DFB Channel!

So on Excelsior I have created a DFB channel to help relieve some of the over abundance of DFB requests. It's going to take some work, but I think in the long run it will help everyone. This is for Excelsior Server, however, I'm sure it could work on the other servers as well. Help spread the information!

So on Excelsior I have created a DFB channel to help relieve some of the over abundance of DFB requests.

How horrible, people using the looking for group channel to, you know....look for groups...

It's going to take some work, but I think in the long run it will help everyone. This is for Excelsior Server, however, I'm sure it could work on the other servers as well. Help spread the information!

A channel people are dropped into by default for the express purpose of finding groups vs one someone is making to try to take it upon himself to gatekeep the default channel and funnel the groups he doesn't approve of out of it. A channel he's making that people won't be dumped into by default or even know they exist unless someone happens to tell him.

Yeah. Brilliant. And not elitist at all.

When I am looking for a PUG Task Force, the Chat goes something like this:

DFB

DFB

DFB

DFB

DIB

Random looking for team

DFB

TF

DFB

DFB

DFB

DFB

I tracked the other day around 200 LFG posts, and while the plurality of posts were for DFB/DiB, it wasn't the majority, as it was 44% of the traffic.  There were 2 farm request, and about 10% of the traffic was mistells in the channel.

So honestly, there are just as many DFB/DiB posts as there are for TF, Trials, Incarnate runs, raids, radio/newspaper and regular missions.

The server was Everlasting, so I am sure YMMV, but i would encourage to actually track it.

From what I am seeing, DFB posts aren't a problem that needs fixing.  I was surprised by the data because it felt like 80% of the posts were DFB

I tracked the other day around 200 LFG posts, and while the plurality of posts were for DFB/DiB, it wasn't the majority, as it was 44% of the traffic.  There were 2 farm request, and about 10% of the traffic was mistells in the channel.

 

So honestly, there are just as many DFB/DiB posts as there are for TF, Trials, Incarnate runs, raids, radio/newspaper and regular missions.

 

The server was Everlasting, so I am sure YMMV, but i would encourage to actually track it.

 

From what I am seeing, DFB posts aren't a problem that needs fixing.  I was surprised by the data because it felt like 80% of the posts were DFB

DFB is incredibly popular. It's nothing that needs to be "fixed." Just a quality of Life change that helps people looking for DFB teams to be able to do so easier, while at the same time freeing up some space on the LFG channel.

Edit: I also think other servers could benefit from this as well if they had a DFB channel. Which is why I posted this in General. I'm sure all servers could find this useful.

Global channels are GLOBAL, across all servers, not just one.

Global channels are GLOBAL, across all servers, not just one.

Yeah, was discussing that with somebody...have also been discussing on how to form a server channel. So far we've got nothing, but still working on it.

DFB is incredibly popular. It's nothing that needs to be "fixed." Just a quality of Life change that helps people looking for DFB teams to be able to do so easier, while at the same time freeing up some space on the LFG channel.

How would a global channel make it easier on them? In fact, I've already gone over why the result would be the opposite. The only possible goal here is that last part: Getting them out of the LFG channel.

1. I think DFB recruiters tend to spam a bit more than others. That is only my opinion.

2. At least on Everlasting, DFB requests run about 45% of the total. Again, only what I have seen.

3. DFB spam is on the decline. This is especially notable during the off hours.

4. When you are trying to recruit a PUG you want as many eyeballs on your post as possible. A newbie likely would not know to join a DFB channel much less how to do so. LFG is one of the default channels.

Why do people keep trying to separate the players into little boxes of 'us' and 'them'?

We going to start regulating how people use chat and force them through a tutorial on 'how to play the game the correct way and not tick off the old fuddie-duddies' next?

Some of the posters here literally sound like my late mother who got mad because CNN had added the data streams and she could not keep up with the talking head at the same time.

Ignore the data you don't need, don't try to make the game change to your personal playgroud, enjoy it for what it is -  is how I play.

