The Group Finder is more important in World of Warcraft than most players can admit. We name a few reasons for this.
Over the years, World of Warcraft has changed significantly. Only a few aspects of the game are still as they were in Classic for fans from the beginning in the current “Battle for Azeroth”. One of the most controversial points is still, after years, the Group Finder.
This allows players to find a group for dungeons and raids on lower difficulty levels – from anywhere and without any social interaction.
For some players, it was the best invention in the MMORPG genre, for others, the downfall of all social structures.
The most important point first: There is a large number of players who would never see some content of World of Warcraft without the Group Finder. The reasons are manifold: They do not enjoy playing in guilds, know few people within the game world, or simply do not have enough time to maintain social contacts in virtual life as well.
For these people, who cannot or do not want to spend several hours in a game every evening, the Group Finder is still a blessing.
The Group Finder is irrelevant for the “better” players
What personally surprises me, however, is that many complain about the Group Finder, even though it has no relevance in their daily lives. Because the overwhelming majority of “endgame content”, such as “Mythic+” dungeons or raids from “normal” are not formed through the automatic Group Finder because it cannot do that. There is no automatic assignment of players here.
While you can list your group in a tool and set which dungeon you are looking for people for, this happens manually. That is essentially no different from spamming in the trade channel “LFM Heal & Tank Scholo, then go” and hoping that exactly the people who meet your expectations will respond. And I honestly believe that some particularly loud players do not even realize that searching for a group for a “Mythic+” dungeon essentially runs very traditionally and is not automated.
This can also be illustrated by another problem:
“Checking Raider.io” vs. Group Finder
Many players complain that they are not taken into groups because others check their “Raider.io” profile or certain achievements before taking them along. Or they have to show an item level so high that the corresponding dungeon no longer yields any meaningful rewards.
And that is exactly the flip side of the coin. If players are not “forced” into a group through the dungeon finder, then they have the choice of how they select each other based on their criteria.
But exactly this is a point of criticism that keeps coming up. Those who do not complain that they ended up in a terrible group in the Group Finder during the “fool lottery” are upset that the requirements for “Mythic+” groups are exorbitantly high.
But both groups will never be able to come together. “Mythic+” dungeons are indeed a notch harder than what can be tackled in the Group Finder (Heroic, normal, LFR).
This means there is a chance of failing in these contents, which, in turn, represents “wasted time” for many players. To minimize this chance, they set their own criteria, such as an item level or certain experience verified with sites like raider.io or specific achievements. Also interesting: What we wish for World of Warcraft in 2019.
How will this be in WoW: Classic?
I even believe that certain aspects will also affect Classic WoW. Nowadays, the Internet is much larger and more accessible than it was over a decade ago. I fear that certain prerequisites will also be established for Classic, transcending “we just found ourselves in Ironforge”.
Players’ time has been severely limited in recent years, and those who plan to spend three or four hours in the classic Blackrock Depths will probably filter more strongly than was the case 12 years ago.
Conclusion: Group Finder doesn’t actually disturb
So I conclude that the Group Finder in its current form is actually a good, useful element of the game. It helps immensely in the “easy” content of World of Warcraft and still allows a large group of players to engage with content they would otherwise never see.
For everyone who plays a bit more “seriously” and tackles tougher content, the Group Finder is not usable anyway. They have to search manually or, quite traditionally, build a trusted group of friends.
And if we are honest: The really “antisocial idiots” are in the minority. They just tend to be remembered more often than the hundreds of dungeon runs that went smoothly and successfully or even with a pinch of humor.
But that’s just my opinion on this much-discussed topic. What do you think about it?
