Hey guys, I'd just like to ask regarding the lack of LFD. I've heard people will be in non-cross server space ports, where they can shout LFM for dungeons.
Can I ask, what do you guys think of this system? Being a cata baby, I only know life with a LFD tool. I know some people really hate on it, I personally feel that overall, it has more positives than negatives.
Pros that I can think of:
1. More social aspect - people are now accountable as being d-bags on dungeons will impact their reputation. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand how people can act when they think they can get away with never seeing you again. So even though this is one point, it's a pretty big plus.
Cons:
1. Elitism/exclusivity
Probably not a problem at low levels, but I can see max level heroics being limited to "geared" people. Like how we see "LFM for Firelands... MUST HAVE FIRELANDS ACHIEVEMENT/378 gear etc etc." - creating a cycle of exclusion of casual or lesser geared players.
2. Unfair Blacklisting
Some people have bad days, or have problems with their class initially. People might abuse this fact, badmouthing certain players they hated because of 1 bad experience or simply because of personality clashes during previous runs. Admittedly, this *shouldn't* be too common.
3. Non-american players with different timeszones might never be able to grab a group if their numbers are small.
As a Singaporean player, I'm worried I might logon at times where there are only limited amount of players. For example, I might logon at USA's 7AM time. At most, I'll have some other oceanic players. But I'd be willing to bet there aren't that many, and they might not be in my level range, etc etc. It does affect why I can't raid on WOW, and with LFD I'm afraid it might affect my dungeoning. LFD helped with this, ensuring there is always someone out there who wants to dungeon.
Note: From my understanding, there aren't any oceanic servers at launch. I'll admit this might change when certain servers get reps for being unofficial "oceanic" servers, alleviating the problem.
4. Long times to set up a group
"um, hold on guys, respec. Hold on, need to get my X. Need to auction Y." Also, related to problem 1, people might just not want to group with players in "inferior" gear. So you have to keep waiting and actively searching till you get someone.
What do you guys think?