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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Group finder tools
What I've seen other mmorpg's done wrong is Group Finder with queue system (examples known by me are dungeon/raid finder in WoW and ESO). I think the queue system is a terrible idea and player should be given more power over the group he will join/create.
My ideal Group Finder would be a tool with categories like Questing, Dungeons, Raids, Miscellaneous, Arenas, rated PvP and and whatever the content will be in AoC. When you create the group you'd be able to make a decription saying what you're aiming for. Whenever someone wants to join the group the leader could talk to him before or inspect him. If this person did well you could later on add him to your friend list and do play with him later on. This way you could make friends or at least find a reliable teammates in future instead of random ones.
An experienced player likes to do things efficiently so he'll want to have other veterans to do the thing fast. A new player wants to do the content slowly and he doesn't care if his group won't do things perfectly. He just wants to enjoy himself. And these are just two of many examples.
I'd always prefer the option that gives players a choice over the game making choices for you. I'd like to hear your opinions and/or suggestions about this. I think that a well designed Group Finder is crucial for mmorpg since the entire genre works around group content (at least it should be, otherwise it's just rpg with multiplayer option).
My ideal Group Finder would be a tool with categories like Questing, Dungeons, Raids, Miscellaneous, Arenas, rated PvP and and whatever the content will be in AoC. When you create the group you'd be able to make a decription saying what you're aiming for. Whenever someone wants to join the group the leader could talk to him before or inspect him. If this person did well you could later on add him to your friend list and do play with him later on. This way you could make friends or at least find a reliable teammates in future instead of random ones.
An experienced player likes to do things efficiently so he'll want to have other veterans to do the thing fast. A new player wants to do the content slowly and he doesn't care if his group won't do things perfectly. He just wants to enjoy himself. And these are just two of many examples.
I'd always prefer the option that gives players a choice over the game making choices for you. I'd like to hear your opinions and/or suggestions about this. I think that a well designed Group Finder is crucial for mmorpg since the entire genre works around group content (at least it should be, otherwise it's just rpg with multiplayer option).
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When you queue up for an activity in MMORPG's there's a chance you can't do that things because algorythm decides for you and maybe you want something more/different than people with max lvl and gear good enough to join the group.
Also there a chance to meet trolls, flamers and generally toxic players. Of course, this will happen from time to time no matter what but if the game would let people make their own groups they could at least black list a negative player they didn't enjoy playing with or just remember not to get in group with him anymore
The node system should mean that we can just focus on our interests and naturally gravitate towards like-minded people.
When that spider demon wanders into town, we're not going to want to wait for a group to form.
If you want to go gathering wood to help build the town, you should either be free to do that on your own or follow other people working on the same task.
We should recognize people in our villages and our towns. Especially while they are relatively small. And we will easily recognize the interests of the people who play at the same time we do. Because we will no longer have the paradigm of dispersing away from a zone as we increase in level. Rather we will be striving to increase the level of the node as our own character levels increase.
Newbies will not only be familiar with those living in the new homes on the outskirts of town, but will also know which players live in the well-established homes... the leaders of the city.
In these days of social media, I find it strange when people are stuck in the archaic days where LFG is even a thing.
If I want to find a group, I'm going to rely on twitch and discord and twitter first.
I'll be playing/grouping with people who stream or watch streams at the same times I do. Or responding to requests from Discord (I used to do that with twitter 5 years ago, but discord as replaced that in the past year).
I'd much rather play with people I already know or like.
Or who are devoted to the same interests as I am.
Also, since guilds are really more of an in-game thing in AoC... I expect guild houses to be one of the primary places we look for groups in-game.
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I haven't thought about putting a physical object as Group Finder tool but it does sound immersive. My only worry would be it won't be practical as your character has to get to that specific location. Let's say you've found a big ass dragon in a cave miles away from civilization but couldn't take it alone so you want to find a group. I wouldn't like to get to the city with message board, find a group/post an announcement and get back there. I'd want to stay in the cave and just use Group Finder from there to look for more people.
[quote quote=15739]AoC isn’t like WoW or ESO, so we shouldn’t expect group finder tools to be simialr – they may not even be necessary.
The node system should mean that we can just focus on our interests and naturally gravitate towards like-minded people.
When that spider demon wanders into town, we’re not going to want to wait for a group to form.
If you want to go gathering wood to help build the town, you should either be free to do that on your own or follow other people working on the same task.
We should recognize people in our villages and our towns. Especially while they are relatively small. And we will easily recognize the interests of the people who play at the same time we do. Because we will no longer have the paradigm of dispersing away from a zone as we increase in level. Rather we will be striving to increase the level of the node as our own character levels increase.
