SWTOR LFG system currently in design stage, says BioWare

A group finder makes everything easier – especially in MMORGPs where grouping is a pivotal aspect in the gameplay.  If there is one thing that annoys me it's standing around spamming the chat looking for a group to run an instance or a harder quest.  It's time consuming, annoying, and boring.

BioWare understands this and recently addressed the idea of a "LFG system" in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"Improving our LFG system is high on the list of features that Systems Design wants to add to the game," said BioWare's Damion Schubert.  "We want this to be good not just for helping people find Flashpoints and Operations to run, but also other multiplayer content like heroic missions."

Schubert explained, " A key emphasis will be on advertising for specific role needs (healer, tank, DPS). This feature is currently in the design stage, and once this feature has moved beyond this to a development stage and has a firm ETA, I'll be coming back to you guys to give more details."

Honestly, I don't know how any MMORPG game could succeed in the long run without some sort of group finder.  Even Schubert admitted that BioWare knew they would need to revisit the feature.

"In the level-up game, finding players isn't too rough because, with few exceptions, everyone in that level band is either on your planet or on the fleet. Once more and more players hit endgame, and are spending their time in more places, the need for this feature is going to increase," Schubert noted.  "Note that right now, high level players have the opposite problem – there aren't enough other players up there to group with. This problem will dissipate as the game ages, and more players reach the later levels."

That's another problem many level 50 players have faced.  There have been complaints that the end-game, especially PVP, seems dead.  BioWare has reasoned that the majority of players are still lower levels and encouraged players to create alts in the meantime.