Rather dont want a LFG system. Why? Because only thing you get is people staying in one place all the time and pushing one button all the time. But if LFG will come, and it will, server only then.

 

Its easy to see this game has a lot of the spoiled folks from Wow.

All they want is the lazy/easy thing from Wow.

If you want that --> Wow bye

Let this game dont become a Wow clone.

 

A) All people do right now is sit in the Fleet and spam chat. Hardly a difference.

B) Enough with this argument, you know games are allowed, in fact should take features that are popular in other games...yes popular, the amount of people using it implies it is popular, they wouldn't use it if they hated it would they? Common sense dictates that....anyway a feature that is popular and modify it and create their own version of it.

 

Nobody is being lazy or wanting an easy route, they just want to play the game they're paying for. They're not asking for the FP's to be made easier, they're just asking for a tool to help them find groups to get into them in the first place.

 

It's amazing how many people have no consideration for others yet play an MMO.

No LFG TOOL!! This is just one more step closer to the utter laziness and insular nature that ruins MMo's. people HAVE to mix, talk and generally mingle for an MMo to flourish, Listening to these WoW QQers will only further render the game pointless, may as well ge play Dragon Age Origins......DO something original Bioware, as in DONT pander to the WoW QQers!!.

 

See here's the thing, BW did listen to people like you in the Beta. Now the game has lost subscriptions and has had so many complaints from so many players that they've decided to go back on their decision and listen to the Majority instead of the Minority.

 

They listened to you, they suffered for it, now thankfully they're seeing reason.

Edited April 26, 2012 by chaosdefined

Here is how a good group finder would work.

 

Allow a player to advertise a specific mission (normal, heroic, FP, operation, whatever). The advertisement would look like this (forgive text-based display):

[b][u]Mission................Difficulty..............Owner..........Levels..........Classes Needed.................Comments[/u][/b]
Eternity Vault..........Hard Mode...........Zaodon..........50-50..............Scoundrel, Sentinel, Sage.....Healers, DPS please
Esseles..................Normal.................Player X..........10-20..............Any........................................Fast run for Social

[send Join Request]

 

Players would select (click on) the Mission they want to join, and click "Send Join Request". The Owner would have a panel showing all such Join Requests, in FIFO order (first come, first served). They can click the player's name and either hit "Accept" or "Decline"

 

[b][u]Name........................Advanced Class....Level..........Guild..................Location[/u][/b]
Bob LegacyName..........Scoundrel................50.............._____.................Republic Fleet
Luukke xSkywalkerx......Sentinel...................30.............WookiesRUs........Alderaan

[Accept]  [Decline]

 

Decline removes from list. Accept does too, but also adds them to your group/raid.

 

This is pretty basic stuff here. Should have been here Day 1.... IMHO.

If you're developing a single server feature then I fear that you aren't understanding the problem at hand, especially for the new players. I'm on a high population server and I can't get an Athiss run going to save my life if it's off peak hours, and I'm on a high population server. What chance do those who play on low or medium population servers have at experiencing the multiplayers aspect of your multiplayer game? Zero chance is what.

 

You need to be attracting new players if you want to grow this game. Hardcore players drive balance and endgame content. But the casual players pay the bills (because there's more of them, I know hardcores pay too).

 

Single server LFG tools didn't work for nonmaxed instances in wow, what on Earth makes your think it's going to work for you? It's not.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Brinia

Adding group finders reduces the game to a lobby with a chatbox and nothing else. Just scrap the idea and make it so you can get 3 bots with you at all times, it's the same exact effect.

 

Instances in wow used to be fun. Now it's a group of strangers with no ties or even a notion of familiarity, just names on the screen. The moment someone slips up even slightly, the tank or healer leaves because they can find a group instantly, usually with insults thrown in before leaving. You also can't tell the bad players from the good because you have no way of knowing anything before you enter, resulting in massive amounts of time wasted with people who should be playing hello kitty.

 

Also, change the name to massive singleplayer lobby online.

