This is going viral in the MMO community and everyone should read it

[Feathery]

Yes, this is about WoW but I would like to say that it's highly relevant to all of us.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/7864486403

[d4rkie]

*bump* was searching the forums to see if this was posted already. It's a good read, and highly relevant to the current state of FFXIV community *judging by these forums and some DF encounters (had my "bard can join us later" moment in Praetorium as a fresh lvl 50 just last weekend)*.

[Vaen]

It's kind of disturbing and dystopian how big online gaming has become in South Korea. And how seriously people take it over there, like it's the most SERIOUS IMPORTANT THING EVER. (I know it's a bit silly of me to say this as someone who has sunk way too many hundreds of hours into MMOs <.<)

People need to remember this is just a game and the primary goal isn't to get the most gil or best gear ASAP. The main goal is to have fun and enjoy this beautiful world with other awesome people.

I hope no one in FFXIV is ostracized like that poor low-DPS guy. I don't really understand how he couldn't get better by just reading some WoW guides online, maybe WoW has gotten extremely more complicated or something, I dunno. But that's besides the point.

He sounded like a polite, nice guy, and it's ridiculous that people cared about his equipment more than his personality.

[BlackShroudMercs]

Man that is so friggin sad..when he said he would hide from them..damn..

[Maqaqa]

We need to stay human, even on videogames.

[PSxpert2011]

I just logged off to see if there was something remotely engaging in this forum. Glad I ran into this, I read from top to bottom. It's an issue that's happening here and there and not going to name any online games( you all know them).

It's an MMO and it's all in good fun, don't loose your souls over it. It says a lot that reputation over time just because no one would take the time to help a fellow out until one day. A community is only as strong as its weakest link.

[Garnatian]

Eh, it's the developers who create this sort of situation.

I feel something like SWTOR did it right. Most things that needed to be done were weeklies, there was no rush. I didn't mind having people with relatively bad gear. If the job took a 5-10mins more, no skin off my back since I didn't have to grind the same thing endlessly.

In FFXIV, everything is just grind, so reducing the time spent doing it is incredibly important, which creates the "elitist" community.

[Gwydion]

Our community is still young, we have to make sure that there is never a class of players that are "outcasts." I played and loved WoW and FFXI and had many friends. Lets all make this the best community we can! Be nice and teach each other!

[Seezur_Undies]

People forget that there are real people with real feeling behind these characters and can care less if they "bully" them. it needs to stop

#EndOnlineBullying

[Feathery]

Eh, it's the developers who create this sort of situation.

I respectfully disagree with this.

We need to realize that if we want FFXIV:ARR to have a vast and healthy population then we must also work together to create a friendly and accepting community. Elitism and toxicity will drive away new and casual players. And this is something we as a community can work together to prevent.

As an individual I can make a conscious choice to not berate and harass newbies for their performance. I can choose to help them with their dungeons or quests and offer other helpful advice to help them orient themselves with the game.

As a community we can stigmatize toxic and abusive behavior, we can refuse to group with people that openly harass other players or rage.

The developers can provide us with more tools to help manage this behavior, but ultimately it is up to us a community in how we use these tools.