"Party Request" text commands clarification

[Shyles]

Hi, I have some questions about the new Party Request system that was added in the September update.

The instructions on the September Update blog post seem to be a bit confusing. It says the command for requesting to join another's party is /rec. However, typing /rec seems to make the player put up their "Accepting Requests" flag, rather than send a request. The way I understood it, the /prcmd command was what was supposed to be used as the "Accepting Requests" flag, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

Also, are there any sub-commands for these new features? I was trying to set up a party using this system, and asked people to send me party requests by typing /rec Shyles. However, that obviously didn't work.

/rlist is great, and I love that you can see all of the requests you've received in one list. However, unless there is a "send request" text command that players can easily send server-wide (similar to /pcmd add <playername> but in reverse), then I don't see many people using this.

Also, as a suggestion, the search menu really needs to be re-vamped. It has a lot of outdated categories, and it isn't very streamlined or intuitive. So no one uses it anymore. Even the "Seek Party" flag is out-dated and conflicts with the Request system. It's all too confusing for players to bother with. Shouting from Adoulin is more tedious, but it's simpler.

The party search function can be rolled into the new request system, and the categories ought to be changed to current end-game content such as Vagary, Sinister Reign, High-Tier Battlegrounds, etc..

The new Party request system shows some promise, but players need to be able to quickly and easily find members regardless of their zone.

[Alhanelem]

Actually the biggest problem is that you can't make/accept requests worldwide, it only looks in your current region, rendering it mostly useless. If you could put one up anywhere and have people easily join from anywhere, it would be fine, but that doesn't work.

They tried to create a Party Finder feature using existing systems, and it just doesn't work because those existing systems weren't really designed for it. I should be able to pull up a list of parties recruiting for things, like I can in FFXIV. (Not the Duty Finder which is an automatic matchmaking system. I'm talking about the Party Finder, which lets you create a listing describing what you want to do, and define jobs you need for your party slots. People can simply join your party or send a tell directly from the listing as long as they have the job and level/item level) you require.)

[Shyles]

I definitely agree. I really think that the search function should default to all zones rather than the current zone, or there could at least be a settings option to have all searches default to all zones.

I've been tinkering with /rlist, and what I've found that works really well is sending requests to people by targeting their name in the chat log. There's still a lot of players haven't realized that you can do that now! The problem I am facing though is convincing my LS members to try it. With /rlist, you can literally form a party without forcing everyone to drop their trusts and idle in town while you're gathering members. Just have everyone send you a request, then invite them all at once when everyone is ready. And the fact that the requests stay in your /rlist for 30 days makes it really nice to invite people you frequently party with regardless of what zone they're currently in.

On the other hand, I've found the "accepting requests" flag to be a huge hindrance. The biggest problem is that if you have the accepting requests flag up, no one can invite you to a different party in your downtime. The flag also still has the same problem that the party flag and comments have in defaulting to the current zone, and even if you query people with the flag up, you can't see what they're forming the party for.

So long story short, the ability to send requests and personal /rlists is amazing, and it's unfortunate that people aren't trying it. The "accepting requests" flag is completely useless since you don't need it for /rlist. So SE.. PLEASE give us a text command for sending requests so that players can more easily use that feature! Combine that with adjustments to search categories to more current events, and forming parties would be so much easier.

[Alhanelem]

What the chat log menu is missing that it really needs is a party invite button.

[Grekumah]

Adding additional features and adjusting current features is a task that has many difficulties to overcome. With that said, we have no plans to address this or add new features to the Party Request feature.

[Alhanelem]

Adding additional features and adjusting current features is a task that has many difficulties to overcome. With that said, we have no plans to address this or add new features to the Party Request feature.

You have no idea how badly I want to send party invites through the chat log. I can send them tells from it, I can check them from it, I can even target them from it, why can't I party invite them, which would be more useful than most of the other options in that context menu? I mean, really- it would be so full of awesome if that happened, and I'm not even exaggerating.

The party request thing needs a look, guys. It was basically dead on arrival due to it being little more than telling someone in the same region that you want to join their party.