Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

LFG Tool Suggestion

    • 143 posts
    December 27, 2022 8:40 PM PST

    The looking for group tool has been on my mind a lot. One of the things that's meant to be a bulk of the fun in most MMO's is grouping with others. I would prefer not to spend a huge chunk of my time LFG instead of actually grouping and adventuring. I'd honestly prefer an auto-grouping option, which I've posted about before (not teleporting or instant dungeon, simply you get grouped with others searching for the same parameters). I understand a big portion of this community is against this. However, what would be a happy medium between auto-grouping and a passive tool that has to be continually searched manually every x minutes to see if there's something that fits your needs? The latter is what I believe makes using chat channels much easier and convenient than the often abandoned non-automatic LFG tools.

    Here's my suggestion:

    Have several parameters you're looking for be selected. This is already standard in most LFG tools where you put level range, classes/roles, zone, etc. that you're looking for.

    Now here's where it diverges from tools I've seen. Have the system ping you or have a tooltip like pop-up (movable and small) that tells you when someone or a group gets added to the board who fits your parameters. So now instead of constantly having to type LFG... in chat or manually checking the LFG tool, which we all forget to consistently do, you'll get a pop-up on your screen with some short details the person/group posted. You can then check if you want to private message them or simply request an invite through the tool. 

    What would this look like in action? I'm a lvl 12 shaman ogre looking to heal a group in the Se-val Manor dungeon. I can search manually through groups as normal, or I can fill in the parameters mentioned and simply post myself on the LFG board. Any person or group that has "looking for more, 15-20, se-val manor or even just dungeon, healer or even specifically shaman" as parameters checked off will automatically get a ping with my name, lvl, class. Any groups posting after I've added myself, I will then get a ping saying "Joppa's group LFM". We can click if we want more info and choose to private message or request invite. That's it. 

     Have the LFG Tool automatically remove characters once they join a group, whether it was through the tool or not. Have groups automatically removed once their party is full. 

    **Optional** Make the LFG tool alt friendly. We can look for 2-3 groups at a time with different parameters. Maybe have group search #2 and #3 be in an alt tab of the LFG tool that otherwise looks identical. Have the tooltip pop-up or ping be orange instead of the normal blue so the person receiving that ping knows it's for an alt and not the character the person is currently using. 

    Thoughts? Would this work? Is it even feasible? More importantly, would this change make you use a LFG tool way more frequently and consistently? You can always supplement with LFG in chat. 

    • 141 posts
    December 28, 2022 6:49 AM PST

    Kinda interesting. All that helps finding groups that aren't cut and paste the same would be terrific.

    Objectively, what will probably happen (with the travels as they are planned) is that you are going to go to a favorite level adapted spot and go looking from there. I don't seen the "ALT" working very well. That sort of stuff is usually handled manually: you log your lvl 20 warrior, with no luck and see that they peeps are looking for a lvl 8 cleric... and so you give them a tell and go switch to your alt. Making an interface for this seems a bit over the top to me.

    • 143 posts
    December 28, 2022 7:09 AM PST

    Grobobos said:

    Kinda interesting. All that helps finding groups that aren't cut and paste the same would be terrific.

    Objectively, what will probably happen (with the travels as they are planned) is that you are going to go to a favorite level adapted spot and go looking from there. I don't seen the "ALT" working very well. That sort of stuff is usually handled manually: you log your lvl 20 warrior, with no luck and see that they peeps are looking for a lvl 8 cleric... and so you give them a tell and go switch to your alt. Making an interface for this seems a bit over the top to me.

    Thanks for the feedback on the alt part. I was trying to address some people advertising all their classes and levels when they log on. If more did it because it was a built in option that made the info persistently available, it might make it easier for lower level players trying to get groups. 

    I think finding a favorite spot would still work. Level range +zone + a grinding objective instead of dungeoneering. Which should probably also be discussed. I don't think devs will add "grinding" as an objective parameter, but maybe "hunting any enemies". The details can be figured out in tells, but at least you get alerted to potential companions. 

     

    • 141 posts
    December 28, 2022 9:08 AM PST

    The real question here is "does the crowd nowadays have the patience to search for group, and sometimes not find any"... What you fundamentally don't want is a game that looses or disgusts players before they are hooked (no, I am not a drug dealer).

