Dungeon Finder Needed Badly.

[imtrick]

Make it Server-Only and all is well.

 

I'd even disagree with this. Personally, I think catering to the type of person who wants everything right this second and can't be bothered to communicate with other players in any way is a recipe for a bad MMO.

 

Not only does it make interaction with other obsolete, it turns group activities into a grindfest. Look at other places it's been implemented: you end up with random players who, for the most part, never talk to each other and are only looking for the quickest, most efficient route to their loot.

 

Make this stuff too quick, and too efficient, and all you're left with is essentially a solo grind with other characters that might as well be mute NPCs.

[LasherC]

I'm not sure how " Hi, I'm up for X " is better than just " Hi " at the start of the dungeon. I believe the reason dungeons in WoW became something you just " do " was because of the rewards ( badges / points ) and because they were too easy.

You WILL communicate if you actually have to organize pulls inside a dungeon instead of just chainpulling and aoeing everything down.

[Bloedigsidus]

For us "non hardcore" players (read, we have lives outside of video games. ), we don't have the time it usually takes to get a group and then run the mission. And for those saying it's no big deal to wait for someone in the group to fly to your destination, walk to the entry point, etc, well that's 5-15 minutes I don't have to wait for someone.

 

Many of us are fully employed adults with lives and we simply want to play through the story (stories) at a reasonable pace. I think a "dungeon finder" or similar feature would be great. They can make it feel like your still "in the story" easily with a couple effects (easier than other MMOs in fact) and still allow people to play their stories out at a reasonable pace.

 

+1 for some type of "dungeon finder".

[Sir-Coffee]

I'd even disagree with this. Personally, I think catering to the type of person who wants everything right this second and can't be bothered to communicate with other players in any way is a recipe for a bad MMO.

 

Not only does it make interaction with other obsolete, it turns group activities into a grindfest. Look at other places it's been implemented: you end up with random players who, for the most part, never talk to each other and are only looking for the quickest, most efficient route to their loot.

 

Make this stuff too quick, and too efficient, and all you're left with is essentially a solo grind with other characters that might as well be mute NPCs.

 

I was attempting to find a group for 10 hrs yesterday. Thank you for your concern.

[KurganNazzir]

If BioWare wants to add a dungeon finder, fine, but I probably would never use it. The reason some players sometimes have trouble finding groups, me included, is because others aren't on the quest or because other players don't want to pug, and no dungeon finder is going to solve those problems.

[Kurnea]

I'd even disagree with this. Personally, I think catering to the type of person who wants everything right this second and can't be bothered to communicate with other players in any way is a recipe for a bad MMO.

 

Not only does it make interaction with other obsolete, it turns group activities into a grindfest. Look at other places it's been implemented: you end up with random players who, for the most part, never talk to each other and are only looking for the quickest, most efficient route to their loot.

 

Make this stuff too quick, and too efficient, and all you're left with is essentially a solo grind with other characters that might as well be mute NPCs.

 

So, you blatantly want the process to be slow and inefficient if I'm understanding correctly. Should we go so far as to add some hoops for people to jump through when creating a group so we can make it even more slow and inefficient?

[GraunKrynn]

For us "non hardcore" players (read, we have lives outside of video games. ), we don't have the time it usually takes to get a group and then run the mission. And for those saying it's no big deal to wait for someone in the group to fly to your destination, walk to the entry point, etc, well that's 5-15 minutes I don't have to wait for someone.

 

Many of us are fully employed adults with lives and we simply want to play through the story (stories) at a reasonable pace. I think a "dungeon finder" or similar feature would be great. They can make it feel like your still "in the story" easily with a couple effects (easier than other MMOs in fact) and still allow people to play their stories out at a reasonable pace.

 

+1 for some type of "dungeon finder".

 

I'm a fully employed adult that works 40-60 hours a week. I have a friends list a mile long from finding pick up groups for flashpoints. I have done every flashpoint in the game at least once. I've done it all without a LFD tool.

[imtrick]

So, you blatantly want the process to be slow and inefficient if I'm understanding correctly. Should we go so far as to add some hoops for people to jump through when creating a group so we can make it even more slow and inefficient?

 

Yes, I think it should be slow and inefficient. If you want quick and efficient, MMORPGs are probably not a good genre for you. They are designed to be time sinks. If you have a problem with that you have much bigger things to worry about than whether there's an LFD tool or not.

