Guild Wars 2

Hello forum members, I wanted to start a discussion about Look For Group (LFG) tools. It has been my experience that with “standard” LFG tools the players in the group tend to act with animosity towards each other.

In my opinion this is due to the fact that the players have zero investment with the group. They player merely selects a role (which in GW2’s case will most likely be what conditions/boons can be provided) and presses a button. They then wait until there is a pop-up on their screen to join a group of other similarly selected individuals and dropped into content. This process, while efficient does not provide any sort of camaraderie among the group members.

I would propose a different type of LFG tool. Instead of a player merely queue-ing up for content they would browser through a window similar to a server browser found on many First Person Shooter games. A player would start a group by selecting content, it can be any thing, dynamic events, dungeons, renown hearts, map completion, jumping puzzles, etc. When the player creates the lobby their current build will be listed with the “lobby”. Other players would be able to apply filters to their searches until they find a group that would be adequate for what content they are looking to do, and join those “lobbies”.

So fellow forum members, what kind of LFG tool would you propose?

dude right now ANY kind of lfg instead of none i dont care as long i get one i feel stupid spaming in tows to get one instance done

Gele.2048:

dude right now ANY kind of lfg instead of none i dont care as long i get one i feel stupid spaming in tows to get one instance done

I wouldn’t want a LFG tool if that would make players act with resentment toward one another. I would keep the current system rather than have that.

I know i repeat myself
but grouping tool like in DDO will be perfect.

the group initiator open a group when he declare the purpose of the group (dungeon, fractals, WWW etc)
then select the minimal level of the players, and can add some text.

people who looking for group, open the group panel , and can join his group. when the group reached five people it deleted automatically from the list. etc

Lalangamena.3694:

I know i repeat myself
but grouping tool like in DDO will be perfect.

the group initiator open a group when he declare the purpose of the group (dungeon, fractals, WWW etc)
then select the minimal level of the players, and can add some text.

people who looking for group, open the group panel , and can join his group. when the group reached five people it deleted automatically from the list. etc

This sounds really good. Did the groups tend to act with animosity towards each other, or was there more camaraderie?

Stop posting about a LFG in-game tool.
They said that they’re working on it…

In the meantime : http://www.gw2lfg.com/

Rufus Shinra.2351:

Stop posting about a LFG in-game tool.
They said that they’re working on it…

In the meantime : http://www.gw2lfg.com/

I know that they are adding it in, but what kind of LFG tool is what I would like to discuss.

www.gw2lfg.com works great. I’ve used it several times

I don’t doubt that gw2lfg works well, but since they are putting in built in LFG system I would like to suggest that we don’t use a standard matchmaking type system. I think the lobby system will work better because it provides more interaction with the group members, so there is actual communication before the group sets out to do whatever they planned to do.

This could also create a fairly organic party system wherein the purpose of the party can change on the fly, so that the group would not have to disband to tackle a new objective.

Senryi,

I support you 100% , i think a lobby based LFG would be better.
I also play WOW, with the random LFG they have, its not personal and usually everyone is on everyone’s else back.
That takes the fun out of the game.

Athlon,

Could just put something like that LFG website in game, basically a message board. GW1 had them in each city/outpost. Just expand that globally and you’d have a very nice LFG tool.

The problem is LFG “tools” are aiming to bring strangers who are solo players together to do group content. Never gonna work.

The ultimate LFG tool is your guild chat, and it should never be any other way. Form a guild, join a guild then go from there.

Rufus Shinra.2351:

Stop posting about a LFG in-game tool.
They said that they’re working on it…

In the meantime : http://www.gw2lfg.com/

Wasn’t a big enough priority for the biggest MMO of 2012 to have in at launch though, was it? What makes you think it will ever be more than lip service now? They don’t see it as important and never did, I wouldn’t hold your breath for anything but disappointment.

While I agree that your guild is a good source to get people to do content, sometimes they want to do their own thing. It’s not like your guild is at your beck and call. The LFG system allows players who would otherwise not be able to communicate/find each other to group up.

Dragon Slayer.9605:

www.gw2lfg.com works great. I’ve used it several times

You are right, its great. But there is this feeling inside of me that just bothers me when i have to go outside of the game to play the game.

