LF3M AC EM2
LF3M AC EM2
Rodents Of Unusual Size [ROUS] are now recruiting!
Level 400 Leatherworker/Huntsman looking for work!
Rodents Of Unusual Size [ROUS] are now recruiting!
LF3M AC EM2
Level 400 Leatherworker/Huntsman looking for work!
Sound familiar? These are three situations where players are currently being suppressed for spam. True, they are spamming, and it is annoying to see /map chat filled with this sort of thing, but they have no other option to form a group, recruit new members into their guild or get work as a craftsman.
A proper LFG tool has been requested many times already, but I want to take that idea and extend it.
Years ago, I played on a Neverwinter Nights server (it may have been NWN2) which used in-game Notice Boards for a variety of advertising tasks. It was a Trading Post, LFG tool, Crafting services advertising space, guild recruitment tool, and place to post PvP bounties. Once an ad was posted it was a simple matter for a player to use the board to match up what they are looking for with what is available. It was essentially a big advertising space that allowed the player to narrow down a search to something specific.
On using the Board, the player is first presented with the option to Browse or Post. On choosing which one, they are then presented with more options:
Browse:
1. Party Recruitment
2. Guild Recruitment
3. Crafting Services
4. Other (it was a RP server, so use your imagination)
Once one of these options has been selected, the player is presented with a series of filters to narrow down their search.
The post section is the same, but in reverse.
It would be good to include materials as a filter in the Crafting section. This would enable a consumer to know exactly what materials are needed to make something, but also allow the advertiser the option to have extra materials as part of the cost. For example, something costs 8 Orichalcum Ingots (or 16 Ore) to craft, the Crafter could advertise it as being 9 Ingots and take the extra as his payment. In order to make the system secure, in a world where we have no trading window (and people scam even when there is a trading window), accepting an advertisement could form a kind of contract where any monies/materials sent to the crafter are automatically refunded to the buyer if the item is not made within a given period of time. Likewise, when the item is made it appears in the buyers inbox/inventory rather than the crafter’s.
Using a system like this would make it very easy to find a guild that suits you, find a crafter to make you that sword, or find a group to run that dungeon with for the umpteenth time… all without spamming the chat channels. Basically, it is one-stop shop – it isn’t just a LFG tool, it is a "Looking For… " tool. Obviously, this is something that requires more refinement, but I think it’s a good place to start.