Don't get me wrong, I like the idea behind the group finder, I just think it needs some tweaking..

My reason for this post:

Why is it, that I, as a level 23 Vanguard, still get Hammer Station (15-21) as part of the random rotation of FP's.

And why is it, that almost every time I use the GF, it is hammer station that pops.

It is annoying as hell, and I hardly get any XP from the mobs in the FP.

Come on Bioware.. Fix the Group Finder.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea behind the group finder, I just think it needs some tweaking..

 

My reason for this post:

 

Why is it, that I, as a level 23 Vanguard, still get Hammer Station (15-21) as part of the random rotation of FP's.

And why is it, that almost every time I use the GF, it is hammer station that pops.

 

It is annoying as hell, and I hardly get any XP from the mobs in the FP.

 

Come on Bioware.. Fix the Group Finder.

Solution: Once you get the daily bonus (+10 planetary comms or whatever), go into settings and unselect Hammer Station. Gets you your Group Finder without underlevelling anything

Oh let me correct, I just did another FP, and of course it was HS, and I didn't get XP for anything but the bosses.

This is just plain stupid and a waste of time..

And yeah I know I can deselect it after I get the daily reward, but I still find it annoying

I don't remember ever getting Hammer at level 23 before... that range should be Athiss & Mando, shouldn't it?

Did BioWare bloat the level range of leveling FPs recently?

It's because all the GF ques are same-server. If your server has a lower population of players in your level range, then the GF will just pull you into wherever you can get the minimum XP you need. The opposite happens too, where you get sucked into dungeons where you're five levels lower than everyone else, depending on your role. (happens all the time to tanks and healers.)

It really is time to just make GF cross-server. I once fervently supported same server group finder because I thought it would have a positive impact on player behavior, but I can honestly say now that Nope! People continue to act like ***** regardless. May as well go cross-server and bring down those que times.

May as well go cross-server and bring down those que times.

Remember that SWTOR's codebase is basically written in crayon on 19th-century IBM punch-cards.

It's because all the GF ques are same-server. If your server has a lower population of players in your level range, then the GF will just pull you into wherever you can get the minimum XP you need. The opposite happens too, where you get sucked into dungeons where you're five levels lower than everyone else, depending on your role. (happens all the time to tanks and healers.)

 

It really is time to just make GF cross-server. I once fervently supported same server group finder because I thought it would have a positive impact on player behavior, but I can honestly say now that Nope! People continue to act like ***** regardless. May as well go cross-server and bring down those que times.

actualy, this is entirely wrong, not to mention unsubstantiated.

becasue I've been in a group with lvl 25-26 players and instead of being placed in Cademimu, which we were ALL more then eligible for, we got placed into Athiss instead. and that wasn't an isolated incident either, just the most memorable for me.

now. this is how its actualy working. while each flashpoint has suggested levels, it doesn't actualy get removed from your eligible flashpoint panel until every mob in it is grey to you. that means that even just one green boss is enough to still keep it in a lineup.

does it suck? absolutely. should the ranges be tightened up? IMO - yes.

but. this has nothing to do with lack of cross server, as it works this way on every server, at every time of the day.

I feel like a broken record sometimes, but. cross server queue will not fix the fact that you only need two dps for even tank and healer and that healing and especially tanking requires modicum of paying attention in this game, but you still get blamed for everything going wrong so most people don't want to deal with that headache. and increasing the pool of people will only increase the cases of dealing with jerks and decrease the number of people willing to heal and especially tank.

They should just bolster all the flashpoints...

I dont like KDY's role neutrality, but grouping together players of different levels ought to shorten queue times a bit and make the leveling experience more interesting than always the same flashpoint all day, until you move on to the next one.

To keep a semblance of respect to the story maybe you should need to unlock some flashpoints through conversations / sufficient level before you can see them in the group finder (Revan flashpoints, Ilum flashpoints, Tionese flashpoints), but the rest are pretty much independant side-stories.

actualy, this is entirely wrong, not to mention unsubstantiated.

 

becasue I've been in a group with lvl 25-26 players and instead of being placed in Cademimu, which we were ALL more then eligible for, we got placed into Athiss instead. and that wasn't an isolated incident either, just the most memorable for me.

 

now. this is how its actualy working. while each flashpoint has suggested levels, it doesn't actualy get removed from your eligible flashpoint panel until every mob in it is grey to you. that means that even just one green boss is enough to still keep it in a lineup.

