I think there are several implied or implicit things lost with using an automated system vs. manually putting a group together.
Like the old saying goes, nothing worth doing is ever easy.
I've played MMORPGs that had no in-game facilitation for grouping and I've played MMORPGs that automagically whisked you away into a pre-formed group, and my experience has been that....
Ability to resolve conflicts goes down with automated LFG. Since there is little effort put in to joining a group, there is little to appreciate in keeping the group together when a issue arrizes. If all a person knows of grouping is that they can just click another button and wait another 10 minutes to be matched up again....they do less to resolve conflicts. If it took someone 20 minutes of manually searching /who lists of classes & levels, sending tells, shouting for group members....they may try a few more things to resolve the issue before calling it quites.
Manually putting a team together forces a person to think about the other classes needed for the encounter. Knowledge of other players characters (and of the game as a whole) creates a better community of informed players (otherwise known as anti-dumb arses)
Cross-Server queueing is doubly hurtful to a community because your getting matched up with players whom you'll likely never see again. This creates a situation where players express little interest in getting to know one another because there is no value in doing so....you'll never see them again. Players refer to eachother by their class, not name. Knowing that you'll likely never see these other players again highlights the anonymity factor...causing the players to act out in ways they wouldn't normally if they were held accountable for their actions.
But the fact of the matter is, things like community aren't the end all - be all of MMORPG gaming for many of the games with things like automated LFG tools, instanced & phased content, etc. To a game like WOW, you don't need a strong community when your game is about upgrading gear, gaining levels.
I don't think Dungeon Finder kills the community. I think its the players themselves that kills communities.
Each players including myself only cares about our own individual progression, if you are too slow to react to a simple side step, then you will be included in my lists of players I would avoid for future Pugs.
And over a period of weeks, there will be individuals that can't find groups and are in need of Dungeon Finders that are anonymous, so that they can atleast get some playing time.
Dungeon Finders helps those that needs it, and doesn't hurt those that doesn't need it at the first place.
Personally I don't have friends that levels with me, so I do tend to get into PUGs alot until i get into a guild. But thats what MMO's are for, you join Pugs or use Dungeon Finders and find friends that you never knew is there. Whats so bad about it, it gets you in a party quicker and easier than spamming and getting ignored because people don't want to keep seeing " Mage LFG LVL 25 "
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
I don't think Dungeon Finder kills the community. I think its the players themselves that kills communities.
Each players including myself only cares about our own individual progression, if you are too slow to react to a simple side step, then you will be included in my lists of players I would avoid for future Pugs.
And over a period of weeks, there will be individuals that can't find groups and are in need of Dungeon Finders that are anonymous, so that they can atleast get some playing time.
Dungeon Finders helps those that needs it, and doesn't hurt those that doesn't need it at the first place.
Personally I don't have friends that levels with me, so I do tend to get into PUGs alot until i get into a guild. But thats what MMO's are for, you join Pugs or use Dungeon Finders and find friends that you never knew is there. Whats so bad about it, it gets you in a party quicker and easier than spamming and getting ignored because people don't want to keep seeing " Mage LFG LVL 25 "
Good points, but i contest that there are other game mechanics that are focused on "stream lining" game play that remove some key benefits from manually grouping.
Atleast in terms of how World of Warcraft has implemented PUGs.....they would serve as a good way to make long term friends.....if people actually spoke to eachother (If in the event you two are from the same server so that you could talk after he raid)
Point being....the Dungeon Finder is just 1 game feature that lends itself to a particular type of MMORPG.....that markets itself to a particular sort of gamer.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Again, good points...but...
In all my randomly matched groups....not once have I been invited to someone's Vent, or has it served as a networking activity where i was able to develop lasting relationships with people. Literally, all of the PUGs I've done ended with people silently exiting the group....or giving the obligatory "Thanks....it was fun" line before quickly disbaring the group.
The game is what you make of it...
If the name of the game is mindless grinding for gear, your going to get mindless grinding for gear.
Hence...we have the majority of the WOW playerbase queueing up for 5 man dungeons to grind out that gear.
