Call To Arms = Bandaid to a bigger problem - Dungeon Finder Suggestion

[jearle]

I posted this elsewhere but figured it should live in the R&D area.

The creation of the DF tool caused people who should have never become tanks to roll them simply for the benefits the system gives to the and this has caused a complex. Its the mentality of some (not all by any means) of the current pool of tanks in the game, it sucks.

Tanks being the lowest supplied commodity are sought after. People start to re-roll, people start to re-spec just become the commodity that is the most sought after and enjoy instant que times ect.

So at this point we still have more tanks but still a smaller ration compared to dps. However now 50% of the new tanks have no idea what they're doing or in general shouldn't be tanking in the first place and they are only doing it to "work the system".

This leads to a widespread mentality of tanks being superior and god complexes arise. The attitudes of most tanks I run into is just horrible for the most part these days. Mainly because they would rather be DPS'ing/healing but they're tanking simply to get through it quicker. They bitch at DPS in a heroic and vote kick on a whim if someone makes a mistake. God forbid a wipe occurs, and they bounce instantly.


Suggestion
My suggestion to make the DF tool more equal would have to be a better matchmaking system cross realm that allows you to request to be friends across realm and it has to be approved by that person(such as facebook). That way over time if you have "friended" a number of tanks who have in turn accepted you as a friend when you queue it could try to match your "friend" flags.

This type of system would allow DPS to pick which tanks they want to "friend" and allows tanks the opportunity to pick which good dps they wish to friend as well as healers.

The more "friends" you have throughout your matchmaking group would reduce your queue times versus some douchebag who doesn't have any because he runs his mouth. The really good dps will be able to get alot of tanks on their friends list quickly. This would also make fresh 85s wait longer than established 85s which in my opinion is how it should be.

I believe someone who has been 85 for a few months as a DPS and has worked on their gear and obtained "friend" flags should have a reduced queue time compared to a fresh 85 barely making the mark, not astronomically reduced but it should be shorter.

Example:
Youre in a queue for dungeon the DF tool is constantly trying to match you with people you have flagged as "friends" you have been in the que for 10 minutes and one of your x realm "friend" tanks queues up. That tank gets an instance immediately and it pulls in his "friend" flagged people first, which could possibly reduce your que time if theres nobody else that fits the role and has been waiting longer that is also on his "friend" list

You would request to friend someone during a dungeon run, at any point in time. The person you send the request to would get a "RandomMageX-Magtheridon has request to be a dungeon friend do you accept?" Once the 2 way transaction is completed it would be written in each of the players "DF Friend" table. When matchmaking is going on and a tank/healer queues it would look through the queues for 3 appropriate dps and a healer who have DF Friend flags.

This would have several bonuses, good DPS would be friended and awarded for doing a good job, and over time it would lessen their queue times because they would have more DF Friends.

Tanks would be willing to use the DF Tool with more confidence since they are getting more DPS that they have considered good in the past.

Same thing goes for healers too.

This would probly take another layer of matchmaking algorithms amongst other things but could be an awesome addition to the DF tool.

Not only that, is this existed everyone in the DF random heroics would want to do their absolut best in order to get friends

Thoughts and ideas are welcomed

[Drunkenvalley]

While I think you're suggesting a nice idea, I do think this would be a feature you should have along with the incoming changes, not instead of it.

Protip is to not bend over backwards for the "might of the great tank," or begin raging at the smallest errors, as it seems a lot of people do. The tank is just another player, not a god, whether for better or worse. Not to mention... What bads are you having? The kind that don't know how to play, or are about as attractive to play with as a rotting sewer? I wouldn't put it past players for them to be the problem, not these "bad tanks"...

The Call to Arms will perhaps be a nice feature, but have you thought of how many players will be affected by the change? Quite few tanks and healers, because puggers are on average so horribly detestful they'll queue up with anyone else.

[underdogba]

This has been pointed out before, but it's very important to consider the disconnect between 5-man and raiding player ratios.

10-mans require the same percentage of players to be tanks as 5-mans (i.e. 20%), but 25-mans require at best 3 out of 25 (12%).

If suddenly enough players re-rolled and participated in such a way that the tank, dps, and heal queues became approximately equal, suddenly the raiding game would be faced with an abundance of tanks unless everyone switched to a 10-man format. This creates a self-regulating situation where players, discouraged by not being able to find raid spots as a tank, would likely start considering dps their main spec in order to find opportunities, throwing the 5-man ratio back in the direction it is now.

[jearle]

I agree totally. I for one do not have an issue with running 5 mans whenever I feel like it on any toons, since I am in an active guild and these are run frequently. The main issue I have with the DF tool, is accountability.

There is nothing you can do to people who go into the dungeon looking to ruin another persons time outside of kicking them, and what does that do? They just queue up again and go on being a douche.

I was tanking a dungeon on one of my toons the other night and used the DF tool. Got into a run with 3 DPS from the same guild/server who were just running around pulling shit on their own being total jackasses, getting the healer killed. Screaming out childish stupid shit, I think lyrics to that horrbile Rebecca Black song. And when asked by the healer and I what was going on and to come kill stuff. The healer and I got booted, pretty hilarious really. But this is the picture of the DF tool that sticks in my head.

[baconwing]

thats a very interesting idea. from a social stand point, it would get really awkward as a tank when you join an LFD system and you immediately get 4 friend requests. if the healer sucks but might barely be able to get pulled through the dungeon but i dont want to friend him so i dont have to deal with him anymore, I will more than likely end up with a healer playing the purple hearts game, or who just straight up lets me die constantly cause he's butt hurt that you didnt accept his friend request.

[jearle]

Good point, the friends request could pop up at the completion of the dungeon to avoid this and to prevent people getting friends and dropping group.

Maybe a little gui that pops up and says would you like to friend request any members of your dungeon group, that way you only friends the people who were good and stayed until the end of the run.

[Dameondark]

Not to be a downer but there is a huge flaw in the plan. I as a tank will hate tanking if I have to accept or deny three requests per run which means that I will either stop tanking, be a bad tank and tell people before we even start to not do it, or QQ to blizz about not letting me auto deny all requests. The idea will not really help as those that would do it for that perk would be so selective that very few dps will ever benefit from it.

[Sanctioned]

Not a horrible "fix", wouldn't the issue be better served on an actual WoW forum?