 

does it suck? absolutely. should the ranges be tightened up? IMO - yes.

but. this has nothing to do with lack of cross server, as it works this way on every server, at every time of the day.

 

I feel like a broken record sometimes, but. cross server queue will not fix the fact that you only need two dps for even tank and healer and that healing and especially tanking requires modicum of paying attention in this game, but you still get blamed for everything going wrong so most people don't want to deal with that headache. and increasing the pool of people will only increase the cases of dealing with jerks and decrease the number of people willing to heal and especially tank.

Unsubstantiated and untrue? How so? Unless you're qued for a specific dungeon, you'll always be sent where demand is highest within the lowest and highest points of your level bracket. Happens to healers and tanks most often, but it's also common for higher level dps to be sucked down into FPs that they're over level for. You, yourself already created a thread that discusses this (which makes this thread more than a little unneeded):

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=738653

It's not the level ranges of the flashpoints determining where you land, it's the levels of the players in the que. If you're within four levels of a person in que who's within four levels of a dungeon that green to him but gray to you, you're getting pulled into that flashpoint anyway, unless there are more players at your level available.

Which would be less of a problem with a cross server que. More players to choose from, obs.

And no, a group of all 25-26 players would have been placed into Mando raiders. Cademimu starts at 29 minimum unless you're an unlucky tank or healer.

This is a new-ish change though, isn't it?

A year ago I know from leveling exclusively in Group Finder on multiple characters that I was always kept firmly in the level range of the FP, and that level range cut off when the mobs and missions turned gray.

Something must have changed at some point.

This is a new-ish change though, isn't it?

 

A year ago I know from leveling exclusively in Group Finder on multiple characters that I was always kept firmly in the level range of the FP, and that level range cut off when the mobs and missions turned gray.

 

Something must have changed at some point.

It might be a bug, but it's definitely happening. My conspiracy theorist's instincts tell me that it's a side effect of tactical flashpoints being introduced and borking up whatever algorithm the GF is supposed to use when putting a party together.

Unsubstantiated and untrue? How so? Unless you're qued for a specific dungeon, you'll always be sent where demand is highest within the lowest and highest points of your level bracket. Happens to healers and tanks most often, but it's also common for higher level dps to be sucked down into FPs that they're over level for. You, yourself already created a thread that discusses this (which makes this thread more than a little unneeded):

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=738653

 

It's not the level ranges of the flashpoints determining where you land, it's the levels of the players in the que. If you're within four levels of a person in que who's within four levels of a dungeon that green to him but gray to you, you're getting pulled into that flashpoint anyway, unless there are more players at your level available.

 

Which would be less of a problem with a cross server que. More players to choose from, obs.

 

And no, a group of all 25-26 players would have been placed into Mando raiders. Cademimu starts at 29 minimum unless you're an unlucky tank or healer.

except... we were placed into Athis, decided to leave, wait out the cooldown and reque again - its part of why that particular instance stayed memorable. other times, people more often than not leave. so yes, it has happened. and yes, I have started that thread, because its basically the same concern. there are suggested levels and then there are levels the flashpoint actualy stays in selection. which is wider than suggested levels, across the board. and those suggested levels are already pretty wide.

it doesn't matter if most mobs are grey. as long as at least one boss is green - it still counts. and that group selection doesn't change. it stays there no matter the time of the day or server. that group selection is the issue, not the lack of cross server. where you end up is determined first and foremost by your flashpoint eligibility, and then your level. and in swing cases where you are just on a cusp of being ineligible for something - it can go either way. I was in a group where I was lvl 44 with several 40ties and you think we'd get colicoid? nope. foundry.

you are however correct, it was mando raiders. the entrance to them looks very similar to cademimu to me, so I confuse the two sometimes.

but you are very wrong about cross server. while there might be overall more players, the algorithm of placing people is still going to be just as flawed as it is right now, unless they tighten up the flashpoint level ranges. and overall ration of tanks to healers to dps will also be about same. for a while. then there will be fewer tanks and healers, becasue its bad enough already, but at least ignore makes a difference. when you have a much larger pool of players to chose from - ignore is not as effective, as number of jerks overall also increases. exponentially even, since those who controlled themselves before, knowing effect of ignore- will no longer feel the need to retrain themselves.

They should just bolster all the flashpoints...

