Troll Trolling

I'm curious, after playing this game for so long and having experienced a lot of what it has to offer, where do you stand when it comes to courtesy in FFXIV?

I found myself needing wool earlier, so I headed to Dragonhead so I could farm some fleece and I found a spot where no one else was farming and settled in. I really didn't need much, I'd just intended to get enough to finish my gathering gear, but after a couple loops around the spawn points for the Karakul I found myself having to compete with a Smn who decided to come by and start casting Bio on everything that spawned so he could tag everything. I didn't even bother to ask him to stop, I just swapped to my Smn who, as it turns out, was better geared than his and apparently faster. After a couple more times around the loop he got irritated and left, and even though I'd gotten the fleece I needed I stayed a while longer just so he couldn't come back.

Continued in second post for the sake of max character limit.

I had a similar experience with a Blm while I was farming Diremites on my Arc. My Arc was only lvl 20 and I'd been farming Diremites for a while trying to farm webs so I could make my Arc's gear as he leveled, and some Blm decided he wanted to farm webs and started casting Scathe on everything that spawned, even killing the Diremites that I'd already tagged. A lvl 20 Arc is not going to compete with a lvl 50 Blm (he and I both knew this) but he wasn't too happy to find out that I was a lvl 50 Blm who was much better geared and with faster reflexes. This is where this one gets funny. He was so mad because I was now getting all the kills, that he went and bought better gear for his Blm then came back and tried the stunt again once I'd swapped back to my Arc.

What I'd like to get out of this thread is some stories from others who've had experiences with trolls and what they've done to counter such "common courtesy".
I'm the kind of guy who loves trolling trolls. Sitting in Upper Burg in Dark Souls waiting to be invaded while dressed in fully upgraded starting gear so I look like a noob even though I'm in NG+++ and have over 200 pvp kills (all from trolling trolls). That said, the point of this thread is to get a few laughs and maybe help a person or two in finding ways to deal with those FFXIV trolls out there in their various schemes.

FYI, You can edit posts to surpass the character limit.

What you describe is competition. There is limited resource, limited time to play, so you must compete with others. When competing in video games, people will use whatever they have at their disposal in order to win. Its not about courtesy, its about winning the game.

I wonder how much people thought I was "trolling", "competing" or something like that when I randomly killed mobs for Chocobo exp and spiritbond while chatting through tells :confused:

I think you don't know what trolling is. You won the competiton, but there are no signs of trolling on either side.

About the SMN tagging: Depending on the class I'm playing, I'll behave differently on a shared spot.

Typically, as a SMN (or WHM), I'll try to tag as many mobs as possible with instant cast, knowing that it won't prevent other classes from downing the mobs and get credit for it.

When playing BRD, I'll usually stick to the mobs I'mm fighting until it's dead, and if I see someone with no burst who tagged a mob and I know he'll take ages to down it, I just kill it (knowing I'll get credit).


To get credit, you need either to tag first, or deal enough damage on the mob. Some jobs are better suited than others for the later. Sharing is possible (and can be mutually beneficial).

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To answer OP's question, I don't go out of my way to troll others (even other trolls), I'd consider it a waste of my time.

I'll remember the tip on editing, thanks.

As far as those two stories go, I used them because they're two of my favorite from FFXIV since I've not had the pleasure of meeting too many trolls I could do something about. When you're competing for spawns in an area with multiple farmers and few spawns, I'd call that competition. When you're running around casting Bio on everything in the area so you can tag everything before running to the next spot to cast Bio on those targets that were out of your range; I can't help but call people like that trolls, especially when they think they can pull it off because they think they're higher level than you. I'm not just looking for stories about farmers with a bad sense of courtesy however, but like I said. I've not had too many encounters with trolls where I was able to do something about it.

Its difficult to say because I've been on both ends of this and both are frustrating. I find that the best thing to do is to simply attempt to communicate with the other person before starting an all out tagging war. Doing that makes you no better than two dogs fighting over a bone. Who cares who got it first?

