The Trust system will always remain a failure and garbage to me

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Originally Posted by Vickii

Oh I know :). Although I didn’t see Dohn Mheg yet! I love how they all have their own way to get across and Ryne is super catious and takes forever bless her.

[hb]He’s max level though so while I’m levelling trusts I’m kinda stuck with Thancred as it’s pointless to use him and miss out on xp.

It always felt a bit odd that there were 3 dps, 2 healers and 1 tank rather than 2/2/2. It’s hard for me to get both Alisae and Ryne in and they’re my favorites :D. Yshtola never gets a turn. [\hb]

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I you want to level them all efficiently you have to level a dps and tank with them.

Otherwise here's some tips with trusts:
-Always pair Rhyne with Thancred. He won't do the cartridge combo without her.
-Thancred is also like 10x more tanky than WoLs. He has damage down that he inflicts in aoe around him from time to time ontop of his own regen.
-Never use both Twins at once. Alphi will always prioritize Alis over everything else no matter what.
-Y'shtola actually casts her spells in a set order and not a 100% random fashion. Also her foul makes all BLMs jelly at how it chunks bosses.

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Originally Posted by Kyrj

Lol what? No they don't. Join a regular group and pull three packs of mobs and then do a Trust and pull the same three packs of mobs, see which one takes longer. The answer will always be the Trust group.

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You’re correct partially.
Their DPS doesn’t adjust to yours. They do however adjust to how long the instance is taking.
They’ll get stronger the longer you take. One reason could be due to your own lack of DPS, maybe that’s what they meant? But either way they normalize a run time.
You are very correct a real team will run much faster. 15 minutes or so is what I generally expect. Trusts are absolutely slower by comparison.

One advantage they have us, you can go pull a couple packs and walk away to do something else. Make a cup of coffee or clean up or do some workout sets real quick. You come back and they’re just waiting for the next pull. It’s easy passive leveling if you’re otherwise doing something else.

@OP: Did you consider the fact they were meant to be inferior to real-player parties, to encourage party play?

For me, they certainly still get the job done with the occasional AI goof, but I'm good with that if I'm running a dungeon + watching netflix or doing laundry and might have to afk mid dungeon. Wouldn't do that to real people and am very grateful for this option.

My wife is extremely nervous around unknown people IRL and in game and doesn't really "do dungeons well" with pugs, so for her the Trust system eliminates a huge headache of arranging times with FC members to do the dungeon/trial together.

So, I'd say "working as intended" and "very appreciated addition".

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Originally Posted by kaynide

My wife is extremely nervous around unknown people IRL and in game and doesn't really "do dungeons well" with pugs, so for her the Trust system eliminates a huge headache of arranging times with FC members to do the dungeon/trial together.

So, I'd say "working as intended" and "very appreciated addition".

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This is an mmorpg though. :confused:

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

This is an mmorpg though. :confused:

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An MMO with a lot of single player content, even.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

This is an mmorpg though. :confused:

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Except you can't blame this wife for liking a game, even if she isn't feeling relaxed towards strangers... I'm happy she can use this content to enjoy her time playing, so yeah in that case, trusts are a worthy addition

Also, saying that after being like '' trusts sucks but i never tried them '' clearly shows that you have nothing to say worthy to be taken into consideration, so, have a good day

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Originally Posted by Masked-dingus

Except you can't blame this wife for liking a game, even if she isn't feeling relaxed towards strangers... I'm happy she can use this content to enjoy her time playing, so yeah in that case, trusts are a worthy addition

Also, saying that after being like '' trusts sucks but i never tried them '' clearly shows that you have nothing to say worthy to be taken into consideration, so, have a good day

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I obviously did, otherwise I don't think you would have replied.

I do agree the trusts are a little too slow. I'd personally introduce something similar to the Trust Mastery system, where you can unlock traits such as aoe, increased damage and so on by completing dungeons once you've leveled the Trust to 80. At least then you work for it and for your investment have something you can use to level alt classes efficiently.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Their DPS doesn’t adjust to yours. They do however adjust to how long the instance is taking.
They’ll get stronger the longer you take. One reason could be due to your own lack of DPS, maybe that’s what they meant? But either way they normalize a run time.