I dont like KDY's role neutrality, but grouping together players of different levels ought to shorten queue times a bit and make the leveling experience more interesting than always the same flashpoint all day, until you move on to the next one.

To keep a semblance of respect to the story maybe you should need to unlock some flashpoints through conversations / sufficient level before you can see them in the group finder (Revan flashpoints, Ilum flashpoints, Tionese flashpoints), but the rest are pretty much independant side-stories.

I kinda like this idea. Having more Flashpoint choices would make it more interesting than doing the same two/ three FPs over however long it takes to level a certain character. (I have 19 and some are around the same level so I am often doing the same flashpoints a lot for a long time.) Bolster might improve situations where you're stuck with poorly/ badly geared people. And the roles are still there, so no KDY-style complaints about how it's making people dumber.

However- I think the flashpoints go up in mechanics difficulty as the levels get higher. It would be unfair to be placed in, say, Red Reaper as a tank without your AoE taunt. That FP is hard enough at level. So there goes that idea I guess.

I kinda like this idea. Having more Flashpoint choices would make it more interesting than doing the same two/ three FPs over however long it takes to level a certain character. (I have 19 and some are around the same level so I am often doing the same flashpoints a lot for a long time.) Bolster might improve situations where you're stuck with poorly/ badly geared people. And the roles are still there, so no KDY-style complaints about how it's making people dumber.

 

However- I think the flashpoints go up in mechanics difficulty as the levels get higher. It would be unfair to be placed in, say, Red Reaper as a tank without your AoE taunt. That FP is hard enough at level. So there goes that idea I guess.

they could also normalize the experience gain. like... if you get placed in a flashpoint - you will gain xp from all kills inside it. they supposedly did something similar, where before a character on a higher end of the level range curve would ruin xp gain for characters on a lower end of the level range. but its still not enough. at this point, if I see at least one person in a group that's' obviously going to place me into the lowest level possible flashpoint, more often than not, I just refuse the pop. and I've seen other people do that as well and I don't blame them.

whatever they decide to do, current situation is suboptimal IMO.

Cross server queus won't solve anything. Besides the tanks and healers you get in the same queu, you also get all the other dps. The only change would be that the tank/healer balance is a bit more consistant.

And in adition there are also technical difficulties of having to connect people with eachother and all the fail safes that have to be implemented.

The advantages of cross server are nearly none while the disadvantages are clearly present (players not sble to connect to instance, having to solve that with another queu pop).

The amount of work compared to the gained advantages (again, nearly none) are simply not worth it.

Sorry, but had to throw this in since I saw a cross server mention again.

It might be a bug, but it's definitely happening. My conspiracy theorist's instincts tell me that it's a side effect of tactical flashpoints being introduced and borking up whatever algorithm the GF is supposed to use when putting a party together.

I just know it wasn't that way last time I leveled using Group Finder. Unless I outright hallucinated the XP numbers popping up when I massacred eg, Foundry in the early 40s. etc.

I know during the "KDY DOESN'T GRANT 2XP" fiasco there was a comment from Musco stating something like "We found a bug that was displaying gray enemies as green, maybe that was confusing people!"

But... what if that's PR spin and they actually fixed a bug that was leaving enemies green for too long — ie, actually granting XP when they weren't intended to? In that case the level ranges might stay the same as ever, even if the XP has changed.

I feel adamant about this because I'm mega OCD and pay way too much attention to little details and I know I was getting XP from mob kills and Bonus Missions even in ludicrous situations like Level 44 in Foundry.

But that was some time ago — so something must have changed for the worse.

Cross server queus won't solve anything. Besides the tanks and healers you get in the same queu, you also get all the other dps. The only change would be that the tank/healer balance is a bit more consistant.

• You are in the queue at say level 34
  
• The queue can't find anyone else level 30-38
  
• So the queue says "Eh, f* it" and starts searching for people level 26-38
  
• It finds 4 level 26 people in Mandalorian Raiders and shoves you into Mando Raiders even though the entire instance is ash gray
  

If that is correct (unsubstantiated), then the idea is that cross-server would help because it's not about population distribution role-wise, but simply population distribution by level, and the larger your population pool the higher the chance you get people in your level range.

the lowest pop more often because a lot of players trying the game or levelling new chars..decline Gf pop if you see players not eligible for the highest tier FP..

I have before. still get pops with the full group that's eligible for the next tier... getting lower level flashpoint. matchmaking algorithm still needs work.