 

And, LFD's hurt community, for all the other reasons people have listed before me. Personally, I find a sense of community and thriving player interaction to be far more important than quick loot.

Edited January 6, 2012 by imtrick

[LasherC]

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Yes, perhaps they are time sinks, but you're supposed to sink said time into SOMETHING that's more or less fun. Spamming general on the Republic Fleet and moving from planet to planet to do the same thing is not fun. Edited January 6, 2012 by LasherC

[Amiracle]

For us "non hardcore" players (read, we have lives outside of video games. ), we don't have the time it usually takes to get a group and then run the mission. And for those saying it's no big deal to wait for someone in the group to fly to your destination, walk to the entry point, etc, well that's 5-15 minutes I don't have to wait for someone.

 

Many of us are fully employed adults with lives and we simply want to play through the story (stories) at a reasonable pace. I think a "dungeon finder" or similar feature would be great. They can make it feel like your still "in the story" easily with a couple effects (easier than other MMOs in fact) and still allow people to play their stories out at a reasonable pace.

 

+1 for some type of "dungeon finder".

 

 

 

Why choose an activity you do not have time for?

[Kurnea]

Yes, I think it should be slow and inefficient. If you want quick and efficient, MMORPGs are probably not a good genre for you. They are designed to be time sinks. If you have a problem with that you have much bigger things to worry about than whether there's an LFD tool or not.

 

Funny, as this game has a number of fast, efficient options already. Travel is quick, with interplanetary travel being instantaneous. Leveling is for the most part non-grindy and extremely solo-friendly. Death penalties are negligible, companions can help you quest, level professions, and even sell your stuff for you. All I myself would like is an option to form groups that was convenient to use without sitting in the Imperial Fleet spamming 'LFG' for a few hours doing nothing else. Seeing how casual and efficient the rest of the game is, Bioware's probably going to do something about this, at the very least improving the /who tool.

[imtrick]

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Yes, perhaps they are time sinks, but you're supposed to sink said time into SOMETHING that's more or less fun. Spamming general on the Republic Fleet and moving from planet to planet to do the same thing is not fun.

 

That only makes sense if the *only* thing you're interested is is getting into that operation and getting your loot, and that's exactly my point.

 

Catering to that type of player kills the community.

Edited January 6, 2012 by imtrick

[Kurnea]

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Yes, perhaps they are time sinks, but you're supposed to sink said time into SOMETHING that's more or less fun. Spamming general on the Republic Fleet and moving from planet to planet to do the same thing is not fun.

 

Pretty much this.

 

Good time-sink: Completing dozens of quests filled with quality voice work and storylines.

Bad time-sink: Standing around in the Imperial Fleet typing 'LFG for Athiss', especially when there are more fun options in TOR that I could be doing.

 

Edit: Disagree on moving from planet to planet, I continue to find the quests on planets enjoyable.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Kurnea

[imtrick]

Funny, as this game has a number of fast, efficient options already. Travel is quick, with interplanetary travel being instantaneous. Leveling is for the most part non-grindy and extremely solo-friendly. Death penalties are negligible, companions can help you quest, level professions, and even sell your stuff for you. All I myself would like is an option to form groups that was convenient to use without sitting in the Imperial Fleet spamming 'LFG' for a few hours doing nothing else. Seeing how casual and efficient the rest of the game is, Bioware's probably going to do something about this, at the very least improving the /who tool.

 

Almost none of what you listed has anything to do with removing the time sink aspect (except the travel part, and even then there has to be some way to get from planet to planet -- and it's definitely not "instantaneous," as you claim).

 

You have options other than sitting on the fleet spamming general. Lots of them.

Edited January 6, 2012 by imtrick

[Kurnea]

Almost none of what you listed has anything to do with removing the time sink aspect (except the travel part).

 

You have options other than sitting on the fleet spamming general. Lots of them.

 

When did I ever say I had a problem with the time sink aspect of the game? And if I want to do an operation, no, your options as of now are pretty limited to spamming the fleet general. I've left lfg comments a plenty while questing on planets, and have yet to have someone whisper me.

