Guild Wars 2

I’d just like to clarify something I have seen solely in this game ; it’s in direct relation to the use of gw2lfg.com.

When someone posts LFG it means they are looking for a group, not looking to make one but looking for an invitation from a person or persons who want’s to build the group. This means don’t whisper them asking if they have room; don’t whisper them asking them to invite you.

Now LFM means said person is looking to build a group; that’s the person you want to whisper asking if they have room or for an invite.

Thank you.

This message was brought to you by the letters G, W and the number 2.

I have experienced the same thing but I’m not sure if there is a simple solution to this… (other than an in-game team forming interface, which I don’t see in the near future)

O god yes, I run into these people all the time… so tired of people who can’t tell the diffrence between lfg and lfm.

The thing is that since there is no built in game tool to form a group, you either have to be in the map the dungeon is in (and that limits you to the people in your server), in LA (again, limits you to the people in your server), or focusing your browser.

The people whispering you to form a group are the ones who probably doing the daily in ORR and want to do CoF, but they want to continue the daily while the group isn’t ready.
They see that you LFG and try their luck.
I think it’s them being lazy to start the group themselves.

omerk.2709:

The thing is that since there is no built in game tool to form a group, you either have to be in the map the dungeon is in (and that limits you to the people in your server), in LA (again, limits you to the people in your server), or focusing your browser.

The people whispering you to form a group are the ones who probably doing the daily in ORR and want to do CoF, but they want to continue the daily while the group isn’t ready.
They see that you LFG and try their luck.
I think it’s them being lazy to start the group themselves.

Not to split hairs, but isn’t that true about the ones using lfg instead lfm as well

I always form my own groups and this is what I’ve noticed.
Most people are looking for a group since that is faster (they think). You can even end up with 4 people looking for group and that will leave on an invite before you can invite the next one. (or we would have a group of 5 already)
If you can’t start up groups then there will be less groups around for you to join. You might end up waiting longer then just taking the invite and stay put for 30 seconds.
But feel free to do as you pleas.

?

To me LFG = looking for group (duh). 1 person looking for a group to join.
LFM = looking for more, a group is looking for additional ppl.

What’s this about whispering and ish. That’s irrelevant.

what’s the difference really? just join up with anyone, it is fastest for all. If you are using gw2lfg there is minimal difference in effort between joining a group and starting a group.

Assume max party size is three for this example. Three people want to do a dungeon – call them Person A B and C

Option 1. All put up LFG and only accept group invites
result: no group formed
Option 2. A is LFG only B and C will accept single or group invites
result: A won’t join until B and C first find each other. This causes inefficiency in forming groups.
Option 3. All will accept single or group invites
result: Fastest possible party formation since any interaction leads to pairing.

thehipone.6812:

what’s the difference really? just join up with anyone, it is fastest for all. If you are using gw2lfg there is minimal difference in effort between joining a group and starting a group.

Well, if you start a group the others in the group may expect you to be able to lead the way through the dungeon. Neither I nor any friend I have in the game knows any of the dungeon’s well enough to lead a group through them, so we would stick to LFG or send a whisper to someone LFM.

Thing is, nobody goes to GW2LFG to find a single party member.

You go to GW2LFG because you’re looking for an already-planned party, or because you’re looking for a few more players for said dungeon.

So while it may be GW2LFG, nobody should use it that way.

The problem about people asking if you got a free spot when you wrote “lfg” is that they are kitten If someone is lookign for a group, he is not willing to form one. There’s no problem with single persons inviting me when im looking for a group, there’s a problem that they are asking me to form one when i dont want to do so.

TBH, whispering should not be used unless its requested. Just join onto the person LFG or LFM. Usually the person LFG already has several others on him. Whispering could cost you your spot with that group if others are already trying to connect with them.

There is also this designation as well:

GLF (Group Looking For) it’s just a variation but is very common

Robert Hrouda.1327:

must… resist.. urge… to sticky…

Good post. Just be patient with folks and educate

Give into your urge, Mabye this being stickied would lower the amount of people who confuse the two.

Dont ask for a spot.. you will never get one just type /join name and then if your in your in if not it will fill to fast to ask dont waste your time typing.

Folk.2093:

Now LFM means said person is looking to build a group; that’s the person you want to whisper asking if they have room or for an invite.

