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Enhance fleet search feature

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I don't usually post on the forums (this is my first post) and I'm not exactly sure if this is the right subforum, but I do have a request to make about the search feature in the "Find Fleet" tab of the social interface.

Problem
At present, the "Find Fleet" search feature is near-useless for anyone trying to find a specific kind of fleet, using the 'tags' that fleets can assign to themselves for the purpose of recruitment. At present the number of tags that fleets can apply to themselves is unlimited, and many fleets have chosen to mark ALL tags as applying to themselves, so they will still come up in all searches. Casual players, hardcore players, roleplayers, German-speaking players, players from timezones on the other side of the planet of the bulk of their fleet - everyone is welcome!

An unfortunate byproduct of this player behaviour is that the search feature does not accurately reflect the priorities of the fleets involved.

Examples
For example: I am looking for a roleplay fleet, with roleplayers and roleplay activities, to put my character in. However when I do a search of fleets that include this tag, the list of all available recruiters is barely narrowed down. Worse, over 70% of recruiters whom I have approached in the past (whose fleet has this tag) do not represent a fleet of roleplayers, nor do they necessarily even know what roleplay IS.

I've seen similarly "polluted" results for other search categories, such as English and Polish (!) language fleets advertising themselves as "German". The result is that the search feature is likely underused, and new players have a more difficult time finding fleets where they "fit in".

As a final example, 'racial' fleets such as Vulcan-only fleets get drowned out by fleets which have simply selected ALL races as tags pertaining to their fleet.

Solution
There is, however, a solution. Games like Everquest II also have recruiting systems, but these limit the number of "tags" that guilds can apply to themselves. For example they can be casual or hardcore, but NOT both. And they can pick from 2 other 'traits' (such as roleplayer, or 'odd times'). This forces players to prioritise and makes it far easier to use the search feature.

This solution could easily be implemented in Star Trek Online by limiting the total number of tags to a reasonable number. Four, perhaps. Or else, to force players to pick a maximum number of tags from any particular search category.

That way a hypothetical Vulcan-only roleplay fleet could be English / Roleplayer / Vulcan / Wiki posters and an endgame oriented fleet could be PVE / Elite difficulty / Serious gamers / Time zones X (Y, Z)

It is my firm belief that this would improve the quality of the feature greatly and enhance the gaming experience.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited October 2011
    Knoot wrote:
    I don't usually post on the forums (this is my first post) and I'm not exactly sure if this is the right subforum, but I do have a request to make about the search feature in the "Find Fleet" tab of the social interface.

    Problem
    At present, the "Find Fleet" search feature is near-useless for anyone trying to find a specific kind of fleet, using the 'tags' that fleets can assign to themselves for the purpose of recruitment. At present the number of tags that fleets can apply to themselves is unlimited, and many fleets have chosen to mark ALL tags as applying to themselves, so they will still come up in all searches. Casual players, hardcore players, roleplayers, German-speaking players, players from timezones on the other side of the planet of the bulk of their fleet - everyone is welcome!

    An unfortunate byproduct of this player behaviour is that the search feature does not accurately reflect the priorities of the fleets involved.

    Examples
    For example: I am looking for a roleplay fleet, with roleplayers and roleplay activities, to put my character in. However when I do a search of fleets that include this tag, the list of all available recruiters is barely narrowed down. Worse, over 70% of recruiters whom I have approached in the past (whose fleet has this tag) do not represent a fleet of roleplayers, nor do they necessarily even know what roleplay IS.

    I've seen similarly "polluted" results for other search categories, such as English and Polish (!) language fleets advertising themselves as "German". The result is that the search feature is likely underused, and new players have a more difficult time finding fleets where they "fit in".

    As a final example, 'racial' fleets such as Vulcan-only fleets get drowned out by fleets which have simply selected ALL races as tags pertaining to their fleet.

    Solution
    There is, however, a solution. Games like Everquest II also have recruiting systems, but these limit the number of "tags" that guilds can apply to themselves. For example they can be casual or hardcore, but NOT both. And they can pick from 2 other 'traits' (such as roleplayer, or 'odd times'). This forces players to prioritise and makes it far easier to use the search feature.

    This solution could easily be implemented in Star Trek Online by limiting the total number of tags to a reasonable number. Four, perhaps. Or else, to force players to pick a maximum number of tags from any particular search category.

    That way a hypothetical Vulcan-only roleplay fleet could be English / Roleplayer / Vulcan / Wiki posters and an endgame oriented fleet could be PVE / Elite difficulty / Serious gamers / Time zones X (Y, Z)

    It is my firm belief that this would improve the quality of the feature greatly and enhance the gaming experience.

    Well, atleast this game has a way to advertise their guilds, some u have to broadcast guild ads and invites. i like this guild search feature, but yes i saw that too that all the guilds check all the info tags or tags that do Not apply to their fleet. i have heck of a time finding a good fleet using it. But it did help more than just listening to guild ad spam and asking people if i can join their guild. (guild is Fleet here). Maybe limit the number of tags that a guild can check in their ad setup to say 5 and encourge them to write more information about themselves in the text box. I think i had same problem with Champions Online guild search feature.
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