Suggestion for a bigger overhaul of the LFG categories (full layout)

Luthan.5236 · January 9

[ @Moderation: I know there is another thread that recently got opened. But that seemd more about the recent changes. I would - if possible - like to have this one for my suggestion since I tried to look at the whole thing making a suggestion for the whole layout. Not small changes for one or two parts. Would prefer to have it as own thread with this in the top post.]

So ... we recently had some threads about the LFG system. And some changes to it recently. I am not happy with it yet. More stuff got added - which is not a bad idea. (Certain stuff was put into Central Tyria when it fits better in the own categories/sections it has now - like RIBA squads.) There is still "too much". And I think the system should be easy to navigate - especially for new players using it the first time. We have "categories" with only one section (the bottom ones, for achievement, guilds and mentoring) and the story section ... does not really seem to relevant. (Imo this should be merged into the individual sections for the expansions/seasons. For season one it basically is mainly story - since there are no new maps. Does not really make sense to have an extra cateogry with a section for each chapter placed in order with the other seasons - where usually the maps are placed.)

I think the main task should be to reduce the overall categories (the "big" stuff you need to click on first) - having a favorites list maybe. And maybe adding stuff that does not really fit with with other stuff together (the categories with only one section) in a Miscellaneous category. (Leave that expanded by default so people immediately see that is in there.) Also maybe letting it remember which categories you expanded before.

Making a "small" suggestion here:
(I put expanded the whole thing - every category - and put it into a text file and played around a bit making modifications. Suggested order as shown here. My comments in [].)

---

[We keep this at the top since this are areas accessible by all players. Can be used regularly even if you have finished most of the story stuff - when you still like to do some bosses every now and then. The "Living World" section is not needed. Enough of this in other categories. Remove the "Central Tyria" text before the Parties/Squads thing. Not sure if we actually need both there as well. This mainly had been used for stuff like RIBA ... and the daily JP portal annoucers. Maybe name the overall category "Central Tyria / Wizard's Vault" so people offering help for the vault stuff could place it there in the parties/squads. For the festivals see my reason below at the area where the festival category usually would have appeared. I think we do not need 2 sections for squads. And for smaller achievements the party thing always can be used. Parties vs squads is needed though. Especially at halloween with the lab having squads and people looking for Ascent to Madness for parties only.]

[This makes sense. Map-wise categories starting from season 2 make sense. For other gameplay elements the "Rift Hunting & Convergences" is enough. Add one for the Story at the bottom - should be rarely used mainly for story achievement help requests. Maybe make name it "Story (Achievements") - I would expecct the people to put in Wizard's tower achievement - like the "keep it up thing" there as well as the story instanced stuff. Map achievements and meta squads in the map-specifig sections.]

[The Steel and Fire afaik is just one strike - should be there or if there is extra stuff ... in the story section that can be used for story instanced achievement help. Champions is for Dragonstorm and the DRMs. Maybe mention that a bit there?]

Living World: Season 2 & 1
|- Dry Top
|- The Silverwastes
|- Story (Season 2)
|- Story (Season 1)

[Add a Story for the other categories above. No further changes required. But removing the own "Story Journal" category later. Merge the season 1 - that mainly has story achivements + easy map stuff in core maps ... into here. We do not need one extra section for a small each story chapter. The map achievements probably can be solved easily with the wiki and/or asking in the map. If really needed a person could open an lfg either in the Story (Season 1) thing or better in the Central Tyria category at the top.]

[Story Journal category removed - yeah, one less at the top view.]

[Festivals removed - there are mostly in central Tyria and since they are only available for a limited time I'd prefer to see them more prominent at the top - included in the Central Tyria category. People put the labyrinth in there anyways - in both categories sometimes at halloween. One less category.)