FYI if he tags the mobs and you kill it you both get rewards(if you deal enough damage). if you tagged it and he proceeds to kill it, you both get rewards(assuming his lvl 50 deals enough damage to keep up with your lvl 20).

This thread seems to me like you were the jerk/troll/noob. Maybe next time, talk to people? you are playing an MMO with people after all.

I was farming for aldgoat skins while leveling my 15 Archer, and asked people killing them, some said they were farming some said just exp, half of my leather I got from people getting exp (for free), cutting my farming time in half. Other farmers just needed to sell so I told them I could buy then and there cheaper, saving 30% in cost. And crafters alike only needed NQ I was working on HQ turn ins and I traded 2 NQ for 1 HQ. Just by talking, shouting, all in under a few hours I had over 200 HQ skins and 400+ NQ's , and I wasn't even farming skins anymore, I had switched to miner and was getting Alumen.

The thing is learn to work with people. I will admit i had some people not respond at all, or just be like "no" when i asked what they were killing goats for, but you can't win them all.

If I'm farming mobs, and another player starts killing them, I just reduce my farming radius. Most will see what I'm doing, and just farm what I'm leaving alone. For those who don't, I try to nicely work it out with them via chat. If I'm ignored, I just wait for them to finish, or I move on.

I ran up on my favorite fleece spot yesterday, only to find another character there. They appeared to be prepping to farm them, so I asked if they were doing so via /say. They replied that they were done, and to go ahead. I thanked them, and got to work. Communication has made farming much easier more times than I can count...

I never try to compete for mobs, because I consider it a waste of time. There is plenty else to do without resorting to competition without reward.

if you want to troll, troll. you go head and do it because its apart of our culture. period..

I will be honest, I have had it with Square's inability to deal with the rampant botting and gil farmers so I have taken it upon myself to help myself to some fleece or diremite where one is operating. However, I will send a tell to the bot in question to test if they are a real person first. If they do not respond or display obvious bot behavior like targetting mobs not dropping what they are farming just because they came within radius then it is fair game. I am with the rest here, if you were there and did not like what they were doing, say something. Communication is key.

yeah well the bot is help save the server economy.. becasue there a WAY too many players to give in to your silly needs, and thats a good thing. Stop over-defining your objectivity and let the players be players.

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Originally Posted by Lyrro

What I'd like to get out of this thread is some stories from others who've had experiences with trolls and what they've done to counter such "common courtesy".
I'm the kind of guy who loves trolling trolls. ... That said, the point of this thread is to get a few laughs and maybe help a person or two in finding ways to deal with those FFXIV trolls out there in their various schemes.

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Those aren't trolls. It's competition. No one has their name on anything in this game. It doesn't matter how long you were in a camp farming stuff. I could stand farming diremites for 12 hours, does that mean no one else should be allowed to get diremites? No. If they want diremites, they are more than welcome to come and try to fight with me to outclaim them. No one is trolling or counter trolling.

Edit: As a general note, I usually try to stick to a portion of a spawn zone instead of taking over the entire thing so several people can farm at once. In some cases this doesn't work, and the above takes place.

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Originally Posted by fixitman

If I'm farming mobs, and another player starts killing them, I just reduce my farming radius. Most will see what I'm doing, and just farm what I'm leaving alone. For those who don't, I try to nicely work it out with them via chat. If I'm ignored, I just wait for them to finish, or I move on.

I ran up on my favorite fleece spot yesterday, only to find another character there. They appeared to be prepping to farm them, so I asked if they were doing so via /say. They replied that they were done, and to go ahead. I thanked them, and got to work. Communication has made farming much easier more times than I can count...

I never try to compete for mobs, because I consider it a waste of time. There is plenty else to do without resorting to competition without reward.

