The LFG tool is a relic of an age gone by. 1. An LFG channel that is autojoined when LFG (can be turned off in options) 2. An "LFG System" that you can post which character you have that is LFG. So you go LFG on Character 1, but can list Character 2 and Character 3. If people are interested in Character 3 they can contact you on Character 1 to log in Character 3. 3. Show information for expansion preference, ect. What are some thoughts on creating a better LFG Tool?
Part of this exists in the lfg tool, where you can be a group looking for others. No one really uses this tool as it is, its far easier to just do /general (Classes/Levels) looking for more. If the LFG tool was overhauled and we could see a true matchmaking system and remove server barriers, it be great. But....What we have is probably the best thing we will get. "They" are unlikely willing to dump resources into something that is easily covered by a single chat channel message. Although, maybe they could toss something into the tutorial about the /lfg tool (if its not already there? its been a while.) The only reason I would suggest that, is because FTP accounts will not have access to general, and no person in general will willingly join NewPlayers.
All of these issues go away when people stop being lazy and take the initiative to form a group for specific purposes as opposed to just sitting there announcing generic LFG.
Hmm, let's create a solution when we don't have a problem? An Effective Management approach? The problem is not in how to find a group in a sea of groups looking for more. The problem is in absence of such groups. These days people in their simply not look for more. Players either play in a tight circle of friends/guildies or have made boxes. Add improved mercenaries into the mix and there is very few and far between groups looking for more strangers to join. In General chats I see people asking for help or offering some. But those are typically focused on specific objectives - like doing tasks or quests, not just a generic grind. And in large casual/family guilds (like The Dark Reign (not a paid commercial) on Bristlebane server) there is plenty of lfg/lfm requests in the guild chat, which usually get filled up very quickly. Things are working at the current level. Adding extra enhanced tool will not add value and won't solve current problems.
I've said it for 10 + years the game needs a cross server dungeon/instance finder for tasks or even one that uses the agent of change where you can get an instance of that zone and go complete all the partisan/merc quest in it with a group. People have always been against it but this game does not have the population to support this many servers and it hasn't for years.
I'd take a once per X hours loot lockout, if I could continue to re-run missions with other people. If I could still gain exp and trash loot, I wouldnt care that its a mission. Heck, even if it ment diminished returns on the completion currency and such.
I would take a personal lockout on my tank to prevent them from boss loot, But I want to still be able to run that mission with others who need the boss loot. We do clear the trash for things like collections, if I have access to that, and the amount of cash/whatever, I would be willing to bring my tank to something that has no boss loot, but other perks.
Why not just do a currency lockout of 6 hrs ? That's why they have a lockout in the first place to control how fast you get currency. Let people get loot off the chest who cares they can get that from any named anytime they want. If you have a lockout you get no currency.
Currency and boss loot may be the need. I wouldnt normally argue on it, but with them putting gear on the "ore" system, you'd be t3 geared in a sneeze amounts of time. With named out side of missions being random drops, its balanced. In a mission its 2 per loot, like clock work, and we can do so many of these missions in what? 8 minutes on a bad day?
With the population so sparse, one detriment to LFG is having to get to where the group is. The few LFG groups probably won't be near the few people with their LFG tag on. I personally don't want to risk death by trudging across many hostile zones with my buffs ticking away in order to get to a distant, random group which may or may not be worthwhile. Any meaningful LFG improvement would need a way to bring the LFGers together quickly. One thing I've wished for is a way for Clayton Teek, the bonus HA guy in PoK, to be able to port you to any HA rather than just the bonus ones. The few groups I've gotten have been from PUGs doing bonus HAs. But once you've done them, you don't have the bonus quest and Teek won't port you there. You'd have to trudge there if you were joining a group doing them and you didn't have the bonus quest. If Teek could port to any HA, then the PoK would be sort of like a mission lobby and players could easily create PUGs right there.
I don't see how a better LFG tool will help much if no one uses the existing tool. In the past we used it so much you had to scroll through the list of players during prime time. It's was a pretty nice tool the filled out groups for many years on end. About the only thing I ever thought it needed was a filter system, to pick zones your willing to travel to but the notes worked well enough for that.
A tool that actually builds the group and ports you to the content you're trying to do would do wonders for the game,but it would have to be cross server for it to be remotely useful. Not enough players for anything that only works on 1 server to be worth the time making.
"Cross server" is a non-starter as of now, because it opens a pandora box of cross server items exchange inside the mission. Too many demons released at once. Meanwhile, the task group creation can be automated, indeed. Various games utilize this concept. Say, a partial group (even 1 character) requests the sask and then on Shared quest screen opens up a "recruitment" option (possible new feature) with desired restrictions (class, leve, etc). And on a shared task screen other characters could have a "find task recruitments" button (possible new feature), which would list current recruitments with matching restrictions: class, level, timer lock-out, etc. Once joined the group and task, its possible to zone into the instance as the leader would zone through the NPC. Zone in from wherever in the Norrath, and zone out of the instance back to the same spot. Such system would help with doing instanced tasks, but would not help with experience grinds and items farming in static zones. So, it would be only partial solution.
Main thing I'd like to see on the LFG tool is them fixing the crash bug with it, it's generally decent on TLP, but when you crash from actually using it, it is not so nice, especially on the popular TLP with queue times you risk crashing out using it and being sent to a 3 hour queue
Cross server instancing would even be a worthy expansion level feature. Also not really sure how cross server trading would even be an issue but yeah make everything nodrop while in instance otherwise people will just drop trade. People would use it, just gotta remove those pesky 6 hour timers or have enough missions in it worth doing so people can rotate missions
Yes, not very hard to do. Although, dropping items on the ground and picking those items with a different character is even easier.
