Playstyle Options in Group Finder
When hosting a group in the Midnight Beta, there is a new section where players must select a Playstyle option. There are four different options to choose from:
Learning - For those newer to the game or haven't participated in the selected content before.
Relaxed - Just here to have fun? This is the option for you.
Competitive - Looking to push as hard as you can in the selected content.
Carry Offered - Simply put, you will be carried through the content by others who know what they're doing.
How Will These Affect Groups in Midnight?
Having Playstyle options be required will have immediate impacts on joining / hosting groups in Midnight.
On a positive note, knowing the expectations of a specific group will help determine if you're a good fit. If you're someone who likes to relax, you know joining "Competitive" groups may not be a wise option. Clearly defining the goal the group has for selected content will generally help with finding players of similar goals and mindsets.
With this being a required option, players who host their own groups can freely set their expectations ahead of time, instead of taking a random dice roll of finding players that fit these expectations.
As of right now, players won't be able to filter these playstyle options, and so you may find yourself scrolling through different groups to find one that fits your specific needs. Despite that, this feature adds a nice way for players to join groups and play through content together with.
Sales Advertisements in Group Finder
A potential drawback with this new feature is the "Carry Offered" option. This can be a slippery slope, especially when dealing with players who host carries in exchange for in-game gold (also known as sales). With the current Group Finder in Retail WoW, there are TONS of sales groups and advertisements that get in the way of looking for other groups.
These advertisements are technically a bannable offense, but no significant action is being taken to remove them from the Group Finder and prevent future advertisements from being posted.
Of these 8 listed groups, 7 are sales advertisements.
Having a "Carry Offered" option almost encourages sales advertisements to be put in the Group Finder, which further amplifies an already pre-existing problem that isn't being handled. For the players who want to help, or for people looking to get some help with content, you may have to scroll through a tons of groups that are just looking to make some gold.
