Using the LFG tool
by Elizabeth Harper 
Feb 8th 2007 at 5:10PM
Is the reason that the game's built-in LFG tool is little-used really lack of knowledge on the part of the users? While we know Blizzard is planning some changes to the tool (hopefully for the better), right now it's still all we have for finding groups . And Mairek of Medivh has posted some tips on the official forums to help us all make better use of the tool, and maybe even get some good groups in the process.- If you are looking for a group to go to an instance, make sure you click off the Auto-Join option. This will guarantee that you have control over the groups you will join or the classes that join your group.
- Comment box: this is a great field where you can let people know what you currently need or have for a certain quest or dungeon. Ex. if you are a warrior and you prefer to DPS to tanking, then include this information in the box.
- Searching for members is easy: go to the LFM tab and select the dungeon/quest that you are looking for more members. You will get a list of everyone that has that dungeon/quest selected. When you mouse over the character's name, you will get a small window that will display the character's information, commentaries, dungeons/quests they are LFG, and a list of group members if they are grouped. This allows you to carefully select the groups that you want to join and the classes that you want to add.
- When inviting other people, send them a whisper first saying that you want to join or invite them to the dungeon/quest that they are LFG. It is rather annoying just getting an invite out of the blue and not knowing what it is for.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aden Nak Feb 8th 2007 7:37PM
There are some really piss poor functions of the LFG tool, as well. For one thing, it limits you to three instances. Now I don't know how 70 will end up looking, but I can remember a time when I was 60 that there were at least 5-6 instances I was interested in running (the three wings of Dire Maul alone would have filled up the tool).
It also puts some strange restrictions on certain instances - for example, you can't list yourself for UBRS unless you have completed LBRS. Obviously, that's no longer an issue. But as long as a character is in the level range and can physically enter an instance, why isn't it there?
There also needs to be a "completion" option. How many times have you lost a person mid-instance? Constant DCs, parental booting, or just tossing one jerk out of the group for being, well, a jerk. There are plenty of times I've wanted to look for a replacement before tossing a problem child from my group - the LFG tool makes that nearly impossible. There are other times I just need a fifth person for the last boss, but that is difficult to communicate via the tool, and a lot of people who otherwise have the 30 minutes to spare and would like to be in on the boss drop wouldn't even have flagged in the first place.
Some people say the LFG tool will never work. I disagree. LFG could be a good tool, it just isn't right now. More control, more options, and the ability to fine tune your search and your offer are what's needed here.
Matt Park Feb 8th 2007 5:48PM
This is more of a question than a tip - My girlfriend and I are ALWAYS grouped together while playing. It seems that if you're in a group of any size, you can only look for 1 type of thing, be it an instance, elite quest, etc. I also haven't been able to find any way to type a comment into the LFM - am I missing something completely obvious?
no name Feb 8th 2007 9:16PM
this LFG really sucks! i havent been able to been in a group that has done the whole instance since the release of patch 2.0. Everyday i see if there are groups going to ST,BRD,LBLS and its empty! this is horrible! (53 hunter /wildhammer)
JoseFer Feb 9th 2007 9:57AM
It would be cool to be able to LFG while in a group, sometimes you are just grinding or soloing while LFG and other person joins to do small quests, and LFG is lost. :| ......
SymetriX Feb 8th 2007 7:01PM
It seems like they would get more traction from this feature were they to provide a button below the quest log to join a group for the quest you have selected.
They've already changed the text to "(Group)" instead of "(Elite)", so this would sound logical to new players.
Jennifer Feb 8th 2007 7:30PM
There are many changes that they need to make the LFG tool work. One thing they need to change is to not limit the dungeons/quests shown to the level of the character currently being played.
For example, I used to listen for groups on the global LFG channel while on my level 37 alt. The difference is that I paid attention to stuff for level 60 pugs, such as Stratholme or UBRS, while looking for Scarlet Monastery groups at the same time.
The spam was not an issue for me because I had a chat filter mod that allowed me to put in keywords. Sentences not containing these keywords would be filtered out, so if I was looking for SM, UBRS, Strat, and Onyxia, I would just specify the filter to to have these keywords "Scarlet, SM, UBRS, Strat, ony" (even if part of the word is used, such as onyxia, it would work.)
Anyways that filtered out 99.5% of the spam and gave me exactly what I needed. The LFG channel was what everyone used (short of guild only runs), thus it was easy to find groups quickly.