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I always found this a strange system because it encourages you to afk during trash packs. And as a dps you easily can on most packs. You could also view it as a punishment for maximizing damage, since your Trust essentially start slacking off if you do.

i treat trust as a way to learn the dungeon my first time running it, then a way to do a dungeon while i'm making dinner after that

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Originally Posted by SnowVix

i treat trust as a way to learn the dungeon my first time running it, then a way to do a dungeon while i'm making dinner after that

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That's the smart things to do, when you're short on time or probably going to be semi afk, to run your dungeon with trusts instead of a party of people. And avoid situations where someone would just quit in the middle of the run, as well as avoiding having people flaming you because you have dinner, or kids, or something to deal with in the middle of your run

I've seen a lot of people replying that way, using the trusts to learn when 1st timers etc... And i think you guys are the best example of the opposite of the toxicity happening in dungeons, just gonna end on that positive note :p

I go in as RDM when I can so I don’t mind not anron of AoE. What I do mind is when we fight that boss where you have to stop the tethers from making him grow and one of my Trust seems to derp cause I took the tether a foot to their right. Ugh

Trusts were never intended to completely replace runs with alive people in the first place. For what it is, system is very good. I always make my first run with them so I can look at mechanics and surroundings without rush and pressure from other team mates. Also I would say that Trusts are a very good option for DPS players for whom trust run will make an approximately the same time as staying in queue + normal run. There are some time loses for Tanks and Healers, but tbh nothing all that drastic.

I have mine all leveled to 80 and use them pretty consistently. They aren't perfect perhaps and sure can be done better, but it certainly was one of the best QoLs they added in recent expansion. I was even ready to level a certain somebody from 71 to 80 once he was unlocked, but SE spared us the time and gave him already maxed out.

They're not bad, I also used them to level jobs I know I'm bad at, or worked as a pseudo explorer mode before it was added as actual content ...but I'm definitely not leveling them up with another character, even after they halved the XP needed, that was P A I N F U L L Y boring

I'm assuming once ShB is over they'll overtune their damage and scaled to the dungeon's level because if this is supposed to be the deep dungeon equivalent of the expansion it's tremendously less effective than its predecessors.

And of course, people come to attack OP because he dared to disrespect specific part of the game.
Of course no one is forcing anyone to do dungeons with Trusts. OP's point is that AI is foolish, and it takes a long time to finish one dungeon because they are not using their full potential. Give them some AoE attacks, some fixed rotation for one target attacks and it will be a way better.
But no, it's better to bombard any idea because Lord Yoshi P was disrespected by mean entitled western player. How dare he ask for improvements.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

This is an mmorpg though. :confused:

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I'm not sure your definition of MMORPG matches ours; We both play the entire game solo with exception of stuff we're forced to group up with. She likes the story.

For me, "MMO" does not necessarily mean "have to play with other people", rather "a lot of people play this game simultaneously". Guildwars 2 is for all intents and purposes a single player MMO.

The last time I played an MMO of any kind that required me to meet other people was..what.. FF11? Like 15 years ago.

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Originally Posted by Cetek14

And of course, people come to attack OP because he dared to disrespect specific part of the game.
Of course no one is forcing anyone to do dungeons with Trusts. OP's point is that AI is foolish, and it takes a long time to finish one dungeon because they are not using their full potential. Give them some AoE attacks, some fixed rotation for one target attacks and it will be a way better.
But no, it's better to bombard any idea because Lord Yoshi P was disrespected by mean entitled western player. How dare he ask for improvements.

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Ah, the strawman. What a lovely specimen.

What you consider to be an improvement is subjective. Even if they did AoE attacks, I'd still want the clear time for them to be roughly equal to what it is now, so simply put, their AoEs to do less damage than what you'd like them to be.

Actual problems with trusts, in my opinion, would be the sometimes buggy AI when they fuck up a mechanic or interrupt their own casts for seemingly no reason. Those are very few and far between in my experience, even if they do happen.

See, I think Trusts not only do what they're designed to do, but do it well. They give you a safe environment to do the dungeons in when you're going through the story. You only need to level one of each of them after the fact with a certain all-rounder coming at base 80, and levelling them is super easy because you pick a DPS and AFK the whole way through. They don't want you to use trusts as a replacement for actual duty running because then nobody would be bothered to use the duty finder to run any of that content, and thus they make trusts both slower and require actual work for you to run the later dungeons in.

You can personally think these are flaws with the system. I do not think they are flaws, I think it's working exactly as intended and the way I would handle it too if I were in the devs' shoes. That being said, an aforementioned point about quickening the XP gain on them having been a good idea is justified, and I'd add that I'd personally want to keep it to three runs per duty to reach the next duty. Five is still a little much, but aside from that, I don't think anything should change about the speed of the actual runs.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

One advantage they have us, you can go pull a couple packs and walk away to do something else. Make a cup of coffee or clean up or do some workout sets real quick. You come back and they’re just waiting for the next pull. It’s easy passive leveling if you’re otherwise doing something else.