I am fine with the dungeon finder tool, and I think its a nice feature, especially for newer players. When new content is released, the player base is lumped together, but as content gets older they tend to become more seperated as new gear is released, so the dungeon finder allows people to find groups for content that they may not be able to find groups for on their home server. Furthermore, no one makes you use the dungeon finder feature. You can still find groups outside of the finder, and then hop right in once you have a group together. Nothing is stopping you from assembling a group of guildees, friends or randoms from your server and riding to the dungeon, if that is the kind of experience you are looking for. The dungeon finder just makes things easier for people who might be new to a server, etc, who may not have anyone to run said dungeon with. I see no harm in it.
A lot of people believe that dungeon finder has been the death of community in a lot of MMORPGs. They argue that dungeon finder has changed the dungeoning experience from being a social, tactical, and enjoyable experience to one that is just a speed-grinding treadmill where the only time anyone talks is to insult their group mates. And I do not deny at all that this is the state of many MMORPGs that have dungeon finder (WoW). I also agree that dungeon finder contributes to this issue by providing jerks anonymity.
But I ask this, is dungeon finder the problem, or is the problem that dungeons have become just too easy? Currently, most dungeons can be easily rolled through if each player knows the basics of how to play their class. Very little to no coordination is required, and this really gets rid of the need for players to talk at all. As such, most players take the path of least resistence and just plough through dungeons like silent zombies. I feel that this, not dungeon finder, is the main issue with dungeons and the deterioratin of the community.
In the old EQ days, running through a dungeon without communicating would have never worked. The fights were just too difficult, each player not only had to perform their role, but they had to perform it in a way that benefited the team. I think if they had dungeon finder in EQ, the community wouldn't be nearly as bad. Even jerks will be nice when they need to do so in order to succeed.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Again, good points...but...
In all my randomly matched groups....not once have I been invited to someone's Vent, or has it served as a networking activity where i was able to develop lasting relationships with people. Literally, all of the PUGs I've done ended with people silently exiting the group....or giving the obligatory "Thanks....it was fun" line before quickly disbaring the group.
The game is what you make of it...
If the name of the game is mindless grinding for gear, your going to get mindless grinding for gear.
Hence...we have the majority of the WOW playerbase queueing up for 5 man dungeons to grind out that gear.
I found City of Heroes to be a lot of this as well.
The dungeons were called "missions" and they scaled to the party.
Doesn't matter if you are two, three, five, whatever, the mission will just automatically ad mobs for your party. Adn the combat was so fast, almost no downtime.
Travel was also fast with fight, teleport, super fast run, etc.
So it was a lot of fight, fight, fight, dungeon done, kthxbye.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
I think it's silly to say it doesn't affect anything else.
I go into a dungeion finder group. Meanwhile you are LFM. I'm not paying attention, because I'm in a DF group, otherwise I might join you.
You get sick of going LFM, so you join a DF group.
I come out of my DF group.
I go LFM. you don't know that, because you're in a DF group, otherwise you might join me.
So you get bored, join a DF group.
I come out of my DF group, and go LFM, but you just joined a DF group....
People that talk about "choice" in MMORPGs never really mean it.
You mean you have the "choice" to play the game while most people are in a Dungeion Finder group.
Yea, but that's not really a choice.
The choice would be to play a game without a dungeon finder or with a dungeon finder.
THAT is choice.
You're just saying, I like games with Dungeon Finder, everyone else should too. Because obviously it's silly to claim it has no affect on the game.
Dungeon finder as it is implemented in WoW is a problem and detrimental to community cohesion and building, but Dungeon finder as a tool can be useful.
I think it'd already make a difference if you also had standard implemented cross server communication and cross server friends lists, and if the people that were sought out first were from a selected group of servers, like people from 1 RP server will have the most chance of getting hooked up with people another RP server, and far less with people from other types of servers.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
As MMO communities have gotten ruder, creepier, and dumber, I've embraced every mechanic that keeps contact with other players quick, simple, and minimal. I suspect I'll be back to embracing single player games before much longer. I can't make myself socialize at all now, for anything. Guess I've had one too many bad experiences. And the good old days, if indeed they ever really existed, aren't coming back.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Again, good points...but...
In all my randomly matched groups....not once have I been invited to someone's Vent, or has it served as a networking activity where i was able to develop lasting relationships with people. Literally, all of the PUGs I've done ended with people silently exiting the group....or giving the obligatory "Thanks....it was fun" line before quickly disbaring the group.