I have to disagree with there. You'll always be free to form your own groups all you want. Imperfect groups are better than no groups at all, and for new casual players on low pop servers, that's exactly what you have, no groups. Right now have an overpriced single player experience for those players, that's not how you build the player base. Without a growing player base what you'll have is RIFT or DC online. If the game ever goes free to play that's a warning sign that it's failing. That's a move of desperation to trying to build the player base after it's too late.

There was no option for none because thankfully, Bioware is a company that realises retaining customers is all about giving them access to the game they are paying for. People aren't paying a monthly fee to make friends and have happy conversations.

 

The two ideas are not mutually exclusive you know.

 

There are plenty of us who actually DO pay a sub to socialize and be with our friends. The poster you are responding to, who implied that a group finder wasn't needed because he didn't need it as he was already adept forming groups because of his sparkling personality, makes the same mistake.

 

A group finder is a tool. It may not be a necessary tool for some players and they may choose not to use it. The game desperately needs this tool though. It satisfies the desires of a segment of the mmo population that has been growing as the genre has become more friendly to people with less play time.

 

The only way this tool can be effective with current pop levels, is if it is cross server.

 

If Bioware chooses to implement a good and thorough transfer program and gets all of the servers up to a healthy standard population, I might be inclined to agree that a server only tool would be sufficient (for a while anyway.)

Another thing that drives me nuts is "Stop comparing it to WoW, it's not WoW."

 

I'm sorry, but you're competing for customers in a free market, and people are going to judge your product by the features your competitors offer them. WoW may not have had multi-server LFG 5 months after release either, but in 2005 neither did it's competitors, so it wasn't a problem. Features, technology and and expectations have changed a lot in 7 years, and if you try to hold your game to the standard set by your competitors 7 years ago rather than today YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE.

Another thing that drives me nuts is "Stop comparing it to WoW, it's not WoW."

 

I'm sorry, but you're competing for customers in a free market, and people are going to judge your product by the features your competitors offer them. WoW may not have had multi-server LFG 5 months after release either, but in 2005 neither did it's competitors, so it wasn't a problem. Features, technology and and expectations have changed a lot in 7 years, and if you try to hold your game to the standard set by your competitors 7 years ago rather than today YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE.

 

Good post. I agree totally.

The two ideas are not mutually exclusive you know.

 

There are plenty of us who actually DO pay a sub to socialize and be with our friends. The poster you are responding to, who implied that a group finder wasn't needed because he didn't need it as he was already adept forming groups because of his sparkling personality, makes the same mistake.

 

A group finder is a tool. It may not be a necessary tool for some players and they may choose not to use it. The game desperately needs this tool though. It satisfies the desires of a segment of the mmo population that has been growing as the genre has become more friendly to people with less play time.

 

The only way this tool can be effective with current pop levels, is if it is cross server.

 

If Bioware chooses to implement a good and thorough transfer program and gets all of the servers up to a healthy standard population, I might be inclined to agree that a server only tool would be sufficient (for a while anyway.)

 

I agree with allmost all your points. But the same server tool even if they do a lot of free transfers, will leave those who want to stay on a low pop ones for some other good reasons will be left out. A cross server tool will work well without any server merges or transfers being needed. Seems like it is the logical choice in my book. I think the big issue is not that BioWare wants to do or not..but from a techincal side I am not sure they know how to. As a min it would take a lot of work and testing. But it is a issue I think which should be at the top of the " to do list".

this has to be the most stupid question to poll about, the answer is EVERYTHING, if you have to do it in stages 1) why? 2) ask the right question then

 

The divisive points will be

 

cross server (at this point there is not a sufficiently high population on servers to justify not doing cross server, but it should be an option)

 

build/gear/stat filtering (do you want to pick up a tank with 13k?)

 

AC filtering

 

if its for everything not just end game then level range filtering, do you want carrying through Esseles for social and ls/ds or do you only want to do it on level?

 

probably a few more, but these are some of the key points.

 

Ffor the love of God if you are going to solicit input into a design state your case clearly (You are the designer) and open up the parts you want to discuss, generic crap like this to give the impression of community involvement is, quite frankly, a waste of time!

