Raid frustrations

[BeastNHisHarlot.4865]

Been playing the game for over a year now. I've mained fractals and have enjoyed the LFG PUG experience due to how easy and quick it is to find groups no matter what time of day it is. Attempting to raid, however, has been one of the worst experiences I've had in this game by far. Due to having a full time job and working different and inconsistent days, I cannot join the "at reset" groups. That also means that I cannot join statics because I may work that day.  This leaves LFG.  At the only time that I can join, there are never any groups running raids. Creating your own results in sitting and waiting for 45 minutes to create a squad, but you can't command because you don't have eniugh experience and no one will join a group without a commander. Further, if I'm lucky enough to see a group on LFG, it is likely that it is a high KP join or a CM. I've thoroughly enjoyed this game up until now, but I cannot stand sitting and looking at the LFG for a raid encounter or to start a group in the hopes that it fills within a reasonable amount of time. 

 

It makes me wonder where the Steam players are. The game honestly feels dead when you aren't trying to simply comb through the mindless open world activities.

 

This has just been a quick rant with some hope for a solution as I feel myself losing enjoyment with this game each week due to having no option to clear raids as a solo player without a consistent play schedule.

[Warscythes.9307]

I work a full time job and pug just fine. Don't see KP or CM only as well. My strikes usually fill up in about 10 minutes.

 

When you create a group, do you actually use the correct language? Because that is likely the biggest issue for most people trying to create one themselves. Nobody is gonna know what is fast 5, ala quick etc if they never done it before.

 

There's also always raid training discords, just sign up and wait for pings. Is fairly active. 

GW2 Raid Academy (NA) - Discord

https://discord.com › invite › gw2ra

 

Is the NA one. Just check that out.

[Linken.6345]

OP are you Na?

I hear the raid scene over there is more heavily tied to discord and guilds.

So find 1-2 guilds that do it on different days and ask if you can join even if you cant join every time they do it.

[BeastNHisHarlot.4865]

1 hour ago, Warscythes.9307 said:

I work a full time job and pug just fine. Don't see KP or CM only as well. My strikes usually fill up in about 10 minutes.

 

When you create a group, do you actually use the correct language? Because that is likely the biggest issue for most people trying to create one themselves. Nobody is gonna know what is fast 5, ala quick etc if they never done it before.

 

There's also always raid training discords, just sign up and wait for pings. Is fairly active. 

GW2 Raid Academy (NA) - Discord

https://discord.com › invite › gw2ra

 

Is the NA one. Just check that out.

Thank you for the discord.  I have tried a few different ones but I have had little success.

 

I have plenty of success with forming groups for strikes, including CMs and am familiar with the appropriate language to use when asking for groups.  Raids just don't fill for a multitude of reasons.  

 

I will give the discord a shot.  It has to be better than the LFG in the game.

[BeastNHisHarlot.4865]

53 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

OP are you Na?

I hear the raid scene over there is more heavily tied to discord and guilds.

So find 1-2 guilds that do it on different days and ask if you can join even if you cant join every time they do it.

I am on NA and I may have to try that out. The three guilds I have tried to run instanced content haven't worked out due to my job as it seems that slots are frequently filled by players who can more reliably be on during their raid timings.

[Moradorin.6217]

You may want to consider getting a commander tag so you can just start a squad and put it up in lfg. If you are new to the Wing just make sure you research everything very well and be up front that its progression/training. If you are XP in the wing just make a squad and get 9 more ppl.

 

From my experience not many people want to bother commanding raids but plenty of people will join them to fill roles and help. I myself dont tag up much for raids these days cause its more work for the same rewards and people complain to the commander allot. However, when I needed Li to make armor & ring I ended up tagging up pretty frequently. If you are new to it just be open and chill and if people wana be toxic just be polite back as best you can and kick them from the party if its too much trouble for ya. 😃 Hope that helps. I know seeing an empty lfg can feel frustrating.

[Warscythes.9307]

36 minutes ago, BeastNHisHarlot.4865 said:

Thank you for the discord.  I have tried a few different ones but I have had little success.