I really wish they'd bring back the global LFG channel. How else would I be able to join a group looking for a healer at Hakkar (ZG), if I was on my level 45?
The way it is, half the people dont even bother using the lfg system, and use general chat instead, dividing the effectiveness of the system.
steve Feb 8th 2007 7:45PM
They just need to bring back the LFG channel and admit failure.
Breakfats Feb 8th 2007 8:44PM
Simply use the LFG tool to generate messages in separate channel. E.g. The text in the channel would be like "[LFG] UBRS" with the "[LFG]" click-able to show the comment and further details. Maybe some other generic features, but the key is to circumvent spam by having to click the message.
In addition, you could set filters for such a channel to show only those messages with instances/objectives your are currently interested in.
This overcomes the current issue that passive users are not being reached by the LFG tool.
Zuuler Feb 9th 2007 7:44AM
@7
the reason you're not findin groups for those instances is no one is doing them anymore. ST has always been a hard instance to get a group for (even though every class has a quest to go there). And BRD and LBRS are high 50's lvl dungeons with quest rewards and loot drops that get replaced within the first hour of entering hellfire peninsula. Its not worth going there anymore so you're not going to find too many people interested in going there.
nubular Feb 9th 2007 8:15AM
I use the LFG tool all the time, having a priest makes it easy to find groups, that is, if I were spec'd holy. I'm shadow spec'd and always say so in the comment box, problem is most people ignore it because reading isn't cool or something I don't know. So I always get invites out of the blue and when I mention that I'm shadow I immediately get booted from the group. Is it so hard to send someone a whisper before inviting? I mean come on. And I also get to hear, "great, a healer who won't heal" all the time, it's fun! I miss the LFG channel =(
Tony Feb 9th 2007 1:57PM
"If you are looking for a group to go to an instance, make sure you click off the Auto-Join option. This will guarantee that you have control over the groups you will join or the classes that join your group."
The devs must wonder where it all went wrong when they read comments like this. This alone is enough to show how hopelessly flawed the LFG system is. Advocates of the system often say "turn of auto-join" and don't seem to realise how they are pointing out a flaw in the central cog of the system.
What do people want to do when they group? Type "LFM" or "LFG" into a channel. How do you negate the need for a channel? You have a tool that carries out that function for you, that function is auto-join which should seamlessly send out LFM and LFG messages in the background, in fact it does do this, the flaw is that such a function doesn't balance well. When the central cog of a system doesn't work as intended it's time to go back to the drawing board.
Bring back a temporary global channel, people can then use both flawed options and happily welcome the forthcoming and top secret new and improved super LFG system but trying to get people to use a system that can't perform it's core function will never convince the masses.
Smithra Feb 9th 2007 1:58PM
I use the LFG tool all the time. It usually doesn't help much, but it doesn't hurt much either.
Paladins & Warlocks who level a few times before getting their epic land mount can't use LFG to find groups for DM or Scholo because they're outside of the approved range.
The tool is of very limited utility if you don't leave on the auto-join so that people know you're looking. And annoying if you do leave on autojoin 'cause then you end up with a party of 5 dps and you have to kick a few out to keep looking.
We need a tool that lets you:
A) look for groups regardless of level of the instance
B) look for groups for more than 3 things
C) look for groups when you're already grouped
I'd first like to see the LookingForGroup channel return as an official channel, just not autojoined. On my server the LookingForGroup private channel exists, but nobody has posting privileges because whoever controls it locked them down.
A next gen of the LFG tool could still only allow you to tag 3 things to actively search for, but should allow you to browse for quests by region. I should be able to pull up Hellfire Peninsula and see what's there that people are looking for. That way I can indicate my top 3 picks, then see quickly and easily if anybody in the area is doing something I either need or would be willing to help with while waiting on the group I really want.
Strongmark on Arthas Feb 9th 2007 4:07PM
I like the idea of when you are using the LFG tool to put you into a LFG channel at the same time, therefore everyone that is LFG can take chat with themselves, therefore keeping a happy medium. I like the LFG tool personally, out of about 15 times of using it, only once I did not find a group, and I think that was like, Sunday night when no one was playing. But, it would be nice to also have a channel that we could join to chat amongst ourselves, therefore bringing back the LFG channel, but only if you have flagged yourself as LFG within the tool...
Best of both worlds IMO