] in general chat, that stuff is usually behind the scenes. A raid leader friendly group finder for operations would help IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parasi Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I think heroic missions is the only listed one that we need a group finder for. Daily quests would be the next hardest to find a group. I would use it for flashpoints if I didn't know people (or maybe to make friends) but only for the easier ones. Ops - no no (probably best to leave it to guilds). Cross server - please no, nay, never! The problem with group finders is that it can take away from the social aspect of the game. A robust LFG flagging and serching system done through the chat window (not requiring a popup or use of the mouse) would do WONDERS. A group finder would help casual players but also make hard content harder to clear in some situations because of possible poor group dynamics and inexperienced players. It can be useful, but should never be thought of as the primary method of finding a group - it's an extra tool for when you need it. Design it this way and it should be good, whichever direction you take it. Rewarding players for making friends is always healthy for a game and adding tools that facilitate the player doing the finding/matching would be my preference over an automated group finder. In some situations just adding cool rare loot to make people come back for more than set gear would help to keep more people doing stuff. If there is a reason for people to keep coming back to flashtpoints and heroic quests after they've gotten all their sets of gear, it would add to the population trying to do them and make it much easier to find groups, with or without added tools. On that note, things that break the balance of gear on a rare drop from bosses (like <5% drop rate) and things that give rare bonuses to add utility unavailable to that class (balanced by a give and tank mechanic perhaps) would be a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botaku Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Flashpoints and heroics are a great idea for this, I wouldn't want it for Ops however. Since those require more organization and are on a larger scale. However I would be more for cross server queuing, Trion tried the same server side thing with RIFT and that did not work out as planned. Cross server gives you a larger pool of players to draw from for finding FPs, with it just being server side there really is no point to it. Yeah there are headaches that come with the x-server finder, but I don't think that this community is as bad as that other game that first introduced the feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmogaddict Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I don't want a group finder at all and certainly not cross server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIHA Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 All of the above in order to compete with competition. A group finder for everything mentioned in the poll would be a huge step forward. It can't just be for one of those things. +1 to your comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosdefined Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I don't want a group finder at all and certainly not cross server. Well unfortunately for you Group Finder IS coming into the game in Patch 1.3. But it is entirely optional and you can continue to group with your friends or Guildies all you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTheDutch Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 It still amazes me how so many people seem to believe that Group Finder + Cross Server searching = EVIL MAGIC = nobody talks anymore or joins guilds. It's like the MMO equivilent of superstition. "My mother used to tell us stories at night...terrible stories...of soldiers who went off to fight in Cross Server Group Finders and then came back changed men...they didn't talk anymore...they became trolls!" im glad people are coming out and preaching this, finally im sick of all the nerds who think they are "apart of something" just because 5 people spam general chat with a dumb convo everyday, thats not community thats just nerd boredom i am a FANATICAL fp/ops runner, its all i find fun on this game anymore, and unless a VOIP is introduced to any of those groups, people barely breathe a word to eachother. nobody types anything in chat, except at the end, "ty for group" yeah huge community vibe there, we say goodbye to eachother in a politically correct fashion so as to gaurantee our own continuity in the ability to run group instances STOP CRYING ABOUT DESTROYING COMMUNITIES.. THERE ISNT ONE... 5 NERDS TALKING IN CHAT IS NOT A COMMUNITY LOL oh and, its worth mentioning that i do not use the term Nerd offensively, i fully agree to my own nerdyness and talking about very silly and often unimportant things. whats important here is noting that this is not a large discussion that occurs, but simply a few people weighing in on a subject not generally related to game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosdefined Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 People put this community idea on a pedastal and worship it, but the problem they don't realise is that their idea of a community is unattainable in todays MMO. They existed before because there was a smaller playerbase, and so smaller groups of people will form a tighter community. Can anyone here say their city has a community to it? No, can you say your local bar or college class has one? Yes. See the difference? For me, my ingame community is my Guild. I talk with them, have a laugh with them, do flashpoints and fun runs with them. That is why I love playing the game with them. I'll be nice to others on my server and help out if I can, but this idea that people have of a Utopian Server Community is, unfortunately, nothing more than a fantastical ideal that does not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shingara Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Well unfortunately for you Group Finder IS coming into the game in Patch 1.3. But it is entirely optional and you can continue to group with your friends or Guildies all you like. Is it in 1.3 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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