 

I have plenty of success with forming groups for strikes, including CMs and am familiar with the appropriate language to use when asking for groups.  Raids just don't fill for a multitude of reasons.  

 

I will give the discord a shot.  It has to be better than the LFG in the game.

RA discord is a very old discord that has been running this sort of thing for years. You will do fine there as long as you select your role. They also do very frequent training runs as well with only very basic expectations such as you have a coherent build.

[Woof.8246]

Yeah there's a bit a problem for any newcomer.

There  might be people that have the same problem and they don't actively join in forums

............

...........

Hopefully soon the instance population and Arenanet could come up with a solution .

............

Edited September 16, 2022 by Woof.8246

[pfuetzi.5421]

Maybe it is a NA thing but in EU I rarely got problems finding groups. Also, when I started I invested some time to really know the encounter mechanics and practiced a bit at the golem to evaluate my dps. Then I joined groups with kp requirements for the easy bosses and said: "Hey, I don't have kp, but would like to participate. I know all the mechanics and practiced at the golem. Would be cool if you let me try as I really want to get into raids"

Sometimes, I was kicked but mostly, I could stay (especially for the likes of VG/Cairn) and as my damage was in fact very solid, noone complained after the first bosses 😉 

Edited September 16, 2022 by pfuetzi.5421

[BeastNHisHarlot.4865]

3 hours ago, pfuetzi.5421 said:

Maybe it is a NA thing but in EU I rarely got problems finding groups. Also, when I started I invested some time to really know the encounter mechanics and practiced a bit at the golem to evaluate my dps. Then I joined groups with kp requirements for the easy bosses and said: "Hey, I don't have kp, but would like to participate. I know all the mechanics and practiced at the golem. Would be cool if you let me try as I really want to get into raids"

Sometimes, I was kicked but mostly, I could stay (especially for the likes of VG/Cairn) and as my damage was in fact very solid, noone complained after the first bosses 😉 

It is also a function of the time that I play.  The largest problem is that I cannot even get 9 other people to join most days.  I honestly can advertise a wing 6 full clear group and not get but a couple of people to join within the first 20 minutes.  It is too common for me to sit with a group on the LFG for an hour and still not fill as people drop in and out the longer it sits.  And as far as other groups on the in-game LFG, there aren't any.  I have the obligatory pay for clear spammers that I havent blocked yet, but there aren't others to join.  Its only on rare occasion that I will see a group that is available. 

 

I just find it frustrating that I am at a point where I cannot play content due to there being no one to play with.  I have spend my off time this week looking at now 2 screens for an LFG with next to no success.  PUGing wings 1-4 isn't too hard and i can get them consistently; however, it has been the largest chore to find 5-7.  I would love to switch to EU as they seem to actually be active when I am playing unlike NA.

[Sarius.9285]

On 9/15/2022 at 8:03 PM, BeastNHisHarlot.4865 said:

The game honestly feels dead when you aren't trying to simply comb through the mindless open world activities.

true, often there are are only 2-4 actual raid lfg between the sellers and recruit spammers.

 

Opening you own group can take anywhere from 10-50 minutes as well

[pfuetzi.5421]

That sounds difficult indeed. Would it be an option to schedule and advertise your group beforehand via the forum or other means? There are probalby people that would enjoy to join but it might be hard to coordinate with just the lfg 😕

[The Boz.2038]

On 9/15/2022 at 8:03 PM, BeastNHisHarlot.4865 said:

This leaves LFG

This leaves a load of guilds and discords that do raids "regularly", on unfixed schedules. Maybe try for one of those?

[Bakeneko.5826]

2 hours ago, The Boz.2038 said:

This leaves a load of guilds and discords that do raids "regularly", on unfixed schedules. Maybe try for one of those?

"Training guild, but we take old members first, maybe one trainee, if he is our friend" guilds are THE best, imho

[Moradorin.6217]

On 9/16/2022 at 8:14 AM, BeastNHisHarlot.4865 said:

It is also a function of the time that I play.  The largest problem is that I cannot even get 9 other people to join most days.  I honestly can advertise a wing 6 full clear group and not get but a couple of people to join within the first 20 minutes.  It is too common for me to sit with a group on the LFG for an hour and still not fill as people drop in and out the longer it sits.  And as far as other groups on the in-game LFG, there aren't any.  I have the obligatory pay for clear spammers that I havent blocked yet, but there aren't others to join.  Its only on rare occasion that I will see a group that is available. 