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This is actually what I'm doing.

I'm getting every class to 80. I'm down to the last 3 classes. Ones I don't really like to play with others. BLM is fun, but it stresses me out trying to do roulettes with folks on it, as I am very bad at it. The other two, well... SAM and NIN, so many buttons, and the timing to actually be good at them is so tight.... and I am so not good.

So what do I do?

I launch a trust. I get a pack or two together, I wander away, I let them deal with it, while I afk and read. Takes up to 40 minutes this way, because sometimes I don't check back until I've finished a page.

How am I doing? Well, tonight is my last run of the level 75 dungeon. I only need to do the level 77 one enough times to level the 3 DPS, and then the level 79 one a handful of times likewise.

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Originally Posted by kaynide

I'm not sure your definition of MMORPG matches ours; We both play the entire game solo with exception of stuff we're forced to group up with. She likes the story.

For me, "MMO" does not necessarily mean "have to play with other people", rather "a lot of people play this game simultaneously". Guildwars 2 is for all intents and purposes a single player MMO.

The last time I played an MMO of any kind that required me to meet other people was..what.. FF11? Like 15 years ago.

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If you go read their replies in the "MSQ needs further condensation" you'll see they are an "old school" raid MMO player. They want as little story and non-group activity as possible, be able to rush to end game and then grind same dungeons, trails & raids over and over and over till their eye's bleed. So for them, Trust's are a big no-no as it allows ppl to play through story & dungeons at their own pace, without being forced into group's to complete dungeons.
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As for me and Trust's - I love that I can use them to get through the story, level up classes, etc. I do use them a lot to level all my classes through 71-80 - this is because I dislike being forced to group with ppl due to my disabilities 9which usually doin't hold me back too much, but can be an issue at times). They let me play through the dungeons at my own pace, and lets me stress less about what other ppl are thinking.

Not to say I don't queue up for dungeons, trials, and raids with other players... I do, and I enjoy doing so. However if I'm not feeling up to it, I can always run a Trust or 2 for desynth stuff, level's, etc. Trust's also don't cover everything - just dungeons. So I still run the Trials and raids with others (try and fill my group with FC mates though, to make it easier for me lol).

However I do understand that trust's are not for everyone... but I am glad that the option is there for those who want/need them. I'm also glad thatr there are still plenty of ppl (and reason to as well) for ppl to queue to play with others for those who dislike Trust's. I personally hope going forward SE keeps the system as things are.

As for the "time" takeen - yes Trust's do take longer to do dungeons than real players. However if you are a DPS, you'll usually have anywhere from 10 up to 30+ minutes queue time. So running a Trust ends up being the same amount of time. Tanks / Healers are a different story, and usually quicker to queue up and play with others... but if you don't like trying to tank/heal with other ppl... Trust's are a good option.

Your opinion is noted and 100% incorrect; the trust system is amazing.

Typical run takes maybe 20 minutes. The DPS don't AoE but they do competent single target damage, perform mechanics correctly and don't cause unnecessary drama. Add the fact that there's no queue and there's a strong argument for them being superior to the duty finder. Hell, if they did AoE there would be no reason to ever play with actual people; they need a handicap so real people can remain an attractive prospect for group content.

I also HATED having to run story dungeons for the first time with the duty finder. It breaks immersion horribly for the games story and doesn't allow you to experience story content at your own pace. Trusts are one of the best things this game has ever added, and they're desperately needed for 1-70 content as well.

I haven’t touched trusts in months, mostly because they are slow and boring. I don’t care if this system exists or not, if it’s good or not. FF14 is an MMO and I play it as an MMO. When I want to play solo, I play a different game.

I like the concept of Trusts and think they pretty much do exactly what they're designed to do. They allow me to get a first look at a dungeon without feeling rushed and without being expected to already know all of the mechanics. And they do provide a more hands on training and levelling ground for the 70+ range when I'm levelling jobs I don't already have capped.