 

Vanilla WoW at least had a global lfg chat, which people used quite frequently. I'm not saying I need to be teleported to the flashpoint or even have groupmates chosen automatically for me, but something probably should be done about making it easier to form groups, otherwise more and more people will just skip doing low level flashpoints altogether. I've already skipped past Athiss and Mandalorian Raiders, simply because soloing quests seemed more fun than spending more time spamming fleet general.

[LasherC]

That only makes sense if the *only* thing you're interested is is getting into that operation and getting your loot, and that's exactly my point.

 

Catering to that type of player kills the community.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. At low levels, I DO want to run pretty much all of the flashpoints. Not for loot, simply to have the quest completed ( I guess this is a remnant from WoW, where dungeon quests give HUGE xp and are one-time only ). At high levels, this will pretty much be THE activity to do, so you're standing around anyway.

 

@Kurnea - moving from planet to planet to look for people for said flashpoint. Not sure how much of this you have to do at max level, as I haven't done much since reaching level 50, but you pretty much have to at lower levels, since most players of that level will be on planets, questing, and not on the fleet.

[Kurnea]

@Kurnea - moving from planet to planet to look for people for said flashpoint. Not sure how much of this you have to do at max level, as I haven't done much since reaching level 50, but you pretty much have to at lower levels, since most players of that level will be on planets, questing, and not on the fleet.

 

Ah, gotcha, you meant you found it tedious to try finding people by spamming each planets general chat. I agree, it's a terrible option but atm one of the better available ones as more and more people just forgo finding a group and instead just quest with their companion. If not a dungeon finder, then a global LFG channel is badly needed.

[Kanharn]

Never had a issue, I'm in an Active guild and it takes me a few mins to set up a run.

[dynamostia]

What this game really needs at this point...is a Dungeon Finder. It was a huge success in other MMO's, no reason for it not to be in this game.

 

Pros:

 

1. Can continue questing while waiting for group to form.

2. Prevents trolls from sitting there ruining General Chat while they are bored trying to fill a group.

3. Proves that BioWare can do something like this. Buys street creds.

 

Cons:

 

1. Some people think it ruins the community...but I think they are wrong. They obviously have not sat for an hour trying to fill a Flashpoint group.

2. People who think like that are probably in a huge guild and have no trouble filling groups. We're usually filling 2-3 of 4 and just need that last role.

 

I know it offers convenience but its this kinda stuff that killed off the community in wow and turned everyone in groups into an arrogant unhelpful *****. If this stuff appears in SWTOR then I will just pack up and leave. If you want to sit in a queue and never venture out to the world then there is already a well polished game for you: WoW.

 

If you are having problems getting groups for flashpoints then you need to 1) make friends in game and interact with them and join a guild and make friends who you can group with.

 

MMOs need a community and people in the world. Flying mounts is another no no as far as I am concerned to because all that succeded in doing was removing even more people from the game environment.

 

Why oh why are people coming here from WoW and asking for the exact same things. Go back to WoW and enjoy the ****** results of no community there if you are so desperate for tools such as LFD.

[Hautaaja]

After 4 hours of sitting at the fleet, trying to form a group for flashpoints I have to agree. I do not know what the hell is the problem with this game, it's less than a month old and it's EXTREMELY HARD to get a PUG going. The years I played WoW, before dungeon tool, it was never this hard and there you needed effort to even move to the dungeons. Something is seriously wrong with this game but I hope they introduce a tool so that I don't miss all the flashpoints... Edited January 6, 2012 by Hautaaja

[EmperorFluffy]

I have to say this "MMO's are supposed to be slow, inefficient, boring, and require you to socialize a certain way" thing is probably the worst argument I have ever seen. Ever.

[skuggz]

I'm sorry, but for me, this idea doesn't even make it to the "it avoids a time sink" point. To me, the risk is high enough to just totally outweigh any reward. Literally, look at the timing of WoW's release of LFG and the direct correlation to plummiting sub numbers. 3.3 was the beginning of the end.

 

There are reasons for that. One is that whether Blizzard realizes it or not yet, taking the human connectivity out of an MMO is gamebreaking. Sure it's tough sometimes, and takes some patience but so do real relationships. If you just randomly group with people, and the interaction stops between "hey" and "gg," the people may as well be npc's with really good ai. That extra effort to make a group is vital to encouraging us to actually interact, and in such a way that people will wanna group with us again. Take the Multiplayer emphasis out of an MMO and it's just a kinda crappy rpg.