The game is what you make of it...
If the name of the game is mindless grinding for gear, your going to get mindless grinding for gear.
Hence...we have the majority of the WOW playerbase queueing up for 5 man dungeons to grind out that gear.
But have you invited others to your vent? And have you invited a good groupmate(s) to be friends afterwards?
Personally I feel the ideal situation is:
Grouping is insanely convenient.
Friending random groupmates is insanely convenient.
Grouping with friends is insanely convenient.
Staying with players is insanely beneficial to all parties involved. (Possibly becoming more beneficial the longer the group plays together.)
I think it's ridiculous to suggest that games have better communities when being social is harder.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
At low levels, the dungeon finder is a necessity. What happens when nearly everyone is level 85 but you want to do a level 30 dungeon on your alt? Or god forbid you are actually a new player. Part of the problem is the small population per server in WoW. At an average of what, 800 people each alliance/horde on a server, 2/3 will be max level. Most of the time it would literally be impossible to find a group of low level players in a given range that all want to do a certain dungeon and fulfill the tank/healer/dps requirements.
Without the dungeon finder, you would never be able to find a group for a low level dungeon, and you would never see the content.
At max level, I didn't enjoy sitting in Shattrath spamming LFG for 30 minutes, then making the 10 minute trip to the dungeon, only to have the group fall apart because one of the members is undergeared or is an idiot or has to leave halfway through. It could get downright ridiculous if you wanted to do a specific dungeon. For sure, there is a loss of a sense of community, but the benefits more than make up for that imo. If you really miss a sense of community, just join a guild that does group runs and you won't miss out.
A lot of people believe that dungeon finder has been the death of community in a lot of MMORPGs. They argue that dungeon finder has changed the dungeoning experience from being a social, tactical, and enjoyable experience to one that is just a speed-grinding treadmill where the only time anyone talks is to insult their group mates. And I do not deny at all that this is the state of many MMORPGs that have dungeon finder (WoW). I also agree that dungeon finder contributes to this issue by providing jerks anonymity.
But I ask this, is dungeon finder the problem, or is the problem that dungeons have become just too easy? Currently, most dungeons can be easily rolled through if each player knows the basics of how to play their class. Very little to no coordination is required, and this really gets rid of the need for players to talk at all. As such, most players take the path of least resistence and just plough through dungeons like silent zombies. I feel that this, not dungeon finder, is the main issue with dungeons and the deterioratin of the community.
In the old EQ days, running through a dungeon without communicating would have never worked. The fights were just too difficult, each player not only had to perform their role, but they had to perform it in a way that benefited the team. I think if they had dungeon finder in EQ, the community wouldn't be nearly as bad. Even jerks will be nice when they need to do so in order to succeed.
Thoughts?
No. Dungeon finders and addons such as gear score are symptoms of the current negative socialisation trends in MMOs. While I do feel they help to exacerbate the existing antisocial undercurrent, they are not the cause. The true blame falls directly on the gmae makers that turn what is supposed to be an entertaining experiance into an E sport, and on the shoulders of the more mercenary players who allow themselves to be bought off with newer and shinier baubles rather than meaningful game content.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Again, good points...but...
In all my randomly matched groups....not once have I been invited to someone's Vent, or has it served as a networking activity where i was able to develop lasting relationships with people. Literally, all of the PUGs I've done ended with people silently exiting the group....or giving the obligatory "Thanks....it was fun" line before quickly disbaring the group.
The game is what you make of it...
If the name of the game is mindless grinding for gear, your going to get mindless grinding for gear.
Hence...we have the majority of the WOW playerbase queueing up for 5 man dungeons to grind out that gear.
But have you invited others to your vent? And have you invited a good groupmate(s) to be friends afterwards?
Personally I feel the ideal situation is:
Grouping is insanely convenient.
Friending random groupmates is insanely convenient.
Grouping with friends is insanely convenient.
Staying with players is insanely beneficial to all parties involved. (Possibly becoming more beneficial the longer the group plays together.)
I think it's ridiculous to suggest that games have better communities when being social is harder.
I like the idea that the longer a group plays together, the more of an advantage they have.
that's a great incentive to stick around for more than one quick quest.
Comments
I think there are several implied or implicit things lost with using an automated system vs. manually putting a group together.