That said, I do wish they had been done as more of an extension of the Squadron system instead of something that basically completely replaces it. Allow for faster Trust levelling, a growth of stength/speed and a passive way for the Trusts to gain XP and I'd be content. I know they've already buffed the XP gain for Trust members since they launched as it is but it still feels very slow to me considering that the runs themselves are also very slow and there's no way to level them without personally going in and doing runs with them. And it also doesn't really feel like there's a tangible difference between them at a higher level versus a lower level other than being able to do more dungeons. I guess if you've already grinded them out to level 80 it's no big deal but starting out I'm not finding it a particularly good time.

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Originally Posted by kaynide

I'm not sure your definition of MMORPG matches ours; We both play the entire game solo with exception of stuff we're forced to group up with. She likes the story.

For me, "MMO" does not necessarily mean "have to play with other people", rather "a lot of people play this game simultaneously". Guildwars 2 is for all intents and purposes a single player MMO.

The last time I played an MMO of any kind that required me to meet other people was..what.. FF11? Like 15 years ago.

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Same! I like the story too! I also play the entire game solo with the exception of stuff I'm forced to group into. I don't have an FC, I barely chat in-game, and I haven't used party finder for the greater part of a year!

However, I recognize that since this game is an mmorpg, I expect to have to see and play with other players. Whether I like it or not, it comes with the territory.

I think Trusts are great. While it's probably best to do roulettes and dungeons with real people for faster leveling, Trusts are nice for lazy leveling.
I usually just pull a group and stand there while tabbed out watching some YT or something and NPCs do all the job for me lol

It's also nice to be able to use NPCs to quickly progress through the story. When you're a DPS (and sometimes other roles too) it kinda sucks to have to just sit there for half an hour waiting for someone to queue for that specific dungeon just so you can finally continue your quests. It's also nice for immersion to finally see these guys do something and help us rather than standing there and waiting for us and our "fellow adventurers" do all the work >->

I didn't have the patience to level them either. They do feel weak, but I couldn't give any insight on improving things because it's all so debatable, and it can affect Duty Finder as a whole if accidentally taken to an extreme.

I agree that Trusts are bad, and I don't like them as a concept. As this thread demonstrates, many people use them to essentially not play the game while being handed the EXP, even if it's very slowly. They also denigrate social interaction in a game where social interaction needs all the help it can get.

The benefits of Trusts are literally to take a dungeon at your own pace. That's it. The queue argument doesn't hold much water, because if you have a long queue, that is time where you can do other things like gather, craft, make gil, daily hunts, follow a hunt shell etc. Trusts only real advantage is that they eliminate you needing other people to come with you into the dungeons for which they are available.

It also saddens me to know that my Trust's performance suffers from my performance being good. I've used them before on my Let's Play alt, and I totally understand why people like them, but to me they really do seem more like automatons than the characters they represent. They're programmed to dodge a single AOE, and then to stand still, even if they're a caster or ranged. This means if they get targeted by multiple AOEs, that they obey their dodge subroutine first, which does cause them to fail more intricate mechanics. This means that for every dungeon that's made with Trusts in mind, that Square has to take more time programming the Trusts to act out a certain set of movement in order to actually do new mechanics, which means it's less time they actually spend making the dungeon good for real people.

Like, I understand liking their NPC banter, having it feel like you're more immersed with integral story characters. I understand liking getting away from randos. But the ultimate prospect of trusts is that they play the game for you, and you don't have to improve. Not as a player or as a person.

I think my favorite thing that has come out of Trusts is the meme making from their dialogue. But most of that happens outside of the game as a reaction, rather than as part of gameplay.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

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They did say at the start of ShB that the main point of Trusts was to provide an alternative for those that just want the clear for story progression. While they are programed to have consistency in clear times, they have said from the beginning that if you're looking to farm loot or exp then the DF is the way to go.

I also enjoyed using them to level jobs I didn't care for too much when I just wanted to crank out a dungeon run before work or so. I also went through the process of leveling all of them to 80 and trust me, that was a bit of a slog within itself since I did it pre-trust exp buff.

I love trusts in the sense that when running a dungeon for the first time they teach you the mechanics of the dungeon. I never run the new dungeon with DF until I do it once or twice to get the mechanics down with trusts.

While it does have the caveat of the negative aspects you pointed out, XIV loves accessibility and elements of convivence. I've played this game since 2.0 launch and back then I had much less time to sit down and play so being gated by the DF as a dps was a big problem since it severely limited story progression.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

The Trust system was possibly the best thing they added to the game in ShB, and I haven't done a dungeon with a group since the twinning.

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To each their own but as far as my understanding of MMOs goes, that's a giant failure in my book.

MMOs should encourage cooperation at every turn, not make you loathe it.

