Apparently most of us are being accused by the OP of being 6 boxers. The last few times I played, I sent a tell and asked politely if I can join a group already killing if they had room. The response could be yes or no. I got a yes, an invite to the group and we had a good time killing stuff at a good rate. I know, it is revolutionary that socialization requires being social /rolleyes
6. I'm so slow, you don't want to group with me. I have to stop at 9:45 to get a handicapped kid ready for bed. 10PM to kiss hubby good night. Plus, there's evacs when I pull too many. There's inattention when the guild needs something or someone wants an interview. Heck, it takes me 5 mins just to get my toons in their autofollow order. You can find a group faster than I can do my Valley dailies. I will invite charity cases who wouldn't get a group at all, or other people who need to afk a lot. 7. You don't want to go where I'm going. I still want the polkadot bunny illusion from HOT.
I have never had a problem getting a group. if I'm trying to accomplish something specific such as a zone / mob / task, getting 6 ppl might be a challenge. however if all I am looking for is some xp or just fun killing mobs, its pretty easy to join a random group. being proactive helps a lot. sitting in lobby /lfg isn't going to work. invite people to join your group rather then waiting for someone to invite you to one. - especially if your a lvl 85 heroic toon that hasn't played EQ in 10 years. join a guild with active players. most grouping done now , is for specific items / tasks with other players within a guild.
Funny because I box and started boxing for that exact reason looooong ago. I wanted a side kick (much like a merc) for when I couldn't find a group. For the most part I think that's how most boxers start boxing. If they created mercs before that I may never have tried boxing
True, I remember dragging a cleric box around pre-OOW. I remember her getting her blind self stuck in Dalnir's Crypt. It was a frustrating day.
I box a mage these days, Devs took away a lot of the soloing abilities of my main wizzy with the introduction of so many summoning/nonsnareable mobs, so now I just stick a mage pet on it so I don't get summoned and nuke the same as I would if I soloed in the past, the mage pet has become my snare and non summoning device. I picked up the odd player when I was doing dailies, not that they could contribute much, but I had space in the group and it certainly didn't take me any longer to complete them. There are times when I put a group together, depends what I am doing and how many AFKs I need to take. I'm longing for the new AAs to go in to give me a reason to group and go to higher exp zones.
The LFG tool is not only dead, its also kind of complicated. People that played a decade or so ago and come back from a long MIA, remember that putting a LFG tag up usually resulted in a tell and invite. That doesnt happen anymore, and when/if it does, its rare. Also, anyone new coming into this game will expect the LFG tool to work because EQ is suppose to be a social game and they make a beeline to the LFG tool because of this. None of these types of people understand the underbelly of EQ like us veterans do and how its not as easy as "/LFG on: YAY INVITE!"- These are some of the reasons why you see so many disgruntled returnees (or the rare noobies) post on these forums asking why the group game is dead. Asking why the game in general is dead. In reality, neither of those statements are entirely true. However, to them they are true. They are using a social tool to help find groups in a social game and its not working. Perception can be a real b!tch sometimes. The game that these people see, and the game that us veterans see, are two different worlds. Its polar opposites where overall perception and reality are concerned. Word of mouth and creating a pipeline of friends is easier said than done. Especially for returnees that have been MIA for the better part of a decade and noobies. Lets be honest, if I get a tell from some random level 65 that I dont know from Adam, that hasnt logged in since Planes of Power, and asks me questions and wants my help, I will either call him/her a troll or think that they are trying to scam me into PLing them or giving them plat. I am not alone in that kind of mindset. I'd venture a guess that quite a few veterans are like this. The entire LFG tool in EQ is antiquated and honestly, its likely the most antiquated thing left in this old game. It doesnt work. The community is a large reason as to why it doesnt work, due to being set in ours ways with cliques, boxing and whatnot. But it is what it is. However, thing is, im sure there are some things that the devs could do to improve it. Maybe steal a "LFG" idea from another successful game.
That's how I started. Rolled a shammy for my SK back in the beginning of SoD. I have a solution for boxing and mercs. Anyone who doesn't like either should roll a cleric and be available when I get off work after my bartending shift at 3 AM.
Basically SoE should make a number of channels, like: 15,20,25,30.... and so on to 100. Then you could put LFG 90, and you would put the tag on and join a channel where other people are who is looking for a group of level 90 people
My best advice to you OP is that you will only get out of EQ's grouping game what you put into it. If no tells or /ooc in one of the new zones doesn't do the trick, make your own group. Start socializing, join a guild. There are plenty of guilds on all servers to suit your playstyle. If you just want groups of people to group with and have fun, there are raiding and non/limited raiding guilds that offer that. EQ has held onto something that most other MMOs have lost over time....a sense of community and need for social networking. Not everyone is a 6 boxer. But to find these people you'll have to make some effort to find them first. Even something as simple as "Bored _____ LFG" in general chat can get some bites. Check out the guild postings. I suspect in EQ there are far more people in your position sitting around hoping that some group that fits their fancy pops up and they need 1 more than there are people willing to take the first step, chat up general chat and /ooc for people, and send all the tells.
This ^^^ I don't want to be at the mercy of other player's schedules. Plus, there are so many bad players out there that have put a bad taste in my mouth for even attempting PUGs
Povar. Although I'm only 92 atm and working through VoA (I don't like skipping content). It's about the journey for me. I would love to play with a real healer for a change.
It's funny how i rarely read the real reasons why people box. No offense, but here they are.. a) Eq1 is a big chat room for most now. Might as well ramp up the action while chatting. b) Playing 1 toon only is boring without dangerous group content. They key word is dangerous, nobody is "afraid" alone with lobby summons, without corpse runs etc. etc. c) If i know most are not looking for a group, i become like that too after a while d) The exception: friends! People who complain about no group have no friends only atm thou... So there you go. Reading the same old "lazy / afk people are annoying, with myself i lose no time" is amusing, but back then we got some of that amusement out of these people. I even know some who took great enjoyment out of trying to teach / help them. No no, you all know the real reasons very well. The game changed.
I am afraid but then, I'm timid. I hate rebuffing. I hate the half hour it takes to get back in action. At least it seems like a half hour for 3 toons.
Eh....I remember when IT WAS 30+ minutes to get back into action. Literally. No fast mount (run III), no campfire, no port, no fast regen mode ect ect ect. I think /lfg players these days just requires a bit more proactivity. get out to a populated hotzone and start tossing out /oocs. eventually another person will do the same thing ad there is your group
The game is just too dang fast when you're in a full group and it's not very relaxing. I like playing as a tank, and I like to kill a few mobs and go do the dishes. Kill some more, read my emails (etc).
I tend to agree with this. Playing a melee class, there are so many hotkeys to keep track of that it's difficult to even carry a conversation in group beyond a 5 word sentence here and there. I think a lot of it has to do with the way HA's are designed, too. In most groups, there's no reason for downtime at all. It's a run-though and grind game now. More hack and slash than ever before. I miss the days of fighting through ("breaking into") a dungeon over the course of 30 minutes to strategically secure a location for rare named mobs with broad or niche loot tables; and to stack the group with the right combination of classes or highly skilled players to increase the odds of success. I think that is completely gone from the group game thanks to linear task after task after task driven heroic adventures and missions.
I think the Plane of War brought a lot of that old school feeling back. An entry level blue con skelly almost took my lunch money last night. -Rat