 

I just find it frustrating that I am at a point where I cannot play content due to there being no one to play with.  I have spend my off time this week looking at now 2 screens for an LFG with next to no success.  PUGing wings 1-4 isn't too hard and i can get them consistently; however, it has been the largest chore to find 5-7.  I would love to switch to EU as they seem to actually be active when I am playing unlike NA.

make sure your lfg is specific. If people are slow to join my try adding things like XP + KP, chill, or even training/progression depending want you wana do. Odd hours can be slower but I still can make raid squads at like 3 am or any time. Granted some times it is slower. Thats usually a good time to play some fashion wars or do little tasks while u wait.

[TheQuickFox.3826]

It probably depends on your server (EUR/NA) and time you like to play. I'm at EUR server and play roughly between 20.30 and 01:00 local time and I don't have much trouble finding training groups in LFG.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/118753-overcoming-raid-anxiety/#comment-1720087

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by TheQuickFox.3826

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

It feels like on NA after everyone got their emboldened mode boss kills raids just stop being listed. if you open up the raid LFG on NA its like a dozen raid sellers and maybe a progression group that is "recruiting", not actually running. This game just doesn't have a good enough grouping system for raids IMO.

 

It barely works for dungeons, Fractals and other 5man content, and the only reason it works super well for strikes is because despite being 10man they're not that difficult outside of a few CMs. Plus, players first run of strikes give a ton of Mystic Clovers, mastery points,turtle,  etc, so there's always new blood trying to run them even for the more casual aspects of PvE. Legendary armor is a bit of a niche, sadly.

 

Maybe if raids were more rewarding outside of the Legendary armor grind, we'd see more interest. But the effort (mostly in grouping, not doing them) to reward ratio is very low. Especially when you sometimes have to spend up to half an hour getting players and sorting out builds, which turns really sour if you start failing bosses and players are leaving and repeating the process all over again when new ones join.

 

I've talked about all the problems with this and other systems regarding raids before but all I ever get is "you're just not trying hard enough, you need to try harder", from the playerbase, whether its grouping or skill or anything else, the answer is always "just make more effort".

 

I can only imagine that half the players in this game are under 30 and have alot of free time and energy and don't know what its like to be exhausted 24/7 or why accessibility is important. Arguing that anything in this game should be made better for everyone is always a recipe for disaster it seems..

Edited September 26, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[firedragon.8953]

First, I'm not going to lie, getting a group in NA can be hard, especially outside of "prime time."
I live in Japan, so my time zone really made me struggle to learn raids as well since most training groups run NA times.

I did eventually finish both my first PvE leggy armor and Coalescence, so it is possible and encourage you not to give up! Once you've raided more it gets easier, you can make own exp groups easier, and you of course also make friends and connections with other raiders who likely will be playing when you do.

For NA, most new raiders go to the Raid Academy discord. This is where I learned most of my raids, and then ran some practices and clear runs. It's pretty easy to join groups forming up as well as create your own.

But yeah, I agree, it actually really sucks that there's so many hoops to jump through to get into raiding and to continue doing it. There is definitely a higher wall than most other content. It would be nice if it was as easy as popping open lfg and just going at it whenever you feel like it. I'm guessing it is partly due to the importance of communication for raids, so lots of groups are Discord based? Aerodrome always seems to have people standing around though, and I am guessing they are there for raids...hmm..

[TheQuickFox.3826]

If this is a current NA problem then perhaps this game needs better rewards for players commanding/organizing raid groups. As MightyTeapot recently said: Running training groups for raids and strikes is quite some extra work beyond just playing it and there is no reward for doing so. And it takes both confidence and leadership skills which not everyone has.

