Feedback - Duty Finder

[cabiz]

Tangentially: it's odd that the forum 'feedback' folder is only about the website and app, not the game.

Fundamentally: It would be nice to be able to join the duty finder in multiple jobs. I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this, but I'm equally happy as tank, healer, or ranged caster. Being able to queue multiple jobs would be nice and reduce queue times for everyone.

[Yeol]

I remember the dev answered this during Q&A.

They said what if 4 players queue at the same time with all role option selected, the algorithm wouldn't know which role to pick for these players in order to pair them in a group together.

A very silly answer in my opinion. They can always prioritize DPS > Healer > Tank (For example).

Another thing that came up was item level. If you were to select all 3 roles, the item level check wouldn't work properly as it will only check the item level for the current job you're on. They'll need to update how duty item level check works.

I would like them to implement this at some point.

[DrWho2010]

considering the amount of players using the duty finder system, it's probably programmed keeping the KISS principle in mind... (Keep it simple, stupid). Sure it would be nice to expand upon the functionality of the system but it would probably exponentially increase the strain on the system and the length of time required for matchmaking. at this point in the game's lifecycle I don't think we're going to be seeing a whole lot of ground up remaking of existing systems. tweaks here and there maybe, but things I think at this point are 99% set in stone. big thing upcoming is the expansion of the party finder to allow for the 48 man preformed groups needed for 5.45's Delubrium Reginae savage dungeon.

[IDontPetLalas]

Well, there are ways to deal with the processing time. It could potentially reduce queue times as well.

However, whether the dev team is willing to devote their resources to something that is functioning quite well is another story - since even if someone has a long queue they can do other things while they wait. There are some other issues that would be better candidates for the DF - such as current Castrum - which might be in 5.45.

[ItMe]

All of the roulettes have a duty in need.
If you queued for something with Healer in need, would you get the buff if you queued and one of the multiple jobs you selected was healer? Or only if the algorithm brought you into the duty as healer?

[cabiz]

They said what if 4 players queue at the same time with all role option selected, the algorithm wouldn't know which role to pick for these players in order to pair them in a group together.

Very silly, since we know other games handle this just fine. One easy solution: if 4 'all' roles are queued, and they're the ONLY four people, take the first person queued, RNG their role, then build from there. If they got DPS, then RNG the next person queued, and you're set. I'm not an expert in network queue algorithms, but these are solved problems in that domain (say: 4 packets hit the router at the same time, how do you prioritize one?). I also can't imagine there's a situation in which only 4 people are queued. More likely: you have a pool of eg. 8 tanks, 4 healers, 90 dps, and 8 'any role'. 4 of the 8 immediately get assigned healer (in queue order), making 8 full gruops. You then have 4 'any role' and 74 dps. It's a pretty trivial algorithm to slot 4 'any role' into 2 healers 2 tanks and 8 dps.

Another thing that came up was item level. If you were to select all 3 roles, the item level check wouldn't work properly as it will only check the item level for the current job you're on. They'll need to update how duty item level check works.

This also seems trivial: ilvl check based on your saved job gear set. If you have WHM at ilvl 480 and PAL at ilvl 520, then you can join any group that needs 480 or lower as WHM, and 520 or lower as PAL. That's not an objection.

[cabiz]

length of time required for matchmaking

It would dramatically DECRESE matchmaking time, as there would be much more flexibility in creating groups.