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This is more what I'm looking for, a "Heres what happened" and "here's how I fixed it" scenario. I probably should've used two different examples when I set up this thread, knowing how tunnel visioned people tend to get in threads and as can be expected, this has gone completely off topic. I'm looking for more examples like this, giving an example of something that happened and how you coped with it.

I honestly couldn't care less how bad a person I am for not bending over when some guy who thinks he's higher level than me wants to try and hog all the spawns. As for the whole sharing kills thing, that works if the other person is willing to participate, not so much when you're a lvl 20 Arc and the other person does over half the mobs health in damage per shot and doesn't want to share. I also don't want to be spoon fed, I didn't spend so much time leveling all the jobs I have if I didn't think I should work for what I have, so don't try to spin that angle just because I call spawn hogs trolls. Don't take this the wrong way, there are probably more subtle ways of dealing with guys like the Blm or Smn I mentioned above, but I just have too much fun watching them get mad because I'm doing to them what they wanted to do to me. If they're willing to be cooperative, then I'm happy to share the spawns.

Well I'm sort of with the OP on this, maybe I'm old fashioned but I think if someone got to a spawn first then leave them to it and come back later or try a different camp, there are 4 decent fleece camps, with decent gear you can farm 2 at once if it's quiet. Competing over one of the spawns just slows both players down IMO, I can be more constructive with my time than fighting with someone over 5 sheep that take 30 seconds to kill.

I tend to kill Raptors by Coils for their Skin and Sinew. I've made good money off of them.

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Originally Posted by Lyrro

but I just have too much fun watching them get mad because I'm doing to them what they wanted to do to me. If they're willing to be cooperative, then I'm happy to share the spawns.

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So it basically sounds like you're the one doing what you are calling out in your first few posts. How do you know what they wanted to do? They most likely hardly even acknowledged your presence and only cared about farming what they wanted to farm. You assume that their intentions were malicious when you're the one with the malicious intention. You are trying to make them mad and assuming they are getting mad when they probably don't even know you exist/couldn't care less, all they probably wanted was whatever the enemies dropped like most people who farm.

Competing for materials isn't trolling. Whether it's for a friend, to sell or to craft with, you're both gathering those items for a reason. If they stood there all day stopping people gathering then discarded everything they got I suppose that would be closer to trolling.

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Originally Posted by Rjain

So it basically sounds like you're the one doing what you are calling out in your first few posts. How do you know what they wanted to do? They most likely hardly even acknowledged your presence and only cared about farming what they wanted to farm. You assume that their intentions were malicious when you're the one with the malicious intention. You are trying to make them mad and assuming they are getting mad when they probably don't even know you exist/couldn't care less, all they probably wanted was whatever the enemies dropped like most people who farm.

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Honestly this a thousand times.

Most people farming (who aren't RMT) are simply farming for items they need, there are no common courtesy laws when it comes to mob camps or time spent in them. As much as people may like to claim otherwise it's just the nature of things and people will simply use the abilities that kill / claim the fastest whether it be Blunt Arrow or Bio.

Also in regards to people who are higher level doing this well that's an easy one, Higher level = Faster kills = more items obtained in a shorter amount of time.

However like others have stated, I myself am willing to change camps (barring availability) if I'm simply asked, but another person being there first has no affect on my decision to kill mobs for mats that i need.

I think you're simply reading malicious intent where there isn't any and responding in kind.

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Originally Posted by Rjain

So it basically sounds like you're the one doing what you are calling out in your first few posts. How do you know what they wanted to do? They most likely hardly even acknowledged your presence and only cared about farming what they wanted to farm. You assume that their intentions were malicious when you're the one with the malicious intention. You are trying to make them mad and assuming they are getting mad when they probably don't even know you exist/couldn't care less, all they probably wanted was whatever the enemies dropped like most people who farm.

