Dungeon Finders in MMORPGs are seen as controversial. For many, they ease the gaming experience, but some players view them as the downfall of social interaction. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has often wished for a Dungeon Finder in recent weeks and sees the change in WoW Classic as controversial.
Dungeon Finders are, for me, one of the best features in modern MMORPGs. I certainly don’t stand alone with this opinion, but there will also be many gamers who are facepalming – as seen in the discussion about WOTLK Classic.
Dungeon Finders are controversial because they make it wonderfully easy to enter a dungeon without having to engage deeply with the group. I don’t need to know the gear score or the names of my teammates, and yet I still have a multiplayer experience.
However, many see this as a problem. MMORPGs have become less personal, and teammates are often just background noise. The great friendships made in youth or university are becoming rarer.
But Dungeon Finders are not to blame for this. I painfully experienced in WoW Burning Crusade Classic and especially in New World how complicated the search for a group for a dungeon can become and how it can isolate you in the guild. I can better build social structures myself.
Tanks and healers switch groups, yet we just can’t move forward
In New World, dungeons have currently become one of the most lucrative and popular gameplay elements. You get good gear there, level your competence quickly, and don’t spend too much time in them, as many players now know the dungeons by heart. With the mutations from the January patch, there is also a decent challenge for PvE fans.
However, the group search in New World is more chaotic than ever, as everyone is searching in the same recruitment chat. This is not only confusing but can also lead to crazy situations, as I experienced yesterday:
- We were a group of four players – three DPS and one tank – and we were looking for a healer for the new dungeon Heart of the Storm. This lasted about 10 minutes.
- Another group was also looking for a player for Heart of the Storm – a tank.
- Suddenly, our tank left the group and joined the other one. However, at the same time, the healer from the other group switched to us. Both groups still couldn’t set off.
- In the end, the healer returned to his old group, and now we needed both a healer and a tank. Annoying.
Admittedly, that was a rare oddity, but the constant searching and spamming in the chat lacks real depth and also does not create new social connections. I didn’t play or chat with any of the other DPS during the waiting time. We just waited – just like in a Dungeon Finder.
Social structures arise from challenges, not from mindless farm content
But Alex, you could have made contacts during the waiting time and perhaps gained new regular players whom you would ask for upcoming dungeon runs. Yes, that’s true. You can do that. But for such mindless farm content like the normal dungeons, I generally don’t need a fixed group.
I can easily run the normal dungeons with randoms, whether from the chat or a dungeon finder.
However, real social connections for me only arise through challenges.
- For example, I prefer to run mutated dungeons in New World with a guild group. I know the players, and they know me. Here, a dungeon isn’t left immediately just because there was a wipe.
- I met more players through two territory wars in New World than in the last 50 dungeon runs combined. Because for the wars, we had to cooperate and exchange.
- When I run a trial in ESO or a raid in Guild Wars 2, I prefer to do it with people I know who I sit in voice chat with.
My best experience in any MMORPG was with my PvP regular group in Guild Wars 1. We met three times a week for training to regularly capture the Hall of Heroes. I won’t forget the players from back then and the moments because they wouldn’t have been possible with randoms.
I find it curious that WoW will be doing without a Dungeon Finder in WOTLK Classic. This could lead to the same problem I had in Burning Crusade Classic. I found no social connection.
Some of my friends leveled up immediately at launch while I first played ESO Blackwood. They were then ready for the raids, while I lacked the level and gear for it.
Of course, they helped me afterward, but they achieved the first kills of the guild without me. With a Dungeon Finder, I could have easily caught up alone while the guild wiped on one or the other boss. But I searched forever for teammates and had to build up slowly.
However, in my guild, the air quickly ran out after the first kills. I never killed Illidan – in case someone wants to take me along!
Dungeon Finders have not ruined MMORPGs, but there needs to be more
For me, dungeons are generally just a means to an end to gear up in ESO or WoW and then later set off into true adventures with my guild – often raids or PvP. It seems that the developers of New World also realize this and are bringing in a Dungeon Finder in the summer.
Dungeon Finders haven’t killed social interaction; they facilitate simple content and grind. However, afterwards, there needs to be something beyond the regular farm content. Something that isn’t so easily accomplished with randoms, which essentially forces me into a guild or regular group.
If that doesn’t exist, the value of social interaction diminishes as well.
At the same time, the guild or regular group cannot be everything. Because if I need it for every game content, I lose the fun of going out alone. And every player eventually has a phase where they just want to listen to a good Netflix series or a podcast in the background instead of using voice chat.
What do you think about the Dungeon Finder? Does every modern MMORPG need this tool? Or are simple LFG tools like the ones in Guild Wars 2 sufficient for you?
Anyone wanting to know how the various MMORPGs currently rank can find my personal tier list here:
Where do the 50 largest MMORPGs currently stand? The tier list 2022
