PUGing it

I've tried out the new LFG system a bit. I have mixed feelings so far.

On one hand it's pretty speedy about finding groups. No whispering back and forth, no trying to find out what spec someone is. Just queue and, when everyone is set, off you go. Since there is the whole battle group to pick from you're more likely to actually find a tank and healer in a reasonable amount of time.

On the other hand, well, it's a PUG. A full on pickup group with people you'll never see again. Or at least you'll never control if you see them again. You may group with them in a BG or in another random dungeon.

So both of these situations has led to a little bit of bad behavior from everyone involved. I can see the start of a battle group instancing culture forming, but it's hard to tell so far how it will turn out. I've done random groups with Viljo and Telt so far and have had good luck to have decent tanks and dps and healers. Generally any issues come from over-eager or careless dps pulling aggro on the wrong thing.

I haven't run into any loot ninjas. And I like the new auto-disenchant option. There really was nothing more annoying for Telt than having to remember to DE and distribute shards at the end. Invariable someone forgot and hearthed out so I would have to chase them down in Dal or elsewhere.

The runs I've been on have been quite speedy and mostly wipe free. There are always a few deaths (see earlier mention of over-eager dps), but mostly things have been wipe free. The only exception was an AN run where it took 5 tries to get the Watch Him Die achieve. It would have been less if the group had listened to Viljo tell them how to do it before they tried a couple of other strategies...

The other odd thing about most of these runs is the absolute silence from most people. There is a tiny bit of strategy, but mostly people are just silently chain-pulling the entire instance. Even when I've said something I usually don't get a response. I can't tell if that is the other server's culture coming through or people being nervous about not looking like a fool.

So in general I have positive things to say about the new LFG system. Time will tell if Hyjal and the Whirlwind battle group gets a good instanceing culture, but so far things seem pretty good.