326 pages of arguing whether the RDF for WOTLK classic is good or not, lol.

DisplayedName

https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/all-anti-rdf-arguments-are-outdated/370212/320

Blizzard still hasn't solved the problem.

I have an idea. How about create an offsite LFG tool. The player types in their characters, their roles and abilities, what they need, and anyone looking to form a kickass group simply has to thumb through the posts. It lists whether the account is online or not. For example.

Charactername_A (account online):

-(DPS) Fire mage
-elemental resistances buffs with shaman totems and paladin aura.
-PvE power XXX PvP power XXX
-LFG for Sethekk Halls and Shadow Labyrinth.
-LFG for XYZ quest in ABC zone

Charactername_B (account online): (HEALER)

-Basic bubble healer.
-PvE power XXX PvP power XXX

Then some dude looking to form a dungeon group that wants a healer can copy paste my account name, then PM me in game whether I'm on Charactername_B or an alt.

Almost all of these informational categories could be entered with a drop down menu: LFG quests, LFG dungeons, "class", role, PvP PvE power. The only thing that can't fit into a drop down menu item is a written description of miscellaneous roles "elemental resistances with shaman totems and paladin aura".

Yes, spamming global chat LFG or LFM is lame and hurts the eyes. Yes, the LFG toll destroyed the magic. Both sides are correct.

Vulpinenin

@DisplayedName Doing this outside the game would just be too much hassle for most people. It reminds me of marketplace websites for games like Warframe, and how much I absolutely hated using them.

However, back before the current RDF system was implemented in WotLK, there was a simpler LFG system that functioned a lot like what you just described. You basically select the content you want (dungeons, raids, even PvP, quests and openworld bosses) and enlist your character, writing a short description like your role, ilvl and spec or whatever, and it would list you for all people that are using the tool to search for people for said content, and they can whisper you and invite you - there was no automation, like RDF has currently that automatically creates groups and teleports all of you to the dungeon - and I think that's important, because people have forgot how to communicate in such dungeon groups thanks to such "conveniences", helped further by the drop of difficulty of all dungeons, so they can be completed by brainless button-mashing monkeys, and so any communications about pulls, CC and boss mechanics are completely unnecessary (lol, remember when we'd have to mark moon on a mob and tell the mage to poly the moon? Pepperidge farm remembers!)

But having it ingame was actually very convenient, because you could list and unlist whenever you wanted, and the list would update in real time, and you wouldn't have to minimize the game to open your browser or whatever.
If they could bring back this system from vanilla and TBC, I think it would do some good, but I fear the convenience from RDF is too embedded in people's expectations of modern-day MMOs and there would be a huge backlash if it were to be removed.

DoubleDiamond

@Vulpinenin Yep, I remember those days! As much as the pre-2.3 patch elite subzones were a pain when you couldn't find a group to do them with, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Jintha'Alor, Stromgarde, and Ruins of Alterac were quite a lot of fun to clear, even if the "bosses" didn't drop the same kind of loot as dungeons.

There was something about the method of manually looking for a group that encouraged you to make friends and play nice. I particularly liked the option of looking for a group while questing instead of sitting in a capital city and spamming trade channel. Unfortunately, the portion of players who were even aware of the tool, let along used it, wasn't great.

Vulpinenin

@DoubleDiamond Yeah, especially for quests, I don't think I've ever seen another player queued for a quest. But I've made so many friends from leveling dungeons using this tool, the best was when you found a nice group you could chat and joke around with, for a longass dungeon like BRD, I always used to take a screenshot of the 5 of us on the final boss' throne and still get hit with nostalgia when I stumble upon those screenshots. Quite the emotional damage. Never had a similar experience with RDF, and not for a lack of trying.

Here is a little screenshot I took of it for nostalgic purposes:

DoubleDiamond

@Vulpinenin Wow, talk about nostalgia! Yep, that's the tool I really missed by the time Mists of Pandaria came around the lack of community really started to become apparent.