How would you like to group up?

I don't think we'll have to be in a private party - if we don't want to be.
One the other hand, it will be easier in some ways to communicate and coordinate -especially at a distance- with private channels and map pointers.

True. I doubt you can convince me it's a better strategy. It is a worthy strategy - to go along with the matching tool the devs appear to be designing.

It's the evolution of community communication.
Twitch is great for watching others play - and can be tons of fun if the hosts are entertaining.
I don't need to know what other players look or sound like in a real life - but it was definitely cool to recognize and group up with twitch friends at the Year of Everquest Event a couple weeks ago as well as hang out with the devs for a bit after the event was over, The twitch hists were the ones that made in onto the Livestream. And it was fun to be sitting next to them, sharing ideas, while we played the demo.
Just and extension of community.

I have twitter account for my MMO character(s). I never use my personal rl twitter account.
Twitter is just a quicker, easier mode of communication. 140 characters - jump in, then jump out.
Twitch is also fairly easy: mostly the host(s) running vocal commentary while the viewers can be multitasking - also, easy to jump in for a quick comment.
Devs are usually partaking in and very responsive both twitter and twitch.

"Should be" is an interesting judgment to apply to evolution - even if it's social evolution.
Social media is just a natural progression. The devs are already working on integrated twitch, have importing twitter friends noted as a possible feature and mention features for twitch, twitter and facebook in their design roadmap for alpha.

Responses are quicker via twitter and twitch.
Don't have to be in-game to ask players to start playing and group up. And it's easier to see how people play and know whether you like personalities. I'm much more likely to drop what I'm doing to help players with whom I'm bonded. The more boned we are, the more likely I am to help. The more we bond outside of the game, the more likely I am to want to socialize and help inside of the game.
Seems like that would be true for work relationships as well. A basic truth of being social, where we bond in a variety of social arenas with the same individuals.

Much like Rungars faction/guild proposal.

No, they didn't make "EQ3" because many individuals aren't savvy enough to differentiate between a new game and a sequel. Just like when they made EQ II, there were tons of individuals who thought that meant they'd be able to transfer their existing toons to it. It wasn't a sequel, but because it was named "II", they thought it was.

Soloing or small groups is the way to go nowadays Raiding isnt really an integral part of MMO's anymore unless they are like 10 man short timed raids the interest in this has basically been lost in the mmorpg gaming community,

To be fair im not against things like twitter or twitch or anything else they want the game to support. I don't think its necessary but I wouldn't prevent anyone from using these tools. I wouldn't use them myself.

the problem I have is that im no longer interested in the standardized mmo gameplay and I believe that they have to step it up a notch or ten. This means that the very idea of doing x dungeon on the fly might have to change somewhat.

The whole idea flies in the face of the sandbox dream of endless content. They have stated that they cant possibly keep up with player demand for content. So we have to shift from the dungeon as the focal point to the base of operations as the focal point.

The dungeon is limited to the dungeon, but the base can utilize the whole world and I don't need a new expansion pack to make a new storyline. You may still have to go to those dungeons, but there will also be a lot more than that. Your bases of operation can be attacked, they can grow, you can exist within them, they have tasks, ranks and jobs, and you have a large number of them to choose from at any one time though they are all slightly different and offer different things.

its a new paradigm. As I have said before you are no longer a set of armor looking for a better set of armor. You will need much more than now.

If the goal is to provide limitless gameplay, then the focal point needs to change.

Evolution doesn't always mean a good thing, but it may be inevitable in today's climate. I have read a few articles saying that autism is the next evolutionary state of the human species - higher intellect but decreased ability to directly socialize.

Ever work with your significant other? Few RL couples are able to work with each other, and inter-office relationships can often lead to turmoil when the inevitable fighting begins to happen. No, I hope you're not actually trying to find that form of "bonding relationship" in your online game, but I will always prefer to separate my online life from my real life. I have seen more bad come from the blending of the two than good. Perhaps you haven't seen the "dark side" of it yet. Although it can be a positive experience, I'll keep my private life to myself and ever remain the stoic dwarf in game only.

