A new service by Vivox called Puggable has now entered Open Beta. The service is being tested with World of Warcraft, and allows players to put together optimal pick up groups (PUGs) to tackle the game's group content such as raids and instances. The Puggable website does this by assembling character and instance data directly from the game so that players can set up an optimal team. Puggable also allows players to use Vivox voice right from the browser so they can communicate with their team.

So in short, some of the main features of Puggable include:

• Search for other players of complementary skills and comparable level
• Communicate objectives and become familiar with one another via voice prior to entering the game
• Continue communications without switching voice applications into the game
• Invite new players along the way

Try Puggable out here!

Would you consider using this service? Have you already? If so, how is it? Let us know in the comments below!

It actually works nicely.

The built in voice is better quality than Teamspeak (although lesser quality than Vent), and as a Paladin Tank I had players signing up to run instances immediately.

This service has alot of potential for success.

I'm trying to understand how this is any better then the ingame LFG tool.

Sure you have voice chat and thats nice, but the main problem with PUGs is not chat, it is finding people at all.

I would think some 3rd party tool like this is going to have even less use then the ingame tool which is almost ignored.

Shrug, hope it works. PUGing right now is a pain in the rear.

Originally posted by Slackerboy

I'm trying to understand how this is any better then the ingame LFG tool.

Sure you have voice chat and thats nice, but the main problem with PUGs is not chat, it is finding people at all.

I would think some 3rd party tool like this is going to have even less use then the ingame tool which is almost ignored.

Shrug, hope it works. PUGing right now is a pain in the rear.

Cause somebody...who doesn't work for Blizzard...thinks they are important....that's how...

I wonder how this is going to work when Blizzard implements cross-server LFG for instances? It pretty much has the same functionality as the in-game LFG system, so I'm wondering why anyone would bother with it... I mean it looks good, it appears to work, so there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just wondering if it offers anything that you can't already get with the the in-game system. Plus, WoW has built in voice chat that actually works fine for the most part. Even though a lot of people use 3rd party software instead, it is there...

  Add me to the list of people who can't see the point...........

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Originally posted by Gestankfaust

Cause somebody...who doesn't work for Blizzard...thinks they are important....that's how...

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I don't see how caring is going to help at all.

Right now during prime time there are around 1,600 people online on my side.
Maybe 1/2 are level 80 (800), Maybe 1/2 are geared and able to do Heroics (400), I would guess around 1/2 of that group are busy with BGs and arenas (200), Lose another 1/2 to people doing dailies or working trade skills (100).

So that leaves us with at best 100 people who might want to PUG, but most of this remaining group will be raiding with their guilds or friends. I would be surprised if there were more then 25-50 people looking for an instance at any given time.

Now spread them across all the level 80 content...

The problem is not the meeting tool, it is a lack of players. We need cross server PUGing, then a tool like this might be helpful.

Now the one thing that might be useful in today's world would be if this tool allows you to schedule a PUG. If it is just a live tool I see it as worse then the ingame tool just from the fact that now you have only a tiny fraction of the player base even using the tool.

Originally posted by severity3

  Add me to the list of people who can't see the point...........

Uhm yeah....me too.

The only thing I can think of that would actually make this a LITTLE useful, is if it also sorted people by their gear level and kept track of who has been kicked from PuGs for either totally sucking or ninja looting (and specified which).

There is nothing to guarantee a good PuG. Even well-geared people can be bad choices if they're ninja looters, jerks, etc.....

I just don't see how this really does a THING that LFG panel doesn't already do.

/shrug

Originally posted by Slackerboy

 

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Originally posted by Gestankfaust

 

Cause somebody...who doesn't work for Blizzard...thinks they are important....that's how...

---

 

I don't see how caring is going to help at all.

Right now during prime time there are around 1,600 people online on my side.
Maybe 1/2 are level 80 (800), Maybe 1/2 are geared and able to do Heroics (400), I would guess around 1/2 of that group are busy with BGs and arenas (200), Lose another 1/2 to people doing dailies or working trade skills (100).

So that leaves us with at best 100 people who might want to PUG, but most of this remaining group will be raiding with their guilds or friends. I would be surprised if there were more then 25-50 people looking for an instance at any given time.

Now spread them across all the level 80 content...