    • 2756 posts
    January 9, 2023 2:34 PM PST

    I'm sure it's feasible and I agree with most of the ideas.

    The tool should be modern and sophisticated in removing the hassle and tedium *BUT* leave all the social aspects and activity up to the players.

    By that I mean it should give lots of search/filter/sort facility and even some group management features, but ultimately it should just put players in touch and not be 'automating' anything social or travel.

    I would like a 'grouping' tool that helps handle LFG/LFM sign-up and searches, group waiting lists, loot rule selection, objectives, custom 'rules', etc but definitely does *not* automatically put people into or out of groups, transport people around, 'email' loot, pre-define by group roles, etc.

    • 141 posts
    January 9, 2023 10:37 PM PST

    If the game was set up to be somewhat realistic, you would have outposts where people would gather around before going out in the wild.

    • 1 posts
    January 23, 2023 1:03 AM PST

    Having a good LFG system is critical for players outside the primary American and European timezones. One of the worst aspects of EQ was spending two hours trying to find a group as a cleric as the server poulation was so low during my peak play times. It was even worse if you were DPS, even when you had a reputation as being decent.

    • 2419 posts
    January 24, 2023 6:17 PM PST

    Grobobos said:

    If the game was set up to be somewhat realistic, you would have outposts where people would gather around before going out in the wild.

    Funny you should mention that because the discussions back in mid-2013 to early 2014 centered around exactly this. The racial cities wouldn't be something you return to every day rather you'd be spending more time in outposts and encampments out in the wilds. This was because travel was going to be quite slow so, realistically speaking, returning to your racial city every day wouldnt be practical.  Too bad that idea didn't survive.

    • 1399 posts
    January 25, 2023 7:23 AM PST

    Vandraad said:

    Grobobos said:

    If the game was set up to be somewhat realistic, you would have outposts where people would gather around before going out in the wild.

    Funny you should mention that because the discussions back in mid-2013 to early 2014 centered around exactly this. The racial cities wouldn't be something you return to every day rather you'd be spending more time in outposts and encampments out in the wilds. This was because travel was going to be quite slow so, realistically speaking, returning to your racial city every day wouldnt be practical.  Too bad that idea didn't survive.

    I'm curious why you say the "idea didn't survive". Just because it hasn't been talked about?

    As I recall these outpost were intended to be player/guild created. I'm sure this wouldn't be something on the alpha roadmap. Beta maybe, but not alpha.


    This post was edited by Zorkon at January 25, 2023 7:24 AM PST
    • 2752 posts
    January 25, 2023 12:41 PM PST

    I mean, I dislike both ideas. The notion one would/should always be returning to cities/towns/outposts (and that those would exist in all or most zones) seems pretty bad to me. Any point of interest in any zone is a meeting place. 

    • 77 posts
    January 25, 2023 1:07 PM PST

    I know we don't talk about WoWwww, but if you look at their LFG tool (not their dungeon finder tool), it works well. The classic lich king version has both single person lfg and group lfm.

    I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel here, but that is just me. 

    Here is a link to see what I am talking about if you are not into classic wow, but I want to reiterate this is not the auto-teleport dungeon finder tool.  Of course you would have to add CC to the roles and other things to fit the game but it is a good tool.

     https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/news/new-group-finder-ui-for-wrath-classic-327447

    • 123 posts
    February 7, 2023 11:16 AM PST

    If I well remember, the LFG tool was once described as a “looking for friends” tool, so I guess it would be legit to add matching criterias that are more “social”.

    For example, we could get an account profile panel in which we could add data like : 

    • the type of player you are : casual / serious / hardcore / etc ..
    • your main language
    • the other languages you can use, maybe with more details to distinguish languages you can read / write and the ones you can handle a vocal conversation
    • etc …

    And of course when a group is created and is looking for more members, the leader could define parameters like : 

    • type of group : casual / serious / hardcore / etc …
    • languages supported
    • etc …

    To go further, the profile panel could also handle more informations like : 

    • if you are looking for a guild / community to integrate
    • your location / timezone
    • your usual connexion times

    These data could be used in inspect panel / friend list and maybe the LFG tool in case the leader wanna create a recurrent group.