Too many categories in LFG

[AznCandyPie.2580]

So I recently took a few months break from GW2, and upon coming back, I noticed the LFG seemed to have a lot more sections than before.

Honestly, I don't like this new layout. It feels too fragmented, and upon opening the panel it seemed to be completely empty despite a lot of events happening around me.

 

Now this probably isn't true for everyone, but from the friends and guildies I've talked to, the layout seems to actively discourage a lot of people from using LFG at all. I've noticed a lot more people asking map chat for help in large scale events (eg: bounties) rather than listing it in LFG.

 

My biggest concern is for new players as it really gives a bad impression of the size of the player pool. Imagine opening a tool meant for finding players, only to discover so many sections and every section being empty.

 

I think instead of grouping it by map, just have one general section for each big expac/season or something, and players can title it themselves. Just like in raids, where players will actively specify which wing, etc.

[Blocki.4931]

It was weird at first, but it's so much easier to navigate now imo. Not a bad change, but you have to get used to it.

[Burnfall.9573]

> @"AznCandyPie.2580" said:

> So I recently took a few months break from GW2, and upon coming back, I noticed the LFG seemed to have a lot more sections than before.

> Honestly, I don't like this new layout. It feels too fragmented, and upon opening the panel it seemed to be completely empty despite a lot of events happening around me.

>

> Now this probably isn't true for everyone, but from the friends and guildies I've talked to, the layout seems to actively discourage a lot of people from using LFG at all. I've noticed a lot more people asking map chat for help in large scale events (eg: bounties) rather than listing it in LFG.

>

> My biggest concern is for new players as it really gives a bad impression of the size of the player pool. Imagine opening a tool meant for finding players, only to discover so many sections and every section being empty.

>

> I think instead of grouping it by map, just have one general section for each big expac/season or something, and players can title it themselves. Just like in raids, where players will actively specify which wing, etc.

 

+1

i completely agree with you and should be easy and simple but as Blocki stated, have to get used to it

[YtseJam.9784]

yeah it's a bit overwhelming, but it guess it's the only way to do it given all the stuff we have in game now

[HardRider.2980]

It definietly is a get use to it kind of QoL. But once you remember where things are the new layout makes everything soo much easier.

It also makes it so things are specific as well.. so when you go to a map you know what pops up will be only for the map not "area"

[Hannelore.8153]

It doesn't matter if its easier, it doesn't change the fact that it has too many empty sections that should be combined.

[AznCandyPie.2580]

> @"Hannelore.8153" said:

> It doesn't matter if its easier, it doesn't change the fact that it has too many empty sections that should be combined.

 

Yeah, this is what I mean.

 

It's not a problem with navigation, it's having so many empty sections making the game appear, well, dead. With 2019 being a shaky year, having an empty LFG in game wouldn't be great for new players to see and will only reinforce the belief that GW2 is actively dying

 

[Danikat.8537]

I'd much rather be able to go to a specific section for the map I'm on and see at a glance that there's nothing there, then put up my own group, than spend my time searching through the list wondering if there are no groups or I'm just missing them. Especially if jumbling them together is just for the sake of creating the illusion that there's more activity in LFG.

 

I think the only one I'd get rid of is the achievements one, because I don't think many people look there so messages can be completely missed. I think it makes more sense to put LFGs for help with achievements in the category for the map/story instance/whatever where you do it. (Especially because a lot of them can be done alongside people doing other things. Someone who wants a specific story achievement could do it with someone who just wants help completing the achievement.)

[Yargesh.4965]

Someone complaining about too many choices on these forums? Wow.

[knite.1542]

> @"Yargesh.4965" said:

> Someone complaining about too many choices on these forums? Wow.

 

Is that what you got from this? Wow

[Gop.8713]

I agree with the OP, there are too many subdivisions. My biggest gripe is that there are so many places to list a group. That's not a big problem if you're looking for a group bc you can just look everywhere, but if you're listing a group it becomes an issue. If you're doing the Grothmar strike, do you list in the zone lfg or strike lfg? Does Freezie go in central tyria, festival or strike? Regardless of which you think is 'right', if you list in one you'll miss players who only look in one of the others. I've tried keeping an eye on the other categories for players listing there while we're trying to fill and whispering them to join us instead, but then you run the risk of them merging rather than joining and kicking everyone out of an instance in progress . . .

