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  1. #1
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Meowy Wowie
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Pugilist Lv 70

    Party recruitment interface, done right [SUGGESTION]

    I know there's a thread already about the new "seek party" addition, although that covers more about how it works than suggestions to improve it.

    Here's a very simple way to improve the system without removing what we already have SE. It's been said a million times before by many players.
    • Add a "seeking party" flag
    Don't be scared to take ideas from FFXI, it was your game after all. Allow people to toggle it on and off, and make a visual cue on the screen to show people are seeking a party. Further enhance the visual cue when we target them, showing which classes they are seeking on (more below.) Each class has its own icon already, should be pretty easy?
    • Improvements to the above system:

      Allow us to search for parties by individual class. For example: I have a 25 THM and a 40 MRD that I want to join an exp party with, but I want to fish while I wait for an invite. I toggle those 2 on and when people search for members they see a 25 THM and a 40 MRD available. Once I join a party, my "seeking party" flag disappears for both classes. This way we are not locked to one class while seeking, and can seek for multiple classes at the same time.

      Adding a purpose section for each class would be nice as well. Can range from: Unspecified, EXP, Leves, Missions, Dungeons, etc, etc. Also include the option of adding our own text.
    The interface used for seeking a party can be very simple. Menu > Party > Seek > select the class you wish to seek on and it's purpose > Click OK. I'm thinking mini pop up windows for purposes, each time you click on a class, but there's probably better solutions.
    • Add a "search for members" option
    Again, don't be scared to take ideas from your previous MMO. Allow us to search for seeking players by: All, Class, Rank, Area, Purpose, Name, etc, etc.
    • Improvements to the "search for members" function:

      Give us the options of sending an immediate invite, automated invite message, and /tells.
      The immediate invite would be the same as FFXI's and FFXIV's current versions, automatically sending an invite to the player who then just has to /join as we currently do.
      The automated message would send a automated message to the player, translated in their language. Something like "Meowy Wowie wishes to invite you to her party. Respond with CTRL+R" When the player hits CTRL+R they can send you a tell to inquire about party setup, location, etc, before agreeing to join.
      The chat feature I think is self explanatory. Basically you just send a /tell to the person, asking if they would like to join your party. To me, this is the most courteous way to invite someone, by speaking to them directly, but again that's just me.
    Again, the interface for this can be very simple. Menu > Party > Search > Select the parameters > Select the player > Invite / Auto Request / Chat.

    In conclusion, I think those 2 additions would almost complete the party seeking and recruitment system we now have (Yes, Yoshi-P, no more "fix party recruitment" threads!!) Don't remove the system we already have, as it's good for what it's designed for, just rarely used.

    FFXI had a great community for a reason, and FFXIV has a "mute" community for a reason. FFXI forced us to party and interact with each other, while FFXIV makes it very difficult to do so. They are near complete opposites at the moment. There's no reason we can't reach a middle ground. Don't force people to party, but make it easier for those who wish to do so.

    Some may wonder why I didn't suggest just adding a /search feature that searches even those not seeking for a party. I thought about it, but realized that it would hardly be effective as you would not be able to see a person's total class layout, only the class they are currently on. IMO this addition is far better. Another reason might be because SE does not want us to know the server's current population, although they could simply just not show it. Don't get me wrong though, I would love to see /search implemented, but there are better ways to improve party recruitment.

    Ideas, thoughts, suggestions? Please share.
    (24)
    Last edited by MeowyWowie; 07-28-2011 at 02:34 AM. Reason: typo

  2. #2
    Player
    Firon's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
    Location
    Ul'dah
    Posts
    2,565
    Character
    Firon Veleth
    World
    Excalibur
    Main Class
    Thaumaturge Lv 50
    /signed i want to see this happen i love to party and meet ppl
    (3)

  3. #3
    Player
    odette's Avatar
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    May 2011
    Location
    Gridania
    Posts
    188
    Character
    Kaoru Okada
    World
    Hyperion
    Main Class
    Rogue Lv 90
    yeah, but correct "party finder", shout for hours each class is tedious and boring
    lol you made your pt in 2 hours, your go camp for mobs and mage need to leave in half hour
    (1)

  4. #4
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Character
    Meowy Wowie
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Pugilist Lv 70
    Bump

    I expected this to get buried pretty quick because of all the other important and productive threads trending recently. But hopefully enough people will see this and join my cause.

