Locked out of the Duty Finder.

[Niwashi]

This is actually a good idea in concept, but the real problem from a programming point of view is the mix of different party configurations and the imbalanced need of various jobs.

I mean if you think of it as if we're all individual people queuing, you could imagine that it just fills slots as "first-come, first-serve," with slots for each job category. In that scenario, the closer you get to the "front of the line", the sooner your number is likely to come up; in that sort of world, a "defer" option that lets others step in front of you could work. But if you're a tank or a healer, and there aren't enough of those to go around, your deferral could essentially have the same effect as a withdrawal to all the other players involved, because unless it so happens that another tank or healer shows up, they just have to wait for you anyway. So, "defer" is good for high-supply roles (since there are plenty of people in line behind you), but bad for high-demand roles (since one deferral makes a lot of people wait). (Perhaps you could make it so that the defer option is only available if there are others available who could readily fill your place.)

But it's only relevant to the high-supply roles anyway. High-demand roles with nobody else waiting aren't going to be in queue long enough for something else to come up. The example given was someone needing to AFK a few minutes to answer a call of nature after they'd been in queue for an hour or so. If you're only in queue a minute or two, that's not going to happen, as you'd have taken care of that before joining. And for the players (typically tanks, occasionally healers) who get instant queues, there'd be no chance to defer the queue anyway, as they'd never actually be in the waiting-for-a-group-to-form stage (which is the only time it could be deferred).

When you add party configurations, it can get more complex, because they don't necessarily actually get placed at the back of the line. The queue system is going to generally try to form parties as quickly as it can, so if you're a party of 6 and needs two more DPS, you may get those two DPS immediately even while there are 5 other players who were waiting for 1 healer or something. And back to the scenario above, if you're an individual queuer who defers, that still may not allow the group to move in front of you, because they may not have a gap that matches the slot you were filling.

Because of all this, there can't really have an indicator that's like "you're in position <x> out of <y> in line" (which would let you know how likely you are to be "called" soon), because it's a constant flux. The system would be constantly evaluating every single combination it can come up with given what it has to get as many people in as quickly as possible, of course prioritizing those who have been waiting the longest. (That's why you can kind of see it sometimes coming up with a combination, trying to make it work for a while, and then abandoning it to come up with a different combination.)

But the complex part of that is there already. It wouldn't become significantly more complex by letting people temporarily defer their queue position. I see it as essentially working like this:

While you're in queue and waiting for a group, something comes up so you have to AFK a moment. You select a "pause queue" or "defer queue" option and then go. For the next five minutes or so, the game will create groups just the same as it would have if you'd left the queue entirely, so you won't be included in any of those groups. After that five minutes, your "pause" times out, and you're back in queue, but with the length of time you've been waiting accurate to when you first joined it (so essentially saving your position in line). Then the matching system continues as though you'd remained in queue the whole time and gives you the priority you would normally have had, as it tries to form the next groups.

If you weren't going to get a "Commence" option during that five minutes anyway, then that pause has no real effect on your queue at all. If you were, then you missed that group, but can be in one once you're back and the pause is over.

When it comes to a partial group, it would work much the same. Any member could initiate a temporary pause, which will prevent the entire (partial) group from being added to a full group during that time. But while the other players might have up up to a maximum of five extra minutes added to their wait, at least they wouldn't lose their place in queue and have to start over (possibly with a penalty as well) because you weren't there to "Commence" on time.


p.s. Having it be a set time, like 5 minutes, rather than telling it to pause and then later telling it to un-pause, is to prevent abuse of the system by logging in in the morning just to queue and pause, so that that evening when you're ready to start, you can just un-pause and have an instant queue as though you'd been waiting all day. It should be set so that it cannot remain paused for more than a few minutes, and cannot be paused again for a while after the pause expires.

[NyarukoW]

... letting people temporarily defer their queue position. I see it as essentially working like this....

The defer button will only be one more button for people to use to fish the DF queues. You can basically be in voice chat with your friends and be asking them if their queue popped the same time it did for you, and the both of you keep deferring until it lines up so you can game the system for commendations. The defer button will be like the withdraw button but this time the system is even required to keep your place while you fish the DF. This is such an non-starter. If you are not going to be ready, you don't deserve to have you place held for you. People should be ready to go click commence and not take others for granted and expect others to wait for them. This should be common courtesy. The collective punishment for people violating this common courtesy 3 times is only a mere 30 minutes penalty.

The problem could be further simplified by getting rid of the withdraw button once the queue pops. The commence button should really mean "I'm ready, commence now/immediately", and you can only click that. Other than that you got 45 seconds to click go. There is no point to withdraw. There will no use for defer.

[Niwashi]

The defer button will only be one more button for people to use to fish the DF queues. You can basically be in voice chat with your friends and be asking them if their queue popped the same time it did for you, and the both of you keep deferring until it lines up so you can game the system for commendations.

No, because once it pops, there would no longer be a defer button. It's strictly an option for while you're still waiting for a full group to be formed. You don't know at that point which groups you might miss, only that you won't be in any that form in the next five minutes or so.