Fix Group Forming

After sitting there today and not being able to find a group at all to do some quests in Lion's Arch, I realized they REALLY need a more efficient way to group people. I'm thinking maybe a special menu where you "advertise this". It seperates everyone into quests/missions available in that town... so all you do is browse for people looking for the same thing you are.... something like those internet matching sites.... except in the game.... and for quests instead of a life commitment :P Really, it just seems no one wants to do quests, only Missions... and even then... if they can sprint through them, that's what they will do. It is really getting a bit annoying, and I really don't have the time to sit there pasting " N/W LVL 15 LFG ____________"..... I , not being a W/Mo or a good solo class.... though I am considering it now... find it rather discouraging. Henchmen are ok, but they don't heal when they should... or res when they should.... or do what you ask them to....or at the least provide someone to chat with :P

~prime

yea i agree, they should have a group finding window thing, so that u browse for wut ur looking for, it would save hell lotta time

Not a bad idea since I'm sure there are plenty more people out there with these very same concerns. Why not go to GWs home site and send that off to the techs and see what they have to say about it. With the streaming technology they may very well be working on it as we speak. If not and if no one else has mentioned this, then it might be something that will get their heads spinning and get done pretty soon. You will only find out really if you ask those "in charge" whats going on and if something is going to be done about your question at hand.

There. My two gold pieces... hope it helps.

Hmmm good idea... I mean there are so many possibilities. They could have something like they had in Warcraft 3, where it randomly pairs you(of course it would search all districts) etc.... stuff like this would make our lives so much more enjoyable

it is such a strain to find someone to do a quest with. I usually end up doing a mission alone or acquiring a crappy henchmen. What's the point of online play if no-one will play with you.

Exactly, hopefully they do change something

How about this, instead of lists or matching randomly (bad bad bad... 5% chance of getting a good group, one that matches your playstyle and not a 10 yr old w/ something to prove)

Have an emote:

/mission ---> Green Light/Aura/Something above your head

/quest ---> Blue Light/Aura/Something above your head

That way you can just look around and then hmmm ask that person if they're interested in joining? Just something I was tossing around in my head after I read your post.

That would be cool Since gettig to loin's Arch I find it hard to get a party together, everyone is too busy spamming trades mostly

Heres an idea... Try to join a guild? You will probley find help a lot easier and faster with them then any strangers. Join one that is active enough and you can more then likely always have someone to game with you.

That came across a bit rude you know.

Not everyone wants to be in a guild yet, like me

But I will join one in time.

A better party interface would be better in the long term and would clear up the local chat panel more...

The grouping system in GW is woefully lacking. It's the only MMORPG I've ever seen with no LFG tool or even a LFG tag. I realise the emphasis is meant to be on forming guilds, but still... if they can design and implement an entire Henchman system to make up group numbers, would it be so tough to add a visible LFG tag? Having to advertise in public channels is painful!

You should not be forced to join a guild to have people to play the game with you. A Guild is a commitment that should not be taken so lightly, that is the reason we have so many sub-par guilds out there right now. I think a better way for group finding would be a great idea, afterall what is the point of Guild Wars being an online game if you are only playing with your friends? May as well go play NWN.

Its very odd indeed how lacking the grouping is in this game. Considering how little of it can be done solo the "grouping" aspect seems almost like an afterthought.

Exactly. I just did Duke's Daughter and Atheas Ashes today(I sorta left them for later :P), and for some reason it seemed 100% easier to find a group in teh ascalon region then in Yaks Bend or Lions Arch. Yes people spam in ascalon, but people search for groups as well. I went to Lion's Arch and all I see is Casions, WTS, WTB an WHO CAN SELL ME A SIGIL!!

I'm sure there are people in other districts looking for a group, and if we had some unified-menu-type-search-thingy it would make life sooooooo much easier. I mean look:

a) I am in American District 1 looking to do some Lion's Arch Quest.
b) I open up the menu, select my quest(or mission or "other"), hit post. My Name, Level, Quest, how long ago it was posted, and District are posted under the Lion's Arch Quest.
c) I open up the search thingy, select my quest, and see if anyone else from the American Districts is looking for this group.
d) If I find someone I send them an invite to come join me in district XXX or I come there and join them. Maybe in the post I could add "Anyone Looking for QUESTHERE meet me in District XX by the Storage".
e) You can only post 1 request at a time, when you leave town it is removed, or you can remove it manually.

