No Cross Realm LFG tool please!

All you provided is a argument with poor reasoning supported by a statistic that could also be used to say that the biggest patch during that period (with the LFG tool) coincided with the largest fall in subscriptions in WoW history.

Nicely done.

And yet it's still more than the Anti-LFG crowd have managed.

Also it didn't coincide with the fall. Did you not look at the graph? Numbers rose for a full year after that and then only starting to drip once Cataclysm was released.

Please research before arguing.

This argument is insanely entertaining.

The information relevant to SWTOR are...

• Single-Server LFG is coming. The devs said so. It will be sometime after 1.2 and sometime before 1.3, according to the last bit on it that I recall reading.
• Single-Server LFG won't do jack squat for people on low-population servers who want to do flashpoints. Why? Because aren't enough players on those servers to use the single-server LFG tool.
• Cross-Server LFG might help people on low-population servers who want to do flashpoints. It depends on whether or not BioWare can implement it in such a way that it ensures critical mass of users across servers.
• Cross-Server LFG probably won't help people on low-population servers with group content that is not flashpoints, assuming BW is implementing it as flashpoint only.
• In the US, there seems to be an abundance of low-pop servers (108 or 87%) compared with a tiny number of high-pop servers (4 or 3%). (There are 12 standard pop servers for 10%.) There are 27 times more servers that would benefit from X-LFG than may not need it. (source: http://www.torstatus.net/shards/us/stats)

...


People want to argue strenuously for or against cross-server. Those arguing against say things like:

• It "kills" community (most often with no data supporting the statement).
• It breeds bad behavior in flashpoints (again, almost always with no data).

And that seems to be about it.


But the thing of it is, the bad behaviors can be easily solved within the game mechanics...

• If someone AFKs or ninjas or face-pulls or exhibits any other bad behavior after getting into the group, kick them out and you'll be at the top of the list for a replacement. They'll get to wait in a queue again before they get a chance to grief the next group. Also, report them.
• Reduce the likelihood of ninjaing by smartening up the roll mechanic. Only let people roll need if their current build (or role they selected when they queued) is a match for the item.

Further, a cross-server LFG tool can enhance the sense of community in the following ways:

• Eliminate LFG spam from the general chat channel, enabling the general chat channel to be used for more appropriate communications.
• Help you meet new people, on your server or not (because there's no built in rule that you cannot be paired up with players from your own server) with whom you can communicate, adventure, and maybe even find a way to enter into longer term gaming relationships with.
• Help people on lower populated servers feel less isolated and lonely until another solution for their plight can be implemented.
• Reduce the likelihood that you can be griefed by joining a group and subsequently being kicked out. You may not know that today, the group leader can boot you at any time, for any reason. Typically LFG tools require majority vote to do the same.

It's easy as humans to imagine horrors. The horrors that a cross-server LFG tool presents really aren't all that horrific and are easy to manage. The benefits are many.

But I guess there is a bottom line:

At some point, players who really enjoy playing flashpoints will become frustrated that they're spending the majority of their game time waiting, rather than playing, and find something else to do.

BioWare can take a "purist" or "cautious" or "frightened" or whatever else you want to label it approach to this and many other things... and become a niche just like SWG was. And they can have a very tiny group of very loyal players. They've said they only need 500k to be profitable, right?

Or they can step outside of the protective bubble they've built and maybe be more finacially successful... and maybe have a lasting impact on how we players perceive MMOs.

It's really up to BioWare. All we, as players, can do is to choose to play & pay or not pay... and provide reasonable, constructive feedback.

It is pointless trying to actually have a good argument with these people as they do not care what anyone else thinks and try to push people away from the topic saying that we are not providing facts yet we do not need to provide facts about replies that do not even need a god dam fact to counter with.

I only need to provide a fact when i am talking about things such as insinuating that the x-server group finder actually increased subscription numbers in WoW all by itself and not the fact that it had many other features that would have had an effect on subscription numbers.

You do not have actual proof that it caused WoW to gain those subscription other than the fact that it was around the same time it happened.

For all you know people could have had something like a Recruit a Friend program at that time. Now please stop telling us to provide evidence for replies that do not need it to prove you are incorrect in your assumption about x-server dungeon finder actually doing all those miraculous things when you can not give us accurate data.

lie
5-30 min, when it was released
now i wait 7-12 min as dps and don't wait as tank, instant queue

Even if you dont want to agree that the lfg was responsible for the growth by itself, which is a little dubious, you would have to agree that it didnt have a negative effect. Right?

Any statistition would love this type of imperical evidence during a discussion. Even Ghostcrawler said that their players like the lfg. He certainly spoke for me, and apparently lots of others.

Cant we have both mergers and cross server tools to enjoy the game? They are not mutually exclusive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Er4O-r75M

no matter what server populations is, within that server group it will look same, instant for tank, 0-5m fo healer, 7-15 for dps
left button in popup is "accept invite"

To be fair (I'm for x-server LFG), that doesn't fix server populations. It fixes the specific problem that players on low population servers have getting flashpoint groups. It doesn't help with non-flashpoint groups or any other problem associated with low population servers.

But to be fair again, solving all the problems on low pop servers is not the topic of this thread. The topic of this thread is the merits of cross-server vs. single-server LFG.

I am all for LFG tool for this title, however, x-server LFG tool is a bad idea due to issues with ninjas. If someone ninjas something and are on a different server then it impossible to add that person to your ignore list and compile a list of people you do not want to play with. I don't buy into the idea that LFG kills community unless it is a X-server LFG tool. Now PVP X-server LFG is fine in my book.

No, when you spout claims about how the LFG was bad for the game and how it took over an hour to queue, then you need to provide facts.

You claim it's impossible to get a good argument but all you do is call us liars and claim your opinion as fact.

I'm sorry but that's an extremely weak argument right there.