Gaming Hacks

Build an Effective Group

Fight the monsters, not each other.

It’s fairly easy to find a group of adventurers, but not everyone in your new group may be as on the ball as you are. Once in a group, infighting, confusion, and misunderstandings can lead to a distinct lack of adventuring.

You can avoid this fate with a bit of planning and a bit of common courtesy. The following section shows you how.

Finding a Group

If you’ve ever spent time in a mid-level area, you’ve undoubtedly heard “LFG” over the general channels at least one too many times. Leave the public desperation at home.

Most games feature a toggle to set to announce quietly that you’re looking for a short-term group. Some also allow you to search through nearby players to see who has that flag and which class or race they are. Star Wars Galaxies has the most advanced player-matching setup of any modern game, allowing you to search based on personal interests as well as in-game abilities. When you find some likely results, start /telling or /whispering people to see if they’re interested in your goals. Be specific, friendly, and understandable. “Hi. I’m looking to take on the ogres across the lake. Care to join me?” is a good opening line.

If you find someone willing to give it a try, start the group with yourself as the leader. Once you have one or two people together, you can start advertising. A group looking for players is often much less annoying than a player looking for a group. Similarly, if you see a group looking for ...