This sure beats doing:

a) N/W LVL 15 LFG FOR quest-here *repeat 10 times*
b) *switches districts*
c) Repeat a) and b) until you can't stand it anymore and turn off Guild Wars :P

Even a Guild isnt a 100% solution. Just think about it, you are a level 20 W/Mo and someone in your guild is looking to do a 500xp quest. Now you have a choice, do that quest... or do your own quest with a Lvl 20 W/Mo from the same guild.... honestly, unless you have loads of time, you will choose your own quest :/
Unless you have a HUUUUUUUUUUGE guild, with people in every city, where everyone is willing to lend there time.... more than likely you will still get shafted. My guild is... I think 50 ppl... with about 10 online at a time(time zone stuff).... sometimes someone has the time, but other times we are just in 2 different places and they have their own quests to do :/ This system though could make things soooooo much more easier and fun

Just an idea though,

~prime

Here is an idea for improving group formation processing. Add a Non-Player Character in each district. That NPC serves as the middleman. Players talking with him may elect to enlist as mission/quest leaders or soldiers. They are then allowed access to a list of either what leaders are recruiting or, if they elected to lead a team, who is looking for a group. Filters for level, class, etc. could be included in the interface. Contact should be similar to chat...just click on the name to initiate dialogue. Group leaders should be able to add players from the interface. An additional possibility is to allow players to register for a random group of people seeking a team. Once the NPC has enough to assign the players, it groups them and launches the mission. Some unbalanced teams may result but if they don't work, exit mission and try again!

Having played several similar games (D2, EQ, AO, CoH), I really like GW in that you really can "solo" effectively and that camping is essentially eliminated. However, the group recruiting process for GW is ludicrous, frustrating, and can sap all the pleasure from an otherwise stellar offering.

Now to respond to two suggestions mentioned above -

1 - Being in a guild can be great fun but only if with the right people. Just joining any guild that happens to be recruiting might lead to satisfaction but may just as easily lead to frustration, anger, and even say "to hell with GW." A guild functions like a circle of friends. Some people I wish to be identified with but others....not really. No doubt some feel the same about me. Bottom line - guilds work best when groups work best as they can be a relationship test bed for all parties.

2 - Maybe I missed it but the official web site has no real forum. There is a searchable FAQ and a contact provision but no place for making game suggestions. Our only hope at this point is that someone official reads this stuff.

Now that I have revealed my ignorance of programming and how the rest of the world views things, let the flames begin!

They should really make a system compared to what they have in Knight Online, I have of course beta tested a lot of games in the past few years. But, considering their "Looking for Group" system hasn't been used in any other games it's not that bad.

The idea is to make a new menu "Looking for Group" or something in that direction and adding the persons level, professions and quest they would like to do with a group.

Another thing which might be useful is making it so people can only list the quests that are available in that particular town/city, however you'd like to name it.

the problem with only showing the quest in that town is that a lot of quests are gotten outside of towns. if you want to do the NPC thing it should probably be sorted into what quest or mission someone is recruiting for and you can click on the quest or mission and it'll send a message to that person saying W/E 10 wants to join your party and then he can accept or reject. if rejected the player would recieve a message that his request had been rejected. also maybe it should show you only the quest that you currently have available yourself so you don't have to search through so many quests to find the ones your trying to do.

if anyone agrees with these ideas please post. the only way the devs are gonna read it and make changes is if they think it's important so express your feelings on the idea and if there's enough people who agree it will probably be put into the game

In general, everyone in a mission area is there for missions, these do serve as launch points for some quests, but most people are in mission towns to do missions. As for quests, it is pretty hard to make a good party simply because there are so many weak players out there. At the same time it is possible to get some max lvled characters to piggy back you through the game.

I think there aught to be sperate districts in each town for parties, trading, and role playing. This would help people find what they are looking for a little easier. But it would be nice if you could toggle a search function for players outside your district, and signals that you could set up in this search menu for players who want to do certains quests, or missions.

Anyhow, some of the quests and missions are ment to be very difficult, and getting around to making some continuing friends who you can rely on is a better way to advance, IMO. Communicating in town is very difficult, and parties lack much structure or command, having a more organized way to view everyone in your district, or even in all districts for that town, would help people find what they need a bit easier.

Great to finally see some positive threads on this grey area of the game - Iv also spent much wasted time trying to form a 'decent' group.

At the moment, theres so many "LFG for...," "LFG for Bonus only" etc etc - its crazy! the message window offen scrolls so fast when theres a lot of people posting that its difficult to actually even pick...

I dont agree with random grouping unless theres someway to balance the groups - I hate it in arenas when you meet with your random party, only to find that your team has Rangers & Elem... vs an enemy team of W/Mo.

I think if there was a window that you could select what mission/quest you doing, then broadcast it(or see who else is). People who want to join can open the window on their side and see what missions people are recruiting for and apply for a position. the team leader can then select from the applicants who they want on their team.