The problem is that the channel is turned on by default for everyone. Thus, it becomes monopolized by bored people seeking attention or arguments or whatever.

The general idea behind limiting access to the channel is to both limit the audience of the channel and thus make it less attractive to troll, and to make it so that you are not generally exposed to that kind of nonsense when you're actually doing something in the game.

Alright...I just read Ghostcrawler's reasoning and it appears that they simply don't want any global channels because of the potential trade-chatting-chuck-norris-joke-telling buffoonery that would arise.

It seems to me there's a very simple solution to this: Make a realm-wide opt-in LFG channel that only allows predetermined phrases. If they only want channels to be used for their intended purpose, LFG is the easiest one to force that on.

LF[__]M for [Please select instance from drop-down]. Need [tank/heals/dps please check all that apply]. PST.

Why is an LFG channel still nice to have even with the new tool coming out? Well, the tool only finds people who are also looking to do the specific dungeon you want to do. A channel, however, allows people to be (for lack of a better term) *enticed* into doing a dungeon. "Oh...someone's doing MC? I hadn't thought about that, but now that they mention it...I do want some more Waterlords rep."

Plus a realm-wide LFG channel is better for guilds who actually would like to recruit the puggies they enjoyed running with, or people just looking to make more in-game friends that they actually have a chance of seeing again.

If you're like Aarkan below, then you think running dungeons is merely a means to an end, the end being more emblems. But this is a social game. Do we really have to turn all the social aspects into a queue?