Like the old saying goes, nothing worth doing is ever easy.
I've played MMORPGs that had no in-game facilitation for grouping and I've played MMORPGs that automagically whisked you away into a pre-formed group, and my experience has been that....
Ability to resolve conflicts goes down with automated LFG. Since there is little effort put in to joining a group, there is little to appreciate in keeping the group together when a issue arrizes. If all a person knows of grouping is that they can just click another button and wait another 10 minutes to be matched up again....they do less to resolve conflicts. If it took someone 20 minutes of manually searching /who lists of classes & levels, sending tells, shouting for group members....they may try a few more things to resolve the issue before calling it quites.
Manually putting a team together forces a person to think about the other classes needed for the encounter. Knowledge of other players characters (and of the game as a whole) creates a better community of informed players (otherwise known as anti-dumb arses)
Cross-Server queueing is doubly hurtful to a community because your getting matched up with players whom you'll likely never see again. This creates a situation where players express little interest in getting to know one another because there is no value in doing so....you'll never see them again. Players refer to eachother by their class, not name. Knowing that you'll likely never see these other players again highlights the anonymity factor...causing the players to act out in ways they wouldn't normally if they were held accountable for their actions.
But the fact of the matter is, things like community aren't the end all - be all of MMORPG gaming for many of the games with things like automated LFG tools, instanced & phased content, etc. To a game like WOW, you don't need a strong community when your game is about upgrading gear, gaining levels.
I don't think Dungeon Finder kills the community. I think its the players themselves that kills communities.
Each players including myself only cares about our own individual progression, if you are too slow to react to a simple side step, then you will be included in my lists of players I would avoid for future Pugs.
And over a period of weeks, there will be individuals that can't find groups and are in need of Dungeon Finders that are anonymous, so that they can atleast get some playing time.
Dungeon Finders helps those that needs it, and doesn't hurt those that doesn't need it at the first place.
Personally I don't have friends that levels with me, so I do tend to get into PUGs alot until i get into a guild. But thats what MMO's are for, you join Pugs or use Dungeon Finders and find friends that you never knew is there. Whats so bad about it, it gets you in a party quicker and easier than spamming and getting ignored because people don't want to keep seeing " Mage LFG LVL 25 "
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Good points, but i contest that there are other game mechanics that are focused on "stream lining" game play that remove some key benefits from manually grouping.
Atleast in terms of how World of Warcraft has implemented PUGs.....they would serve as a good way to make long term friends.....if people actually spoke to eachother (If in the event you two are from the same server so that you could talk after he raid)
Point being....the Dungeon Finder is just 1 game feature that lends itself to a particular type of MMORPG.....that markets itself to a particular sort of gamer.
I think people complain about thing that they themselves haven't tried.
Dungeon finders doesn't ruin any interactions that you would have with other players, I was in a Pug group the other day, and they invited me to their vent, we talked , chatted. Then i was in another pug group where no one had vent, and no one talked except to explain the boss fights.
Then after the fights everyone left and thats it, but sometimes they stay and we would quest together. But does it destroy the experience of LFM , LF1M , WTB Tank calls, maybe , and for some we would rather not go through all that spam.
Like i said, its good for those that want to use it, but don't make it a requirement, make it into a choice, let those that want to use it, use it, those that want to do manual groups with roll calls, let them. If i am in que for dungeon finder, and i see LF DPS, I will send you tells. More way to group quicker the better .
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Again, good points...but...
In all my randomly matched groups....not once have I been invited to someone's Vent, or has it served as a networking activity where i was able to develop lasting relationships with people. Literally, all of the PUGs I've done ended with people silently exiting the group....or giving the obligatory "Thanks....it was fun" line before quickly disbaring the group.
The game is what you make of it...
If the name of the game is mindless grinding for gear, your going to get mindless grinding for gear.
Hence...we have the majority of the WOW playerbase queueing up for 5 man dungeons to grind out that gear.