 

OP's suggestion of fewer categories seems sound, and would only create a problem if a category becomes crowded with groups. Then on the occasions where that becomes a persistent problem with a category, that category could be split based on the types of events players list rather than arbitrary divisions that leave a lot of them empty. For example, it would make more sense to split HoT into categories for metas and hp trains rather than by zone, since metas and hp trains are the bulk of the HoT listings . . .

 

I think anet probably created the categories the way they did bc they didn't want to constantly monitor and redesign the categories, which is efficient from a production standpoint but creates some frustration for the end user . . .

[Friday.7864]

Based on my usage I have no complaints about the new layout - I quite like it in fact.

It would be nice to add some options though. Like having a section open up by default based on the map you're in.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Blocki.4931" said:

> It was weird at first, but it's so much easier to navigate now imo.

 

Exactly! It's so much better now. How anyone can complain about the restructuring is beyond me.

[lare.5129]

Strike shroud be removed , or spliced by locations .. because for some ppl more better post it on ls5 where it get ppl more intuitive, and now we have mix bjora nad grot .. And for some reason many ppl write strike .. but not write where ..

[Taygus.4571]

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> I'd much rather be able to go to a specific section for the map I'm on and see at a glance that there's nothing there, then put up my own group, than spend my time searching through the list wondering if there are no groups or I'm just missing them. Especially if jumbling them together is just for the sake of creating the illusion that there's more activity in LFG.

>

> I think the only one I'd get rid of is the achievements one, because I don't think many people look there so messages can be completely missed. I think it makes more sense to put LFGs for help with achievements in the category for the map/story instance/whatever where you do it. (Especially because a lot of them can be done alongside people doing other things. Someone who wants a specific story achievement could do it with someone who just wants help completing the achievement.)

 

Any time I've gotten help for achievements, I've listed it under the specific map.

 

posts are defintely ignored under achievement tab

I agree, it should be removed

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

> @"AznCandyPie.2580" said:

--

> I think instead of grouping it by map, just have one general section for each big expac/season or something, and players can title it themselves. Just like in raids, where players will actively specify which wing, etc.

 

What I'd rather see is a toggle option on the LFG pane which excludes empty LFG maps from the list, so I can quickly see which maps have current activity. Toggling the option off would show the full list as it is now.

[Bolshie.6137]

I think the new LFG update is a huge step forward, and makes maps much easier to navigate to - a solid QoL update, thanks to the developers!

 

A little more housecleaning would be great:

 

*Remove the achievements tab - achievement-oriented groups are almost always posted in maps, anyway, no need for an extra tab

*Remove the strikes tab - they're map-based, and should fall under maps.

*Remove Mentoring and Role Play tabs, two completely unused tabs

*Remove the "Living World" page under Central Tyria - people just use "Central Tyria - Parties" or "Central Tyria - Squads" (frankly, one of those two could be removed, too)

[Linken.6345]

What I would like is to make all dungeons show in the same lfg so you can see at a glance what dungeons people are queing for instead of having to open up each one.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Hannelore.8153" said:

> It doesn't matter if its easier, it doesn't change the fact that it has too many empty sections that should be combined.

 

What that should mean to anyone, if you understood the purpose of LFG, is that people aren't using it like they should be...not that the game slowing down, but with the way people think today, that just doesn't ever cross their minds.

[Randulf.7614]

It can be quite hard to find a group in some sections since just to find a group for Strike Missions Ive seen them in LFG strikes, LFM Strikes and Bjora Marches. WHere do you look? Just have one Strike Mission group - it isn't ever popular enough that you need many categories

Festivals seem even more convoluted - some people, more people and lots of people. Just needs to be festivals!

 

So yeah, needs a bit of tidying up even though the overall structure has improved

[Lexi.1398]

IMO:

Remove the achievements, roleplay and mentoring categories + tabs - they are basically never used, such always gets put on the cental tyria squad lfg.

 

Remove the WvW and PvP categories + tabs - the native group finding system in both of these modes is so so much better. Improve the native group finding systems instead of keeping them on lfg if improvement is wanted (and i for sure wish the wvw group finding system was more refined - even in its current state its still better than lfg though)

 

Remove the "Story Journal" category and all of it's tabs. Either leave it completely removed (most story lfgs are for migraine- most of these go in central tyria/dragon's stand lfg instead.) OR create a new "Story Journal" tab under central tyria.

 

Destroy the dungeons category, and put a single "Dungeons" tab under central tyria.

