Feedback request from James Ohlen - Group Finder

[Lord_Nova]

I agree with All of the Above. A couple of points:

 

1) When it comes to Operations, only make the tool available for Story Mode

2) If the tool is cross server, let the pairing search within the server first and then expand to preset groups of servers (So that the same server populations are always being pulled together)

3) Allow items to be traded between players that were eligable for the roll when it dropped in the same instance even if it is BoP for a limited time.

4) Give players tools for vote kicking rude/obnoxious players.

5) Make sure thee is some kind of gear/stat checking involved (Example: Needs a minimum of X average gear rating and minimum of x for their primary stat)

[deags]

I'm a little worried that there is a vote to which is more important, does it mean that the majority voted option will get the feature but the others won't?, personally think if they bring in a better group finder it should cover all forms of group activities not just the most popular one.

 

Don't think there really need to put a vote up it should just be by default the all of the above scenario.

Edited April 19, 2012 by deags

[Dirtnose]

Most important to me would Flashpoints but very closely followed by Heroic Missions.

 

EDIT: Just noticed the all of the above option, I would definitely go with that.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Dirtnose

[NeoStephane]

All of them.

 

Because in some server, it is so difficult to find some people form the flaspoint in low level that 50.

[AntarNyaus]

Flashpoints, definitely. I don't have enough game time to sit idle in-game waiting to find a group.

 

I would love to have more social points but when I manage to get a party together. it's usually just a PUG for landscape quests, sometimes Heroics, and none of those are usually worth much for Social Points. I have time to run Flashpoints a few times a week and would love to do so but so far I am able to do maybe one or two a month.

 

(On the subject of Social Points, sweet gods are the devs stingy. I can spend an entire evening running missions in a group of 2-4 but unless it's we run one or more Flashpoints there's hardly any social points given.)

[DarthZaul]

Flashpoints are the most important thing but Heroic quests are important too. I was going to say in the suggestion box (but realized the group finder would fix this anyway) that the easiest way to deal with the boring linear leveling path (rather than making a whole set of new planets) is to make it possible to level entirely by flashpoints like you can in WoW. There aren't enough flashpoints to do this but Heroic quests are just shorter flashpoints anyway. So as long as the group finder can do FPs and HCQs the only thing to do to make leveling better is dramatically increase the amount of exp these give cos the exp from FPs now is about the same as 2 quests but take 10 times longer. Ops don't need to go into the grp finder till later, if at all, and I guess they would be technically hard to implement anyway.

 

A Prerequisite to this would be fixing the population problem though so there are enough people around while leveling.

Edited April 19, 2012 by DarthZaul

[Luca]

Fundamentally, all of the above; on the other hand, on a *healthy* (with "healthy" being a keyword, here ) server, the flashpoint rotation is higher so, while not instant, it's easier to find a group. That is not the case for heroics: you can skip them quickly while questing, so it's more likely to give up or overlook them: knowing that a group finder for heroics is at your disposal, though, might make things easier and actually push you to try the heroics out.

[Solo_Han]

I don't see why there needs to be an argument about X-Server and Same-Server queues...

 

Would a tickbox to specify which we would like be totally out of the question... You know, like a choice? Best of both worlds?

 

If you don't want the chance of someone needing your epic lootz that you've been hunting for forever, and disappearing back to their own server, then don't queue for X-Server... If you just want to get some XP, have fun, make some cash, get some playing experience, or just live on a low pop server, then queue for X-Server.

 

I really cannot fathom why there has to be an all-or-nothing approach from game developers these days. GIVE PLAYERS A CHOICE. We can make up our own minds how we want to play...

[Lord_Ravenhurst]

my damn server is empty, this needs to get cross server LfG for all kinds of group missions, not just flashpoints

[WrecklessMEDIC]

I chose Flashpoints because that is definitely the most important. I'd also really like an Ops Finder and a Heroic Finder.

 

[rnmedic]

The group finder should work like a que. If for example want to do a particular flashpoint or op all I have to do is just que and then go about my business, without having to sit at fleet and wait for shouts. Much like the PvP que. Should be able to choose which flshpoint or op I want or have a random choice option. But with the random option It wont select one have have done already. If I have to rank which event should have this function it would be flashpoint, ops and then Heroics, but I think they all would benefit from this typ of group finder.

[Gurgintius]

If we have to chose, a Group Finder for Flashpoints should be launched first, and sooner rather than later. While cross server would be nice, we'll patiently wait for that to evolve at a later time. Being able to continue questing while waiting to que for a Flashpoint is a must. I have spent over an hour (with my LFG flag) on the fleet trying to put a group together for normal mode FPs. Either the higher level players don't want to assist, or the at level players are off questing somewhere else and don't see the request.