I am fine with the dungeon finder tool, and I think its a nice feature, especially for newer players. When new content is released, the player base is lumped together, but as content gets older they tend to become more seperated as new gear is released, so the dungeon finder allows people to find groups for content that they may not be able to find groups for on their home server. Furthermore, no one makes you use the dungeon finder feature. You can still find groups outside of the finder, and then hop right in once you have a group together. Nothing is stopping you from assembling a group of guildees, friends or randoms from your server and riding to the dungeon, if that is the kind of experience you are looking for. The dungeon finder just makes things easier for people who might be new to a server, etc, who may not have anyone to run said dungeon with. I see no harm in it.
no, it's the dungeon finder.
Would work the same in EQ.
It's bad for community.
I found City of Heroes to be a lot of this as well.
The dungeons were called "missions" and they scaled to the party.
Doesn't matter if you are two, three, five, whatever, the mission will just automatically ad mobs for your party. Adn the combat was so fast, almost no downtime.
Travel was also fast with fight, teleport, super fast run, etc.
So it was a lot of fight, fight, fight, dungeon done, kthxbye.
I think it's silly to say it doesn't affect anything else.
I go into a dungeion finder group. Meanwhile you are LFM. I'm not paying attention, because I'm in a DF group, otherwise I might join you.
You get sick of going LFM, so you join a DF group.
I come out of my DF group.
I go LFM. you don't know that, because you're in a DF group, otherwise you might join me.
So you get bored, join a DF group.
I come out of my DF group, and go LFM, but you just joined a DF group....
People that talk about "choice" in MMORPGs never really mean it.
You mean you have the "choice" to play the game while most people are in a Dungeion Finder group.
Yea, but that's not really a choice.
The choice would be to play a game without a dungeon finder or with a dungeon finder.
THAT is choice.
You're just saying, I like games with Dungeon Finder, everyone else should too. Because obviously it's silly to claim it has no affect on the game.
If it had no affect, it wouldnt' be there.
Dungeon finder as it is implemented in WoW is a problem and detrimental to community cohesion and building, but Dungeon finder as a tool can be useful.
I think it'd already make a difference if you also had standard implemented cross server communication and cross server friends lists, and if the people that were sought out first were from a selected group of servers, like people from 1 RP server will have the most chance of getting hooked up with people another RP server, and far less with people from other types of servers.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
As MMO communities have gotten ruder, creepier, and dumber, I've embraced every mechanic that keeps contact with other players quick, simple, and minimal. I suspect I'll be back to embracing single player games before much longer. I can't make myself socialize at all now, for anything. Guess I've had one too many bad experiences. And the good old days, if indeed they ever really existed, aren't coming back.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
But have you invited others to your vent? And have you invited a good groupmate(s) to be friends afterwards?
Personally I feel the ideal situation is:
Grouping is insanely convenient.
Friending random groupmates is insanely convenient.
Grouping with friends is insanely convenient.
Staying with players is insanely beneficial to all parties involved. (Possibly becoming more beneficial the longer the group plays together.)
I think it's ridiculous to suggest that games have better communities when being social is harder.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
At low levels, the dungeon finder is a necessity. What happens when nearly everyone is level 85 but you want to do a level 30 dungeon on your alt? Or god forbid you are actually a new player. Part of the problem is the small population per server in WoW. At an average of what, 800 people each alliance/horde on a server, 2/3 will be max level. Most of the time it would literally be impossible to find a group of low level players in a given range that all want to do a certain dungeon and fulfill the tank/healer/dps requirements.
Without the dungeon finder, you would never be able to find a group for a low level dungeon, and you would never see the content.
At max level, I didn't enjoy sitting in Shattrath spamming LFG for 30 minutes, then making the 10 minute trip to the dungeon, only to have the group fall apart because one of the members is undergeared or is an idiot or has to leave halfway through. It could get downright ridiculous if you wanted to do a specific dungeon. For sure, there is a loss of a sense of community, but the benefits more than make up for that imo. If you really miss a sense of community, just join a guild that does group runs and you won't miss out.
No. Dungeon finders and addons such as gear score are symptoms of the current negative socialisation trends in MMOs. While I do feel they help to exacerbate the existing antisocial undercurrent, they are not the cause. The true blame falls directly on the gmae makers that turn what is supposed to be an entertaining experiance into an E sport, and on the shoulders of the more mercenary players who allow themselves to be bought off with newer and shinier baubles rather than meaningful game content.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I like the idea that the longer a group plays together, the more of an advantage they have.
that's a great incentive to stick around for more than one quick quest.
http://progressquest.com/