Its also odd that fans managed to create a LFG tool that is far superior to the ones the developers put in. I have not see this kind of creativity since WoW where in my opinions the game actually relies on the addons of fans to remain as popular as it is, from UI interface mods, AH mods, Boss mods, to chat mods.

If they just implement the gw2lfg.com tool I’ll be happy, it works great and is very easy and quick to use to find groups.

I haven’t used the tool myself, could some one give me a brief run down on how it works?

Edit: I just downloaded the mobile app to see how it works. I have to say this is almost exactly what I was suggesting. The only thing that I can’t tell from looking at the app is if you can have multiple purposes for your group. For instance I would want to do AC exp or CM story, but it only allows me to search for one or the other, or make a party for one or the other.

Pro: cross-server LFG tools remove a reliance on the local server population. Gets frustrating waiting for a group in LA.

Con: Not too good for the community.

Many people argue that the LFD tool on WoW was a contributor to the demise of the community and made the game less enjoyable.

I think GW2 has a chance because abrasive and anti-social behaviour here is not tolerated as well as in other games. (remember those suspensions over offensive names and language? yeah) This means less chances of having a jerk in your party.

To accommodate LFG I think that GW2 would need a wider set of rules and coverage for these abrasive and antisocial activities and some incentives for being nice/helpful/friendly.

The Honour system in League of legends comes to mind – after a successful party/game a party member can be given a honour into what you thought he contributed the most to – was he friendly? helpful? or a high skilled player who had the patience to guide the rest of the group who were flailing around.

Those awarded with certain honours could earn achievements, or use their points on small bonuses like skins or easier access to certain commodities.

AwwGee.5628:

Pro: cross-server LFG tools remove a reliance on the local server population. Gets frustrating waiting for a group in LA.

Con: Not too good for the community.

Many people argue that the LFD tool on WoW was a contributor to the demise of the community and made the game less enjoyable.

I think GW2 has a chance because abrasive and anti-social behaviour here is not tolerated as well as in other games. (remember those suspensions over offensive names and language? yeah) This means less chances of having a jerk in your party.

To accommodate LFG I think that GW2 would need a wider set of rules and coverage for these abrasive and antisocial activities and some incentives for being nice/helpful/friendly.

The Honour system in League of legends comes to mind – after a successful party/game a party member can be given a honour into what you thought he contributed the most to – was he friendly? helpful? or a high skilled player who had the patience to guide the rest of the group who were flailing around.

Those awarded with certain honours could earn achievements, or use their points on small bonuses like skins or easier access to certain commodities.

I heard that that system actually seems to be working for that community as well.

Honor system sounds nice. And I agree, a simple system that where a person can put out what content they want to do and people can join / invite them would be good.

I definitely don’t want an auto-join system where I get yanked into the dungeon when a group fills up.

If they have an honor system they could incorporate it into the up coming changes to achievements. For instance if you get enough honors you would get a crown.

I saw a post about it on here before, about how Anet should buy gw2lfg’s site, lol. I used it the other day, and it was great, got into a fractal group in about 2 minutes, worked like a charm.

A message board type system where you can:

Open groups looking for more members:

• Set what dungeon(s) you’re running
• Designation for story or explorable
• Shows how many players are in the group currently
• Space for comment
• Shows the server they are on
• Language(s)

Players seeking a group:

• Set dungeons looking for
• Space for comment
• Space to show all/any characters of the player; choose which characters you want to show (In case you are playing an alt while lfg)

Search tool:

• Search currently open groups; filter by dungeon
• Search currently lfg players; filter by dungeon
• Extra search criteria such as fractal level/story mode/explorable
• Button to whisper/auto-join/request party

With guesting now having been implemented I would have to assume that ArenaNet have a base system with which to work with to have a LFG tool implemented into the game. So, when do you think they could announce the LFG tool?

The tool “http://www.gw2lfg.com/” is a giant pile of crap.

As far as my experience goes when playing WOW and their dungeon finder tool, I think it went pretty darn good. While most times there was little conversation or interaction among team players. However, the vast majority of times the dungeons went smooth and fast. There wasn’t very many times I got paired up with players that sucked or griefed.

My play style is sort of lone wolf-ish so I don’t mind little conversation. Whatever ANET comes out with for LFG tool, I hope it’s just something to easily get queued up in for a dungeon no matter where you are in the game so you can go about your regular game play while you wait for spot to open and then simply click “accept” to join dungeon.