The problem is not the meeting tool, it is a lack of players. We need cross server PUGing, then a tool like this might be helpful.

Now the one thing that might be useful in today's world would be if this tool allows you to schedule a PUG. If it is just a live tool I see it as worse then the ingame tool just from the fact that now you have only a tiny fraction of the player base even using the tool.

Nice long post....

but as many have said...WHY?

How can you hope to stand against such power?!

Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by severity3

  Add me to the list of people who can't see the point...........

 

Uhm yeah....me too.

The only thing I can think of that would actually make this a LITTLE useful, is if it also sorted people by their gear level and kept track of who has been kicked from PuGs for either totally sucking or ninja looting (and specified which).

There is nothing to guarantee a good PuG. Even well-geared people can be bad choices if they're ninja looters, jerks, etc.....

I just don't see how this really does a THING that LFG panel doesn't already do.

 

/shrug

I totally agree with girlgeek.

One of the Major Advantages that I can see straight off is that it lets you choose -=ANY=- instance, unlike WoW's LFG Tools... so putting together those Molten Core runs might be a bit easier... or doing the Holiday Event dungeon groups, etc.

It's a nice concept... I am just a bit dubious about downloading a installable executable from any site relating to WoW.  They can fit Key Loggers in almost anything.  /sigh 

Originally posted by Phantasm23

One of the Major Advantages that I can see straight off is that it lets you choose -=ANY=- instance, unlike WoW's LFG Tools... so putting together those Molten Core runs might be a bit easier... or doing the Holiday Event dungeon groups, etc.

It's a nice concept... I am just a bit dubious about downloading a installable executable from any site relating to WoW.  They can fit Key Loggers in almost anything.  /sigh 

I would have to agree. Having more choices than the LFG in game would be nice. In game LFG is being used a good deal and maybe it would be even more if there was more choice or freedom to use it. I do think others are right the amount of toons on at a given time affects anything even this and cross server grouping will improve that.

At the same time I am very cautious when it comes to any site and the possibility of a key logger or anything that might obtain my info for game or otherwise.. Yes I have programs running and daily scans done to attempt to prevent this. The authenticator is great and gives peace of mind for now for WoW. 

Lets see:

I think I have read that one person says that the voice on this is lower quality than Vent but better than Team Speak. Other than that do we really know how this program obtains its info or really works? Is this just a program that those who use it can log in and have a web LFG for WoW? or Is it grabbing info based on the server you play on? If the later is the case just what sort of info does it require of the user to do this?

It says it is web. What does this really mean? No I am not a  dummy I know what web is but what do they mean by this?

Yes there is a chat program within WoW that can be used for those that don't have access to another program or the guild doesn't allow non guildies to use it. It does make it easier when you are able to talk without having to type. I have not used the in-game chat so I can't speak for the ease or quality of it.

Lots of questions that I would like to know more about for sure. Is there a cost or will there be a cost? Without pay are the features limited? yada, yada.

Is this a news post or is it an add for some strange third party site and service? Because the link in the story really temms me nothing about it beyond it wants some character info as soon as the link pops? Who is using this information? Where is it pulling it from? Does it interact with the game client in any way? When it leaves "beta" and goes live will it be a paid fee or subscription service? If so how exactly they get around concerns here on MMORPG.COM about using World of Warcrafts name and graphics in promoting it?

And honestly just looking at the little blurb on the news page, my first thought is what money changed hands with who in order to get it posted there? I don't like thinking that, but that piece seems to dance a bit over the line. It might be a useful service, it might not, But right now it it raises some red flags from me. (your opinion and mileage may vary).

Originally posted by faefrost

Is this a news post or is it an add for some strange third party site and service? Because the link in the story really temms me nothing about it beyond it wants some character info as soon as the link pops? Who is using this information? Where is it pulling it from? Does it interact with the game client in any way? When it leaves "beta" and goes live will it be a paid fee or subscription service? If so how exactly they get around concerns here on MMORPG.COM about using World of Warcrafts name and graphics in promoting it?

And honestly just looking at the little blurb on the news page, my first thought is what money changed hands with who in order to get it posted there? I don't like thinking that, but that piece seems to dance a bit over the line. It might be a useful service, it might not, But right now it it raises some red flags from me. (your opinion and mileage may vary).

