This way is more fun. And unique. And different. And special.

Simple, nonintrusive and clean are all also bonuses.

Fine. Then I'll stop thinking for this stuff then, since my ideas are complex, intrusive, and messy.

You can be intrusive and messy with me anytime.

Aggro power will be abused. No.

Rescue power is meh, but sure, make it very limited though.

Everything else is ignorable, the only idea I really liked was the one that lets everyone know when a member of the squad is about to die.

How about you make it so you can invite in the area only? I remember that on Achaea they tried to make a group with everyone in it.

That is so awesome...

Also

Worst case, if the health warning is not implemented then a small trigger would be able to send up warnings about low health.

It would just be nice is all (has been playing his healer on WAR)

Yes, please remember that there are very creative people who will find a way to use the strength/benefits/perks of a "squad" against you if it is at all possible. 'Squad' is far too militaristic for me. My mind just goes straight to TIE fighters and sci-fi/fantasy soldiers with swords that are guns. I do not see two aquamancers and a bard as a squad, but perhaps that is just me. I would suggest 'company.' I really like 'band,' but "hey, you wanna join our band?" is what comes first to mind for me rather than "We are a band of bold adventurers braving Astral dangers." Your mileage will vary, I suppose!

Also, Myrkr, for these group command ideas. Something like CALL really does not seem to make much sense because you would ideally be traveling together in the same area. If someone is separated, it should only be by a few rooms. Otherwise, group stands on road outside of Glomdoring, sends dastardly wee group member into Wyrdling/do you have anything else important?, CALL group, aegis the meatshield who is a demigod who can divinefire, and you might have created a moment where people can get a good shot at the target without too much risk from guards. That's exaggerated a fair deal, but the idea is there. With rescue, we have the same idea. Your group should be pretty close together in a "physical" space sort of sense. The idea is to help them work as a single, cohesive unit a bit better.

Maybe a TRACK ability that will, with some delay, move you towards your group if you are separated. The groupleader can use it to move towards a lost groupmember, as well. It would operate like the PATH system. It isn't instantaneous and it has limitations, but would ultimately serve a newer person who gets lost/separated/forgot to stand/cure a broken leg/whatever.

SCAVENGER - this designated person would automatically retrieve gold dropped from a mob killed by a groupmember. I think corpses should be left to acquisitio, or the scavenger task would not supersede acquisitio. Doling out a big cluster of corpses after the fact is going to mess with the karma from offering, unless that mechanic is reworked with this new grouping. Something to automatically split the gold between members present in the same room might be helpful.

Groupleader and group readiness. A situation as Myrkr described could make it lethal depending on implementation. Maybe the groupleader gets a new prompt piece (oh won't that be fun!) that would indicate group balance/equilibrium/ability to move. If you have a G, feel free to move. Or LEAD. Groupleader does LEAD N, groupmembers get a message that the leader is going north, it is sort of a queued command and when everyone can move, there you go. If the groupleader enters another directional command before the LEAD command is executed, the LEAD is broken and people following will follow as normal. Both are clunky, but are there as general ideas. Or. LEAD can be turned on or off for a drain of some sort. Groupmembers will move in whatever direction you have gone when they are able (not prone/have eq and balance), limit say to 2 or 3 rooms, and automatically re-follow when they reach the room with the groupleader.

The groupleader has something like mass assess? It can be turned on or off for drains in willpower/endurance/whathaveyou. Will alert groupleader to health < X% of health, whatever amount you think is good. Someone can sprinkle salt, healers/bards can heal, twirl staff, recite healing at. Maybe it could be announced over the group channel automatically?

I think the goal is to look for those little things that would improve the "experience" of group bashing without making it the next thing you have to worry about in a raid. What are the irksome things that would make it just a bit more friendly?

Honestly, I was not shooting for "wall of text" and there is no tl;dr summary, so get over it.

I, also, really dislike the idea of the word "clique". I can't help but think of it as a negative thing.