Newbies will not only be familiar with those living in the new homes on the outskirts of town, but will also know which players live in the well-established homes… the leaders of the city.
In these days of social media, I find it strange when people are stuck in the archaic days where LFG is even a thing.
If I want to find a group, I’m going to rely on twitch and discord and twitter first.
I’ll be playing/grouping with people who stream or watch streams at the same times I do. Or responding to requests from Discord (I used to do that with twitter 5 years ago, but discord as replaced that in the past year).
I’d much rather play with people I already know or like.
Or who are devoted to the same interests as I am.
Also, since guilds are really more of an in-game thing in AoC… I expect guild houses to be one of the primary places we look for groups in-game.
[/quote]
Of course, AoC has similarities to other mmorpg's, therefore, it's good to discuss which features were great and might be worth considering or at least discussing.
Node system definitely will draw people who want to experience similar content in one place but this is not the only thing you can do in the game. Also, you can't expect that you or other people will do the same thing forever. Sometimes you get bored of pve and decide to go for pvp centered gameplay or you want to some silly things in the world or find a group to efficiently farm the mob that drops this cool new rare mount.
It's weird for me to call LFG archaic since it's in every mmo I've played but maybe I'm just being an old neckbeard stuck in ancient ways of zone chats. Although I think it's way easier and convenient to get into in-game feature that helps me find people to play with than getting on my phone/browser and searching out there.
You work around the concept you already know people playing the content you'd like and made friendships but Group Finder would help someone who's completely new to the game or if a player would like to try doing something he'd never done before so friends he's playing with might not be interested in this. I'm thinking about moments when you can't do something alone and players you know don't want to participate in that content. It's just a tool that gives you a chance to dive into something different as smoothly as it can be.
Knowing how players will exploit any little thing for gain one can imagine a group exploiting a LFG mechanic and using it to teleport to the group leader's location. Should the current leader be able to pass leadership to another group member a guild could fan out across the map and, by having a paying customer group hop, transport players where ever the "teleport guild" had members.
This will have to be very carefully scrutinized during alpha to prevent such an exploit.
Of course, AoC has similarities to other mmorpg’s, therefore, it’s good to discuss which features were great and might be worth considering or at least discussing.[/quote]
We can certainly discuss features we like and dislike from old MMORPGs - even if those features won't won't be used in AoC.
Theorycrafting is fun. I'm not aware of anyone suggesting a topic is not worth discussing.
[quote]Node system definitely will draw people who want to experience similar content in one place but this is not the only thing you can do in the game. Also, you can’t expect that you or other people will do the same thing forever. Sometimes you get bored of pve and decide to go for pvp centered gameplay or you want to some silly things in the world or find a group to efficiently farm the mob that drops this cool new rare mount.[/quote]
We won't do the same thing forever. I cycle through several activities based on my mood during any given play session, but...
Our races, classes and artisan professions won't change - so we can be fairly sure that people with similar interests and objectives will continue to share similar interests and objectives and that those in our region will share similar interests and objectives due to the tasks, events and narratives each node transmits.
As we strive to level and maintain a node to support the city/region benefits, we will continue to encounter players with similar interests and objectives. Because the roles we have will have in AoC will be more distinct than just kill everything we encounter.
And the questing won't be static - "I've already completed the Level 2 Giant Rat quest, I can ignore that."
When the spider demon attacks our town, we won't have to LFG to find help. Players in the town are going to want to protect their homes from being destroyed.
[quote]It’s weird for me to call LFG archaic since it’s in every mmo I’ve played but maybe I’m just being an old neckbeard stuck in ancient ways of zone chats. Although I think it’s way easier and convenient to get into in-game feature that helps me find people to play with than getting on my phone/browser and searching out there. [/quote]
Every MMO out there now has an archaic design. Static quests. A world that really never changes.
We out level a zone and then leave to find a new zone. Our homes in the city cannot be destroyed. We can choose to let a forest burn forever and not have to worry about consequences.
Ashes of Creation isn't like other MMOs.
In Ashes of Creation, people in the same region will be working together to level and maintain a node.
There will be people in the region harvesting wood to help improve the city. While you may be able to find a secluded place to harvest by your lonesome, it's not going to be difficult to find other players harvesting wood near each other.
And that's going to be true of the villages, towns and cities, too.
In AoC, players will be living in the homes we see - much like NPCs. We will know which players own which homes and when they are likely to be there. Or where they like to hang out when they're in the game.