The problem being that anyone forming a DFB is still going to use the standard LFG channel, even if they are also in the global. Simply because they will reach a wider audience that way, since not everyone is going to be in the global channel. Many new comers might not even realize global channels exist. So it wont likely have much effect on minimizing DFB spam in the LFG channel.

For example:

Timmy joins DFB Channel.

Timmy wants to form a DFB team.

Timmy spams in DFB channel

Timmy also spams in normal LFG channel.

-Status Quo remains the same .

1. I think DFB recruiters tend to spam a bit more than others. That is only my opinion.

It’s not the "DFB group lfm, pst" messages that seem to be the most obtrusive in the LFG channel, it's when I see four or five "lf DFB team" messages after the message about the DFB team looking for more people. The player trying to fill their team is making an active effort, but the 'lf team' messages popping up afterwards feel like "I can't be bothered to read the channel and make an effort to find a group or start one; find me and invite me".

That said, I don't say anything in game about it; raising a stink over it is just going to make the game less enjoyable for everyone. Everyone probably has something other players do that they're unhappy with, but it's not worth trying to shoehorn them into your preferences.

1. I think DFB recruiters tend to spam a bit more than others. That is only my opinion.

 

It’s not the "DFB group lfm, pst" messages that seem to be the most obtrusive in the LFG channel, it's when I see four or five "lf DFB team" messages after the message about the DFB team looking for more people. The player trying to fill their team is making an active effort, but the 'lf team' messages popping up afterwards feel like "I can't be bothered to read the channel and make an effort to find a group or start one; find me and invite me".

 

That said, I don't say anything in game about it; raising a stink over it is just going to make the game less enjoyable for everyone. Everyone probably has something other players do that they're unhappy with, but it's not worth trying to shoehorn them into your preferences.

Agreed. There are a lot of players who lft, while others are lfm. It's strange to me, but like you, I don't say anything about it. It will just give trolls bait to troll anyway.

What I will also see, is two or sometimes even three DFB teams trying to form one right after the next. So instead of joining forces to build a team faster, they would rather compete against each other to fill their own teams.

What I will also see, is two or sometimes even three DFB teams trying to form one right after the next. So instead of joining forces to build a team faster, they would rather compete against each other to fill their own teams.

So?

It bothers you enough to mention it here, how does it actually impact your gameplay though?

Are you just unable to see anything that does not fit into your narrative as anything other than 'wrong'?

Why do you think you need to 'correct' these players or that they are doing something 'bad'?

Your wish to make it change has to be rooted in something...why do you think it's on you or anyone to make these players change?

I've noticed that people really like to chat and argue and complain in any channel they please. It really defeats the purpose of having a Help Channel, LFG Channel, etc,  if you have unrelated chat going on constantly. I seem to remember the chat not being so cluttered all the time, are there more selections in the default chat tab on Homecoming than there used to be? It sure seems a few hundred are producing more chat than I recall on Live and I was on Virtue. Granted we can edit the Tabs if we wish to, but even though most of my playtime is early AM on Reunion, I often have to scroll back through the queue to read a relevant text.

I think you’d be more successful starting a channel for people NOT looking for DFB teams. On Everlasting we have at least one TF recruitment channel. I could also see a “PuG” channel, or “PuG 50+” channel gaining some momentum.

As noted, you are essentially trying to start a private channel for people who don’t know they even exists yet. :p

Let them have LFG. It is where they belong. People like us (higher level, more knowledgeable, more discerning) could take our specific needs to a new channel specifically for that.

With all that said, it’s totally hopeless in my opinion all together. I think there isn’t quite enough of a population to make these kinds of public facing private channels to gain enough momentum to become useful.

I've noticed that people really like to chat and argue and complain in any channel they please. It really defeats the purpose of having a Help Channel, LFG Channel, etc,  if you have unrelated chat going on constantly. I seem to remember the chat not being so cluttered all the time, are there more selections in the default chat tab on Homecoming than there used to be? It sure seems a few hundred are producing more chat than I recall on Live and I was on Virtue. Granted we can edit the Tabs if we wish to, but even though most of my playtime is early AM on Reunion, I often have to scroll back through the queue to read a relevant text.

