dungeon-finder
Latest
Drama Mamas: The etiquette of AFKing in a group or raid
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. When is it OK to AFK during a boss fight? The answers range from "Never, unless you are about to call 911!" to "Any time you need to. Real life comes first!" This week, we address this common conundrum. Not a specific instance of drama but it definitely causes it often enough. I really love instancing but have been a bit stressed recently about how to deal with interruptions. How do you handle them? Knock on the door, kids waking up, anything really. We're not all college kids where the worst that could happen would be a power-outage or dorm fire alarm. From what I read there is not much help or sympathy out there - although that may just be the minority. They mostly say to not even run instances, which I can sympathize with - they want to run it fast - but I cannot accept that as an answer. What do they do when they have to answer the door during a boss fight? Really.
SOE tweaking EQII's dungeon finder mechanics
Once upon a time, EverQuest II's dungeon finder was a hot-button issue. Some players wanted it, others predicted the doom of grouping, the game, and life as we know it if the feature got implemented. Fast forward a few months and now the dungeon finder is hardly used aside from guildless mid-level players looking for a quick PUG crawl. Sony Online Entertainment has announced a couple of tweaks designed to incentivize the mechanic, and EQ2Wire has the relevant developer quotes as well as a bit of commentary on the process. In a nutshell, SOE is adding contested dungeons and daily rewards into the mix. While this may result in a temporary upswing in dungeon finder interest, it doesn't address the primary reason veteran and high-level players shun the mechanic. The system still won't take player gear into account when forming parties, so it is therefore quite useless when gear-dependent content -- like any of the dungeons from the Destiny of Velious expansion -- is the goal.
The Raid Finder, the Dungeon Finder, point caps and you
I have a theory that either our various caps for justice and valor points are too low, or the amount we get per activity is too high. I'll relate my thinking. I have several level 85 characters I'm running through the Dungeon Finder and Raid Finder tools. Clearing both halves of the Raid Finder Dragon Soul gets me 500 valor; I then run four random heroics, and I'm capped. This means that playing my main any further that week is effectively a waste of time. (I usually cap my valors out before I even raid for a week, which makes raiding just about the gear, but I'm OK with that.) My problem is, I like my main. I'd play him more if there was anything to do. As it is, I tend to cap out on justice points rather than run on one of my alts, and even then, they usually cap on valors as well. (At least two of them do.) I even sometimes cap on honor, and with the new conquest point gains for Random BGs, I could cap on conquest if I really set my mind to it. And while I understand why we have both weekly and total caps on points, it often feels like I'm being penalized for liking the game and wanting to play it.
The Guild Counsel: Does SWTOR need a better LFG tool?
Often, this column has focused on guilds and communities in MMOs, both the good and the bad. With the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, it's interesting to look at the ways in which a community is slowly gelling on each server. Already there are players I'm bumping into more and more often, and while I tend to huddle around guildies most of the time, I find that I enjoy things much more when I'm surrounded by a good community of players. There's already been a lively discussion among SWTOR fans about whether the current LFG tool is good enough or something more is needed. Do we need something more "meaty" to help do the job of grouping for us or not? Read on for some pros and cons, and weigh in on whether more is needed to help bring the community closer.
How to level up using the Dungeon Finder
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. WoW Rookie is about more than just being new to the game; it's about checking out new classes, new playstyles, and new zones. One of the quietly celebrated features in contemporary Cataclysm is the ability to level up entirely using the Dungeon Finder. It's a little rough in a few places where you cross expansions, around levels 58, 68, and 80ish. But other than those few spots, you can fly through the so-called younger levels without much trouble at all. While speeding your way to level 85 this way doesn't require a lot of strategy per se, it still helps immensely if you get your act together beforehand. Consider issues like leveling professions, keeping up with gold, and even how you'll handle your downtime between queues. Most importantly, once you're actually inside the dungeon, you should be prepared with some tips to avoid annoying the heck out of your groups.