 

Should the group finder have an option for Hard Mode or Normal? I believe this is debateable. Once you reach end game, do you have any need to random into a normal mode FlashPoint? Maybe instead of having a selector for Normal or Hard Mode, it just looks at the player's Codex entry. If that toon as already complete the normal mode, and is at level cap (assuming this will grow over time), it automatically ques the player for Hard Mode FlashPoints. If the player is at level cap but has not run the FP in normal mode, it ques the player for normal until they have unlocked the HM instance.

 

I feel for the next evolution of the Group Finder, Heroics would be better tham Operations. I am not sure I would want to run an operation with seven "Random" players. These require a little more organization to complete and should probably be left up to guilds to organize.

 

Just My opion.

 

Thanks for listening!

 

Gurgintius

[enthrop]

I voted for Flashpoints because that's likely what I would spend the most time looking for groups for. I would say all of the above, but second would be Heroics. Ops is nice to have, but I seriously doubt I would use it.

 

Flashpoints is something I do plenty of - either while leveling or at 50 grinding out gear (or helping others). Heroics I tend to skip if I can't find a group while on the planet... or solo or two-man. Many of the Heroic 4s can be 2-manned afterall.

 

If the group finder option can do Heroics ACROSS PLANETS, I would ask that it includes a "fast travel" type option (eg teleport to the heroic maybe). I would not want group finder to find me a group with someone in the middle of doing a long cave on another planet.. and for me to have to wait 30 mins for that player to arrive at the heroic site.

[lesmanp]

I'd be fine with everything but operations. Flashpoints and Heroic Missions are definitely the most important. Granted, accessibility is huge in MMOs now. Clicking a button and being able to raid is a HUGE advantage "that other game" has. Bioware will eventually need that to compete.

 

And with how spread out the population is, the only option for the group finder is for it to be cross-server, or queues will be too long. I know it's going to be single server at first, but it's guaranteed that this tool will need to be expanded to cross-server. Just watch. I expect a lot of hate for that comment, but I'm just being realistic here.

 

I agree flashpoints and heroics in server the start working on getting it cross servers. This is because some server population is just too small.

[Senatsu]

Everything listed, besides Operations. No matter what the population status on your server is, Operations should be handled in a group that actually has the ability, willingness and requirement to communicate and know a bit about eachother (just that you love cake would suffice).

 

WoW's raid finder was the dumbest idea Blizzard has come up with. Regardless of whether or not BioWare would keep the difficulty, people would complain too much forcing them into doing just like Blizzard, and create a whole new difficulty (or an idiotic option being to nerf the existing difficulties to make it easier for those people). Several factors weigh in to make this a horrible system:

 

1. Too easy to get geared. You should use at least some effort, but waiting in a queue for 2 minutes, killing bosses that can be killed by a fraction of the allotted player limit to the instance is just WAY too easy. And I hope BioWare has the brains to figure this out on their own, unlike Blizzard

 

2. Uses man power for tweaking. Yes, this is a real problem. No, they don't say: "Okay, just remove this ability and nerf his damage by 30% and health by 30%, and we're done" it takes much more than that to tweak it in a proper fashion to accommodate people's stupidity, carelessness, lack of communication, and lack of proper leadership, unless BioWare doesn't care about keeping the fight interesting.

 

3. Further make the game community even worse. If a Raid Finder feature is to be implemented, they will have to make it cross-server or else there wouldn't be enough people to go around. This debate connects into the "anti/pro cross-server dungeon finder"-discussion which is a quite active thread on these forums (check it out if you wish to see some viewpoints from both sides).

 

If a cross-server Raid Finder and Dungeon Finder solution were to be implemented, I would applaud BioWare for being idiotic enough to not try out some other alternatives instead, such as server merging, server transfers etc. to even out the player density. I am against any feature with cross-server capabilities, however, I believe my views are a thing of the past, but that does not mean that I am fully for it.

I would compromise and ask BioWare to put in as many safeguards as possible such as an automated feature which queues you into cross-server groups if you will have to wait x amount of time before you'll get a group, or like I said earlier, server merging. Having 5000000 servers for a game this young, with so few players (relatively) spreads the players too far out and opens the path to people leaving because they can't be bothered to reroll, the server is overrun by people who refuse to speak English, too few people to do heroics, too few people to do flashpoints, too few people to do Operations and so on and so on.

BioWare should have noticed this by now and fixed it a long time ago, which leads me to believe they will implement a cross-server dungeon and raid finder regardless of what our opinions are or what the negative implications will be (especially if they do it as carelessly as Blizzard).