As for watching others play - well, I'm old school. I'd rather play than watch someone else play. I've tried watching "internet sensations" like Tobuskus, Pewdiepie, and Markiplier and they failed to keep me interested for more than a few minutes. Other gamer podcasts initially hold my interest, until it becomes apparent they are discussing the same topic for 45 minutes without making any actual points. Mostly ego-stroking opinions. Not my cup of tea. I want to experience games through my own eyes, not someone elses. To each their own though. I still feel "in game" communication should be the primary method of communicating for things to happen in game. Sounds too logical doesn't it?

So sad - I just found out about the latest Round table response from Facebook before it was posted on the official Everquest Next website. Sadly, this is what I am referring to. Is it truly that much easier to post it to twitter, facebook, etc before the official website?

Dygz, please pass that Kool Aid you have been drinking - I dare say I'm going to need gallons of it!

Right. Evolution just is.

My twitter and twitch is all game related. Mostly true for EQN twitter and twitch channels. Even true for the devs, I think.

Watching others play when I can't play is fun. But, I can also multitask and watch players who are more advanced than I am or in another location while I'm in the game playing. I usually have had TV running on the side while I play amyways. But, folks in the twitch channels generally become in-ga,e friends, so it's a way of monitoring guildies in other groups, while I'm soloing or with my own group.
Always going to be a variety of playstyles. Which is why redundant systems are nice. Helps cover the variety of ways players interact and communicate.

I don't see the problem in posting to the official FB page before the official forums.
Most of the back and forth between devs and players happens via twitter.

I think, in general, the forums are more time-consuming - so, social media is quicker and easier for the devs. Yes.

Just dont use that social media if you don't like it. Thats me ... Fr@cken Fr#ck those guys.
I do what I want !

But who are we to tell other people they can't use other media to group up? It is inevitable.

I think we need an in game social hall in my opinion . A place we can see hear and touch ... Virtually speaking.

A place to have a real live virtual bar room brawl. Social centers that play into role play , so even the non role players sort of accidently do it.

If people hook up to some sort of virtual virtual chat ... what does it matter?

It's really tough these days, many people take all these convenience features in and out of game for granted, and they are gonna make you claw and scratch to bring back every inch of challenging gameplay.

Social hall could be great.
I'd hope there's other engaging activities to do there in addition to brawling.
Research, training, crafting....

Sadly, I often choose to play while at work so I'm used to the answering calls, cross referencing spreadsheets and healing a group all at once thing as well. It doesn't make for a better game experience nor does it increase my work productivity, but it does allow me to "get everything done". I'm sure some college has done studies on MMO's in the workplace and their effects on productivity.

I actually find the above scenario preferable to playing at home. There I have to multitask around even more obstacles to the point of choosing not to play. I guess if I only had one item needing my active attention and the others were passive participation, like watching TV or videos I could tolerate it more - but my distractions tend to all be active distractions.

Recently I have been playing EQ2 again (Landmark is a great game, but I've consumed all the content it has to offer at this point) and I have been playing with my headset on with background music turned all the way up. In older zones like Antonica and the Commonlands, the music quality is amazing! Full orchestras! I've been playing EQ2 for years and have never fully appreciated the work they put into background music. I'd bet many players quickly turn it down or off and never fully appreciate the game in front of them.

I'm not a beer snob and sometimes I drink beer just to get smashed - but sometimes its worthwhile to just enjoy the subtle flavors in a good craft beer.

I agree - except its 9:10 am the NEXT DAY and the Round Table link is not posted on the homepage for their game!

