I don't want to join a Free Company because...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Swishytail

Some people tell me "No thanks". I've never really gotten a straight answer as to exactly why people do not want to join FCs.

---

For me its all in the name. I will not join a FC that tries to "be cute" with their FC name (or one that just completely lacks creativity and imagination). Often when I join a FC or <insert name of guild-like system in whatever MMO> I end up trying to find a balance between enjoyable people and a FC with a name that I can "live with".

There are other things as well, such as it taking more than a good party or two with some people from a certain FC before I can get a good idea of their personalities and if they would be people that I want to associate with.

I play at my own pace, randomly, and thus there's no way there's any FC that would be OK with my play style - even if I'm hellbent on leveling all DoL and DoH at once >_>

Besides, reading about FC drama here and there, I just politely say "Sorry, No. thanks" or just ignore the random invites sent to me in certain zones. I'll group with you for fates and dungeons, but FC is too much of an anchor keeping me from doing all the things wrong and my way. So, "Sorry, No. thank you for asking, though"

Well, there are lots of reasons I don't join guilds, FC's or any other player community in games. (Despite the perks, yes.)

Firstly, the name. If the name is something vulgar, dark or otherwise offensive to me, I won't sport it over my head. I want something floating over my head that I can be proud of, not something I get strange looks for. Second, the logo / tabard / symbol / whatever. If the logo is trying to be obscene, or if it's just outright dumb, I won't join either, because I want my character to wear a symbol that looks appropriate, not silly.

The biggest reason I don't join them though, is the community itself. A lot of people in games these days are immature, obnoxious little kids, or grown people who have no mental ability at all, and I just don't care to read about sex, drugs, violence and all that every day, all day. It's harder than you think to find a nice, respectable community that you'd actually want to be a part of.

I hope that helps you in your question!

I am in an FC, and so far all the chat/play I've participated in has been pleasant and made me glad I joined them - but I am wary of FCs/guilds because they tend to fall into two categories in my experience; either the super hardcore MUST GUILD RAID EVERY TUESDAY FROM 1900 TO 0200 OR BE KICKED or the extreme social groups that won't do anything for anyone who doesn't sit chatting on Skype to them all day every day. This is before you get into special FC websites with sign up/interview/job requirement policies and all that... -_-;

I imagine most people just want their FCs to not be a big deal - just some nice friendly chatter and the odd party without having the FC impose their will/playstyle on every aspect of the player's game.

Mine is too big; I'm not sure what to do. >.<

...I intend to transfer to a server where a Free Company I DO want to join is. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the idea of joining a Free Company. I just don't want to join one for all of 1-2 weeks and be all, "Bye, and thanks for all the fish."

I am waiting for a server transfer to be with all of my friends, then we will all join one together. :3 I get tons of offers to be in one ALL THE TIME, but I decline because I'm waiting for server transfer. :/

If I was looking for a FC, I'd join based on if the company is something I want to be a part of, not just based on them wanting me to join. I'd want to know their rules and goals and how and when they organize events, how they share loot and things like that. I think of FCs as not just the social community and the FC boosts but also the channel for the game progression, so I'd want to make sure that the FC has event times suitable for me and that they're able to do and beat the content I want to do and beat. The FC members should also be nice people who have a similar play style and attitude towards gaming.

If I'd get a random FC invite I would definitely not join immediately. I'm a player who likes to commit to my group and I'd want to carefully consider before making that commitment. I'd most likely thank for the invite and ask for a link to their website so I could get to know the company a bit better before making the decision. That said, if the leader would be just giving out invites without first explaining any rules I had to agreed to and without telling anything about what their goals are as a FC, it's not likely to be the right community for me in the first place.

My previous experiences showed that being recruited into guilds by whisper "Hey, would you like to join my guild?" or even worse by ninja invite, always ends up vastly unsatisfactory. I get invited, say "Hello!" and... nothing.. no welcome message.. not even banter between members... Later on I started looking guilds up myself to find one that suits my interests and seems organized well. In this game I lead my own FC to ensure it's a good place to be.

I dislike random invites.
I didn't apply anywhere.
I'm not rushing to end game, I'm retired from HCG.

Therefore I do not need a FC, I'll just join one when I meet some players I like. It will probably improve my game experience, but until then I just enjoy the game alone and with random people.

Also I don't want to get stuck in a FC that doesn't match my playstyle and find it mean to leave.

Thanks for all the input!

I'm wondering more about why people join a FC, only to randomly up and leave with no word lol I had this one guy, ask to join because his FC never talked. Mine talks quite a bunch, so this guy joins. He leaves within an hour, never said a single word in chat. Then I get these people who shout that they're looking for a FC, end up in mine, never say a single word the whole time they're in there, then ask why they're still the lowest rank lol Tbh, if you can't put in the effort to engage in some conversations, not all the time, just sometimes, why should I give you a higher rank that gets more access to the FC chest?

I don't see why someone wouldn't want to be in one, you get buffs, plus you know, people to talk to because that's one of the points of a MMO, this isn't a single player game, that a lot of people seem to be trying to do with MMOs these days :/ Remember when people actually talked on MMOs? Pepperidge farm remembers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FyeyaHerald

Mine is too big; I'm not sure what to do. >.<

---

Had to but, that's what he said

Lol. Yeah, I've had 2 people drop from my FC out of nowhere, too. Kind of strange. They were both talkative and did some events
with us, too. Just *poof*, gone.

And lol @ that quote. I lol'd at it earlier, too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Swishytail

So what gives? For anyone out there NOT in an FC, how come?