And I personally don't experience drama, least of all in dungeons. If anything people are quite open to a nice chat while running through one. The only drama I see is usually in savage content.

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Originally Posted by Payadopa

To each their own but as far as my understanding of MMOs goes, that's a giant failure in my book.

MMOs should encourage cooperation at every turn, not make you loathe it.

And I personally don't experience drama, least of all in dungeons. If anything people are quite open to a nice chat while running through one. The only drama I see is usually in savage content.

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Whenever drama starts in DF just start doing the lali-hop or eating bread and just be the silent one. It's worked everytime for me. Especially in my snowman dancer glam. xD

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Originally Posted by Payadopa

To each their own but as far as my understanding of MMOs goes, that's a giant failure in my book.

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You're entitled to have your own book and not like it. Sorry but there are many of us who are extremely pleased this was introduced and it's much better than squadrons ever were in my view. Got to love the group content crowd with their wall to wall pull philosophy and they don't aoe so Trusts have to suck.

Simple enough if you don't like them don't use them but for many there are many good reasons for using them from farming loot to leveling roles (experience is pretty sweet) to playing and learning roles outside of DF that you rarely play. As I've said earlier I've taken two characters to Trusted Friend and hope to see this expanded upon.

And relative to group content I play more of it than most each week and welcome this as an alternative to have fun with. I'd be willing to bet Trusts are here to stay and will continue to be a part of the msq progression in xpacs to come.

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Originally Posted by Payadopa

To each their own but as far as my understanding of MMOs goes, that's a giant failure in my book.

MMOs should encourage cooperation at every turn, not make you loathe it.

And I personally don't experience drama, least of all in dungeons. If anything people are quite open to a nice chat while running through one. The only drama I see is usually in savage content.

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I much prefer to use DF myself because it's faster, but people that are disinclined to speak or be social aren't magically going to become that even if Trusts didn't exist.

The average DF run may as well be AI because beyond the initial "o/" there's very little communication if any at all. I use DF over Trusts specifically because it's faster not because I'm particularly interested in having a chat in between pulls.

Though that's not to say I'm unfriendly or just don't reply when people say/ask things, because I do, but it's just not my main purpose for using DF.

I love the trust system I would rather go at my own pace. They are not perfect with some mechanics but I wish they would expand on them more.

I have more fun now with the story and the dungeons as not to be rushed. I have levelled a few jobs that way also it can be quite relaxing :)

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Originally Posted by Nabril

Then do group speed runs if that makes you happy. Why are you here complaining that a feature in this game isn't to your liking? No one is forcing you to do it. Just keep doing group content and you'll be happy.

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That is literally what the forums are for.

When something doesnt reach even a decent potential, players are meant to give feedback.

Absolutely he can "do a speed run with a group" but also absolutely Square-Enix can improve upon this system. Its a fact they can, because the FFXI trust system is where they took the idea from, but horribly watered it down. Not only do Trusts in XI do AoE, they also adjust based on a situation, as well as have unique traits such as EXP boosts, do skill chains/magic bursts, you name it.

I will never understand why the consensus of the forums is "everything is fine, dont change anything" except when it comes to "MALE VIERA" and "DELETE MONK" seriously.

I think OP has missed a very big point the trust system was introduced for. It completely negates the often terrible queue times DPS jobs have to endure just to progress the MSQ.

It would be nice if they did a little bit more damage but its perfectly understandable why they are slower than doing it with a normal party of players.

Its a great system for first timer veteran players too whilst new to the current expansion . I used it as a WHM main to study what to expect come doing them again via roulette and of course to progress the MSQ.

Its much better than having your story progression halted by party requirements. Gone are the days where you wait and queue for an MSQ dungeon only to then get a cut scene then be expected to do a trial and wait again like at the end of HW in Azys Lla as one of many examples.

It isn't perfect but its far better than nothing and is entirely optional I expect this trend to continue and possibly be retro fitted into older expansions especially once we are in the 90+ realms of player levels.

Leveling trusts is a breeze and non-issue. Just go as DPS, let them do everything sans bosses, and watch movies/series/cartoons/play your PS4/5/Xbox/Switch.
Zero effort, pretty much.

But yeah it kinda sucks they rarely use any AoE. Then again I don't think they should be very efficient, to discourage socializing for PvE content even more in this game, and it's already rather anti-social/passive.