After being in GW1 and using that party search, which was great, I don’t see ANet making a random grouping system, having made a lobby search previously.
Like others have mentioned, I would be extremely happy if they would let searchers and party-creators enter in the specifics of what they wanted to do, much like is shown in gw2lfg – I could see it being set up similarly to TP search.

I don’t remember having many negative experiences in the GW1 party searches, since you chose who got to join to fit the party best; sure there were always calls for LF MONK, and I have a feeling that rangers and engis might take longer to find groups (though that’s more of a class balance issue – there are reasons for the discrimination), but it was very non-confrontational, since you knew what you were getting.
There will always be grouches and trolls and flakes in all games, of course, so getting a PUG together isn’t always the best choice, but I’m an advocate for the Lobby Search system – it made my time in GW way more pleasant.

What you describe is probably what is going to happen.
Anet already has a window for sPvP games that would work for LFG tools.

Before the game released, Anet said we wouldn’t be standing in town looking for a group. They were right, we use http://www.gw2lfg.com/ instead.

Anything like gw2lfg would be great. Simple and easy to use.
Anything a little more complicated would probably end in delays and bugs.

And about being able to see what build/gear someone have:
Anyone can equip a cookie cutter build with the best/desired gear but did anyone really think this is guaranty of a good player? Do you really think people can’t change his build/gear after joining a party?

Senryi.4897:

So fellow forum members, what kind of LFG tool would you propose?

gw2lfg.com is perfect. Kudos to the person who made it. Shame on ArenaNet for not taking a couple hours and doing it themselves.

It’s a waste of time for ArenaNet to even bother with a LFG tool now. They may as well just buy the site and hire the person that made it to do the easy, simple, common-sense things that need to be done (and should have been done since launch).

When creating a LFG tool you really need to consider the purpose for which it is going to be used.

I would generally assume that this purpose is to help players form groups of completely unrelated individuals by decreasing the time the players need to create the group and perhaps also to decrease the effort that a player needs to expend in order to form that group. The purpose of the group finder is not to allow players to more easily find friends (while players are free to try making friends with the people in their group that is outside the actual purpose of the tool).

Generally, a lobby system will not be the ideal system because it will require a lot more time and monitoring by the player compared to a system that automatically creates the party for the players thus allowing the player to continue to grind or craft or whatever it is the player wants to do with ininimal interference while waiting for the group to form.

It has also been my experience that lobby systems wind up functioning exactly like a system that automatically creates groups except it requires far more intrusive maintenance. By this I mean that generally when a player is trying to do something other than monitor the party lobby they will wind up just sending an invite to the first X number of people who enter the lobby without asking any questions or making any inquiries. But in order to minimize the amount of maintenance that goes into forming a party with the lobby system that player will have to keep the full window open which inevitably takes up valuable screen space and makes trying to do anything else while waiting for the group to form very distressing.

Ellisande.5218:

When creating a LFG tool you really need to consider the purpose for which it is going to be used.

I would generally assume that this purpose is to help players form groups of completely unrelated individuals by decreasing the time the players need to create the group and perhaps also to decrease the effort that a player needs to expend in order to form that group. The purpose of the group finder is not to allow players to more easily find friends (while players are free to try making friends with the people in their group that is outside the actual purpose of the tool).

Generally, a lobby system will not be the ideal system because it will require a lot more time and monitoring by the player compared to a system that automatically creates the party for the players thus allowing the player to continue to grind or craft or whatever it is the player wants to do with ininimal interference while waiting for the group to form.

It has also been my experience that lobby systems wind up functioning exactly like a system that automatically creates groups except it requires far more intrusive maintenance. By this I mean that generally when a player is trying to do something other than monitor the party lobby they will wind up just sending an invite to the first X number of people who enter the lobby without asking any questions or making any inquiries. But in order to minimize the amount of maintenance that goes into forming a party with the lobby system that player will have to keep the full window open which inevitably takes up valuable screen space and makes trying to do anything else while waiting for the group to form very distressing.

In your example I could see how that could be an issue. I ran into a similar problem when playing Final Fantasy XI, but what if the lobby system didn’t show people looking for a group? What if they just listed the lobbies, and not give the lobby-maker the ability to invite? That would solve the problem of blind invites.