After testing it out on the PTR, using it on live, reading feedback from PTR and Live, I thought I should make a complete list of it all in hopes that v2.0 does not disappoint. I know the developers responded in this Dev Blog; anything they mentioned already will have an asterisk. I want to point out that the dev blog was posted just as the Group Finder was being pushed live. They knew, at least, that it didn’t meet expectations. The list will be in the order of priority, and at the end will include things that aren’t necessarily related to the group finder but are desperately needed in conjunction with the group finder and for the game overall.
Suggestions for Group Finder v2.0
Create Easier Access
Create a mode called expeditions in the “Modes” tab, where you can access all the expeditions along with the group finder instead of having to click on them from the map. There’s plenty of space and OPR & Arenas should have a group finder too.
Allow Players to Search for a Group from Multiple Expeditions*
With the current implementation you have to click on an expedition from the map, click “View Expedition”, and finally "Find Group as seen below:
But that’s only for one expedition AND each mutation level is separated. That means if you wanted to view just two expeditions that would require at least eight button presses. To put this into perspective there are currently eight expeditions with two of them being mutated at a time. Since each mutated expedition has ten levels that makes a total of 28 SEPERATE group finders.
Create a Filter*
You should have a filter that allows players to select from their available expeditions. It would be nice to show which ones are mutated, and allow players to select a mutated dungeon and even the specific mutation levels. A player should also be able to select their own role before searching for a group and an option that hides groups that they don’t meet the requirements for (GS, Role, etc).
Enable Group Finder during Expedition
After using the group finder to create a group and start an expedition I had someone leave. In short, the group finder lobby shouldn’t be deleted. Instead, it should be removed from the list of groups actively looking for more players. There should then be an easy way to put your lobby back onto the “active” list. When you do there should be a signifier that shows that the group is already in the expedition and possibly the time if it’s mutated and/or the latest checkpoint.
Player Looking For Group
There are scenarios in which a player either doesn’t want to create and manage a lobby or they don’t have an expedition preference. Allow players to fill out a form similar to the one when you’re requesting to join a lobby but also with options to select certain expeditions. After this there are two things to add:
- Player Suggestions
- Alerts for new lobbies that fit your criteria.
Show Which Players are Ready During Ready Check
Right now you can’t see who hasn’t ready’d up for the expedition. Please add this next to their name in the lobby menu.
Currently:
Suggested:
Disable PvP Flagged Expeditions
Why is this even a thing? It’s already been stated in a Dev Blog About Luck that there is no benefit from flagging in expeditions.
Suggestions to implement this:
- Allow players to join a lobby regardless if they’re flagged or not.
- Players should only be able to accept ready check when they’re out of combat.
- Don’t allow players to accept invites to OPR, Arena, Expeditions, etc if they are actively in combat.
- Upon entering the expedition they should be automatically switched to PvE mode.
- When exiting the expedition, return players to the nearest safe zone (shrine, outpost, town, etc).
I like how lobbies are detached from groups. Meaning players can stay in their current groups while doing other activities while searching for an expedition. However, it doesn’t make sense to not also detach lobbies from the PvP and PvE flagged state.
Allow Others to Invite to Lobby
After consolidating the Group Finders it might be harder to find the lobby that your friend is in but didn’t create. To give easier access, every player in the lobby is able to invite other players. However, if they’re not the creator of the lobby inviting players should take them to the request screen so that the creator can approve them.
Other Small Things
- When creating a lobby for a mutated expedition the character level should be automatically set at 60. * * Don’t see any lower levels applying for mutated expeditions; it’s just a useless slider.
- Differentiate ranged vs melee DPS.
- Ability to select multiple roles
- Change the color of Lobby Chat, it’s hard to distinguish from global.
- Add Request Message
It would be nice if there was a text box in this to allow players a few words that might clarify something or improve their application.
Other Suggestions Related to Group Finder
Cross Server Functionality
Please, Please, Please. I know if it was easy you guys would’ve already done it. But if there’s anything that should be implemented before Brimstone sands above all else it’s the ability to play with players from other servers on expeditions, arenas, OPR, and wars. Although the game’s current population peaks at about 7,500 players on the east coast the server cap limits this to 4 servers at 2,000. This makes the game INCREDIBLY small when trying to look for an expedition group and just even playing with different players in arenas.
Inspecting Players
This is one I’ve seen mentioned on the forums numerous times. It’s something that other games have and that I at one point might find useful in the game. However, it isn’t something that I think should be a priority. I’m a bit worried about the way some players will use it as there is already some toxicity from players who have a certain idea of the required gear.
Daily Rewards for Expeditions
Most players have gotten their shards, leveled up their PvP gear and a bit of PvE gear and have stop running expeditions. It would be nice for there to be some more incentive to do the PvE aspects of the game. The easiest would be a daily coin bonus similar to how the faction missions work.
Lastly, since there are a lot of people on the forums recently who are avid defenders of AGS and constantly are against any criticism in a forum titled “Game feedback”, I’ll state this:
I appreciate the changes made by AGS there are a lot of new features I use on a daily basis now. But the problem lies with the design decisions that AGS makes from the beginning and the end product.
It doesn’t make sense that AGS would ever choose to design the group finder this way. The only way it would make sense even for a game studio, even one that isn’t experienced is that it was the simplest or fastest way to implement it. It should be obvious by now that the group finder in its current state does not achieve its objective. For example, during the PTR test event the devs had to explain how to use the group finder, but no explanation was found in the game. It actually wasn’t until recently that they posted an article about how to use the group finder.