How about regiment, or battalion?

Gala makes a lot of sense once again.

Another idea would be a way to show the location of group members. For added coolness, maybe find a way to display it via the MAP command.

Have numbers go inside the to designate who's were, and a * if there's more than one party member? Or numbers to show how many party members are in which spot.

I'd just like to comment that I see a lot of ideas that are good, but perhaps a bit too complex for a basic unit.

What I personally would like to see is a basic group with XP sharing and a channel across a plane. Nothing more as far as the basic group goes.

Then, have each guild be able to add something -simple-...
Knights give a -slight- HP boost to represent their tanking might.
Bards give a -slight- stat boost, or mercy/kingdom/perfection effect to represent their inspirational abilities.
Mages gain a -slight- damage boost to represent being able to focus more on casting with a front line in front of them.
...That sort of thing, all non-stackable.

I really would like to avoid this becoming a complex skillset. I just think it's a way to encourage us to cross-guild bash.

My issues with the statistical boosting properties being suggested for the group ideas is for when people decide to take this hunting mechanic into the combat group and you'll see...oh, I dunno, squads of five warriors with this 'slight' health boost becoming even tankier than they already are.

Otherwise though, I quite like the concept and most other utility ideas like what Galaphyrae and Shuyin have been putting forward. If statistics get put into the equation, it just moves towards combat practices rather than the hunting which was I think the main point of these suggestions so far.

True, true. Ok: the "give" part of what I said would be exclusive of themselves, and non-stacking.

So, a group of five warriors would get either no bonus, or perhaps a single health boost.
Or, in a group of one bard and one warrior, the bard would get a hp boost and the knight would get the regen.

After not reading any of this thread because it's probably just the same things over and over, with different words. The grouping should be basic and simple, not another skillset thrown in for something that is essentially just you and you're friends want to bash.

Maybe just giving everyone in the group a 10% exp bonus, after it's all shared, so say you have 5 people, everyone would get 20% then a 10% bonus.

If we're going to waste time coding in new changes for something that really doesn't matter, why not go waste time on forging, it's not like people have been complaining about that since THE START OF THE GAME.

I would agree with multiple versions of the same buff not stacking except in one case...

to encourage guild hunts if the group is comprised of >x members of that guild and no others then a small group of buffs would be nice (or just the different buffs you would need different guilds for combined)

Well, the mobs remember who's killed them, otherwise you wouldn't get karma for offering them, or you'd get karma for offering ones you didn't kill, right? Maybe they could reference that.

I was under the impression that if Estarra wanted to do this, it was going to be entirely in theme and distinctly Lusternian. It was never suggested that it be a skillset unto itself. What Estarra did mention was that the basic function would be the first ability in Combat with a possibility of other functions scattered throughout that skill.

The method for division of XP is also up for suggestions. How is it distributed over multiple characters currently? All the maths! It makes me nervous.

giving hp warning IS a good idea.

I was saying that rescue, COMBINED with hp warnings, was asking for abuse.

From what I understood from Estarra's original idea, is that hte group leader can have command like SQUAD FOLLOW ON/OFF

If it is on, then the squad leader can't leave the room unless everyone is able to follow, if it is off, then you move like usual. It doesn't affect the rest of the squad, and you don't have to be following people anymore.

I think the ability to share and split gold with the group is another ability that is needed.

Another NICE perk would be able to know the health of your squad members in some form or another.

I also think that the xp bonus of being in the squad, should really be the only perk needed to encourage squad creation. If the xp bonus alone, is not causing squads to form, then the xp bonuses need to be looked at again untill it is desireable that is fixed.

Then ontop of this, Covens and Mindlinks need thier own unique perks. Be it influence sharing, or xp bonsuses based on the phase of the moon etc.

edit: Oh, and allow squads to name themselves

edit 2: I think Knots or Spools, should be used to show the link via the fates etc :shrug: