teaming up questions

[forumizer]

I'm getting into this game pretty late, but after listening to other players complain about DDO requiring you to team, it took me a while to realize that was actually something I liked. Truth is, I *like* teaming in MMOs. That's kind of the point, innit?

Anyways, since I'm brand new to the game, I'm not sure about the procedures and etiquette for joining a team. I've yet to see it happen, but one of these days I'm going to click on the social button and see a quest group forming in my level range. When that happens, do I just click another 'join' button and I'm instantly in that group? Is there any sort of dialog that should, as a courtesy, take place beforehand?

How effective is the "looking for team" flag in getting people together? It's annoying as heck to have that big halo over my head, does it work enough for me to want to put up with it?

And what's the most desirable class to team with? I like healing which, in other games, is a near instant 'welcome aboard' for teaming. The rogue's ability to detect traps and open locks also seems welcome. What class should I play that would make other players more willing to put up with my noobishness just to have my abilities on the team?

Finally, how hard is it to find a team that's actually enjoying the quests rather than rushing through them for the fourth time? This is my first pass through and I'd like to take the time to read the quest stories, solve the puzzles, and marvel at the traps and monsters. Is that unlikely at this age of the game? Is there a roleplay server? I'm not so strong into the "act out scenes in the plaza" level of RP, but I enjoy talking about the quests as I'm on them and have found in other games that RPers are most likely to slow down and enjoy the text of an adventure.

Thanks all.

[Arianrhod]

I'm getting into this game pretty late, but after listening to other players complain about DDO requiring you to team, it took me a while to realize that was actually something I liked. Truth is, I *like* teaming in MMOs. That's kind of the point, innit?

Anyways, since I'm brand new to the game, I'm not sure about the procedures and etiquette for joining a team. I've yet to see it happen, but one of these days I'm going to click on the social button and see a quest group forming in my level range. When that happens, do I just click another 'join' button and I'm instantly in that group? Is there any sort of dialog that should, as a courtesy, take place beforehand?

How effective is the "looking for team" flag in getting people together? It's annoying as heck to have that big halo over my head, does it work enough for me to want to put up with it?

And what's the most desirable class to team with? I like healing which, in other games, is a near instant 'welcome aboard' for teaming. The rogue's ability to detect traps and open locks also seems welcome. What class should I play that would make other players more willing to put up with my noobishness just to have my abilities on the team?

Finally, how hard is it to find a team that's actually enjoying the quests rather than rushing through them for the fourth time? This is my first pass through and I'd like to take the time to read the quest stories, solve the puzzles, and marvel at the traps and monsters. Is that unlikely at this age of the game? Is there a roleplay server? I'm not so strong into the "act out scenes in the plaza" level of RP, but I enjoy talking about the quests as I'm on them and have found in other games that RPers are most likely to slow down and enjoy the text of an adventure.

Thanks all.

Welcome aboard :)

Joining an LFM - check what the group already has, and if you think your character is just what the group needs, go ahead & click the "join" button. If you're not sure, or have questions, click the "send tell" button instead, and ask.

The LFG flag - as far as I know, no one uses this. If you don't see any groups forming that look right for you, create one and check the "Looking for More" button. It's much more effective than the LFG symbol.

Desired classes - Cleric, always (you knew that, hehe). Wizard or Sorceror for some quests with tough end bosses (people like Magic Missile and some other spell options for the end boss of Shan-to Kor, for example). Rogue, for quests with lots of traps or locked bonus chests. Fighter, Barbarian or Paladin if the group is on the squishy side. And, of course, Rangers & Bards are popular at the higher levels. Monks, I'm not sure about, but they probably fit into at least one of the other categories ;)

For finding slow groups - Check the blurb in the LFM, and join "slow" runs, or avoid "speed"/"zerg" runs. Or make your own groups and include a note that you prefer to take it slow. Or send the leader a tell and ask whether they plan to go slow or fast. There's no guaranteed way to get the kind of group you want, but these strategies can at least help, I hope :)

[Noctus]

Most groups are "fast".

So if you want to go slower and experience the quest as it was planed, which i highly recommned the 1st time you go into a new quest. Many great "Wow, thats cool!" Moments.
Open your own group and put in "slow, no spoilers," or something like that. It will take a bit longer to fill, but you wont get spoilsports or people who let you walk behind them while they solo the quest on their fully twinked out 4th version of Ranger or somesuch.