 

 

[Nash.2681]

8 hours ago, TheQuickFox.3826 said:

If this is a current NA problem then perhaps this game needs better rewards for players commanding/organizing raid groups. As MightyTeapot recently said: Running training groups for raids and strikes is quite some extra work beyond just playing it and there is no reward for doing so. And it takes both confidence and leadership skills which not everyone has.

 

 

Add "there's always that someone knowing everything better" to the list. At least that's the main reason why I very rarely tag up for Pug raid squads. It's just too tiresome to constantly deal with self proclaimed "know it alls" nitpicking on minor or even irrelevant stuff. Even worse in actual trainings that don't aim for kills but for learning new roles, getting used to mechanics, etc.

[Moradorin.6217]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:41 PM, firedragon.8953 said:

But yeah, I agree, it actually really sucks that there's so many hoops to jump through to get into raiding and to continue doing it. There is definitely a higher wall than most other content. It would be nice if it was as easy as popping open lfg and just going at it whenever you feel like it. I'm guessing it is partly due to the importance of communication for raids, so lots of groups are Discord based? Aerodrome always seems to have people standing around though, and I am guessing they are there for raids...hmm..

I mean it actually is just that easy in a sense. You can just pop up an lfg (if you have a tag) and ask for the support roles + kp (or specify no kp/training) and people will join and you can just do the content. I did this frequently because I play at odd hours.

For sure the need for communication or at least for each person to be able to fulfill the role they have chosen to perform and that people understand the mechanics or are willing to work on progressing as a group. 

Its harder to keep a squad of 10 pugs together when doing training/progression. Even when people have studied guides, etc the failure rate will tend to be higher and some people often feel the presure and leave early. This can become an issue because it forces everyone to wait and people can burn out, especially under the extra stress of learning.

Discord helps allot. Not gona lie. However, when I was running training raids allot w pugs I honesly just made a little copy/paste sheet for each boss I could use to give quick direcrtions via text quickly. It can work, but takes some prep.

Just saying, allot of the time it feels like so many wana raid, but no one wants to tag up, then half the people who dont wana tag also wana blame the comm and kitten at the com when people are slow to rc up, DCs, etc, etc (all the little things that can slow down the clear).

I think people could be more willing to tag up and others could be more respectful of people willing to tag and rather than complain just offer politely to help w what ever seems lacking. Also Im inclined to agree that the tag should get some kinda extra benefit cause its a pain to command vs just join and lfg and kitten at the com when things go sideways.

 

I watched the teapot vid too last week about commanding and tend to agree.

[firedragon.8953]

5 hours ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

I mean it actually is just that easy in a sense. You can just pop up an lfg (if you have a tag) and ask for the support roles + kp (or specify no kp/training) and people will join and you can just do the content.

Yeah, I've done this enough. My comment was more directed at new raiders who are very unlikely to do this.

Because...

5 hours ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

people could be more willing to tag up and others could be more respectful of people willing to tag and rather than complain just offer politely to help w what ever seems lacking. 

 

Also...

5 hours ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

harder to keep a squad of 10 pugs together

I'm going to go out on a limb and say not just for trainings. I've had pugs rage quit after one wipe. Sometimes they were the reason for the wipe, too. lol Sometimes a PUG avalanche of drop outs ensues. If people filling anything non-dps drop out, it gets really annoying, i.e., not fun. This is more of a "community" thing, and why I generally don't do 100% PUG runs (need at least 4-5 friends) because well...although it can be done, it's just not much of a good time. It's a problem, and I don't see a great solution. This is probably one reason why 5-man content (fractals) are more popular and PUG listings are much more common--just easier to organize.

I think giving a "comm bonus" for instanced group content is definitely a good idea. I think I mentioned something like this a while back in some post somewhere as well.

 

 

[Ukronblake.8265]

I'm glad I've returned to WoW where there is LFR 😉

[Cyninja.2954]

2 hours ago, Ukronblake.8265 said:

I'm glad I've returned to WoW where there is LFR 😉

 

We are glad you are glad in WoW.

[Linken.6345]

4 hours ago, Ukronblake.8265 said:

I'm glad I've returned to WoW where there is LFR 😉

Also glad your happy with lfr that is world boss level difficulty in this game.