Hi, I just want to share my thoughts regarding the issues both the Classic grouping experience and proposed solutions such as RDF (Random Dungeon Finder) entail, as well as how I would suggest improving Classic with certain elements of RDF that would in my view (mostly) preserve the Classic qualities.
To first go into the issues with RDF, I think it boils down to these three elements: 1) Cross-realm, 2) automatic random grouping, 3) teleport into the instance. Each leads to its own set of issues.
1) Cross-realm eradicates server community. On a slight tangent, the reason one “mega server” wouldn’t work is that the game world is of a limited size. If you had every player on one server, it would necessitate hundreds of layers and you likely wouldn’t meet the same person twice. In order for that to be possible, you need limited servers, so that individual players can meet each other repeatedly and get to know each other organically. The issue of lack of players and long queues arising from this however had already been felt in WoW Vanilla and Battlegrounds, which lead to the creation of cross-realm in that regard, and finally for non-pvp content as well starting with WOTLK. My proposed solution for RDF might even be applied to battlegrounds as well.
2) As for random grouping , you might argue that using LFG or the TBC dungeon tool is basically the same, as in you are searching random people to group with. I think the issue here is mostly the automation aspect. You don’t talk first, and have no opportunity to ask certain questions, for example whether you are planning on doing X or Y in the instance (such as a lengthy escort quest or something along those lines).
3) The teleport inside the instance leads to the eradication of the game world, as well as the player’s sense of location where the dungeon is even located. People will end up standing around in towns and cities, hopping from dungeon to dungeon and forgetting where they are in the world and in what context they exist in. I always found it “romantic”, for a lack of a better word, or maybe immersive, to meet at the summoning stone, and venture into the pre-instance area together, fighting your way to the portal and entering together. The fact that those areas aren’t elite anymore, as of TBC, is really unfortunate as well in my opinion, because it added a little bit of early challenge as well, which you had to overcome with your group, and made you connect with each other a little. This kind of a bonding experience and growing opportunity with the rest of your group is largely lost with RDF. Simply skipping past all this results in you having no connection with your group, and having no sense of continuity of what you have been doing before, maybe farming or standing around in the city, and all of a sudden standing inside an instance with a group of strangers.
Classic, meanwhile, has its own issues with respect to grouping for dungeons, that being the difficulty of finding groups, particularly for lower level instances, and especially when you don’t even have a mount yet to ride on.
That’s why my proposition would be a combination and adjustment of the three above-mentioned elements that would hopefully alleviate both the issues of Classic’s system, whilst preserving its most important qualities:
- With regards to cross-realm, you could have your TBC dungeon tool, or the WOTLK improved one, and introduce a threshold of say 10 minutes, or 5 if you think that’s too long, at which point cross-realm kicks in. Before that mark, you would only see listed people from your own server. This would ensure you don’t have to wait upwards of 10-15 minutes, whilst keeping the likelihood of you finding a group native to your own server. I would love to see a threshold like this applied to PvP as well, so that you are more likely to meet people from your server for the first 2-3 minutes, after which point your search is broadened cross-realm. For PvP you should probably reduce the threshold to 1-2 minutes instead of 5 or 10, though.
As for 2+3) automation and teleportation, I would keep these things out of the process. After 5 or 10 minutes you would be able to see cross-realm listings, and you can write to the players and invite them manually, I don’t see any major problem with that.
And instead of teleporting to the dungeon, why not simply reduce the number of people required to use summoning stones to 1, and have one person walk there and summon the rest of the group, in case they are too far away or they don’t have a nearby flight point? This would surely add a couple of minutes to the grouping experience, but in my opinion that is important potential time the group can engage and communicate with each other. The rest of the group is also grateful to the one doing the journey and willing to summon the party. You can further optimize this aspect, or make it more “sufferable”, by further improving flight paths, potentially even adding some in-lore goblin teleporters to certain locations across the world, either for general use or even in some way linked to the dungeon tool, similar to how you can only type in LFG whilst you are listed there. I’m principally open to other suggestions in this regard, that do not involve an instant skip to the dungeon of some description, and that preserve the group interaction as well as entering the dungeon portal together, which in my view is an important part of the first “bonding” experience with the party.