When I type www.everquestnext.com, I should expect this to be THE place to get up to date and current information on...drum roll...Everquest Next! I'm not expecting instantaneous, near speed of light twitter like info (honestly, I don't even want to know what the dev's are eating right now..), but Facebook feeds get scrolled down fast and the algorithm they use to show the average person what "they want to see" may not have Everquest Next high enough on the priority list. Instead, I get up to date twitter feeds from random players. Not a bad thing, but not what I came here to look for. Maybe if a random twitter follower would tweet the link to the RT response it would show up on the game's main web page.

Oh for sure , there should be all kinds of stuff within that vicinity.
Maybe even that blind dating game for random group up I read earlier in this thread.

But should it rival what you could access in a guild hall? (Eq2 example)

Factions and player guilds should have almost the exact same functionality. The only difference would be that a player cannot be the leader of a faction (leader is always an npc) but they could make their own to rival.

Otherwise the tools would be the same for factions and player guilds. It would be the interaction between all these connections (player guild, hometown citizenship, race, base class, and accessory guilds) that provides the social options and gameplay elements required for grouping.

you get a lot of bang for the buck with vastly expanding the scope of both player guilds and factions in the same format. The factions become more like basic templates and refuges for those who aren't interested in guild drama.

Well I have read part of this thread, not going to go through all 103 pages of posts, sorry. Anyway, really disappointed how this game is turning out. There are some features that are really cool and amazing but having any type of "group finder" is a complete misstep.

Eq 1 is the most social game because it didn't have this system. You couldn't press a button and suddenly have a group formed and/or ported to a dungeon. This doesn't help the community at all or establish any type of friends structure, it completely ruins it making grouping a completely "instant gratification" process as well as making/having a group inconsequential. Before these types of systems were introduced, you had to talk to people to get a group and have a good reputation on your server to get a good group. Rather then having grouping trivialized by the instant gratification process.

I realize that I am probably in the minority because the MMO genre is now filled with instant gratification consumers, the WOW generation. I would think though that people working on a EQ title would realize the difference between a MMO and a mmoRPG.

In any case, look forward to the game coming out, but disappointed in the lack of vision, making things easier doesn't mean that your making things better.

Again sorry if I am going back to something already covered.

Think about it this way ... Back in the day you couldn't play dungeons and dragons except through having friends.
But now with the internet you can find groups of people that still like to sit down and play that old game.
Im guessing most any city has a group or 2 advertiseing for it. Ofcourse its not instant gratification , but you can see how technology has made it possible.
If you don't like it .... stop using the internet.

Well for some reason my reply button isn't working so I'll just have to refrain from having your post in mine for a reply but I can do it without it.

I agree that the internet has made a lot of things possible, instant gratification being one of them. However I don't believe that's a reason to stop using the internet. I think it's the typical problem of people creating fixes to things they deem issues and not realizing what they're giving up in doing that.

I'm ok with a Tool to find people who are LFG and being able to sort it based on class, level, race, area, and what not, much like the eq LFG tool. All good with that, but any tool that creates a group and/or brings you to a dungeon is completely against community. And anyone who knows anything about the Everquest franchise knows that community is top priority, period.

I realize also that the EQ franchise has moved away from being a EQ game and is now in the business of being the top game for everyone (ie chasing wow's experience) rather then sticking to the established franchise ideals. I get it, completely understand, and in all honesty they did that back when they released EQ2 so not really a issue today. My only thought is to mention that when they "fix" something they sometimes break something else, and I feel that the auto group finders/dungeon finders that have been implemented in other games have helped jade or even destroy a community. Not literally but in a underlying way.

I also feel that the way they have been developing this game shows that they do care about community and want a good relationship with the community, so I bring this up in an effort to help them with creating a good community. I would hate to see what happened to wow with the lfg system happen to this game.

Once the grouping is trivialized and your reputations don't matter, that's when you get general chats that are filled with people arguing, trolling and creating drama and in the end for the most part wont matter cause it's not like their gaming will be impeded because of their reputation, they can just click a button and game on.

Of course this is only my opinion in a sea of opinions, so I guess I will close with.....

If you don't like reading others opinions.......stop using forums