That hard to develop an option for people looking for a group to simply accept a random level appropriate zone with random level appropriate players as opposed to folks sitting around all day posting LFG in the general chat? Once the group is filled the players accept a port to said zone? Seems like it would bridge a huge gap and introduce players to each other and different zones while keeping things interesting.
This has been brought up numerous times. The use of the WoW grouping system isn't very popular here for many reasons. The devs seem resistant, but not sure if it is a coding issue or not.
WoW classes are far simpler, and it's an easier game so throwing together tank, healer, DPS, DPS, DPS is easy since all DPSers have the same theoretical DPS, etc.; compared to SK with no defensive AAs and free-to-play with no augs to tank, Shaman with no heal AAs to heal, Bard, Enchanter, Monk, Beastlord.
Although I agree, if you give the opportunity to choose which role you play like they do in WoW it would be easier. So if you aren't geared appropriately to tank as a tank class you could choose DPS. Also I've stated this before about this topic, in WoW the group can kick people from the group and get a replacement with the same system so it would negate most of the problems. Don't like the tank you have, vote him out and get a new one in a few minutes or seconds.
or just go play wow .... sorry but eq is above that ... dont mean to be harsh but thats the way eq is.... everyone else who has played this game for any extent of time properly has been in the same situation as you. but the good far outweighs the bad in EQ....
One way or another it matters not to me, but being dismissive and foolish is probably not the intelligent response. After playing for 14 years I don't think adding yet another item from another game (if you've spent any extent of time properly you know they borrow from other games often) is a bad thing.
This is a bad attitude if you want to see EQ continuing for years to come. Don't summarily dismiss this or other ideas because you don't like WoW and definitely don't tell them to go play WoW instead; they just may. If we want EQ to last, we need those players here, not playing a rival game. If that means that EQ needs to evolve to a certain extent to attract new players and keep them, I am all for it.
i like your point reht, but i dont think i had a bad attitude or the intention of one when i posted perhaps it came out harsh but IMO if sony is intent on attracting new players there is a heck of a lot of other issues that could be addressed. The LFG tool failed and there has been many posts on this issue in the past. Coming from test the chances of gruoping are severely diminished compared to live servers. Ive heard that the prog servers can almost be as bad at times, but people always find a way to gruop and quest etc. that was my main point. apologies if it came across to blunt. was not my intention.
If people always find a way to group there wouldn't have been as many boxes and no reason to create mercs. Although we always had boxed accounts, a great number of them were created because people couldn't find others to group with so they made their own. Our LFG tool failed because too many people wouldn't use it and people tend to think that they should get invited to groups rather than creating one. If you want to create a group, finding one is rarely difficult, but if you expect to wait for an invite you could be out of luck for days or weeks. The group tool used in games like WoW negates that problem since no matter what you do you can't change people's mentality on that particular issue. We've tried for over a decade.
I prefer EQ to wow for many reasons.. the LFG system as it is, is not one of them. I can't remember the last time I put up LFG. I simply go solo if there aren't friends on, or start forming my own groups.... Do I think we need this system above? maybe. Would I complain if we got it? not at all. those who don't need it wouldn't use it anyway. Those who enjoy grouping with others... would probably be much better off.
Actually i played wow briefly in beta when it first came out but it wasn't for me. I'm a returning player. Having played since EQ first came out, one of the best parts (for me) & requirements of the game was having to group do most anything. In my opinion it's a short coming in the game that the option to join a randomly generated group isn't there in today's game. It sounds like I'm beating a dead horse though. There are so many options now, "I wanna go here" I wanna go there" is why I suppose the LFG tool failed. It just used to take much time to iron all the particulars out. I'm enjoying my return just seems like the something is missing... the conversations, the in game friendships that develop, the grouping in other words.
You have to look at why the current LFG tool is under-utilized. I try to use it several times per week in prime time for my server. I almost never get more than two results other than myself in my level range. If offered a good group, I'm sure more than two other people would be interested, but how would people be convinced they won't be saddled with a character that has been a 3rd box up to level 100 and hasn't a clue how to really do what you expect of them? It seems most people would rather box than group with someone they haven't met on the off chance that one of the PUGs is terrible.
I agree there should be something more extensive done with the LFG system as it stands. Necro as my main but I do have alt's I do enjoy playing when the mood strikes me. I use the LFG tool as well as ooc in the zone i expect to play in that I am LFG... My alt characters do not lack in gear nor AA's and are at par or above for their level requirement.. I wont consider myself a boss at these alt classes but I do know my way fairly well around and can heal / dps and tank perfectly in line with whats expected out of the class. So here is my hypothesis... Grouping is broken in this game mainly due to a few factors... one being Greed. Why invite others to your group when you can hoard all the treasure yourself without having to split or roll against anyone else. Why group when you can make a box so once again, you keep everything. the advancement of computers and technology has it that almost anyone can 3 box on one computer and have a group. Might not be 100 % effective but it gets the job done for what that player seeks. Most classes can effectively solo / molo somewhere eliminating the need for a group. Alot of people avoid general chat due to the high nature of drama it attracts, so looking for a group there usually doesnt bring results. the LFG tool is under utilized and outdated. This needs more publicity and a overhaul. Random Zone generator, level appropriate placed in Plane of Knowledge where people LFG can congregate, ....think LDoN era..
I think we aren't thinking big enough. Maybe what we need is LDON 2.0 expansion? With a serverwide meeting room that suggested groups, auto-cast Rk. 0 buffs every 15 mins, and booted people back to the Guild Lobby after 30 mins so people wouldn't AFK there. Since it would be new content, people would go there, and since it's serverwide there'd be plenty of players from all the servers. By suggesting groups, people could still form their own, but those who didn't want to, could still expect invites. By auto-casting Rk. 0 buffs at regular intervals, people would hang out, chat, and get to know each other a bit before entering their mission. By booting people who stayed too long, you keep it free of /afk.
I expect that some reasons are folk LFG and not being happy, is that the expectation is to be in a group making killer XP or that folk dont know zones so that they can go to one of several Light Blue zones to them and spend some time (possibly with merc). Yes being alone means not gaining pointers from others on how to enhance skills and less social factors, which means finding a fairly active guild should be a priority. There is so much to see, do learn, that EQ is going to keep folk busy and interested for a long time, unless they hit blocks that seem impossible. Anyone who thinks that they or others should hit endgame status inside of a year is pressing the issue, yup characters can hit max level and several 1000 AA in very short order, but that usually means either a skilled players alt or some one burning Plat (probably $) to be Power leveled - I dont stop to smell the roses any more on a new character, i did enough of that, but, new/returning people should take time to learn how to walk to zones from POK etc.
not having an issue finding my way around at all, just my merc doesn't really make for very good conversations. Paying/boxing another account isn't really something I would find myself doing in the long term. I guess the game in it's current state isn't that far removed from wow, as far as the social aspect goes it what I'm feeling.
Kinda' off topic, but yeah. I see these people in general chat asking for PLing. They have the idea that you can't play EQ until you're level 90. Is there a way to get the message across to them that even if you were given a fully-dressed level 90 with 2K AA, it STILL takes at least a year to get a character into good shape? How do we say, "EQ is a journey, not a destination?"