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If you read the initial posts, you'd know that I did not start until after they'd done it to me, so I don't really need to know what they wanted to do. I'm basing my choices on what they're doing, not what I think they want to do. As for me doing what I'm calling them out for doing, hence the phrase "troll trolling". If they're going out of their way to steal kills from me, then they probably know I exist and why I'm there. As for me knowing they're getting angry, if you spend any time observing people's behavior in and out of games, or even just watching crime shows, you start to understand that body language can say more than words at times. Even in games like FFXIV, body language can say a lot.

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Originally Posted by Lyrro

If they're going out of their way to steal kills from me

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That's the point of competitive farming. Have you ever played FFXI? You probably would not be making this post, as that was 50% of that game (and much more heated considering some of the things people would farm would pop maybe once every 36 hours).

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Originally Posted by Lyrro

... then they probably know I exist and why I'm there. As for me knowing they're getting angry, if you spend any time observing people's behavior in and out of games, or even just watching crime shows, you start to understand that body language can say more than words at times. Even in games like FFXIV, body language can say a lot.

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There's no body language in a video game. You already obviously made the inaccurate assumption that these people are maliciously trying to troll you which is more than likely false. All that I see is someone is upset because they were outclaimed, they took it personally when the person doing it had little to no intention of making it a personal matter, and then they came to the message board in some passive aggressive attempt to one-up the "perpetrator" by claiming they out-trolled them.

In the future, don't take being outclaimed so personally.

For myself, if no one else is there I will get as many mobs as I can in a cycle. However, if someone else shows up to farm them while I am getting what I need I back off to a set area and let them have some. I see no need in being a mob-hog =D If another person is there I will see if they are farming everything or not. If not I will take the ones they aren't tagging, and stick to that area, or if they are I will try to work it out with them to share the spawns. Once or twice I have had people who are jerks try to control, as an example, the entire diremite cycle outside of fallgourd on the treant side, all the way to the noob area. When they play that game I just dig in and get what I can, in spite of them. Intimidation tactics from mob hogs only work if you let it!

Since you seem pretty adamant in your goal to turn this thread from the original topic to an argument where you don't seem to even read my responses and I'm forced to quote you and point out where you argument falls flat because you didn't read something properly or just skimmed over my response, I'm just going to let you have fun with that. I get where you're coming from, and maybe I am a jerk for not reacting in kind to people trying to spawn hog, but I guess that's just my nature. As far as competative farming goes, why does it need to be competitive farming if there are two people and enough spawns that, if not trying to kill everything at once, by the time you're done killing your share, they've started respawning again. As someone mentioned earlier, if there are four spots and to farm and only two people why should someone feel the need to try and take all four spots?


If you're a long time player of MMOs and multiplayer games, you know that there are in fact ways of judging a person's state of mind through their actions/reactions in game even without them saying a word. Simple things like increased or decreased reaction time, messing up simple combos or actions and doing so more and more as they get more and more nervous/frustrated. Though not as accurate as seeing the individual in person, if you pay attention to movement, reaction time, etc. you can get a pretty good understanding of another player's state of mind. If you don't pay attention to such things it's usually for one of a few reasons. a) you're the typical player who doesn't pay attention to other players or b) you only play with people you know so you don't feel the need to pay attention c) you have no idea what psychology is.

I wouldn't call that trolling, if you're farming you're gonna want the fastest, easiest way to claim the mobs. For BLM it's scathe and since BLM tend to be a bit squishy with their long cast times, the quickest way to farm as one is by surpassing the mobs in level, tagging as many as possible and killing with AoE. I wouldn't say he was trolling, nor was the SMN, they're obviously just trying to get on and make some money or (like me) level their Weaver. Or would you prefer they just bought all the mats direct from you?

If they had been abusive, rude and had some underhand way of robbing you of your claims, then yes its trolling. Otherwise, what you describe is just people playing and abiding by the code of conduct. Kudo's for being able to outclaim/outdamage both... I would have been more impressed if you had said 'Hey we
re farming same thing, lets team up, more stuffs drops that way too! We all win! YAY!' I do and have and most of the time people join, the rest of the time they're bots and I have no problem at all beating them at the claims ;)

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Originally Posted by Lyrro

Since you seem pretty adamant in your goal to turn this thread from the original topic to an argument...

