The thing with Linkshells is its like a job in a lot of ways, Even if you don't think of it like one, It is. Its not a Guild full of NPCs, Its a bunch of real people, and in that kind of situation it either becomes a friendly circle, or a Business-Friendship Type deal.

In a lot of these cases, Those who contribute the most, or the best geared, or the most helpful, tend to earn higher positions in the linkshell, even if its not through Sackholding, but more just "Leader/Sack favorites". Unfortunately for others, even if the LS leader is reasonable, this means those who aren't the favorites will, unfortunately, be below or less favorable than those who have taken to those spots.

This is a tad unfair, but its also human nature, Everyone has friends, enemies, best friends, so forth... Its just life. That said its also up to chance rather you get a good Reasonable LS Leader, a self-serving a**, or a Sheep in Antlion's Clothing(using the FFXI versions gtfo)... Saddly I come across Sheep In Antlion's clothing more often than i come across t he other two. Leaders who appear reasonable on the outside but are really just out to serve themselves and their favorites or perceived besties before all else.

TBH those I feel are worse than the self-serving a**es. The ones who can fake liking you just enough that you question if whats happening is coincidence, in your head, or whatever... Those are the ones that really kill your enthusiasm to play. If he's an a** you can at least love to hate him and in turn actively seek another LS knowing you're in a craphole... But these types, You just don't know, and it causes hesitation, so you sit, you wait, and hope for change or reason.

Lucky for me I've managed to mostly avoid these types of leaders lately, as they seem to be a dying breed and people just don't care to fake it anymore so you get Good fair leaders, or the bad ones... If all you can find is the bad ones, Make your own... Honestly this will really help you in two ways. One, You'll learn managing a LS isn't as easy as it might seem, Managing 17+ People is difficult and you'll find you'll want to boot/avoid some of them as well because they aren't likeable, or so forth... and two, You have that chance of finding all those like-minded people to help you, and you can give them a real chance at a fair leader.

What it boils down too is, You absolutely can not let the bad, self-serving, favorite playing, True-Elitist Types bring you to the brink of quitting. Create your own shell, Help the newbies out, Build your friends and players up, and give them and yourself that shell you've wanted. It'll be hard, but I'm sure it'll be worth it for you.