Flashpoint Group Finder would be a great start. Though Heroic 4+ seem tougher to find at higher levels (Started for me on Alderaan}, I have only been able to participate in black Talon and Hammer station regular to date and I am now level 40. All the rest go grey pretty fast. As for those who want server only, I am dubious of this. Those calling for this in the name of community, were the ones at launch that wanted no group finder in the first place and we see what a fail this is. I am paying to play the game and see the content in a multiplayer context. If the singular aspect of "community" means that much to some folks, join a guild. Faction populations, especially during the off prime time hours, could make a server only Group Finder slightly less effective as having nothing at all.

Flashpoint Group Finder would be a great start. Though Heroic 4+ seem tougher to find at higher levels (Started for me on Alderaan}, I have only been able to participate in black Talon and Hammer station regular to date and I am now level 40. All the rest go grey pretty fast. As for those who want server only, I am dubious of this. Those calling for this in the name of community, were the ones at launch that wanted no group finder in the first place and we see what a fail this is. I am paying to play the game and see the content in a multiplayer context. If the singular aspect of "community" means that much to some folks, join a guild. Faction populations, especially during the off prime time hours, could make a server only Group Finder slightly less effective as having nothing at all.

well even if such a finder is done it also depends of the attitude of the server population and basicly that is questionable but bioware will do as they all ways do "Their thing" regardless what we think about it

I personally want a group tool for everything I think it would unrealistic for it to be expect everything all at once. But I would be ok if started with flash points first then moved on to operations.

 

I am the person where the group tool helps. I don't enjoy spending hours trying form a group then have little time to play because most of was spent "forming" the group. Most of play times is typically not peak times. So its difficult to find groups.

 

I'm not saying if someone is paying their subscription they should get everything. But anyone that is paying a subscription should atleast have the chance to atleast experience most of the game regardless of when they play and the population of the server.

 

There were two really big things that stopped me from playing SWTOR after I hit lvl 50. One was the UI which after 1.2 is tolerable. The other was a group tool. I for one don't enjoy sitting spamming chat trying to find a group.

 

I think a group tool that is server only is not going to be work . Especially on low populated servers. For que times to be realistic its going to have to be cross-server. I'm ok if its one of those where the tech isn't mature enough to handle cross-servers. With the first implementation being server only.

We need this now AND cross server finder. It's 5PM on a Sunday and we have spent the last 45 min looking for a tank to run BT HM for the daily mission. A couple of weeks ago this would have been instant, but it looks like more people are going the way of the buffalo. 40-50 people in the Imperial Fleet on a Sunday evening...

I voted Flashpoints - as this is where it is most needed. This is almost dead now and we need ppl to get groups for this more easy. I'd prefer x-realm coz i have the view that it is more important to get groups fast and efficiant then to stay whithin your own server. Bioware saya they wanna keep the server community by making groups inside the server, but i feel this only has limited effect on the server community. X-realam also helps grouping on unbalanced servers, so i feel its a much bigger pro then a con.

 

I do feel people need LFG tool for HC quests and Operations also.

 

Something simulare to the PvP tool would be awesome - you sign up for a HC FP and when your group is ready you get message. Though it is needed to be ways to kick players going afk or being unfriendly, and there needs to be a panalty for leaving.

 

Personaly i feel the LFG that eventualy came in WoW was very nice and well receaved by the community there, for worling well. After a lot of experiance they found out that giving rewards for roles that were rare gave more signups for this role, and that buffing "random" groups also motivated players to sign up for this.

 

I think some sort of completion buff would be a great motivator for people to run flashpoints daily. Similar to how you can get a buff for completing world boss on Voss Nightmare Pilgrim. Diablo 3 has a buff that increases gold find after five elite groups are killed. Something along those lines may be appropriate here.

 

Now that the LookingForGroup Tool is live and I have used it for a while now, I think Bioware implemented LFG well. There still seems to be something missing. For example, if you are level 50 and need social points, you are not able to join a queue for low level flashpoints. Which means, a lot of people will be advertising their interest in joining a FP in general chat.

 

Another problem is returning to missions on planets requires travel back from fleet to planet after using lfg interface. Maximizing play-time is important to some, so I believe this addition will gain the required support to add to live.