And I wish they had more voiced lines.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

Same! I like the story too! I also play the entire game solo with the exception of stuff I'm forced to group into. I don't have an FC, I barely chat in-game, and I haven't used party finder for the greater part of a year!

However, I recognize that since this game is an mmorpg, I expect to have to see and play with other players. Whether I like it or not, it comes with the territory.

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I respect your opinion and don't mean to sound snarky or whatever- just we disagree on what "MMO" means (and that's fine). I'd even go as far to argue that FFXIV's definition doesn't match since they force solo-play in a large amount of the content (notably quests/MSQ).

To each their own.

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Originally Posted by kaynide

I respect your opinion and don't mean to sound snarky or whatever- just we disagree on what "MMO" means (and that's fine). I'd even go as far to argue that FFXIV's definition doesn't match since they force solo-play in a large amount of the content (notably quests/MSQ).

To each their own.

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You're not wrong. I mean, sure the game forces players to play together for instances trusts can't cover, but it's such a passive experience where 99% of the time people will only communicate to say "hello" and "tyfp", specially at later levels, that even most instances feel lonely. The only time it feels like a real multiplayer experience is when doing hardcore content, and that's something only like... 5% of the active playerbase does anyway?
The game practically shapes the players' mindset that they should expect minimal interaction with the way the overworld is designed and the whole "game for people with no time" philosophy it goes with. It might be too late to question the "MMO"-ness of it. It honestly doesn't feel that much more MMO-like than a game like Xenoblade X at this point.

I love the Trust system. It allowed me to treat the entire expansion as a single-player FF title. It was fantastic.

The trust sytem works fine. They are supposed to be slower than good DF parties. And I believe they are balanced to acheieve a certain clear time; having played trusts extensively on multiple jobs and on all roles, they all clear in 28 to 30 minutes which is roughly about 10 to 12 minutes longer than the average run, and about 15 minutes longer than good runs on the faster dungeons. DPS queue times are about 7 to 8 minutes on a good hour, 15 minutes or more on a bad time.

Trusts fulfill the niche of being a sub-optimal stand-in for DF at odd hours when DF queues are bad.

They also fulfill the niche of 'immersive/rp gameplay'. The trusts are framed in the story as the people you actually run the trust dungeons with, and they make commentary during the run that is absolutely amazing for lore nuts. Also gposing with your favourite trust npcs.

They also fulfill the niche of being a training tool and their slowness is actually a boon for this purpose; you see the same mechanics more often, which makes them good for familiarisation. That you -cannot- die because dying is an immediate wipe also puts more pressure on actually doing mechanics right.

And they fulfill the niche of being an option for people with social anxiety OR, as in my case, a weak connection. DCing as tank in a DF run? It feels horrid, you're wasting the time of three other people. DCing as a tank in a trust run? The trusts aren't going to be bothered and will patiently wait lol. Also less (nonexistent) competition for gear pieces.

What trusts are NOT made for is a straight up replacement for DF. Trusts are already better than SOME DF runs I've done; if they were noticeably better (yay AoEs!) there would be less and less incentive to actually queue for DF (at least for these dungeons; roulettes still exist) because why wait for queues, why gamble on meeting potentially toxic people, why gamble on hoping for a decent party when NPCs are almost as good? Just do trusts! And people would then be complaining that trusts are TOO good.

I know some people who already no longer do DF because they prefer doing trusts. And that's with trusts being about 10-12 minutes slower than the average DF!

Edit:
Also, re-reading your original post, if you want the title then work for it. It's not even THAT bad. And plenty of people I know personally have gotten it done before the nerfs. I myself had them mostly done when the nerfs came and I was even sober all throughout. Don't rush. Try to hit off more than one objective at a time (like, say, levelling alt jobs / practicing jobs you don't often use while levelling trusts) to make it less 'painful'.

I ended up using the trust system to level a couple of jobs I wasn't too keen on using, or that I didn't feel I was up-to-snuff with to be efficient in an actual group. Was it great? Not really, since the lack of AoEs made it a bit tedious, but it was still doable. Mind you, I also didn't touch it really until after the updated the EXP tables for it, since iirc it took 6+ runs of a single dungeon to get the NPCs 1 level originally. Rather than 6 runs of the same dungeon before you can move onto the next one(roughly 3 runs per level...for both NPC and you)

The only issue I have with Trusts are that they should LEVEL WITH YOU, not independently. I cannot stand to run some of those dungeons over and over and over and even then only those NPCs who were with you leveled. If you want everyone leveled up...here you go again. I just cannot take it.