Grouping

[kilderkin]

I have been with LOTRO and SOTSF for one year now (happy anniversary). But I still don't understand how one gets a group together to do a quest. In one year every group quest I have initiated (other than popular instances) has been with one of three kin members. If they are not on I simply cannot get a group up. I can join other people's group, but I cannot start one of my own.

This is supposed to be the second busiest server, but when I look at the fellowing tab on the group dialog outside of Bree or Moria, hardly anyone is present in the zone. I spend hours "spamming" LFF with an occasional nibble, but never enough to get a full group. I've tried glff but they are just too rude to deal with. I am fairly sure spamming doesn't work, and just annoys people, but know that a single post to LFF is pointless.

So after a year of this game, I have to fall down and beg you: How does one get a group together in this game? I was told by one kin member that "you want to do the quests no one else does." Is this the case? Is there a list somewhere of the uncool quests, so I can stop embarrassing myself by asking for help with them?

[kilderkin]

Three hours of standing around spamming LFF. Still no nibble.

Let me ask a stupid question: does LFF cover the region, or just the immediate vicinity? As in, am I wasting my time by using LFF to begin with?

[Tule]

LFF is just the zone. For Moria I think it covers all of Moria.

It also depends on what you're doing. A lot of players are up at max level interested in only done a couple things (new instances, or new solo quests). Lower level players have all the solo options now and tend to not ask for help. It's probably a fact of the game being so old, and so many solo options now.

But sometimes you have to have a group. The instances, some tough areas, etc.

[kilderkin]

If LFF is just the zone, then it's pointless to go out to the quest are to recruit. because no one's there. So should I be recruiting in Bree instead?

[Redstone]

GLFF hits the entire game world, although you may get some folks you'd rather not have grouped with. I've had good luck there.

[Athelian]

The people who do most of the talking in GLFF are a bunch of loudmouth attention seekers. However, there are a lot of people (like me) who keep an eye on it for the occasional useful information there but never talk. I have most of the really rude GLFF people on my ignore list so that filters a lot of the garbage.

My advice would be to try GLFF and just ignore the rude people.

It definitely IS harder to get groups together for most of the lower level content since the majority of players have done it and are focusing on other things. This is why Turbine continually updates the game and has made the older epic questlines soloable.

[Tule]

There's also the popularity issue. Your quests were in Misty Mountains, and it just isn't that popular a place (except Rorgloin and Company). Even before F2P is wasn't as popular as other regions. With F2P there are a lot of people concerned about getting the most value for their quest packs. Thus they're avoiding Trollshaws in particular, and people are giving out advice to go with Angmar or Forochel instead of Misty Mountains. So areas that used to be slightly less popular are now quite a bit less popular after F2P.

[kilderkin]

I don't get why Misty Mountains is less popular than Forochel. Volume I takes you there and you have a nice public instance.

[Rorgloin]

It is because most fools lack the tenacity to cross the Misty Mountains by the high pass, to wander the slopes of Mount Helegrod, to seek refuge in caves infested by goblins. . .

(It really is a pity that more people do not go to that zone-- it is a lot of fun, not to mention the fact that it contains Goblin Town!)

[kilderkin]

Was reading some stuff on CSTM yesterday, when one of the bigwigs there wrote disparagingly about Misty Mountains. I still dont' get it.

[Tule]

Probably a hold over from when Misty Mountains didn't have stables. That added a lot of annoyance even though technically it was a lot more realistic. Then there's the issue of some very hard "solo" quests there, and I know a lot of people had troubles just putting up the warning signs. Other people just hate all that snow (I dislike the look of Angmar even more, but).

[Gandalf'sMother]

Probably a hold over from when Misty Mountains didn't have stables. That added a lot of annoyance even though technically it was a lot more realistic. Then there's the issue of some very hard "solo" quests there, and I know a lot of people had troubles just putting up the warning signs. Other people just hate all that snow (I dislike the look of Angmar even more, but).

Agreed. I'll take snow over depressing sludge and heavy metal skies anyday.

-GM