[cardmj1]

Welcome to Stormreach...

What server are you on? Many servers have a help channel that allows you to chat with other new players and veteran players. Just type in /joinchannel help and to talk or respond to a chat type in /1 <type message here>.

[negative]

As far as "etiquette" for joining groups, here's my advice.

Do not send blind invites. That is, don't send random invites to people you haven't spoken to yet. It is ok to send a blind tell asking if someone wants to group up, but you might not get many groupmates that way. You have no idea if that person wants a group or not.

You best bet is to watch the LFM panel, or put up an LFM yourself, as stated above. If you see an LFM you like, hit join. The party leader then has the choice to accept you into the party or not. The party leader will see you race, classes/levels, name, and guild before they decide. If you fit what the party wanted, most times you'll be accepted right away.

Generally, there is no reason to send a tell to the leader. The most common example I can think of when you would want to, is if you are an odd build that does infact provide what the party is looking for, but your class icon might not explain that well. My personal recommendation is to first hit the join button, and then send the tell right away. You'll get a better response if you do both. Just sending a tell will probably get ignored, same with just hitting the join button, if you weren't what the leader was looking for.

The LFG list/icon is not generally used by the playerbase. Everything is done through the LFM panel so you don't have to run around with that annoying icon up over your head if you don't want to.

[EKKM]

Just a warning - you will find it hard to get a group in the Korthos area until you beat Misery's Peak the first time. To reduce plat farmers/sellers Turbine elected to make completing Korthos a flag to get to stormreach and group with people who can. As a result of this you can't group with people who have either completed Misery's Peak or those who skipped the tutorial (on the beach when you first zone in).

As most low level characters are alts or rerolls, very few do the tutorial and consequently, you will have few options to team up.

When you do get in a group, make sure you let people know you are new to the game. Most will explain things to you/help you. Some may even offer you loot!

[sisterjinx]

what server do you play on?
On most servers you can find groups that will slow down if you let them know you are new. Dont join groups that say *zerg or zergfest* because they are running through just to finish. Often on Argo you will find lfm's that say *No zergers* *team players* or *slow run*. those are great for new folks. I've even seen some that say *noobs welcome* lately. Also if you are on Argo you can look for the low level Boondockers (that's our guild). We are very into sticking together. We might do the quest relatively quickly but we make sure everyone is together and knows what they are doing. We also slow down for new folks. To see what guild someone is in you can always go to the who list and look up the name to see if it's a guild known for going slower or being helpful, and there are quite a few on Argo.
Welcome to the game and good luck.

[Mr_Ed7]

All true according to prvious replies.

If the LFM is in your level range and class, yup go for it JOIN!

[forumizer]

Haha, the joke's on me. Apparently as a trial account user, I'm not allowed to actually talk to what the game calls "regular" players. Now, I'm going to hope that doesn't include teammates. Like, if I joined a group I'd get to talk to them, right?

At the moment I've sampled Sarlona and Thelanis. If Argonnesen's that noob-friendly, I'll have to give that server a peak too.

Thanks everybody.

[Arianrhod]

Haha, the joke's on me. Apparently as a trial account user, I'm not allowed to actually talk to what the game calls "regular" players. Now, I'm going to hope that doesn't include teammates. Like, if I joined a group I'd get to talk to them, right?

At the moment I've sampled Sarlona and Thelanis. If Argonnesen's that noob-friendly, I'll have to give that server a peak too.

Thanks everybody.

Ah, you've found the "no tells" clause. Heh, sorry about that. That's one of the reasons the Help channels were set up (/joinchannel Help, /1 <text> to talk), so new players could communicate, ask questions, get advice, etc. Not all of them are equally active - I've found Khyber to be pretty well staffed, but Thelanis to be kind of empty so far.

I believe you can also talk in Party chat, and of course General, but the "no tells" bit does add an extra level of frustration to trying to get groups set up. If you create your own LFM, might want to put a note ("on Trial, can't send tells") to avoid misunderstandings.

[baddax]

The should change it from LFG to Im an newb and have no clue what to do! :D