Is it just me, or does nobody use meeting stones?

[GenericKen]

I mean, why does Blizzard support them if nobody's going to use them?

I assume they're unused because nobody likes being assigned to random groups. Why don't they just make it like a bulletin board where you can just list yourself as LFG or LFM in that particular instance (like a social window), accessable from any inkeeper?

I'm sick of flying to capital cities to find groups in faraway dungeons (particularly in kalimdor). I'm sure everybody's sick of LFG spam in capitals. How this has gone on so long unchanged is a mystery to me.

[lfd]

I mean, why does Blizzard support them if nobody's going to use them?
[right][snapback]107403[/snapback][/right]

It's another of those things that they keep saying they're going to improve the implementation of. And another of those things that they never actually do, or at least it gets pushed back from patch to patch with no mention ;-)

[nobbie]

It's another of those things that they keep saying they're going to improve the implementation of.  And another of those things that they never actually do, or at least it gets pushed back from patch to patch with no mention ;-)
[right][snapback]107404[/snapback][/right]

I like the look of those stones, though ;)

[Drasca]

I like the look of those stones, though ;)
[right][snapback]107405[/snapback][/right]

They are pretty. Too bad they were ill thought out. If they were basically a manual 'spreadsheet' type thing where players viewed columns of basic info like players announcing groups and what characters joining current groups, and who's available, what location/instance... the players themselves could do the rest. Of course, there should be a column for manually inputted comments specific to that group.

[castille]

Sad to say, this is one of the areas the city of heroes actually did well..

[Mirajj]

Another problem is that they didn't go live with retail. They were added much later, and folks had gotten used to not using them in the first place.

[Bun-Bun]

I'm sick of flying to capital cities to find groups in faraway dungeons (particularly in kalimdor).
[right][snapback]107403[/snapback][/right]

I thought you could join the local Looking For Group channel as well as the global Looking For Group - City channel without flying anywhere. I haven't tried it since they unified the city LFG channels, but it might cut down your travelling needs.

As to Meeting Stones, Mirajj has the answer; they were added in after the bulk of the population had formed other habits and have never hit critical mass. That and they aren't all that great at what they do.

[GenericKen]

I thought you could join the local Looking For Group channel as well as the global Looking For Group - City channel without flying anywhere. I haven't tried it since they unified the city LFG channels, but it might cut down your travelling needs.
[right][snapback]107422[/snapback][/right]

Are you sure about that? How??

What's the best way to find these groups without flying around for 20 minutes?

[ima_nerd]

/join LookingForGroup - City

You may have to actually right click the text tab, and get the little text box to enter in the new channel name. I had trouble doing it with just /join

[MongoJerry]

/join LookingForGroup - City

You may have to actually right click the text tab, and get the little text box to enter in the new channel name. I had trouble doing it with just /join
[right][snapback]107441[/snapback][/right]

This won't work since the patch where they joined the LFG channels together. I couldn't find the Blizzard post on the subject but the jist of it was that the change to make it so that you could only view the LFG channels while in a major city was actually considered a "bug fix." However, the developers actually liked the bug that let people see the channel everywhere, so there are plans to "rebreak" the channel so that it can be seen everywhere.

As far as the meeting stones go, a lot of it has to do with how late they were introduced to the game. They weren't in the beta at all and weren't around at the start of the game, so that people just weren't used to using them. By the time the meeting stones came around, people were too used to using chat channels to find people. The major limitations with the way the stones are implemented now are:

1. You can't choose the people who get placed in your group. E.g., you might want a mage for a little aoe power but that stupid rogue who is three levels too low for your group anyway keeps getting added to your group.

2. On the other hand, the person in the queue doesn't have a chance to check out the group and decide if he or she wants to join that group or not.

3. You can't specify subsections of dungeons or special kinds of runs. For example, you can't specify something as simple as "SM Strat" vs "UD Strat." Plus, you can't specify even more specific things such as "I want to run three quick Rend runs in a row" or "Coffer BRD run only!"

I really don't know why it has taken the Blizzard developers so long to make a viable meeting stone system or why they ever thought that their current implementation would be used when its flaws were so obvious. Oh, well. Maybe in the future something will come along.

[mutagen]

The best (temporary) solution is the Call To Arms addon.

CTA filters LFG and LFM messages into a list that you can filter for the stuf you want. It also forwards messages from people in the cities to everyone running the addon so you can join groups from just about anywhere and even sometimes grab someone looking for a group if your group loses a player.

If Blizzard could extend and add upon the CTA functionality we'd have a much better time finding PuGs.

[Drasca]

I really don't know why it has taken the Blizzard developers so long to make a viable meeting stone system or why they ever thought that their current implementation would be used when its flaws were so obvious.  Oh, well.  Maybe in the future something will come along.
[right][snapback]107454[/snapback][/right]

It is the 'if it ain't broken' mentality crossed with business cost/benefit. They could have a much better system in place pretty easily, but they'd actually have to spend time and money on it. If someone could convince them they'd increase player revenue from people staying in the game longer due to a marketable player-matching system for grouping, it'd likely be done within two patches.

But since no one has convinced them otherwise this initiative would generate revenue, not just suck up cost and resources, it'll never get done as players have their own crude methods to do what Blizzard doesn't have to.

Basically, nothing gets done unless someone with power and initiative steps up to plate.

[MongoJerry]

It is the 'if it ain't broken' mentality crossed with business cost/benefit. They could have a much better system in place pretty easily, but they'd actually have to spend time and money on it. If someone could convince them they'd increase player revenue from people staying in the game longer due to a marketable player-matching system for grouping, it'd likely be done within two patches.

But since no one has convinced them otherwise this initiative would generate revenue, not just suck up cost and resources, it'll never get done as players have their own crude methods to do what Blizzard doesn't have to.

Basically, nothing gets done unless someone with power and initiative steps up to plate.
[right][snapback]108036[/snapback][/right]

Yes, but they thought the current system was flawed enough that they put resources into it twice now. First, they developed the meeting stone system, including all of its mechanics and the artwork involved. Then, when people didn't use the meeting stones, Blizzard made the meeting stone system available at every inn. If only they had made a good system in the first place, that would've been great.

[Warlock]

For meeting stones to be used by players they need to at least match the utility provided by posting in the LFG channel (which lets those recruiting say exactly which run they are recruiting for, which classes, specs or roles they want and any special requirements they have; it also lets those looking for groups see those looking for several instances eg "I want to do Scholo tonight, but Bob is doing a UD Strath speed run and I know he runs a good group so I'll do that first").

There have been enough suggestions (and mods) made by players regarding the meeting stones. Asking the Call to Arms writer for permission to use his code in return for recognition in the patch notes would seem a decent first step :D