Maybe is helps to specifically mention that LFM stands for “looking for more” or “looking for members”. That’s at least how I learned it. Groups or single players willing to lead are looking for more, and players wanting to join a group are looking for group.

zerotwo.4731:

Just join onto the person LFG or LFM. Usually the person LFG already has several others on him.

To clarify the convention described by the OP, with my own words: You should join the player who is LFM, but invite the player who is LFG.

Wukunlin.8461:

I have experienced the same thing but I’m not sure if there is a simple solution to this… (other than an in-game team forming interface, which I don’t see in the near future)

Or they could just simply implement a clone of gw2lfg.com in the gw2 forums itself and make it it’s own sub forum.

When I was young, we used LFG when we are alone looking for a group, and GLF when we were a group looking for players.

Now them kiddies makin’ up new lingos, leaving us oldies behind.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

must… resist.. urge… to sticky…

Good post. Just be patient with folks and educate

OR, you could give us an in-game interface that satisfies the same functions as GW2LFG, so we don’t have to rely on an external website to help match players and groups together.

You know, like your competition offers. Seriously, why promote an external website when this kind of functionality should really be included standard in modern MMOs? Why hasn’t it happened yet?

MithranArkanere.8957:

When I was young, we used LFG when we are alone looking for a group, and GLF when we were a group looking for players.

Now them kiddies makin’ up new lingos, leaving us oldies behind.

I have to say, I’ve been playing MMOs since Meridian 59 and I don’t ever remember “GLF”.

Actually, what I recall from back in the day was gamers typing whole words out and not relying on abbreviations. :P

Don’t most people use the gw2lfg.com site to START groups rather than LOOK for single members? I figured people LFG would just browse the lists repeatedly until they find someone posting GLFM/LFM for their content. When I post LFM, I get tons of people joining right away that searching for LFG posts doesn’t even matter. Is there actually an advantage to post LFG? (not sarcasm, serious question)

Speaking of miscommunication on gw2lfg.com, there’s also the issue of people posting blank comments or typing something as vague as “p1 and p2”; are they LFG or LFM? Some posters need to be clear on what they want in their groups. If you want specific professions, need an explorable host, or an uncontested server, please put that in the comments. Good communication gets you far.

I don’t really get the issue with the OP but then again I rarely post lfg messages, I just start my own group most of the time. Is it really that annoying to get those kinds of whispers? Why can’t more people take the initiative and invite someone?

Although on the other hand, doing it my way everyone then expects me to always recruit, find replacement members, etc. It can get annoying after a while, maybe I should try lfg :P

Edge.4180:

MithranArkanere.8957:

When I was young, we used LFG when we are alone looking for a group, and GLF when we were a group looking for players.

Now them kiddies makin’ up new lingos, leaving us oldies behind.

I have to say, I’ve been playing MMOs since Meridian 59 and I don’t ever remember “GLF”.

Actually, what I recall from back in the day was gamers typing whole words out and not relying on abbreviations. :P

I’ve seen GLF plenty in previous games, but it never stood for “group looking for players”, It was in the past used by guild groups to find 1 pug to compliment theyr group.

Or even simply for guilds recruiting players for theyr guilds.

As such it actually means Guild/Guild Group Looking for.. Have no idea why people started using it incorrectly..

That said I havnt seen it used much the last few years, since alot of the newer games tend to not have guilds but rather clans, leagues, etcetc.

Edge.4180:

[…]

I have to say, I’ve been playing MMOs since Meridian 59 and I don’t ever remember “GLF”.

Actually, what I recall from back in the day was gamers typing whole words out and not relying on abbreviations. :P

I used to do that. But people looked at me weird and mocked me, I would not have surrendered to peer pressure, but if you didn’t you would not get groups.

I’ve encountered someone on gw2lfg who would repeatedly post LF1M even when his group was far from full or non existent. Pretty dirty, yet funny and effective way to get people to join him. From my experience it seems like everyone passes over people that are LFG or LF4M, but 10 people will join immediately when people are looking for just one or 2 more.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Edge.4180:

OR, you could give us an in-game interface that satisfies the same functions as GW2LFG, so we don’t have to rely on an external website to help match players and groups together.

