Using EQ1 as an example, if i am looking for a group I will turn on my /lfg flag. After that, I will talk to players on my friends list or guild/general chat to announce that I am looking for a group.
If I am starting my own group, I will look for players in the /lfg window and my friends list first, then advertise in guild/general chat. If I still need players, I will do /who all searches and message players directly to see if they would like to group up.
I've used websites and forums to find a guild, but never to find a group. Voicechat is usually only used after I find someone to play with, not the method I use to find them.
Larirawiel said:A global chat channel works very well for me. I can find other players, looking for group, sell/buy some things etc.
Greetings
Yeah, this worked very well in VG, it was locked to continents, though, so typing something like "/lfg SoD named run - 55 with epics" would only display globally for that continent where the area was located, which stopped spam to other continents and helped localize communication.
Wellspring said:Using EQ1 as an example, if i am looking for a group I will turn on my /lfg flag. After that, I will talk to players on my friends list or guild/general chat to announce that I am looking for a group.
If I am starting my own group, I will look for players in the /lfg window and my friends list first, then advertise in guild/general chat. If I still need players, I will do /who all searches and message players directly to see if they would like to group up.
I've used websites and forums to find a guild, but never to find a group. Voicechat is usually only used after I find someone to play with, not the method I use to find them.
This is how I typically joined and created groups too :)
I also normally used the /lfg flag to find groups, it was simple and effective. I would normally flag myself as /lfg if I was occupied doing things like harvesting or whatever, but was also willing to join a group if invited. I would use the /lfg channel and advertise myself actively if I was specifically looking for a group. The other way was by traveling to a zone that I wanted to adventure in and using /ooc to find a group. I would, of course, look for group in guild first, and then among friends. I never used voice chat to find a group, but used it after in the same way that Wellspring mentioned. My opinion is that a chat channel, a /lfg flag, and zone chat are really all we need to be able to find people to play with outside our guilds. The simple act of having to invite someone to a group by actually talking to them has been lost by dungeon queues and other complicated LFG tools, and is in my opinion part of what's wrong with MMO's today.
I usually go with simply playing in game. There is nothing more organic than running across a fellow adeventurer working on the same qest line, striking up a friendly conversation, and forming up a group. For more specific content like dungeons I like the idea of a lfg flag and/or channel.
Azotate said:I usually go with simply playing in game. There is nothing more organic than running across a fellow adeventurer working on the same qest line, striking up a friendly conversation, and forming up a group. For more specific content like dungeons I like the idea of a lfg flag and/or channel.
Basically this.. I run around doing my thing. If friends are on, we typically group up (Many sessions are planned in advance), if everyone is busy with other things, I just keep myself busy, meet people along the way, and organically create groups and many times end up adding new friends.
Wellspring said:Using EQ1 as an example, if i am looking for a group I will turn on my /lfg flag. After that, I will talk to players on my friends list or guild/general chat to announce that I am looking for a group.
If I am starting my own group, I will look for players in the /lfg window and my friends list first, then advertise in guild/general chat. If I still need players, I will do /who all searches and message players directly to see if they would like to group up.
I've used websites and forums to find a guild, but never to find a group. Voicechat is usually only used after I find someone to play with, not the method I use to find them.
This is my method as well.
Well thought out and presented in game tools are definitely the preferred method, the /LFG flag being a good example of that. This, however, is one area where I feel like it is very important for Pantheon to go above and beyond in order to become a success. If the game is to be a success that spans years, it probably can't rely on just the existing group of older gamers who fondly remember hard core MMORPG games and look back longingly. There's going to have to be enough there to encourage a new audience to try the genre, and teach them that group focused gameplay is actually really fun. Finding a group, especially in a game that values world size and a meaningful sense of travel time, can be a huge barrier to entry.
What would be fantastic, in my opinion, would be some sort of visual tool or representation that would allow players to see how many players are looking for a group within a certain region at that time - and perhaps even some sort of trend over the prior 24 hour period. What areas are busiest for my particularl level range? If I am going to invest 45 minutes in travelling to a new area, as a newer player, I don't want to find out when I get there that groups avoid it like the plague. Basically, I love the idea of decisions having real consequences, but would hate to see people not have enough information to make a good decision, or being led into decisions that detract from the overall philosophical design of the gameplay.