EverQuest II holiday producer's letter focuses on dungeon finding and making
Before all of Sony Online Entertainment's developers fly out to see family and spend the holidays away from EverQuest II, the team decided to give players one last Frostfell present. Today's producer's letter takes a look at a number of new features coming to Norrath. The dungeon finder will see a couple of updates, such as the addition of contested dungeons to the dungeon finder and increased rewards for using the dungeon finder system. Dungeon-makers, meanwhile, will be granted a number of new treats. New effect objects will be available in the marketplace, and many items such as spawners, decorations, and maps will be purchasable with Station Cash as well as in-game currency. A number of general improvements have been made as well, including a revamped rating system for houses and dungeons and a couple of smaller tweaks. For the full details, click on over to the full letter below.
The Queue: Adorable baby giraffe, take 2
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host for today. OK, I think I got it this time. Look at this adorable baby giraffe. Questions, yes? Arkonn asked: Something that's been bugging me for a while: Why does PvP gear ilvl - specifically crafted gear - count towards ilvl required for entering dungeons and the LFR? I can understand giving the gear itself a level so you can quickly differentiate between what is potentially an upgrade and what isn't, however what I can't understand is why it counts towards your normal ilvl. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an elitist so-and-so by any stretch of the imagination. It just bugs me that some people spend hours and hours running heroics getting gear and points to improve themselves and others spend 10 minutes at the auction house buying gear that essentially is a "free" pass to the next stage.
Breakfast Topic: Would the Raid Finder difficulty approach work for 5-man instances?
With 4.3's introduction of the Raid Finder feature, more players than ever before have the chance to see and participate in the deaths of some of Azeroth's most destructive villains. The design concept is simple: Take a raid that's fairly difficult on normal mode and ridiculously hard on heroic, and simplify it to the point that 25 random people who've never met before can emerge victorious with a little effort. Casual players who don't have the time to raid on a weekly schedule get to see endgame content, and heroic raiders can still flex their egos with higher ilevel loot and the knowledge that they were able to take on some of the toughest encounters in modern gaming and win. Assuming this works and everyone remains happy with the Raid Finder system, is there a future for the Raid Finder model in the Dungeon Finder system? We know now that Blizzard has entirely revamped the 5-man system in Mists of Pandaria, offering new PvE encounter zones, timed instance runs, and no normal versions of level 85 heroic dungeons. But what if Blizzard decided to follow the Raid Finder system instead and redesigned 5-mans with three tiers of difficulty? The first tier, the Dungeon Finder mode, would be designed to be easy enough that five puggers with no voice chat could queue for it and win. Normal mode would require five dedicated players working in coordination with one another but would still ultimately be easily conquerable without significant effort. Heroic modes would require hours of wiping, retuning of strats, and a dedicated group of players.
Shifting Perspectives: The best and the worst of patch 4.3
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, we chortle our way through 5-man trash. Oh, patch 4.3. I didn't know what to expect from you after so many bad, ugly, or just plain bizarre PUGs on the public test realm, but you turned out to be pretty cool. I don't have to wear ugly gear anymore, the Dragon Soul raid is live, Vengeance blows up like a grade school volcano science experiment, and Deathwing no longer roasts all my archaeology dig sites with the sadistic glee of an NPC who knows that I will never get the Crawling Claw if I am dead. On the downside, I have to deal with Echo of Tyrande trash ("Hey, where'd the healer go?"), and Thrall still does not seem to have realized that the rest of the world moved on to epic mounts several years ago. You win some, you lose some.