 

So far, with things like the legacy sur-name, in-server wz groups, etc. BW has seemed to take a stand for relationships with the people on your server, and i love it.

 

Just my two cents.

[LasherC]

I know it offers convenience but its this kinda stuff that killed off the community in wow and turned everyone in groups into an arrogant unhelpful *****. If this stuff appears in SWTOR then I will just pack up and leave. If you want to sit in a queue and never venture out to the world then there is already a well polished game for you: WoW.

 

If you are having problems getting groups for flashpoints then you need to 1) make friends in game and interact with them and join a guild and make friends who you can group with.

 

MMOs need a community and people in the world. Flying mounts is another no no as far as I am concerned to because all that succeded in doing was removing even more people from the game environment.

 

Why oh why are people coming here from WoW and asking for the exact same things. Go back to WoW and enjoy the ****** results of no community there if you are so desperate for tools such as LFD.

 

I already provided counter-agruments for this, and I'm sure I'm not the first one that did this, and that's only in the last two pages of this thread.

Like I said, I believe that dungeons in WoW became something you just do because they are too easy, and you're pretty much forced to run them because of the rewards they provide ( badges / points ).

Running dungeons with your friends / guild will always be better, regardless of whether there is a LFD tool or not in the game, and as such I'm not sure I see how this is relevant.

Also, I do not believe there is a large, game-wide community. Your group of friends is a community, your guild is a community, but I do not believe that you're part of this so called " community " simply because you purchased this game.

[CaineDVamp]

What this game really needs at this point...is a Dungeon Finder. It was a huge success in other MMO's, no reason for it not to be in this game.

 

A) No it doesn't.

B) No it wasn't.

C) Yes there is.

 

Pros:

1. Can continue questing while waiting for group to form.

2. Prevents trolls from sitting there ruining General Chat while they are bored trying to fill a group.

3. Proves that BioWare can do something like this. Buys street creds.

 

1. You can do that now and don't need some window to do it, if you're sitting around in General just standing at an instance, then ya...you'll wait until you fill the spot.

 

2. Who are these "Trolls" who are "ruining" general chat. First of all, general chat in ALL games is pretty full of trolls. But I think you just don't like seeing "LFx" messages. I mean...who are these FREAKS that can type and actually try for THEMSELVES to find a group, Bunch of Trolls, that's who!

 

3. I was waiting for the punch-line in this post, and here it is. Like BioWare is sitting there going, DUDE! We need to put in a LFG mechanic like now because the "doesn't go outside, powerleveling, damage parsing, ain't-got-no-job-ain't-got-no-life crowd will give us "Street Cred"". Ya...more likely adding LFG will drive most of us away that left WoW and other games because of the lack of "community" you feel on those servers.

 

 

Cons:

1. Some people think it ruins the community...but I think they are wrong. They obviously have not sat for an hour trying to fill a Flashpoint group.

2. People who think like that are probably in a huge guild and have no trouble filling groups. We're usually filling 2-3 of 4 and just need that last role.

 

1. It does. That's your opinion. Nope, because I'm a nice guy and I end up finding nice people to group with.

 

2. I have a guild and it has all of about 50 people in it. And in general, we're all too busy playing, BSing and having a good time to worry so much. That and if we have a healer (which is me) we pretty much have a group. I've run Flashpoints with 3 commandos specd healing. So....I think you might have a different view on group formation than the rest of us.

 

A group is a team working together.

 

Don't go and log out of WoW, into SWTOR and expect nothing to change but the graphics.

[LasherC]

Literally, look at the timing of WoW's release of LFG and the direct correlation to plummiting sub numbers. 3.3 was the beginning of the end.

 

I believe subs plummeted because the content was too easy, both in terms of heroics and raids. Correlation does not equal causation.

 

If you just randomly group with people, and the interaction stops between "hey" and "gg," the people may as well be npc's with really good ai.

Thing is, I believe this is more because of the cross-realm aspect of it more than auto-matching.

 

This is a personal belief, and as such it's probably not particularly relevant to this discussion, but I do not believe a superior technology should be avoided simply because people will misuse it. LFD is pretty much a superior piece of technology. If people take this and choose to streamline their game experience to the point of avoiding communication with other people because it's a waste of time, then that's their problem.