Red flags indeed.

Here are some links to what I found:

www.vivox.com/news_press_release_detail.php

www.vivox.com/

www.vivox.com/vivox-labs.html

www.vivox.com/new/press-releases-detail.php

Judging by this I would say this is going to cost just like Ventriol or Team Speak. From there I am not sure but agree this does sounds like an advertisement more than a possible chance to beta test or whatever.

Thanks for the comments everyone. We're trying to make Puggable into a resource for puggers everywhere. We want to put all the things that you'd need for good pugging on one web page. There are links to Armory pages, there are Resources links to the bosses, tactics, movies and loot for each instance, and there's easy-to-use and free voice for communication. Instead of sending around your guild's Vent information, you can /w a URL - no password or server info required.

It's early days for Puggable, we just started the open beta, so there's a lot more to do, but so far the feedback has been pretty good. If there are features or fixes you'd like to see, please enter them in the Feedback section of the site and we'll do our best.

Answering some specific questions:

@Darkholme & Slackerboy: Puggable should make cross-server pugs work even better, because you will have a much bigger pool of people to choose from, many of whom you don't already know.

@girlgeek: Gearscore is the _next_ feature to add! I really want to build a basic reputation system here, but that's going to take a bit longer.

@Gikku: All good questions. The codec that we use for the voice is ultrawideband, so the audio quality is somewhere between FM radio and CDs. Of course, your network conditions will affect the moment to moment audio experience. The plugin and the service behind it is made by Vivox (www.vivox.com), the company that builds voice services for SOE, EVE Online, Second Life and many more. So there's a big reputation behind it. There is absolutely no keylogging or other dubious stuff going on here. The plugin is not grabbing any user data. It's using an Armory lookup to populate the Pug table (thus the initial popup). We absolutely need to write a doc on the plugin, how it works, what ports it uses, etc.

There's no cost to use Puggable, and we don't plan on charging one. We might add advertisements to the service at some point, but it's much to early days to think about that.

@feafrost: This was a post, not an add. Vivox put out a press release about Puggable and MMORPG picked it up. No money changed hands. It doesn't link with the game client in any way.

Thanks for your comments,

Matthew Bellows
Vetali on Moonrunner
Vivox

Thank you for your answers. I am sure we will have many more. By all means keep us informed on the progress and how this goes. It does sound like it has good possibilities.

There are many guilds that don't like to have their Vent used for pug groups and having a way to communicate without all that typing is very helpful. This would be another source. I haven't used the one that is in game but have ask around and those that have said the quality isn't that good.

It is also nice to know there is no plans for charging for this.

I await to hear more on how the information is obtained.  I sure many are;  with all the hacking out there we try very hard to protect our accounts and the time we have invested in them.

Again thank you. Nice to know someone involved is following this.

Hi Gikku,

Can you tell me more about what you mean by "I await to hear more on how the information is obtained."

The only information we're collecting on Puggable is the region/server/character name that we use to grab Armory data. Even that isn't required to use the service (just enter blanks and you'll be logged in as "Guest").

Were you thinking we were collecting other info?

Thanks,

Matthew

Originally posted by Vetali Thanks for your comments,

@Gikku: All good questions. The codec that we use for the voice is ultrawideband, so the audio quality is somewhere between FM radio and CDs. Of course, your network conditions will affect the moment to moment audio experience. The plugin and the service behind it is made by Vivox (www.vivox.com), the company that builds voice services for SOE, EVE Online, Second Life and many more. So there's a big reputation behind it. There is absolutely no keylogging or other dubious stuff going on here. The plugin is not grabbing any user data. It's using an Armory lookup to populate the Pug table (thus the initial popup). We absolutely need to write a doc on the plugin, how it works, what ports it uses, etc.

Matthew Bellows
Vetali on Moonrunner
Vivox

I am sorry it was just a responds to the last line of  your reply  to me. Maybe I misunderstood it or took it wrong. It sounds like it is saying there is a need to write something making it clearer to people how it works and where/where not the information is coming from.

Either way I am interested in knowing how your testing goes because if it works out it would be very useful and with the coming of cross server grouping this would really open things up for groups and even pug raids. :) I know in theroy that is what WoW is aiming for but we all know that just making it available is not going to make it work like they are hoping.