 

Destroy the living world tab in Central Tyria category (hasn't made sense since season 1), and also destroy the currently existing living world season 3, ls4 and ls5 categories. Create a new category "Living World", containing the tabs "Living World: Season 3", "Living World: Season 4", "Grothmar Valley" and "Bjora Marches". Once the icebrood saga is complete the seperate maps would be complied into a single "Living World: Icebrood Saga" tab in this category. this removes the seperate map tabs for all except the latest season.

 

The fractal, strike and raid categories go untouched. aside living world, the currnet tabs in central tyria are fine too. I'm not entirely satsified with HoT and PoF categories, but they're okay enough as is.

 

Leave Festival category untouched, or, remove the category but put all of the tabs in it under central tyria instead. I don't like that the festivals category as a whole splits lfgs between central tryia and festival tabs - i don't care /which/ is used, i just want only one of them to be used. By putting festival tabs in the central tyria category they are much more likely to be used instead of the central tyria squad tab.

 

My lfg would look like this

CENTRAL TYRIA - central tyria: parties, central tyria: squads, world bosses, dungeons. (story journal, festivals: parties, festivals: fun sized squads, festivals: large squads)

HEART OF THORNS - verdant brink, auric basin, tangled depths, dragon's stand.

PATH OF FIRE - crystal oasis, desert highlands, elon riverlands, the desolation, domain of vabbi.

LIVING WORLD - living world: season 3, living world: season 4, grothmar valley, bjora marches (*all new IBS maps are listed seperately until the next content comes out at which point they will be complied into one "living world: icebrood saga" tab)

STRIKE MISSIONS - strike missions (looking for more), strike missions (looking for group)

RAIDS - raids (looking for more), raids (looking for group)

FRACTALS OF THE MISTS - initiate scales 1-25, adept scales 26-50, expert scales 51-75, master scales 76-100.

and festivals right on the bottom here if kept.

 

 

[Taygus.4571]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> It can be quite hard to find a group in some sections since just to find a group for Strike Missions Ive seen them in LFG strikes, LFM Strikes and Bjora Marches. WHere do you look? Just have one Strike Mission group - it isn't ever popular enough that you need many categories

> Festivals seem even more convoluted - some people, more people and lots of people. Just needs to be festivals!

>

> So yeah, needs a bit of tidying up even though the overall structure has improved

 

tbh, I don't think strikes, should have an lfg of their own. As you need to have unlocked the map to access them..

[takatsu.9416]

We can easily draw inspiration and reference from successful UI/UX patterns that exist across many platforms bc users typically come from experiences and expectations from those. For example it would be easy to reorganize into hierarchies such as categories and tags. Whatever way is best through testing and validation.

 

Expandable sections could be organized by expansion or LS arc, it could solely be game type or content focusing on purpose I.e. Dungeons, fractals, world boss, bounty train, mentoring, personal story, holidays, etc.

 

Either way, whatever the major hierarchies are or even maybe take out the hierarchy system all together and all further division/details can simply be done by selecting tags within the category I.e. Specific maps, purpose/game content type, etc. You can select multiple tags if necessary like map + game content type

 

Select or type (and autofill) a tag very quickly

 

Leave it organic and heavily customizable and user driven with lots of agency.

 

Maybe this might sound confusing at first but keep in mind how social media works. It does work and is easily searchable whether through typing key words or selecting/filtering tags to search for. You'd be able to have the same sections via tags just by selecting one but you'd be able to narrow down what you're looking for if you search/select multiple tags.

[sokeenoppa.5384]

> @"Taygus.4571" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > It can be quite hard to find a group in some sections since just to find a group for Strike Missions Ive seen them in LFG strikes, LFM Strikes and Bjora Marches. WHere do you look? Just have one Strike Mission group - it isn't ever popular enough that you need many categories

> > Festivals seem even more convoluted - some people, more people and lots of people. Just needs to be festivals!

> >

> > So yeah, needs a bit of tidying up even though the overall structure has improved

>

> tbh, I don't think strikes, should have an lfg of their own. As you need to have unlocked the map to access them..

 

This is something that they should fix in the future imo. Would make alot more sense that strikes had their own lobby and portal in map aswell (like raids do), or even a shared lobby with raids. This becomes even more a proplem once we get more strikes.

[Funky.4861]

The new layout is much better than the old one (ty devs) and yet people still complain about neglected tabs. Anet has to cater to their playerbase and that is what they are doing, whether you understand/agree or not. I do see that some tabs are empty most of the time (achievements, RP are prime examples) but if you remove them where will the RP'ers look for their groups? Sadly, achievements are the red-headed stepchild which exists because we can't just get rid of it; i do look there first if i want something done, see it's empty, and THEN look at the relevant map tab.