Patch 4.3: Hotfix on the way for Dungeon Finder crashes
The launch of patch 4.3 has been smooth overall, but there's one major exception: The Dungeon Finder has developed a case of narcolepsy. If you've been in the queue for any of the new Hour of Twilight dungeons tonight, chances are good you've noticed the system suffering from crashes with extreme frequency. Good news: There's a fix in the works, and we're likely to see it tonight. Cross your fingers. Bashiok - LFD Tool Down? There's a known issue causing the LFG servers to crash, which is kicking people out of queue. A hotfix is already in production and we expect will be implemented this evening. There's also an issue that's causing long queue times, and again a hotfix is in progress. source Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
The Road to Mordor: Thoughts on Update 5
Update 5: Saruman's Obviously Not Compensating for Anything With That Tower will undoubtedly be the last hurrah of Lord of the Rings Online -- this year, that is. It's an interesting update that looks to patch in the rest of Rise of Isengard's content (namely, the instance cluster) and provide a little something-something for players who have already reached the end of the epic storyline and are looking for more. Earlier this week I took a dev tour through some of the main parts of the update, and while I wasn't able to see all of it (such as the non-raid instances), what I did preview certainly filled my head with opinions, analysis and further questions. Generally I came away pleased with what we're going to experience next month, although the comments section of the tour showed split feelings on what's in store for the patch. Is this a case of too little, too late for those dissatisfied with Rise of Isengard's release? Will it breathe new life into dungeon-running, especially for the many soloers out there? Is it what this game needs right here and now? Hit the jump and I'll give you my honest thoughts on it all, both the good and the bad.
Rings and words of power: Going inside LotRO's Update 5
It's been a couple of days since the news broke that Lord of the Rings Online's Update 5 is going to be bigger than previously thought, with not only a new instance cluster but an additional book in the epic storyline and an Instance Finder system. As Update 5 goes up on the test server for the remainder of the week, we got in touch with Turbine to talk about the details of this mountain of content heading our way, including an epic confrontation with Rise of Isengard's big baddie himself, Saruman. It wouldn't be a conference call without a few notable surprises as well, and Adam Merskey, Aaron Campbell, Jeff Libby, and Joe Barry were eager to share what the team has been working on for the first update after the expansion. It's time to wave goodbye to the Rangers, stop putting off instance runs, and take the fight to the bearded dude himself. It's time for Update 5. Get all the skinny after the jump!
Instance finder coming to LotRO in Update 5
When Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard launched, it did so with the understanding that it wasn't quite completed. The expansion had no new instanced content apart from a 24-person raid, and Turbine promised that this would be rectified by the end of the year. Enter the redemption of Update 5, where a new instance cluster will be introducing five additional dungeons into the game. These instances include a walk through Fangorn Forest and a personal encounter with Saruman. Ten Ton Hammer got a chance to talk with the devs about Update 5 and discovered a few previously unreleased details. The biggest of these is word of an instance finder feature -- AKA a "dungeon finder" -- that is similar to those found in World of Warcraft and RIFT. Through the instance finder, players will be able to queue up for level-appropriate runs and be matched up with other eager adventurers. Update 5 will also include the next book of the epic storyline titled The Prince of Rohan in which players will part with the Grey Company for new vistas. Stay tuned to Massively as we'll have a hands-on look at Update 5 later this week!
EverQuest II adds dungeon finder, double Station Cash weekend on tap for Europe
Love it or loathe it, the increasingly popular dungeon finder mechanic has finally made its way to Norrath. Today's EverQuest II patch features a variation on the random grouping tool initially made famous in World of Warcraft. Adventurers can queue solo or as a group by clicking the dungeon finder icon on their EQII menus, and it's worth noting that signing up for a random dungeon will net you a 25% XP boost. Other patch details worth mentioning include a, ahem, rebalance of the Dirge mythical effect as well as a Troubador revamp. Finally, European EQII fans should be pleased to know that this weekend features a double Station Cash promotion to celebrate the availability of pre-paid SOE game cards at retailers throughout the region.
WoW Archivist: Patch 1.12, Drums of War
The WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? I'm not ashamed to admit when I've made a mistake. Which is good, because today's Archivist would be awkward otherwise. Last week's classic WoW recap was a smidge premature. I haven't covered patch 1.12 yet. Why? Because I thought patch 1.12 was patch 2.0. Patch 2.0 would go with the Burning Crusade-era patches. Patch 1.12 isn't patch 2.0, however, so we're mired in classic WoW for one more week. Patch 1.12, Drums of War, released in August of 2006. It contained the feature that has set the standard for all group content in World of Warcraft: cross-realm Battlegrounds. In addition to cross-realm Battlegrounds, patch 1.12 also included sanctioned world PVP (which didn't work) and a number of UI improvements that you probably take for granted all these years later. Let's dive in, shall we?
