Issue: L1-L59 Players Cannot Access Shirogane Houses to Apply to FCs

[Veritas-Ancora]

Request:
Offer an NPC that transports L1+ players to and from a set starting city-state.
(Example: NPC in Limsa transports to Shirogane directly, and back)

Issue:
Level 1 players seeking to join Shirogane FCs cannot access Shirogane via any NPC-based travel system. To join an FC, one needs to have access to the Submit Application feature found only by the placard on an FC home or reaching the FC home where members of the Free Company reside. Theoretically they should be able to reach members, but rare to find high-level players in low-level zones. Only method of reaching Shirogane at present is reaching 60+ to access Kugane, requiring Stormblood expansion to access to port to Shirogane. Kugane is an unnecessary "middle-man" zone in this instance between Limsa and Shirogane, one requiring the purchase of two expansions and 60 levels.

Effect:
Players can not effectively join FCs that are on Shirogane from a starting level or any level below L59. This affects in-game FC Applications if no player is in starting areas to access the Free Company "Submit Application" feature (in-game application).

Additional Effect:
Existing low-level players who manage to join FC through improbable method stated above will not be subscription-retained if each port is 999 gil and bankrupting them at beginning of game. Though Limsa is expensive, it is still fairly priced for low levels (L1 to L15) in comparison. Early player retention may decrease due to this issue. All existing FC non-leadership members are also monetarily punished.

Housing:
Shirogane

Players Affected:
- Non-FC members seeking to become FC members who cannot access Shirogane between levels 1 to 59
- Low-level members with unreasonable gil costs for low levels

Reason for Concern:
Reported in previous Live Letter that all level 1 players will be able to access Shirogane. This is inaccurate, it requires the Stormblood expansion to reach Kugane who then ports to Limsa via NPC at docks. There is no direct NPC connection between Shirogane and starting locations. If player does not have Stormblood, there is no way to access district on their own which taxes the existing membership base.

Request for Resolution:
Add NPC option to travel to Limsa or Ul'dah or Gridania from a stationary boat location to access Shirogane directly. Allow boat to also travel back to location so players are not met with an extra 700-800 gil upcharge for every port in Eorzea.

Levels Affected:
1-59

Further Issue:
If level 1 player wishes to submit an in-game application to apply for an FC, they have no means of accessing such without a player wandering around a low-level area. Both players and house is largely inaccessible.

[MugetsuEixitum]

This was and is an unexpected problem to occur and will cripple any of the Free Companies that have moved to Shirogane of being accessible to any of the newer players. A fix/solution to this would be greatly appreciated.

[MistakeNot]

You don't really need to be physically near an FC house or FC member to open up the company info and submit an application, do you?
Searching for a player through Player Search should let you get the company info.

This can of course be problematic if you do not know the names of any of the FC members (but this can be found through the Lodestone), or if none of them are ever online at the same time as you.
If that is the case one might question if it really is a wise idea to apply to that particular FC though.

[DPZ2]

Many FCs limit the number of members who can accept applications. You would have to come across those particular members (rather than just any individual single member) in order to make that application.

I agree that Aetheryte costs for lower levels would become an issue. Not everyone starting out is adept at making gil, and the 2.0 story lines are not particularly lucrative. In addition, that 999 gil charge is doubled, as there is really no way to get back to the 1-50 playing areas easily without the same charge.

I'd like to see a fix for the problems as well.

[Veritas-Ancora]

That's mainly my issue, Auriana. I'd like to give a quick paragraph on my community since the concern was if a player should join a community they don't know, and there's a good few reasons to do so. My guild is a predominantly minority community grounded in the rules that you can't make fun or harass women, people of color, LGBTQ/sexual orientations, etc. The opposite of social justice warriors, keeping to themselves but not wanting to hear it. Be yourself, participate in events, run content together, have fun because it's just a game. People seriously seek these communities out because people get severely harassed, death threats, etc. (basically the "Comments Section" kind of hate for no other reason than to be d-bags. Women who get harassed for X-rated pics because guys found out they're an actual girl, LGBT folk talking about a date and being told they're going to hell, people of color who casually mention it in conversation, the GMs do an awesome job taking care of it but once it's out there it's out there and it snowballs) Even the ones who don't deal with this in game, they deal with it and real life and would rather just not deal with it in their spare time. The vast majority of our players didn't know anybody else in the game, but they had something they could relate to and share the same principals of respecting each other. They're at home, they're here to have fun and relax.

Mine's just an example, though. Here's a few as well:
- There's the Role Playing communities who don't know each other IRL and want to join for a similar experience to get what they want out of a community.
- There's static raid groups out there that people join just to take on bosses, and it's easier to have a stationary place than to expect the recruitment to be up 24/7 to find them if they're advertising on Reddit or other resources.
- There's specialty groups who share an interest in something.

With that said, I really want to focus on what affects all of us in Shirogane and not just some of us.

I've not seen any of my members (or even anyone else) in the city states unless they sprint dash for their Squadrons and port out elsewhere. There's no reason at all to go to Level 1 to L50 areas unless you're farming in off-beaten paths that most new players won't see or visit. All the guilds now do this, we've got tons of new locations to camp out that aren't the original city-states. Problem is, we're doing this for volunteer and fun so we can't be running our games 24/7 or have a stationary player somewhere -- it's all volunteer work, like all of the Free Company leads out there. We've tried everything else.

Unfortunately, going down the list of Lodestone is a luxury only to those who know what Lodestone is, and not many folks really know those resources exist. Even if we educated players to utilize Lodestone, it's a crap shoot if they're online like you said.

[krinchan]

It certainly limits the usefulness of the application process in game. It's weird because if you're both in an FC and not an Officer or Lead, you generally don't see the applications. If you don't see the applications, you don't think of the feature much. That said, I know several people in game on multiple servers that say they get a lot of new members via the feature and it's made recruitment a non-issue. It'd suck to be forced to choose between Shirogane and applications. :-/

Honestly, the ability to pull up an FC and apply w/out finding an online player would resolve the issue entirely.

[Veritas-Ancora]

I think just by offering an easy transport into the main game and back would be sufficient. All the extra bells and whistles is taxing on developers, and even using the existing ferryman to transport to both Kugane and Limsa would be very beneficial.

[Burmecia]

I'm pretty sure you can submit application also by just checking out any players (at overworld or player search) FC from their info (square button on ps4, dunno about pc). Once in FC with house with mini aetheryte, even lvl 1 players can technically access Shirogane.

Not saying this is bad suggestion. Personally, I was not even all that aware that FC estates placard can be used this way too (I have always applied by stalking fc from player info first). D

Off-topic: I wish more FCs used pf as recruitment tool. This might be a bit petty opinion, but I hate /shouting FC recruiters in towns...

[Veritas-Ancora]

Can a community team member please explain after a week why this was thrown into the Housing forum, rather than an adjustment to an NPC that was promised to us in a Live Letter? I would think this falls more into the bug category since it was a redirect oversight.

I appreciate you and your hard work. Thank you.

[Beckett]

Access to housing is not necessary to submit FC applications, it's simply an extra way that it can be done. Many FCs don't even have a house, and it's not a bug that players can't find the placards for those FCs. This thread is a request for an additional feature, not a bug report.