It's going to be more like living in a small town, where everybody knows everybody's business.
The dynamics of gamelplay are going to significantly different than previous MMOs designed like UO, EQ and WoW.
Such that it's unlikely we will need LFG tools.
Of course, I could be wrong... we'll have to see if the devs state LFG tools are part of the design. But I doubt they will be.
And, even if we get LFG tools, I doubt they will be similar to what we've seen in previous games.
[quote]You work around the concept you already know people playing the content you’d like and made friendships but Group Finder would help someone who’s completely new to the game or if a player would like to try doing something he’d never done before so friends he’s playing with might not be interested in this. I’m thinking about moments when you can’t do something alone and players you know don’t want to participate in that content. It’s just a tool that gives you a chance to dive into something different as smoothly as it can be.[/quote]
I don't consider using social media to find friends to group with to be a work around.
I want to be social with other players so I use social media to accomplish that. That's just been the way I've played MMOs since 2010. After the surge of FB and twitter and Skype.
Haven't needed any kind of group finder because I'm in near constant contact with the people I play with even when I'm not in the game. Notifications from them get pushed to my phone even when I'm away from a PC.
As soon as people start getting home from work, they start sending LFG requests...these days, typically through Discord.
"I am over here. What's everyone up to tonight? Who wants hang out with me in-game?" And then we start planning what and when we will do stuff together. No need to worry about ending up grouped with people I don't like (with a playstyle I don't like).
Even after I stop playing one game, I stay in touch with several people... and we end up reconnecting in a different game.
Works especially well when twitter, FB and/or Discord is connected to in-game chat for sending out requests. And would probably work even better if we could receive responses via in-game chat.
But, one of the best methods to ensure you always have a group of people nearby with whom you like to hang out, is to follow a streamer who plays the game regularly. Fans of the streamer tend to play at the same time... around the time of the primary streamer... and tend to congregate in the same zone/region so everyone can play together and support each other's in-game endeavors.
All of which makes LFG tools obsolete. Even without the next generation design mechanics inherent in AoC's game design.
From what I can discern from the proposed development path with AoC, the 'dungeon' itself isn't the main draw; getting to the dungeon with your gaggle of compatriots is half the battle (and the fun). Seeing how player-oriented they wish to make it, gathering people for such outings shouldn't be difficult. A simple tool advertising what you're looking for, where you're starting from, and where you're going, perhaps with a custom blurb (similar to the Party Finder in Final Fantasy 14, which does not work like the Group Finder, though that game does have one of those as well) would probably suffice as either an interface menu, or a physical object to 'attach' messages to.
You should have a Party browser that allows groups to list themselves, what they are doing and what they are looking for.
Also players should be able to list themselves as looking for a group, what they want to do and a bit about themselves.
The Browser will allow players to see both groups of listed players.
The End nothing more.
You should have a Party browser that allows groups to list themselves, what they are doing and what they are looking for.
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A much more concise way of saying what I was trying to get across x3
I believe this is critical for two additional reasons:
1. They are aiming for an 8-man party with 40-man large-scale content (e.g. raids, world bosses) with more players than that participating in sieges! That takes FAR more coordination than most MMOs out today, especially in light of recent MMOs offering 4-man or content that scales for party members. Unless you're in a massive guild with players on 24/7, having no automated assistance will crush multiplayer content participation for a lot of players.
2. Given that nodes will not develop at the same rate and that dungeons are (undoubtedly?) linked to node progression, underdeveloped nodes may have zero group content available. Providing those players a way to enjoy more challenging content (dungeon or otherwise) with some type of LFG would be appreciated.
Public bosses and such areas should be optional on the fly grouping (no LFG required and grouping optional).
I think building teams at the right place at the right time is far more important than shoved in a queue with fast-travel sometime today...maybe.
So for me. Get there and simply right click and group.
If they are busy they decline.
Once grouped chat.
There is no fast travel after all anyway.
Besides, proximity chat should be enough to communicate with the people at the location.
You don't need seem immersion breaking UI contraption to mediate interaction.
You are standing right next them!
And no inspect. You have jurisdiction over yourself and yourself alone.
In game proximity chat?
I'll be using Discord voice chat or twitch - or both.
In game proximity chat?
I’ll be using Discord voice chat or twitch – or both.
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I'm not sure if close proximity is really a factor, but they are working on in-game VOIP.
[quote][2:28 PM] Shunex:
-Will there be VOIP so we can talk to players in our close proximity?
+We are working on this yes[/quote]