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If you don't pay attention to such things it's usually for one of a few reasons. a) you're the typical player who doesn't pay attention to other players or b) you only play with people you know so you don't feel the need to pay attention c) you have no idea what psychology is.

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You're the one arguing dude and taking this off-topic but okay.

You said above "if you watch crime shows". Let me be the first to tell you that "crime shows" are some of the furthest possible things you can get from reality in forensics and criminal psychology and most of it is just dramatic effect. Yes obviously there is psychology in video games. Yes obviously people do things for different reasons and sometimes actions become predictable and make a good indicator of what's happening behind the screen. This is not always the case. What you listed could be hundreds of reasons not having to do with what you said, just as someone taking mobs from you could be for any number of reasons, most of them non-malicious.

Don't go around acting like a scholar in psychology from watching crime shows and reading a few things on the internet when your analysis of other players in this thread alone is blown out of proportion.

OP, I can see your point and yes, I agree that you can easily determine a person's goals in-game based on their actions. Game moderators use that tactic all the time and it works (for the most part).

Sorry that you have had to deal with assholes.

Never said I got what I know from watching crime shows, I just used that as an example for the fact that, while a lot of things in crime shows are dramatized, there are some truths to the tactics used in those shows. I myself learned through real life observation, studies, and experience but I chose to use an example I thought the general viewer might relate to. I'm not so simple minded as to brag about "skills" developed from watching tv.

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Originally Posted by Rjain

That's the point of competitive farming. Have you ever played FFXI? You probably would not be making this post, as that was 50% of that game (and much more heated considering some of the things people would farm would pop maybe once every 36 hours).

There's no body language in a video game. You already obviously made the inaccurate assumption that these people are maliciously trying to troll you which is more than likely false. All that I see is someone is upset because they were outclaimed, they took it personally when the person doing it had little to no intention of making it a personal matter, and then they came to the message board in some passive aggressive attempt to one-up the "perpetrator" by claiming they out-trolled them.

In the future, don't take being outclaimed so personally.

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This is more about the "how" rather than the "why"...

Competitive farming is ok. The issue is how you go about doing so.

Any logically coherent human being understands that if a player brings a monster from another person, the player by default acknowledges the presence of that person they took the monster from. It goes hand in hand.It's like building up threat on a monster a tank is holding and then suddenly, the monster attacks you and you say "well, I don't think the tank was attacking it"... No. Clearly if you are building up threat you are building it up against another threat that is competing with you. So you can't defend yourself with ignorance in this case since your actions directly contradict your "ignorance" argument.


TL;DR: The person was being an ass. It is evident. You don't need a psychology degree to prove that nor do you need body language.

It's simply defined through the plot.

I don't even understand the need to share by cutting the spot in half. I mean, this game allows several people to get credit from the same mobs. It just requires some communication, or even (dare I?) a team invite?

I've had two (lvl 50) friends of mine starting to farm low level loots fro craft. After getting on the spot and starting farming, they realised they were probably robbing all the kills from the lowbie there. So they coordonated with him, suggesting he tagged mobs, then my friends just blasted all the mobs. Everyone gets what they wanted.

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Originally Posted by Billie21

I don't even understand the need to share by cutting the spot in half. I mean, this game allows several people to get credit from the same mobs. It just requires some communication, or even (dare I?) a team invite?

I've had two (lvl 50) friends of mine starting to farm low level loots fro craft. After getting on the spot and starting farming, they realised they were probably robbing all the kills from the lowbie there. So they coordonated with him, suggesting he tagged mobs, then my friends just blasted all the mobs. Everyone gets what they wanted.

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This is precisely what competitive yet non-selfish farming is. Kudos to your friends. That's how to do it.