 

Just my little cup of Rooibush tea that is soon empty and needs a refill.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Senatsu

[ColsonJade]

HM flashpoints and Operations should be the priority.

 

Love the game but finding groups for end game has been very tough.

 

I want to have a place that I can post that I need X members for my group to run X event. Then everyone on the server can then see it no matter where they are in the game and request to join. A good example would be DDOs LFM panel. You can see what they want to run and what they need for the group.

 

What I don't want to have some player matcher autopick form a pool of queued players. It is the ability to adverise what you need that is needed. Not for some stupid AI to just group people together.

Edited April 19, 2012 by ColsonJade

[Vampero]

Forming a group for Flashpoints

 

Forming a group for Heroic Missions

 

Forming a group for Operations

 

All three need to be in game ASAP ! Most people hate waiting in the fleet playing pocket pool to get a group. I feel like I'm in jail.

[Brickabrack]

 

Here is James' question for this week:

 

What part of a Group Finder feature is most important to you? Is it forming a group for Operations, for Flashpoints, for Heroics, for something else - or do you have no preference?

 

 

 

 

Finding groups for whatever I might need. I feel like for a good example of a good LFG tool, you need look no further than Dungeons and Dragons Online. It's same server, allows you to easily filter who and what you need and even add notes, it makes it easy to join a group and set up groups, and it's global, so everyone on the server can see it. Please take my advice and at least sample it so you can see what I mean. It's free to play so it costs nothing but a little of your time to check.

 

Good luck.

[niwandajones]

I voted "all of the above", but Flashpoints and Heroic Missions are my highest priorities.

[chaosdefined]

WoW's raid finder was the dumbest idea Blizzard has come up with. Regardless of whether or not BioWare would keep the difficulty, people would complain too much forcing them into doing just like Blizzard, and create a whole new difficulty (or an idiotic option being to nerf the existing difficulties to make it easier for those people). Several factors weigh in to make this a horrible system:

 

1. Too easy to get geared. You should use at least some effort, but waiting in a queue for 2 minutes, killing bosses that can be killed by a fraction of the allotted player limit to the instance is just WAY too easy. And I hope BioWare has the brains to figure this out on their own, unlike Blizzard.

 

The point of the Raid Finder just went completely over your head then. The whole idea of it was to be a complete faceroll so that everyone could see the content. But those who were good enough to complete it on Heroic mode could still brag about it with gear and titles.

[Meglivorn]

I voted all above, becouse the more option the better, but the priority should be on flashpoints and heroic missions.

Operations handled mainly by guilds anyway but it's nice to have a way to organize pug-groups if some need of it.

Also, I do NOT want to be teleported onto location, the flashpoints are already on the same place anyway (I'd love to see some classic flashpoints, when I have to go "on foot" to the location. Makes things more real).

The Group Finder only should be helping to form groups and people to get parties easier.

The one in Aion works just great. The players still have to communicate, the system isn't automaticly put groups together, just makes visible to all what groups are forming for what quest/dungeon. Or who is looking for others and for what activity

[NRaySI]

One element I would really like to see in the Group Finder is the ability to form up for a Flashpoint even if you out-level it. In other MMO titles, their "group finder" tools were locked down to Heroic quests & Flashpoints (instances) where you could be granted XP / rewards at level. If you were too high out of the Flashpoint level bracket, the option to join that Flashpoint is no longer available.

 

This has always been frustrating to me for when I want to go back later in the game when I have my high-level character and want to experience all of those Flashpoints I missed while leveling. I tend to go back for the Boss Codex entries as well. I don't think this would work well with ALL players, but perhaps if you out-level the content there's a 2nd group finder pool for higher-leveled characters than the Flashpoint requires.

 

TL,DR - Having a separate group finder pool for a Flashpoint or mission for players who out-level the content would be a dream come true.

Edited April 19, 2012 by NRaySI

[DartBlade]

I voted "all of the above", but Flashpoints and Heroic Missions are my highest priorities.

 

This.

[CynicalShadow]

Group finder would be great as long as it isn't cross server. Cross server kills communities.

[chaosdefined]

Group finder would be great as long as it isn't cross server. Cross server kills communities.

 

Communities only exist in small populations. Therefore if the server becomes big enough, there will be no actual community to speak of.

And if it dies when Cross-Server comes in, that's not because of the tool, that's because there was no community to begin with.

"Oh no that random person I didn't really know stopped talking in General chat, clearly that's because of Cross-Server Group Finder! It's evil and must have been the devils work! There's no other rational explanation to it!"

Edited April 19, 2012 by chaosdefined