Revisit the 'Public Group' option: it's currently more annoying than valuable

[Visik]

Public groups can be a great idea if you're soloing, but would happily welcome others to join you, or if you're simply not interested in updating your LFM over and over after each quest.

That being said, they have issues:
1) If ANY member of the party has the flag set, the party leader gets an annoying message interrupting them mid-quest when that player enters the quest, asking them to approve the flagging. This has killed me more than once.
2) The flag is permanent until changed; that is to say, it persists from quest to quest and even through logouts.
3) The only way to change the flag is when a quest entry dialog is encountered.

First, imo there's no reason for the flag to ever persist through logout. Some days I want to post LFMs; some days I want so solo; some days fall in between, when the Public option becomes valid. If there are players out there who always want it on, turning it on at the beginning of their questing day doesn't seem onerous.

Second, ONLY the party leader's Private/Public flag should be checked or apply to a group. Other party member flags can either be reset to Private when they join a group/enter a quest, or at least be ignored until they're again leading a party. Idk how tough it would be to update the LFM screen if the star is passed to another player in the group mid-quest, but I can't think of a reason why it would be impossible to either generate an auto-LFM mid-quest or eliminate one, depending on the new party leader's Private/Public flag.

Third, it seems to me that one of two things needs to happen:
1. If the flag is meant to be persistent (except through logouts), it should be presented somewhere other than quest entry dialogs: somewhere it can be changed mid-quest or when one is in a public space. The best options would be a button at the bottom of the LFM screen or as an option when right-clicking on any party member (including oneself) in the party HP area (where one changes to/from raid groups, hands off the star, etc). This would also have to work when solo, ofc.
2. If the flag is presented during quest entry dialogs, it should apply to ONLY that quest, and be reset to private on completion.
There's probably nothing preventing implementation of both options.

What do you think? Is the Public group flagging working for you? Would my suggestions improve it? Have I overlooked something?

 

[Lazuli]

I agree. upvoted

 

[DBZ]

I hate it remove it period

 

[saekee]

nice ideas—the only reason I like the public grouping option is to instantly accept members. It is easy to overlook requests in the midst of tactical play or just not have time.

I dislike the huge message that flashes mid screen, the awful timer, the persistance of the option and so
many other aspects covered by the OP.

Devs should be making social life like grouping easier. This is why we make computers and have robots. Auto-sharing of quests at a MINIMUM should be done; if players are not flagged then the group should not appear in their LFM; some kind of teleport to entrance—c’mon it is an old underpopulated game, help players a bit for the love of God

 

[DBZ]

I'd kill for my old bank back too with a search button hate the new one

 

[Visik]

Devs should be making social life like grouping easier. This is why we make computers and have robots. Auto-sharing of quests at a MINIMUM should be done; if players are not flagged then the group should not appear in their LFM; some kind of teleport to entrance—c’mon it is an old underpopulated game, help players a bit for the love of God

I like the idea of auto-sharing. Can't think of a reason that shouldn't be implemented.

Not showing quests for which one isn't flagged.. hmm. I'd rather it showed them optionally just like the ones for packs you don't have.

Teleport to entrance.. I'd definitely want that to be optional. Sometimes I have a few things I want/need to do before I get there. But it would definitely be a useful option.

 

[saekee]

I like the idea of auto-sharing. Can't think of a reason that shouldn't be implemented.

Not showing quests for which one isn't flagged.. hmm. I'd rather it showed them optionally just like the ones for packs you don't have.

Teleport to entrance.. I'd definitely want that to be optional. Sometimes I have a few things I want/need to do before I get there. But it would definitely be a useful option.

they could show the non-flagged quests but then put an ‘!’ warning to let them know they are not flagged. Or something similar. Another example of automation.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I'd kill for my old bank back too with a search button hate the new one

but the bank has search?

 

[DBZ]

The new one that i hate the old one did not just a ui option for the old one back with the search button

 

[Zvdegor]

It is really annoying when a non leader pug enters a quest as public tho leader has already set it to private. A non leader's quests status shouldn't overwrite the leader's status.
Good suggestions. Seconded!

 

[Curupira]

That thing is very annoying, just remove it.

 

[Dandonk]

Good suggestions!

And I also hate the new bank, but oh well.

 

[Hobgoblin]

in ddo new bank hate you!

 

[Mornyngstar]

I would like to add When using the public option for Wilderness groups that it sets the level range to that wilderness. Example: Heroic Stormhorns it sets as lv 16-19 (I am lv 22) but the range on the wilderness is lv15-24.

 

[rabidfox]

It is really annoying when a non leader pug enters a quest as public tho leader has already set it to private. A non leader's quests status shouldn't overwrite the leader's status.

I agree with that; it's annoying. But I also find public LFMs handy too so it's the price to pay for the current system. Just hope it continues to improve over time (it's had some decent improvements over the past couple years).

 

[Visik]

I agree with that; it's annoying. But I also find public LFMs handy too so it's the price to pay for the current system. Just hope it continues to improve over time (it's had some decent improvements over the past couple years).

Well, sure, but the point is whether or not these specific suggestions would fix the issues.

 

[Visik]

I'd kill for my old bank back too with a search button hate the new one

Seems more than just a touch off-topic, but.. My suggestion for the bank UI was to use the same UI as the AH for everything: One window with multiple tabs for Inventory, Character Bank, Shared Bank, TR Cache, and AH. Which tabs become active would be location-based. You could use all the same grouping by type, search functions and level restrictions as the AH. You could drag items from window to tab, with situation-aware outcomes: drag to inventory: move; Drag to AH: post; drag from AH: buyout. There'd be some slight differences in presentation in some windows. And you could grey out the TR Cache tab when dragging from any other window, for example. And you could implement standard mass selecting rules (shift-click, ctrl-click, ctrl-a) and drag multiple items at once.. which would make clearing a TR Cache before Reincarnating WAY easier.

Still.. bank issues deserve their own topic.

 

[Visik]

I hate it remove it period

Seems to me that with my suggestions, you need never notice it exists if you don't choose to use it. Which is a better option than removal, since some people do like to use it from time to time.

 

[Visik]

I would like to add When using the public option for Wilderness groups that it sets the level range to that wilderness. Example: Heroic Stormhorns it sets as lv 16-19 (I am lv 22) but the range on the wilderness is lv15-24.

I haven't looked at or considered the Public group level range settings in any depth. What I HAD noticed was that when I was L6 and doing L3 quests on R1, it was setting L5 as the upper end of the range. The logic SHOULD be the higher of modified quest level and party leader level. In a Wilderness, the logic should be the entire Wilderness level range, except if party leader level is above the top of the range, in which case it should go with that as the upper bound.

 

[seph1roth5]

I definitely think the public grouping needs to be harder to accidentally enable. In the year or 2 since it was implemented, I've literally never seen it used on purpose lol. I can see it being handy for something like orchard/thunderholme slayers where people come and go and you don't want to deal with it.

The problem is, 99.9% of the time, vets don't want to use it. And 99.9% of newbies that might benefit, don't know what it is or how to use it. So 110% of it's use is accidental.