Chat on Live, IME, was no different.

There were people on Live making the same tired complaints - "make those people I don't want to listen to stop talking"...

We saw complaints about powerleveling, DFB, AE Farming, etc. 'chat spamming' throughout the history of the game on Live.

Now it seems like the crowd got older and crankier and just hates the fact they cannot keep up with every IM like it's a job/obligation/imperitive or something, or that other players have the audacity to be chatting about things they don't care about or something...

Enough so that some propose to 'fix' something that is not broken...

Do the people that want these kinds of changes really think they can change human nature through code in a video game?

Really?

What I will also see, is two or sometimes even three DFB teams trying to form one right after the next. So instead of joining forces to build a team faster, they would rather compete against each other to fill their own teams.

One day, I was on a team - six of us, looking for two more.

There was also another team of six, looking for three more, all standing in the same place.

More people than could just merge into a single team.  And both teams were on their third run, and at least somewhat familiar with the existing team-mate's abilities and approach to combat.

What I will also see, is two or sometimes even three DFB teams trying to form one right after the next. So instead of joining forces to build a team faster, they would rather compete against each other to fill their own teams.

 

So?

 

It bothers you enough to mention it here, how does it actually impact your gameplay though?

 

Are you just unable to see anything that does not fit into your narrative as anything other than 'wrong'?

 

Why do you think you need to 'correct' these players or that they are doing something 'bad'?

 

Your wish to make it change has to be rooted in something...why do you think it's on you or anyone to make these players change?

lol, settle down there, Bevis. I don't say a word to them. I just think its silly.

lol, settle down there, Bevis. I don't say a word to them. I just think its silly.

OK, if it's just 'silly' why do you want them quarantined to their own chat channel?

lol, settle down there, Bevis. I don't say a word to them. I just think its silly.

 

OK, if it's just 'silly' why do you want them quarantined to their own chat channel?

I think no one is suggesting PEOPLE be quarantined in their own channel, but there is a wide swath of players who feel that LFG is swamped with DFB

Personally, I was one of those people until I started tracking it.  Now on Everlasting, only 45% of LFG chats involve DFB/DiB, 10% are Mistells, and the rest are all other categories (LFT, Running Missions, TF/Trials/Incarnate, Radio/Mayhem Missions, etc).  So the overwhelming plurality of chats are DFB, but not the majority.

Regardless, that wide swath of players want to separate those chats (not people) into a different tab, to provide more visibility for the content they are interested in.  That's not wrong...It easy ridiculously easy to find and fill a DFB team...It is significantly more difficult to recruit for any other content..

My thoughts on the solution would be to create a new systemic Server Channel for DFB.  It would appear as a tab on everyone's characters and it would cause people who want DFB to gravitate towards.  Additionally, people in the LFG would politely I hope push DFB requests in LFG to the DFB channel.  DFB players are going to go wherever they can get traction and successfully fill a team.  Having their own channel means they can fill teams faster...No harm to anyone, no difficulty for anyone, everyone wins...

I think the OP's approach is doomed.  It is going to be much easier to find a team on systemic Server channel, than having to find and join a Global Channel, having to modify how they post (add your Character Name) and still find they have a limited audience to recruit from.  Short of my suggestion (which requires Dev work), I think the only way to make this happen is doing the opposite of the OP's suggestion and creating a new channel for everything else...Everlasting has a TF channel that currently has 579 people logged into it...In the current landscape, I think it's easier for people who are annoyed by chat channels to create their own mechanisms for themselves, rather than hoping a bunch of people will jump on an idea to make it harder for themselves to team, when the current landscape is so easy for them...

 

I think no one is suggesting PEOPLE be quarantined in their own channel, but there is a wide swath of players who feel that LFG is swamped with DFB

 

Yeah?

Just because a few individuals are tired of seeing something in a chat box is not a reason for making everyone conform to thier narrow view of how things 'should be'.

Hall Monitors.

It's not even some kind of derogatory hate speech either, it's people just playing the damn game.

This is literally screaming 'get off my lawn' at them...

