The current find/setup party system is great

[Zkieve]

I'm not saying people are using it and that it's the hottest thing since the advent of fire.

What I'm saying is that there is an inherent problem in having to wait any more than 20 minutes to find a party in a game that is(or at least was until I stopped playing 3 years ago) nearly entirely dependent on party play.

Picture this: You're in the dunes at around lvl.16 trying to get a party together to wail on snippers/pugs/damselflies... You have that ONE white mage that MAY join the party if you manage to get another 5 people together. Cool, you run searches, check out the recruiting lists, and send out party invite shouts. No takers. 20 minutes pass and you ask the white mage if he's still willing, as you FINALLY managed to find another DD. He says he has to go in 30 minutes. Fuck, he's out, and the other dude is getting impatient. Now you have to run even more searches. Another 15 minutes passes. The other dude says "fuck it" and runs off. Your entire plan is fucked because you can't get anyone, and there are no other parties seeking as the ones that are around are already full.

"Go do something else."

I don't fucking want to do anything else. I logged on to get some levels in my main class which I have no way of doing without a full party so I can make it to the next timesink the game has in store for me because this entire experience is an exercise in masochism and FUCK THIS GAME!

This have NOTHING to do with the party feature.
What you are saying is that there should always be people there for you to party with . Wth do that have to do whatever the party feature is good or bad ?

[viion]

I'm not saying people are using it and that it's the hottest thing since the advent of fire.

What I'm saying is that there is an inherent problem in having to wait any more than 20 minutes to find a party in a game that is(or at least was until I stopped playing 3 years ago) nearly entirely dependent on party play.

Picture this: You're in the dunes at around lvl.16 trying to get a party together to wail on snippers/pugs/damselflies... You have that ONE white mage that MAY join the party if you manage to get another 5 people together. Cool, you run searches, check out the recruiting lists, and send out party invite shouts. No takers. 20 minutes pass and you ask the white mage if he's still willing, as you FINALLY managed to find another DD. He says he has to go in 30 minutes. Fuck, he's out, and the other dude is getting impatient. Now you have to run even more searches. Another 15 minutes passes. The other dude says "fuck it" and runs off. Your entire plan is fucked because you can't get anyone, and there are no other parties seeking as the ones that are around are already full.

"Go do something else."

I don't fucking want to do anything else. I logged on to get some levels in my main class which I have no way of doing without a full party so I can make it to the next timesink the game has in store for me because this entire experience is an exercise in masochism and FUCK THIS GAME!

Umm that has nothing to do with pt system. Even the current system that will happen, just that you CANT SEARCH in this, You put up your requirement and you just hope people see you, you have zero control, you can go searching yourself, you're relying on them going in and finding you.

[Johannes_Mondego]

I don't use the party feature in this game because I don't understand how to, and its implementation is so bad that I don't want to learn how to either.

For example, I hit "Search". I have no idea what that means (search for people? search for parties? set myself as searching for party, etc.). Oh, the first field here in this new window is "Name", so it must be the "search for other people" case, like ffxi /sea command. In the "Purpose" field, there's no choice for people seeking exp, so I go for the next closest thing, regional leves. Location, hmm I have leves in Cassiopea Hollow... oh that's also not even an option, guess I'll just leave that field blank. Last thing is what class shall I search for... um but all the classes are greyed, save for the ones I have leveled. Er so this whole Search part of the interface must actually be to set myself as seeking party, so I select THM since I want to level that. Hmm then what the hell do I put in the "Name" field? Whatever, just hit "Begin Search" and see what happens... No Results. So it is not a flag system at all, but some sort of database query, so now I am assuming it's a function to search for already-established parties? That still doesn't explain the "Name" field though (do parties have names? is it the party leader's name? How would I ever even know a party leader's name, going to the zone in question and approaching people and asking them who the party leader is so that I can--- OH GOD NEVERMIND). So assuming it's a database query of parties actively recruiting, I blank the fields hoping to make it as general a search as possible. No results.

So which is it? A search function to find other people? A search function to find recruiting-parties? A way to flag myself somehow (since I can only search for my own class)?

I am thinking it is a search function to find already-established-parties-who-are-recruiting, but the way it works requires me to basically sit in this search window (which is buried 3 menus deep BTW) and spam "Begin Search" until someone is looking for a THM. Meanwhile I can't chat or craft or even walk around, the way these menus work. If I wanted to look for already-established parties in FFXI and talk to their leaders (which I wouldn't), I could just issue a command "/sea 25-30 valkurm" or whatever, and look for the names in gold, and continue to craft or chat or whatever.