Fractals of the Mists
|- Initiate Scales 1-25
|- Adept Scales 26-50
|- Expert Scales 51-75
|- Master Scales 76-100

[The dungeons, strikes and raids above the WvW/PvP. To have PvE first - since it is interesting to more people. Since we merge categories the other stuff should not go that much to the bottom - not needing much more scrolling or even needing less. Keep the "Experienced" at the top - this should be used regular for people replaying stuff. Needed more often. Put the modes in order of difficulty/time. Dungeons as easiest thing at the top. Then Strikes and Raids with Strikes first as they are faster. Story mode does not need a training thing ... should not be played that often - all parties can post there. Probably used by new players the most though. The fractals in an extra category. Just fits so well with that sorting and the way the achievements - especially the dailies - are set up. Maybe add an extra section for CMs at the bottom? Having it even before the "Dungeons/Strikes/Raids" section cause it is the easiest+shortest - at least with the lowest tiers. Therefore interesting for a bigger amount of playes.]

[Trash one category - so we can have less categories with more sections instead of a ton of categories with only 2-3 sections. WvW at the top - should be mores interesting for most people Squads there above parties since this is more focused on squads. For PvP we keep the order - ranked above unranked since it is more important. Tournaments as a kind of thing less people might play ... at the bottom.]

[Trash the "Achievement Hunters Central" - if anyone knows achievements that actually can need help where people might be promoted to try a lfg ... where it would not fit into any other section ... then maybe suggest it and we can add/weak the other sections?]

Misc
|- Guilds
|- Mentors
|- Role-Play

[These really re barely used. Merge them all. Only one thing for Role-Play - they can announce if they want to use squads or parties lol. But the chat probably will be /say chat for role players. Guilds are used for rp as well I guess. And for mentoring/helping new players. Therefore "guilds" at the top. You could just name that whole category "Guilds / Mentors / Role-Play" or have these 3 stay at top without a category. Or that thing auto-expanded by default if you name it "Misc" - so people quickly know what is in there. An "achievement hunters" thing actually could be placed in there as well though. If we really want/need it. Fits well with the mentor stuff. It maybe could be used for stuff like JP in general - when they are not at a daily.)

Edit: Now you can discuss. If I counted correctly it would leave is with 13 categories left - up to where the PvP category is now (including that one) ... 9 below that get removed. No scrolling at the left (at least in my resolution / UI size) when nothign is expanded.

Edited January 9 by Luthan.5236

Debesyla.7102 · January 10

The less categories, the better

kiri.1467 · January 10

On 1/10/2024 at 9:20 PM, Debesyla.7102 said:

The less categories, the better

Agreed. Most (dare I say all) maps do not need their own ~~category~~ section (edited for clarity).

Edited January 13 by kiri.1467

Robbes.2317 · January 11

Your suggestion about putting a story section for each section is both cool and bad. Having its own category can house all of the story so you dont have to search thru all the categories to find someone who needs help or something u can just go to story category and see immediately. You said it yourself, sometimes less is more.

The whole system needs to be reworked and brought out from the dark ages.

It should show which categories have any activity, so its easier to see instead of having to open everything to find a random party you were looking for.

I also wish there was a train category for world bosses/metas/infusions/bounties.

Thats what ppl are interested in anyway.

Luthan.5236 · January 11

To clarify: With "category" I mean the big thing on top. "Section" I mean the smaller (actually smaller in size) entries on the left. It could also work to have only the categories in the left ... then on the right with another dropdown for example (when you click on "fractals" on the left) the different sections for the different tiers.

For the story I think it would make sense cause the actual categories area already named by story - not by the map/region. For Cantha we do not have "Cantha" but instead "End of Dragons" - then the map names there. People might actually overlook that there is a different category for story and if they play in a certain order ... being at the EoD maps and doing some map stuff. Then some story.

Of course there can be people that just rush to unlock all the maps ... then after that staying just in story to complete achievements (not in need of the map specific stuff and preferring to have the story lfg tabs easier grouped together). ArenaNet should have a better overview (numbers) on how often certain sections are actually used.

Suggestion for a bigger overhaul of the LFG categories (full layout)

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