Quote Originally Posted by Afania View Post
Although you said it's your last post, I'm still kinda curious....

Most of the ppl I've met in FFXI doesn't view playing optimal playstyle this negatively, they just do it cuz it helps their friends/ls to get things done and that makes them happy. If everyone is happy, they're happy as well.

Some ppl do hate playing mage jobs, which is fact. But when it comes to playstyle, almost everyone I've ever pt with picked the same playstyle as what community thought to be the best, and all the players I've ever pt with are happy to do so....I've seen a WAR complained for being asked to play WHM, but I've never seen a WAR complaining about not be able to use a shield in an event in my life, ever. Most of the players are actually grateful to hear suggestions and opinion to play better so they can be more helpful to the team.

So yeah, I really don't understand what's reason to view different playstyle THIS negatively. I can understand the frustration if you can't play the job you want, but when it comes to playstyle, it's really hard to understand......when you help your team grind more stuff per hour and make everyone happy, don't you feel satisfied with them?

FYI, when I just started playing FFXI, my goal was to be a melee RDM and I did the same thing....I questioned the community "Why can't I play a playstyle I enjoy?" since I also enjoyed role playing. And that started 10 pages of debate toward playstyle in FFXI.

Now that I've done enough endgame, I have a drastically different POV regarding this matter. It's nowhere as negative as how you describe, and I still look for opportunity to play different playstyle and have fun all the time.FFXI certainly has grey area and room for different playstyle, you just have to find them and create opportunity to use them, instead of forcing everyone else to accommodate one individual's playstyle.
Sorry I'm late on this, I've been studying for a test non-stop the last few days.

It's not that I have a problem with playing your character well -- and believe me, I always try to play at the best of my ability -- it just bothers me how bent out of shape some people seem to get if someone doesn't meet their veteran expectations. This is compounded when said veteran makes the less experienced player feel like shit for not doing something just so. That kind of attitude seems far more prevalent now than it did back in the day (at least noticeably) and it just bothers me to no end. That's where the "sweating the small stuff" comes in. I think it's in the best interest for everyone involved that people takes a minute to step back once in awhile and remember that playing a game like this is supposed to be a fun past time and also that not every player is going to meet all the expectations you may have for them. That doesn't mean you should condescend to them and show your ass. Try helping them instead and politely explain how they could improve something. *Ahem* sorry, tangent.

Yes, I suppose I'd feel good helping to contribute to greater grinding efficiency, but like I said, I'm one of those people that would prefer everyone have fun playing a class they like, rather than picking the most optimum setup for squeezing out every little incremental bit of experience per hour or whatever. It's just not that important to me; it's a means to an end. Obviously there are many that disagree with me though, so it's not like my opinion matters much. I just like choices and variety and the ability to take advantage of it without being ostracized for "doing it wrong." That's the problem I have with the efficiency ideal; even when something is good enough to finish content, it's still not good enough for the masses of min/maxers, simply because it doesn't complete content at the same expedited rate as the tried and true, cookie cutter way of doing things.

I will agree that it's a good idea to play your job/class mainly as intended (meaning using the appropriate weapons for your job, not meleeing with a pure caster, etc) but I believe that every job should be given a fair shake, and I'd never hesitate to group with someone simply because they play a class/job that doesn't fit in with the status quo -- efficiency be damned.

In any case, I'm glad to hear that end game isn't quite as dreary as I was envisioning at least, and I appreciate you giving me some insight into it. I've really been enjoying the game so far and I plan on experiencing as much of it as I can.