Patch 4.3 PTR: Zandalari heroics no longer in own tier; all heroics award 150 VP
The new Hour of Twilight / patch 4.3 heroic dungeons will have their own category in the random Dungeon Finder, while the Zandalari heroics tier has mysteriously disappeared. Now, when queueing for a random Cataclysm heroic, the system will include the two Troll instances if your item level is satisfactory to enter. In addition, the Hour of Twilight dungeons, as well as any Cataclysm heroic, now reward 150 valor points per completion, up to seven times week. Any heroic will now grant the same amount of valor points. Moving the Zandalari heroics into the general heroic pool seemed like it would happen eventually, considering that having multiple tiers of dungeons to queue up for could get confusing over time. Now, players will be placed into dungeons based on their ilevel and not necessarily which dungeon category they queue for. This presents an interesting dilemma, though. Players who want to do a quick heroic right now can queue for a random, non-Troll heroic and be in and out with half the VP (and half the stress -- I'm looking at you, Jin'do) in half the time of a Troll heroic. In 4.3, it doesn't appear that you'll have the option. Then again, everyone at a high enough gear level to care about this stuff will just queue for the Hour of Twilight heroics anyway, right?
Patch 4.3 PTR: New valor point weekly caps, dungeon point rewards
The new 5-man instances, End Time, Well of Eternity, and Hour of Twilight, now award 150 valor points for each random completed, up to seven per week. The valor point cap per week has been increased to 1,000 points -- but interestingly, the cap for using the random Dungeon Finder is higher than the actual cap. This could be a bug, or it could be intended to allow players to gain that extra 50 valor points through the Dungeon Finder, but I'm assuming that things just aren't complete (because after all, this is the PTR). End Time, the first instance in the sequential set of 5-mans, took my group about 20 to 25 minutes to make our way through. Three bosses and only about seven to eight trash packs later, we were happily finished and 150 valor points richer. This time frame is radically different than the Zul' heroics we are currently used to, making the play experience, in my experience, more fulfilling in a shorter amount of time. We have not yet run the other two dungeons, but if they are as streamlined as End Time, valor points will be a less stressful experience in the future. We will have more information as it becomes available. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
The Tattered Notebook: Mercenary or player, which would you choose?
If you're an EverQuest II fan, the one big takeaway out of SOE's Fan Faire is that the team is focused on addressing those long-time demands that players have been patiently hoping for. That's why we'll have Beastlords, a class that was so taboo you couldn't even post the name on the official forums. And it's why we're seeing an item revamp that now includes all items from levels 20-90. So you'd think that players would rejoice when they heard the news of mercenaries, an in-game feature designed to make it easier for players to make and fill a viable group, or get things done that they couldn't do alone. The response so far, though, has been the equivalent of a needle being dragged across an LP record at a dance party. Why the tepid response? In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at why these swords for hire are causing so much trouble.
The Queue: Waking flames
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. My plea for rain on Monday actually worked. Who knew I held that kind of power? Except it's still hot as heck, and I demand more. Give me your rain, people. All of it. Marco asked: The Flamewalkers in the Firelands resemble the naga quite a bit. Is there any natural link between the 2 races? Are they related in some way? Or did blizzard take the easy way and model them after the naga's skeleton and design to save time?
The Tattered Notebook: Exec. Producer Dave Georgeson on EverQuest II and EverQuest Next
If there's one thing that came out of Fan Faire about EQ Next, it's that no one will talk about EQ Next. No matter who you talked to, any time the subject came up, the answer was always, "I can't talk about that." However, Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson sat down with Massively during Fan Faire to talk more about EverQuest II, and during that interview, he did give a tiny glimpse into what that game would be like. In this week's Tattered Notebook, Massively gets the scoop on Beastlords, the dungeon builder, Freeport's revamp, and much more.
