The New LFG Order

I just got a chance tonight to try the new 3.3 LFG system. Of course, it was plagued with sluggishness getting into instances with the servers taxed as they were. With that in mind, here's my early impressions. Disclaimer: I didn't do any of the new dungeons, by random chance, so expect something on that later in the week.

- The new UI is delicious eye candy, and looks very slick. It also follows the BG queue interface closely, which helps the game feel more like an integrated whole.

- The tank can raid mark even if he's not the leader. Fucking. Finally.

- Voting to kick players has been a smooth and elegant system in online FPSs since 2000-ish, it shocks me it didn't make it into WoW sooner. The new procedural group making probably helps make that less personal approach socially acceptable.

- Speaking of which, getting into a group is smooth, stress-free, and fast if you're not just DPS. I'd expect some people to pick up healing or tanking to get into groups faster in the near future.

- Deserting a dungeon imposes severe penalties on those who flake on instances, and make it easy to find replacements mid way through a run. It would be lame to come into a dungeon that's already half done, but better than dooming those in the dungeon to SOL status. No rational, self-interested person will drop from anything but the most atrocious groups.

- The rewards are delicious, and make chain heroics feasible, rewarding, and fast. Perfect for the end of an x-pac, where gearing up needs to be fast for someone to get into ICC by this point.

- Oculus nerf was brilliant and needed, but riding dragons still fundamentally sucks and is boring. Now we just need a way to start CoS faster and not make VH wipes so putative and we'd be in instance bliss!

I was incredibly skeptical of this new system, but it's intuitive and very smart. Top-notch job, I never realized how frustrating pugging a group was, even before the first pull, until now. Long live the new order!