Bard can't get groups...

[leFuZz]

Hey gang,
I'm a new player. My plucky lil' bard is level 7 now, but I have a problem. Nobody will group with me, at least in black burrow. What do you all recommend?

Is this going to be a consistent problem? Should I just try to go somewhere else?

Thanks.

[Kytross]

First, do you know how to twist, I.e. play multiple songs at once?

Second, everybody wants bards in their group. Bards are amazing. They are specifically designed to make groups better.

[fishingme]

would recommend heaading to gfay area or east commonlands. I don't think many people group in BB as much as they used to

[Kekephee]

I doubt it. I never had any problems getting groups, but most of the time I was playing with a group of RL friends who were all in Knights Who Say Ni and we'd fill the remainder of the group with their guildies. But yeah, the deal is, the only reason you should have any trouble getting a group at low levels is that you haven't gotten your useful songs yet, and a) that won't last long at all, b) at low levels everyone's basically a warrior anyway so it shouldn't really even make a difference.

You're probably just not going to the right places. For example, blackburrow is probably a really tricky zone because isn't there usually only like, at the most 7 or 8 people there at a time?

I would say, find a place where you can put up LFG and watch the channels to see if there are people you can start a group with and just solo shit until you get a tell to join a group or successfully start one yourself.


All in all, basically every pug I ever joined at some point someone would say, "holy shit, I never realized bards were so good to have in groups." People lose their shit over bards in groups. If you're not so bad that you build a reputation for badness that will precede you when people see you LFG, expect to have no problems getting groups as long as you're in the right place.

[leFuZz]

First, do you know how to twist, I.e. play multiple songs at once?

Second, everybody wants bards in their group. Bards are amazing. They are specifically designed to make groups better.

Yeah, I played bard a bit on EQ Mac, but Bard was my main in DAoC. Although a bit different, many of the mechanics were similar.

[cor3nth]

I think the problem is Blackburrow, its not very good for honest EXP groups. Mostly solo twinks and plvling. I would get a port to Greater Faydark and hit Crushbone until 12-13. From there you can go to Unrest or Kurns Tower.

Bards are usually welcomed in groups.

[Estu]

A lot of people don't get groups not because they're playing a bad class for grouping, but just because they're not proactive. People will sit around with an /lfg tag up and do nothing else and complain that no one wants them in their group. Take some initiative - do a /who to see who's in the zone and start sending people tells. Find people in your level range in other zones with /who all 5 10 warrior (or whatever) and send them tells. Coordinate stuff.

I dunno how much you are or aren't doing that stuff, this is just a general comment. The above comments about Blackburrow not being an ideal zone for grouping are valid, although I've done grouping in Blackburrow.

[leFuZz]

Estu, you seem to always be a good resource when I come across you.

It seems like Blackburrow was kind of the problem, at least during my play times. I advertised in ooc all the time, with lfg flag on, and tried whispering people my level nearby. I went to gfey and found a lot of groups. Special thanks to dial a port!

[Diemore]

I think part of the problem for Bards is that people tend to be bit over zealous about the xp penalty bards (and other hybrids) attract.

SoE recognised it was wrong and fixed it. This isn't new content on some timeline, its peoples play experience and should just be fixed now rather than some skewed concept of timeline which isn't really being kept to anyway.

[leFuZz]

Do we know when Velious will be implemented?

[Estu]

No set date on Velious release, so probably several months from now. And if I recall correctly the class-based EXP penalty removal only comes in a few months into Velious. I would not scrap your bard just because of the EXP penalty. Bards are super-useful for groups and people (generally speaking) recognize that.

[Wattser]

I think that side of Antonica is just bad for groups. Hitch a ride to Faydwer, you'll have groups for Orc hill, Crushbone, Unrest, Mistmoore. honestly you wouldn't have to leave the island til 40 if you wanted to.

[Nagash]

Do we know when Velious will be implemented?

It arrived yesterday but the UPS driver delivered it at the wrong address. UPS is now actively working to recover it and deliver it to us. God knows how long this will take...

[brecon]

I've never had a problem getting groups, but Blackburrow is where people go with twinks. Go over to East Commons and you'll get orc groups no problem, and you can make some cash selling the belts and scalps. If there is no one around to group with, there's plenty of trash to kill.

When you hit low teens go to Oasis. Kind of boring, but steady xp and again, no problem grouping.

[holsteinrx7]

get off that god forsaken continent and head to antonica. go to east commonlands and then ro, and then oasis.

[Estu]

get off that god forsaken continent and head to antonica. go to east commonlands and then ro, and then oasis.

You realize Blackburrow is on the same continent (Antonica) as EC, Ro, and Oasis?

[Mordyth]

Do what I do, just walk up to a group and say "you guys sure look like you could use a wizard" (change the last part for bard)
Proactive is best.