...and, we disagree that there are players that want to quarantine everyone into little boxes. :)

lol, settle down there, Bevis. I don't say a word to them. I just think its silly.

 

OK, if it's just 'silly' why do you want them quarantined to their own chat channel?

 

I think no one is suggesting PEOPLE be quarantined in their own channel, but there is a wide swath of players who feel that LFG is swamped with DFB

 

Personally, I was one of those people until I started tracking it.  Now on Everlasting, only 45% of LFG chats involve DFB/DiB, 10% are Mistells, and the rest are all other categories (LFT, Running Missions, TF/Trials/Incarnate, Radio/Mayhem Missions, etc).  So the overwhelming plurality of chats are DFB, but not the majority.

 

Regardless, that wide swath of players want to separate those chats (not people) into a different tab, to provide more visibility for the content they are interested in.  That's not wrong...It easy ridiculously easy to find and fill a DFB team...It is significantly more difficult to recruit for any other content..

 

My thoughts on the solution would be to create a new systemic Server Channel for DFB.  It would appear as a tab on everyone's characters and it would cause people who want DFB to gravitate towards.  Additionally, people in the LFG would politely I hope push DFB requests in LFG to the DFB channel.  DFB players are going to go wherever they can get traction and successfully fill a team.  Having their own channel means they can fill teams faster...No harm to anyone, no difficulty for anyone, everyone wins...

 

I think the OP's approach is doomed.  It is going to be much easier to find a team on systemic Server channel, than having to find and join a Global Channel, having to modify how they post (add your Character Name) and still find they have a limited audience to recruit from.  Short of my suggestion (which requires Dev work), I think the only way to make this happen is doing the opposite of the OP's suggestion and creating a new channel for everything else...Everlasting has a TF channel that currently has 579 people logged into it...In the current landscape, I think it's easier for people who are annoyed by chat channels to create their own mechanisms for themselves, rather than hoping a bunch of people will jump on an idea to make it harder for themselves to team, when the current landscape is so easy for them...

Agreed. I'm going to look in to it when I get home tonight to see if (I should have already done this) a TF channel already exists on Excelsior. If it doesn't, I may attempt that rout instead and leave LFG for everything else.

And yes, everything Justice said is correct. I have no harmful intentions here. I just would like to see everyone have a  easier experience forming their teams. We are adults...we all have our own ideas how to make the game better. My idea was one of them. Nothing more.

I think we as players need to try harder to not get our feathers ruffled. Everyone wants to make the game better because we all love this game. This is why most of us kept in touch on Facebook even after all these years. We are a tight knit community. Let's stop treating each other like we are on forums, and start treating one another like we are face to face, at our own private community meet a d greet.  :)

I think we as players need to try harder to not get our feathers ruffled. Everyone wants to make the game better because we all love this game. This is why most of us kept in touch on Facebook even after all these years. We are a tight knit community. Let's stop treating each other like we are on forums, and start treating one another like we are face to face, at our own private community meet a d greet.  :)

And I _honestly_ think that trying to do the things you are tyring to do is directly harmful to the community, so I wi fight the idea.

I would say all of these things the same way to you or anyone, I talk to my spouse, bosses, friends and enemies all with the same openess about what I think about what they said.

This constant refrain of 'put these players here and those players there' goes directly against the whole idea of CoH IMO.

We have sidekicking and all of the other tools so that all levels and all players can play together all the time.

Separating the community into smaller chunks for such 'silly' reasons as not liking the fact some players don't read or are 'lazy' does nothing to further the creation of a larger community, it simply divides it into chunks for those poeple that like to be in the 'right' box.

This idea like many of the others I see proposed is _also_ trying to change human nature through code.

I see this everyday in RL in addition to game forums.

From my PoV, just another form of control to force players to follow a pre-determined narrative rather than finding thier own path.

This is me, raw and unfiltered, exactly as if you were here sharing my puff-puff.

:)

One possible solution would allow for each of us to check a level range to see texts from in the LFG channel. Then each individual could tailor the channel to their needs. If I'm on a 50 the DFB chatter isn't very relevant, and incarnate chatter doesn't do much for 20s.