The current find/setup party system is great

[Zkieve]

Actually with the current party system you can leave your party recruitment up while you do other stuff, and people will join. I do it all the time and it works, so the current system doesn't involve "watching the paint dry" unless one is completely dead set on going out with a certain number, in which case it's the same for both systems.

That said, it doesn't mean that integrating the flag system and/or a list of party-seeking people wouldn't *improve* the current system, and improvement is always good.

FFXI scenario.
/sea nothin on you need.

Linkshell / anyone needs help ?
go help linkshell in a gods forsakend place , while resting do another sea.

/sea find members.

/tell party ? Let me see if we have enough . Once you are certain you have all members.tell all meet at Xplace in 10min .
OK!

/finish helping meet there , profit.

Current system.

put party member sea up.
Hey linkshell needs help.
Go fight somewere with shell.

random person #1/ hey you looking for a tank ?
Sure but we dont have anymore members now.Ill let you know when i find more.
random person #2/ hey you want a healer .
Sure let me wait to see if any dds /tell me.
Done helping ls and still not 1 dd send tell.
/cricket.

[AlexiaKidd]

Im not saying we should get rid of this system . Im saying we need a flag system or similar .The current system does not give you a lot of freedom while making parties , you dont see what is available .All you can do is wait and hope for the best.
I always took pride on how fast i could make parties in ffxi , in here this function just compromise you to trust other people to join you.

Im fine with whoever whants to use it , but i need more control when making parties .When and how i want them.Giving to much into the "luck" factor that your party might work out okay is something im not a fan off.

yes i am an over control freak.

With the current system the party lead set's up a recruit and can go and get on with other things. The party joiner then has to actually look for a party to join.

In FFXI it was the other way around, the joiner would put up the flag and get on with something else and wait for an invite. The party leader would then have to do all the work to build the party.

This then breaks down to 2 different groups of people leaders and joiners. Some people like myself like to be party lead so I can organise it how I want, other people are happy to be joiners and will be happy to wait for an invite.

This system is great for me because it means I can do other things while the party forms. When we are out grinding and someone leaves I can just throw a recruit up for a rep and we can carry on. The party doesn't have to stop while I look though all the people seeking and sending /tells, waiting for replies and so on we can just carry on and wait for someone to join.

The other problem with the system is the fact that there is not really a reason to party anymore. When the game launched it was easy to get a Eft or Raptor parties as everyone wanted 15 person parties to get big group bonuses. That has changed now as they changed the system and big parties are no longer viable means of getting SP/EXP. People can now get a lot more SP/EXP in smaller groups so most of the time they will just link up with fellow LS members and do leves.

Leves are another problem for random parties as people have figured out the best leves to do for the best SP/EXP and abandon them. If you pick up random people they may not have these great leves to link with so it is a waste of time inviting them, this is another reason why people are mainly using smaller LS parties as the SP/EXP per hour is a lot more efficient than inviting random people who only bring crappy leves that aren't worth doing

[Zkieve]

Need is a big word. That said, it would definitely be beneficial, and useful options are always great to have. As long as they are integrated in the current system, that's a pretty solid base.

I see no reason why some would NOT want further options. It's not like the current system is incompatible with party flags/lists.

People dont use it . So yes we NEED it.

[Abriael]

Actually I think it's done this way because cutting the arm off was easier than bothering to work around it. There are workarounds without invonveniencing players the way the current system does, and you can simply look at games like WoW or even FFXI. What you do is you isolate the rooms or encounters where there should be no interference once the battle has started.

Not being able to join a party when engaged is a very minor inconvenience, that can be easily solved with communication (which is what MMOs are all about, after all).
I'd much rather have the team focus on working on actual ways to improve the game, instead of having to track down and apply individual fixes for each kind of exploit people can pull out from open party joining while engaged.

People dont use it . So yes we NEED it.

Actually I use it daily. Others do as well. So yeah "people" use it, when they know it exists.

[solracht]

Well, see the last point I made. I'd rather they work on other things too, I'm just saying that this is not the best way to deal with the issue, and I don't think they meant for it to be this way either (as shown by FFXI supporting mid-battle member additions when doing mundane things, but limiting it for important ones), it was probably lack of time or resources.

[Ragz]

It's not party search system is bad, it's party itself is bad. There is no incentive for (grind) party at all in this game and I have been in two ever.

[Speeral]

See these ideas are great and to get real innnovation SE will have to rework the system to be intuitive and easy for people to use this is party search should not be invisible for most users.

By adding a party search feature for those seeking and having the system match those seeking party and party seeking people would allow both seekers to find what they are looking for. and when both systems find a match instead of opening the menu and going through it should be an icon or popup come and say hey look there is a party you can join wo you wish to see? /yes
oh cool im join these guys

also it eliminates people being left out from sp grind parties, that way you won't have class exclusions when it comes to sping which should be open to all players freely.

For nm'sand dungeons I understand players want to have set ups they are comfy with and know will work or know how it works and go from there. I strongly believe instead of so many streamlines SE should really focus on intuitive designs for systems.

[Zkieve]

.

Actually I use it daily. Others do as well. So yeah "people" use it, when they know it exists.

You gotta be 1 of the most lucky persons in the game then . Couse everytime i do a sea the only people looking for party are to join linkshells.
I cant comprehend why you guys keep saying people dont know about it.
everyone knows about it , but there are two major reasons is not used.

1 - Is not as good as it should be (i explained it before why)
2 - There are barely any reasons to party.

that sums it up well.Please stop saying everyone else but a hand full are intelligent or are informed how ffxiv works. is an insult to everyone else .

[Jinrya-Geki]

Most people don't use the party function because they don't know HOW to use it. It's not bad and it is actually a whole lot better than the "flag" from 11. Here's a vid on it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soOp-7DCmBs

I suggest that the Majority of the naysayers watch it.

Thank you sir! I know how to use this now.

[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. >.>