---

Because there are Linkshells, IMO, are way better than FC.
If you are in a FC, you are bound to them and their rule until you leave.
You can join multiple LS on the other-hand, making LFG or people to raid with alot easier than binding yourself down with one single FC.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shiyo

This game makes it incredibly hard to recruit players for your FC or join a FC of like-minded players because of how anti-social it is. Between duty finder, fates, and soloing to 50, there's little to no way to actually meet players on your server and interact with them. This is even a problem at level50, I have to go out of my way spamming mor dhona, making a LFG LS(yes, I made a LS that's basically a cross-zone LFG channel and it's maxed on people now) and trying to do dungeons via /shouts to find competent and cool players for my FC.

Can devs please stop making it so hard to make friends, find cool people, form a FC, form a linkshell, and form a community in MMO's please? Thank you.

---

This x1000, and then x1000 again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Swishytail

Lol. Yeah, I've had 2 people drop from my FC out of nowhere, too. Kind of strange. They were both talkative and did some events
with us, too. Just *poof*, gone.

And lol @ that quote. I lol'd at it earlier, too.

---

Same, one guy who was in mine since I made it, up and left randomly the other day, no word, nothing. He was pretty talkative too.

Sometimes I think people are seeing mine "only" has 80 people (usually like 30 on at a time or so) and think its small, because of those big 360+ people ones that spam the chat in all zones everyday lol Quality > Quantity. I'd rather have 30 good people I know well, than have 360+ that I have no clue who they are

I'm waiting to find one where I can actually do things with people. I don't like joining a random FC that has 400+ members and when you ask, nobody wants to run a dungeon with you. It's the same as being guildless imo.

I haven't joined one (I'm on Malboro even, same as the OP) because as a healer I don't want to be bugged for runs. Also, I'm duoing the game with my brother, and the Duty Finder has so far allowed me to play through the story without much incident.

For late game content I'll consider joining one but for right now I don't want the chat noise and the feeling of obligation. I know I can get a party at the drop of a hat because I'm a white mage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obysuca

Same, one guy who was in mine since I made it, up and left randomly the other day, no word, nothing. He was pretty talkative too.

Sometimes I think people are seeing mine "only" has 80 people (usually like 30 on at a time or so) and think its small, because of those big 360+ people ones that spam the chat in all zones everyday lol Quality > Quantity. I'd rather have 30 good people I know well, than have 360+ that I have no clue who they are

---

^ This. My FC (had) 70 members, but some haven't come back since day 1. We normally have about the same, 30-35 people on. These FCs with 400+ people are mind boggling. There has to be 200+ people that just don't get on anymore I bet lol. So really, the numbers are decieving. We're down to 64 now, and there are still people on days 12, 13, 14, 15 that haven't come back. I'd rather see 35/45 people on, then 35/70+. Looks much more active.

I got invited to Moogle Mafia by Sherlock Holmes...how do you say "no" to that.

I also get a lot of the concerns now after reading these posts. I've personally made my FC very laid back, no rules really, no applications, job requirements, etc.
It's not hardcore per se, we do want to do end-game but not beast it up like freaks 4 nights a week or anything. So far it's working out really well.

Company Chest is open to everyone, things like that. Makes being in an FC less stressful. Having a blast so far.

I no, I'm not getting buffs to my exp and whatever else gets buffed, whatever shall I do?!... who cares? I'm not in any rush to any kind of end game, being Legacy I could have been all over that scene Day 1. I'm not, because I want to enjoy the game. Yes, it's pretty quiet alot of the time but then you get the /shout conversations and it stops being so quiet. I've had alot of fun in /shouts. And I AM part of a Linkshell, mainly it's just people from my XI linkshell who started on Selbina/Ridill then moved to Balmung. We talk sometimes, but they're in Free Companies and don't have the same intent as I. Socializing can be done without a Free Company and only those who wish to 'maximize the game' need worry about losing the bonuses of being in one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Swishytail

So what gives? For anyone out there NOT in an FC, how come?

---

I was rejected from three of them.
Two said I was "too hardcore" and wouldn't mix well with the casual crowd.
One said I was too weak-willed or "simplistic" to be of any benefit to the FC.

So I don't see any reason to make an effort to join one at the moment.

I just keep getting invites from the four same FC all the time, and I don't find myself planning on staying on the valefor serer for, hopefully, much longer. It's usually hard for me to find a guild/free company/whatever other games call it that I can stick with for a long time also.

Usually I refuse the blind offers because as a rule anyone that blind invites masses of people is not a group you want to hang out with. Not to mention the drama of guilds an the teenagers generally make it unpleasant place.
As for being told your too weak willed? LOL see that is case in point. Children thinking they are something special in a computer game. I would have laughed my arse off if someone told me I was too weak willed to play.

I like to play alone for the first levels, but I'd join if I found a casual one.

I live in the US and get home from work at 3 am on weekdays, which means no one would be online.

From my experience, guilds are toxic by nature, and the politics will always get in the way at some point.

I'm sure there are some exceptions, though. I saw someone advertising their FC devoted to only fishing. Something like that sounds like FUN to me; the reason I started playing. I mean, there's nothing really to gain at this point by just being a DoL and completing logs (maybe selling some mats), but there's something about just being in a fishing or botany FC that sounds more appealing than "HARDCORE LV50 ONLY SPEED RUN ENDLESS AK LOOTZ"

Sure, call me a casual player, but if I wanted to be the best there ever was, I'd go play Pokemon. Gear and dungeons are negligible compared to just playing for fun, for me at least.