[Kazimir]

There actually isn't anything wrong with the party menu, people are just either too stupid to know how to use it or too lazy to want to go through all the menus.

In actuality the search function makes sense. The game is built around grouping for guildleves and it's set up so you can search for people who want to do that specifically, and also what camp they have leves for. The only problem I have with the menu is that you have to search for specific classes. I feel that is unnecessary and it's just an extra annoyance to go through when making a group.

I honestly think people would use it more if it was simpler. Just make it so we can toss up a party flag and wait, or just search for people in a certain level range. We don't honestly NEED all these other menus, most people have just searched for/as Purpose: none and Location: none then worked out what to do in group chat anyway.

[Rhianu]

There actually isn't anything wrong with the party menu, people are just either too stupid to know how to use it or too lazy to want to go through all the menus.

I'm sorry, but that statement right there is just flat out wrong. A good UI should be intuitive and user-friendly. Calling people stupid because the UI is poorly designed is just completely ass-backwards. The fact that people were able to form parties just fine with FFXI's UI is proof that it isn't people that are the problem. The problem is the interface.

[Kazimir]

I'm sorry, but that statement right there is just flat out wrong. A good UI should be intuitive and user-friendly. Calling people stupid because the UI is poorly designed is just completely ass-backwards. The fact that people were able to form parties just fine with FFXI's UI is proof that it isn't people that are the problem. The problem is the interface.

The UI may not be very simple but it isn't that unfriendly. I'm sorry but if you can't figure out how the menus work than you are the definition of stupid. But as I also said, people are too lazy to figure it out for themselves, and I believe that is the majority reason as opposed to just stupid.

Also the reason why the search function was used so much in XI was because you had to in order to find a 6 player group because of the type of party grind the game was based on, not to mention the fact people were spread all around Vanadiel where as in XIV everyone just sits in Thanalan. In XIV you can just pick up leves, go to an aethryte, and ask for a party, or just get a 3 person group going with a couple other LS members.

It really doesn't have that much to do with the UI. If we were forced to use the party search menu to find others fast enough to level, people would use it and figure it out, but that's not the case.

[Onidemon]

Anyone down for using WOW's party search feature minus the teleport to dungeon part?

It is a great system and very easy to use. You chose your dungeon, you chose you role "DPS, Tank, healer" and then the system will match you with other people automatically. They could use something similar but make it more flexible.

With this system you don't need to look and search for people. You chose what you want and wait for the system to do the rest of the work for you.

I don't want the teleport to dungeon part tho' ... i used to like meeting with the other party members, summoning them and travelling to the dungeon... it made the whole thing feel more like an adventure.

[Eekiki]

Yeah, the issue here is because it doesn't work the same as XI, and SE didn't bother to give us any info as to how it's supposed to work, no one could figure it out early on, and hardly anyone has ever bothered to use it.

If you've ever played Guild Wars, the search feature in XIV is almost exactly the same as that game's. It's kind of the inverse of XI's party search. Instead of a party looking for people to invite, people look for the party and join themselves.

As others have said, the only problem with it is no one uses it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with its design or function. It's just that most people don't even know it's there, and most people that do know it's there don't fully understand how it works.

[AlexiaKidd]

Yeah, the issue here is because it doesn't work the same as XI, and SE didn't bother to give us any info as to how it's supposed to work, no one could figure it out early on, and hardly anyone has ever bothered to use it.

If you've ever played Guild Wars, the search feature in XIV is almost exactly the same as that game's. It's kind of the inverse of XI's party search. Instead of a party looking for people to invite, people look for the party and join themselves.

As others have said, the only problem with it is no one uses it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with its design or function. It's just that most people don't even know it's there, and most people that do know it's there don't fully understand how it works.

Exactly, on top of that I honestly think that it is a complete lack of reasons to party that is making it so useless. Most people are in an LS and do their Leve's and any grinding with them, as you only need a few people (small groups 3-4 people) it is not hard to get the amount of people you need out of your LS so there is not any real need to pick up any randoms.

[Keith_Dragoon]

Exactly, on top of that I honestly think that it is a complete lack of reasons to party that is making it so useless. Most people are in an LS and do their Leve's and any grinding with them, as you only need a few people (small groups 3-4 people) it is not hard to get the amount of people you need out of your LS so there is not any real need to pick up any randoms.

I don't play because me and solo are mortal foes, hence why I am still level 20 and have been playing since CE. I'd die of joy if SE gave a good reason for people to actually group up more actively for SP. >.>