    FFXIV needs a push in the right direction from SE in order to improve our seemingly non-social in game communities. I think this would be a great start.
    (1)

  5. #5
    Player Eekiki's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    3,214
    Character
    Kickle Cubicle
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Rogue Lv 90
    Quote Originally Posted by MeowyWowie View Post
    • Add a "seeking party" flag
    This was already done in 1.18. You don't get a little icon next to your name, but the seek invite flag is there.

    Quote Originally Posted by MeowyWowie View Post
    Allow us to search for parties by individual class.
    Again, you can do this already. When you pull up the window to look for a party, you are able to look for any job you have leveled to see if someone is looking for you.

    Quote Originally Posted by MeowyWowie View Post
    Adding a purpose section for each class would be nice as well. Can range from: Unspecified, EXP, Leves, Missions, Dungeons, etc, etc. Also include the option of adding our own text.[/LIST][/INDENT]
    Yet again, this functionality is already in the current party search interface.
    Quote Originally Posted by MeowyWowie View Post
    [LIST][*]Add a "search for members" option
    Yep, it's there already. Take a closer look.
    Quote Originally Posted by MeowyWowie View Post
    Give us the options of sending an immediate invite, automated invite message, and /tells.
    The immediate invite would be the same as FFXI's and FFXIV's current versions, automatically sending an invite to the player who then just has to /join as we currently do.
    The automated message would send a automated message to the player, translated in their language. Something like "Meowy Wowie wishes to invite you to her party. Respond with CTRL+R" When the player hits CTRL+R they can send you a tell to inquire about party setup, location, etc, before agreeing to join.
    The "automated invite message" sounds a little unnecessary to me. Other than that, you guessed it. You can already do this with the current interface.

    I've said this before, and I'll say it again as many times as I need to. The one and only problem with the FFXIV party search interface is that nobody uses it. Instead of people whining that it's too complicated because it's different from XI's, open your minds and learn how to use it, then USE IT. It isn't complicated. It's merely different than what you're used to.
    (3)

  6. #6
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Meowy Wowie
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Pugilist Lv 70
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the new "seek party" addition still work backwards compared to what I'm suggesting? The way I understand it, someone needs to be "Recruiting" for a party already, and they can't search for people that are seeking. The new search option just lets you search for parties that might be recruiting your desired classes.

    Maybe I'm missing something?
    (0)

  7. #7
    Player Eekiki's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    3,214
    Character
    Kickle Cubicle
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Rogue Lv 90
    This I admit is a little confusing, because to put your seek party flag up you must choose "recruit" then choose "seek invite". Even though you technically aren't recruiting for a party.

    You'd see what I mean if more people used it. ^_^
    (0)

  8. #8
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Meowy Wowie
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    Balmung
    Main Class
    Pugilist Lv 70
    Quote Originally Posted by Eekiki View Post
    This I admit is a little confusing, because to put your seek party flag up you must choose "recruit" then choose "seek invite". Even though you technically aren't recruiting for a party.

    You'd see what I mean if more people used it. ^_^
    Hmm I will have to try this out when I get on the game then.

    Still, they can do a MUCH better job at streamlining the system, people shouldn't have to make threads asking others how to use what is supposed to be a simple system.

    Thanks for your input, Eeikki. If anything, maybe this thread will have more people use the current search function in this case.
    (0)

  9. #9
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Meowy Wowie
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    Balmung
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    Pugilist Lv 70
    So I just tested the system we have now, and I still think it's pure garbage.

    You can't seek on multiple classes at the same time. You can't search for "All" classes, instead have to check each one separately. Nowhere does it say anyone's rank. The whole thing still just seems like an afterthought and people will likely never use it if it's this cumbersome.

    My request still stands, even if all the basics exist already (should be easier for them then.) I can't see the current system ever really being used, it is a poorly thought at system to say the least. Seeking for and making parties shouldn't require us to think, the parties themselves should
    (1)

  10. #10
    Player
    MeowyWowie's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Character
    Meowy Wowie
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Pugilist Lv 70
    Bump

    This game needs a working party system badly..

    Partying is the best way to SP in the game at the moment. We need an easier to use interface for creating and joining parties if this is the trend that SE is sticking with.
    (2)

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