You know, like your competition offers. Seriously, why promote an external website when this kind of functionality should really be included standard in modern MMOs? Why hasn’t it happened yet?

We’re working on it.

Being honest here Hrouda, i really doubt anything you guys can make up, will ever be better than that lfg site. They pretty much already have everything nailed, and i don’t think Anet will put some of the stuff that they did, like icons for experienced runs only and comments section for your party.

I have some information that the GW2 LFG tool will be very similar to the LFG site, except ingame.

Better late then never I guess. It shouldn’t be that much work to do a lfg tool, seeing that we already have a webbrowser for the trading post right now.

Edge.4180:

Robert Hrouda.1327:

must… resist.. urge… to sticky…

Good post. Just be patient with folks and educate

OR, you could give us an in-game interface that satisfies the same functions as GW2LFG, so we don’t have to rely on an external website to help match players and groups together.

You know, like your competition offers. Seriously, why promote an external website when this kind of functionality should really be included standard in modern MMOs? Why hasn’t it happened yet?

I’m assuming you mean an auto grouping tool, since most other LFG tools implemented in games, like flagging yourself as LFG (already in game) or a bulletin board type of system aren’t used much at all by the playerbase.

Maybe it indeed should be standard but in reality it isn’t. Just 2 relatively recent other mmo launches: Rift and SW:TOR both didn’t have it at launch. LOTRO only implemented it last year when the game had already been out for 5 years. And there’s a lot more examples.
So yes the competition offers it but most of them didn’t offer it at launch and many months / years after it.
Also on any gaming boards I’ve frequented over the years, only the mention of an automated grouping LFG tool caused a very heated debate which only made it more difficult for the devs to prioritize it or even make a decision to include it or not (esp. cross server ones which it would by definition be for GW2 since a lot is cross server already).
But since they’re already working on it you’re beating a dead horse really.
I’m more interested in how they implement it, if it’s just going to be the same like gw2lfg.com it’s a bit meh for me because I have a nice little in-game browser (and many other tools) available to me now already by using the enjin client. The only thing better about it then for me would be that the design fits with the game UI.

Or, people posting on gw2lfg.com could clearly state what they want instead of using acronyms that have multiple meanings/can be left up for interpretation.

Personally, I have never seen or used “LFM” to mean that I want to form a group. I’ve always seen it used to mean “looking for more.” That is, there are already at least a few people in the group and more are needed. Since I don’t count myself as a party without other people, I’m technically always “looking for more.”

To me “LFG” just means “looking for group,” which can be open to interpretation. And it often means different things depending on the context, who is saying it, etc.

As for being whispered, I’m not sure why this is such a big deal. Just politely answer the person and move on. It isn’t difficult. I’ve often added people to the group that have whispered me asking if there’s still space. And in many cases, they’ve turned out to be great players.

My point? A little kindness and patience can be advantageous.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Edge.4180:

OR, you could give us an in-game interface that satisfies the same functions as GW2LFG, so we don’t have to rely on an external website to help match players and groups together.

You know, like your competition offers. Seriously, why promote an external website when this kind of functionality should really be included standard in modern MMOs? Why hasn’t it happened yet?

We’re working on it.

This may be an unpopular opinion (though I hope not), but I truely hope your in-game LFG system will be more akin to GW2LFG.com than the random, anonymous matchmaking system that WoW has. The website version still involves social interaction and forming a group between players that intentionally go out to find each other, WoW’s sytem just leads to no-consequence, antisocial, get-in-and-go runs which, while they can (and do) happen now, most runs seem to be a lot more sociable.

Also, to comment on using gw2lfg.com, I quite often do a LF1M post as I have 3 regular friends and we’re short 1 person, so it does happen.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Edge.4180:

OR, you could give us an in-game interface that satisfies the same functions as GW2LFG, so we don’t have to rely on an external website to help match players and groups together.

You know, like your competition offers. Seriously, why promote an external website when this kind of functionality should really be included standard in modern MMOs? Why hasn’t it happened yet?

We’re working on it.

Just make sure it has both “LFG” and “(G)LFM” functionality please

What I do is /join off the player posting the LFG. I don’t ask if they have room I just piggy back off them and everyone is none the wiser. Works almost every time and saves time advertising yourself.

^ as I stated earlier. quick and easy!