For those who are not involved with large guilds, there are some cool out of game tools that can put peoople together. Other games recently have used web based LFG sites that allow players to filter by activity and level. There are also other sites that build databases of 100 players at a time and group them into a de facto guild and give them the tools to pre-plan and schedule specific raids or activities, and allow for sign ups in advance. Players can use other tools to rate party members so it improves their desirability in the future, and others can be flagged as guides and sherpas for specific activities. So I do think there is value in looking out beyond what we used to have to see if there are other features that could be used to push people towards the group focused content to help the game's longevity without intruding on any real sacred areas for us.
The good thing is there are options:
1. If I'm guilded then I'd likely start there.
2. LFG in zone/general chat (useful if there is specific content I need to get through).
3. Surprisingly refreshing to just happen across a fun, friendly group and spend some quality gaming with them for a spell (great way to socialize and meet new people).
The best experiences I have had revolve around EQ. Why is this? Well for one, it was a game that REQUIRED group play so when you were running around in a zone doing things, you often asked someone else doing the same thing if they wanted to team up. After short gameplay with these people, you knew if they were someone you wanted to hang out with or put them on the list of "ignore future groups or friends list". So friendships were easily created by getting out there and letting fate take over.
Other MMOs are so easy to solo, the only reason to find groups is for dungeon material and we all know how fun PUGs are.. NOT!!!
As mentioned, announcing in Zone / General channels sometimes works well because you at least start the verbal conversation of like minded players seeking the same goal.
If I have to go out of the game to find a group, the game has failed. This would be just like Destiny on PS4. They created group content but absolutly no way to form group. People had to create third party sites.
I don't think doing /who all 40-45 (insert class) over and over is really fun either but it's way better than the stupid auto group mode like in WoW.
Flagging yourself LFG with a simple tool to find LFG people with a class/level filter would be perfect for me.
I also think the lfg style as in EQ1 works best. And I also like to just ask around while exploring if I see any fellow players in the area. But PLEASE do make grouping by invite only. As per Rift you would always find someone who tagged into your group, usually without asking and I find that very annoying.
I like the search format that shows you as LFG and can be sorted by level and class. That way you can actually have a conversation with the person before you join the group/dungeon. And role players can get a sense of alignment before they begin an adventure with someone.
Outside of guild groups, a plain LFG tool seemed to make the most sense. If I wanted to be in a certain area and saw a group already there, I'd message one of them to see if they had any room or if a spot would be opening up soon. Failing that, I would literally just "/who all" the classes I was looking for and message people until I found someone who would join me (that's the brute-force method, but hey, it got the job done~)
Hannar said:What would be fantastic, in my opinion, would be some sort of visual tool or representation that would allow players to see how many players are looking for a group within a certain region at that time - and perhaps even some sort of trend over the prior 24 hour period.
That's an interesting thought.
As well, perhaps there is something to be said for a tool that plainly shows (or allows you to search) every single ungrouped player on the server/shard (without those players having to actively put up a LFG tag)... There could be settings that hide players who have been idle for X amount of time, or players who are +/- a certain level range... Players would be able to opt OUT of this, but they'd be opted IN by default... This, as a supplement to a standard LFG tool.
I prefer any tools. The more the merrier. I think more options aren't necessarily bad as some would suggest. I think they become bad when they start to breed incompetence. Granted you will find that regardless. Even the notorious dungeon finder tools that people despise so much has significant beneficial aspects of it.
I would however hate to see some tools neglected because a minor amount of people feel that walking both ways up hill in the snow is more fun than playing the game for just the sake of being nostalgic with no logical reasoning.
I have to say I've developed contempt towards modern random group finding tools. It's convenient and sometimes you even run into good people that you'd add to the friendlist or even form a guild with. But more often than not there'll be at least one guy that has no idea what he's doing or is deliberatly disruptive and wouldn't communicate at all. Even if the rest of the group agrees to kick them out you're usually left with people in bad mood - nobody likes being interrupted in the middle of the run, which only gets worse as the tool is struggling to find somebody willing to join mid-way.
So... Yeah, I think I'll agree with everyone on this thread about prefering classic approach when you had to at least have a quick "hi" chat before you join/form a group.