LFD System Potential Impact On How We Used To Make Friends.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I've had reasons to think about it for various reasons or just thinking about things and remembering how it used to be before the new LFD System as well as back in tBC. Just my belief that the new LFD System has had a impact on how many people on their own realms make new friends and will continue to make new friends as well. A bit likely that more people will become strangers on their own servers or already are.

Maybe its just me and my observation but I'm wondering if other players have noticed it as well who actually used the system allot now as well as before in the old system. I also kinda believe that the new LFD System is also a bit antisocial or fosters more antisocial behavior which also impacts making new friends. For a person on their own realm doing LFD System content due to cross server members there is not much chance of making friends and not much chance of doing much communications either when in group.

Its all business or just about almost in random LFD! Lets get this run started now, lets get it over with asap and I don't want to talk to any of you any longer than I have to be here. And when its over I want to be gone just as fast back to my realm where I came from. That's pretty much to me how most people in random LFD acts and how my experience has been in LFD as a whole. There is little real conversation if any, its minimal and at most just a "Hi" or "Hello". And when the last boss is dead there is barely a "Bye" at that. Poof gone! For some people its that random jerk they meet in LFD cross server that they never will see again that impact their experience.

I think this makes it really hard to make friends or for a person to make friends on their realm or know people outside their guilds. More so I believe for a new person in WoW to grouping because communication is few and far in between in groups and if someone is failing in a group or need help learning something some players are not that helpful in trying to help but rather try to quickly degrade the player to a noob of one form or the other. I believe that has some impact on making any lasting friendship based on what those players experience was in a Instance.

The number one way I made friends on my realm was in doing 5 man Instances or puging a raid. Sometimes I make friends on my realm because I often use certain players and repeatedly for profession services and I often tip them well so they kinda remember you just by often needing a profession service performed that they have. So you tend to know some those players or as friends over time. I'm not the kind of player who participate in /2 chat or care much for it or pay it any real attention nor can you find any good friends their either. Often I quickly find out who the server jerks are rather. I used to like the fact when I actually knew more people outside my guild than I knew that was in it. Sometime you meet good players in raids or on a good raid run or exceptional players at playing their classes while enjoying the raid. Often you notice who the bad ones are as well.

I can remember back in the old days of tBC on my old server when I used to run allot of 5 man heroics. I even remember my first heroics. It was a group of strangers, I wasn't new as a tank. But I was somewhat still new to group Tanking and in a heroic. It was Shattered Halls. And I almost had a heart attack tanking the place. But you had people that was at least friendly on your own server who just kinda had a good time and helped you along the way making pulls, having conversation and not quick to judge you as noob tank go learn to tank. It was hard to find a good tank back then to tank 5 mans and most were more decent and skilled than what you actually have now in random LFD. I'm sure I made a friend at least from that run or remembered what guild they were in on my own server. I became good at puging heroics back then when heroics was actually really hard and you had to be a fairly smart competent tank to tank hard hitting heroics back then and using tactics and CC properly on pulls.

Many heroics I ran often and in each and every dungeon group it was people from my own realm that you formed group with that was on the run. People got to know who was who and what guild each other was in. You chatted while on the run, you worked as a team because stuff was hard back then allot more than you do in WotLK era. I was infamous in some was for all the pugs I used to run and often. Through all that process I made lots of server friends from various guilds. I knew people in lots of guilds and knew their guild tag and knew some their guildies. I had them as friends on my list. Often when I ran heroics I picked friends off my list to form groups. You became better friends and met people that way. Of the few guilds I ever been in at lvl 70 back in tBC every one of them I met in a heroics the officers or the GM every one. We noticed each other as good players and we often ran heroics together and had a good time.

Even my last guild on my old server the GM a Warlock and his wife I met in a pug heroics. We just kept running into each other and whenever I formed a group he was on my list of friends to invite and he always asked if his wife a Shadow Priest can come on the run and it was more than a few. They became friends and we met others in heroics that became friends from strangers eventually as well because they were from our own realm. You saw each other around town. That was then back in tBC and made lots of friends that way as people had time to have a good time in heroics and chat a bit in conversation along the way. In WotLK I made some friends that way as well when I server transferred to a new server well into WotLK after being on break.

When I ran a bit of heroics on my Shaman after getting him to 80 I made a few server friends as well outside my own guild. This was well before the new LFD System as it was all server groups. I remember running quite a bit of heroics with a one particular Paladin that we became friends. He eventually burned himself out as well. Whenever he would log on and I was logged on he would whisper me asking me if I wanted to dps a few runs. I was always up for it and we had a good time as well on smooth runs. Along the way we made some new friends that way as well in groups that they became repeat group members and friends for other heroics runs. But through the process you met and learn who some players were on your own server.

Contrast that to today in the new LFD System era. Its more likely that few people from their own server will form a random heroics as a actual group or even know enough friends to be able to form a group with friends outside of a guild, queue and do random instances. Its obviously easier and faster for some classes to queue up in LFD and play with strangers. Most people run with strangers in LFD. They mostly cross server players. They not your friend and don't want to be your friend. They are there to get their Emblems as fast as the run can go and when its over they gone faster than the RNG can finish the loot roll. You wipe in the group, someone can just easily quit as a result as well. Now a days with the cross server instances those people memory of you will only be as long as the run will last and if your a total jerk they may remember you for a little longer with emotional anger. But most people wont nor is there any reason to, your not on their realm. So you even have less chance to make friends or have any real conversation if any. Whether the experience is positive or negative its less opportunity to get to know others and make friends with people not on your server. And this pretty much is what I tend to notice while in LFD System. Maybe its just me that notice this, but its seems somewhat a bit antisocial with LFD.

I've done my share of grouping in the new LFD System and in all the groups I been in even on good runs I cant say I made any friends. I mean most people are on other servers what's the point. Needless to say you have less conversation as well or barely even at that. At most you get a Hi, Hello and bye if that. And its back to where you were before, count your Emblems and ready for your next encounter with random LFD and hope you its a good one. Making friends these days probably last thing that can cross your mind in LFD, after all those people not in your guild and they probably from other servers.

I think when it comes to pug raiding this has some impact as well or will continue to. After all need a tank, dps, healer? Anyone in group know a tank, dps or healer? Nope! No one in my guild is on and I don't have many other friends. If the person aren't in your own guild allot of people don't know any other or real good friends not in their guild. They have less ways of telling who good players are from the bad ones due to not much experience with players on their servers. Its one the reason I think you got some people relying heavily on gearscore or achievement checking thats frustrating to others. Often the guy asking for achievement I notice often don't even have the same achievement as well which is funny in its own way.

But many players it seem don't know the people on their own server and less likely to these days with real way to know the good ones from the bad ones. You never seen or heard of player X before, you never grouped with them before and have no group experience with them on any previous content. You have no idea what their skill level is or their attitude as players, no real way to judge them as players because to you they are strangers even on your own server new players or older players.

When players are strangers among themselves even on their own server and less likely to group with others, potentially network with each other, share group experience and make friends among themselves in instances its hard to believe that the new LFD is not having a impact on all this and will not continue to have a impact. Its likely your next 5 man dungeon will be full of strangers and you probably will leave as one. You probably aren't making no friends today and I'm not sure when either.