Making a new FC this hard?

Making a new FC this "late" ( 8 months into release ) seems almost too difficult?
Recruiting new players is what i do most of the time and explain to them the ropes of FF14arr and y joining an fc whether it be mine or someone else isn't a bad thing.
But the problem about new players is that usually they jump ship after awhile and bandwagon to a mass fc.
I don't mind this but the thing that bothers me is how are new fcs suppose to expand this "late" into launch?
Being a baby turtle in adamantoise sure gets lonely after awhile.
Feels like a small server where ppl just know ppl and thats it.
No new faces really!
Also don't be a stranger! :)
Give me and others a wave if u spot us! Lol

As for trying to keep members from jumping ship, I'd suggest to find a niche for your FC in the server and recruit people with the same goals instead of just grabbing newbies. It seems great that you are recruiting fresh players and teaching them the rope but you are always bound to have people that realize they don't like the endgame and quit at 50, or ambitious players that want a coil/raid FC.

I think it's better off to make a linkshell for newbies and help them from there, then you keep an eye for players that can enjoy the game in the long term and take them in your FC. I'm sure by the ps4 launch we'll have a nice surge in new players as well.

Also many endgame players are already in static groups, and may be sticking together in one fc or moving as a group. :3

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Originally Posted by Yumi_umi

Making a new FC this "late" ( 8 months into release ) seems almost too difficult?
Recruiting new players is what i do most of the time and explain to them the ropes of FF14arr and y joining an fc whether it be mine or someone else isn't a bad thing.
But the problem about new players is that usually they jump ship after awhile and bandwagon to a mass fc.
I don't mind this but the thing that bothers me is how are new fcs suppose to expand this "late" into launch?
Feels like a small server where ppl just know ppl and thats it.
No new faces really!

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You aren't alone!
I feel much the same way. It's really difficult to get new people in, and once we do, half the time some ridiculously large fc seems to lure the new recruit away. It really does seem like it's a small fishbowl where everyone knows everyone else and there isn't an abundance of new people from which to recruit. I think what frustrates me the most is that often times I hear, "Well you guys are great but there's not a lot of people on all the time." Don't they get that they contribute to that problem by leaving? If even half the people that left for this reason had stuck around just a little while longer, we'd have a really decent sized, active fc. It's my impression that a vast number of existing players just want things handed to them. They don't want to work for anything. They don't want to put in any effort to help an fc grow, just expect the leaders to magically make it happen on their own, and if we can't fast enough they go jump in bed with a group so large they become just another number. Each to his own I suppose. Our rag-tag bunch is happy with each other and work hard to accomplish what we do. I would call that a win on some levels :)

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Originally Posted by Vynym

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As an alternative, why not find other small groups and merge? If both parties discuss the term well and communicate maturely, then you can easily double your group size.

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Originally Posted by Namasu

As an alternative, why not find other small groups and merge? If both parties discuss the term well and communicate maturely, then you can easily double your group size.

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Why would I (or any other group for that matter) want to negotiate away all our hard work? We have an FC house that our people busted ass to obtain. I wouldn't just throw that out the window. It's about more than just numbers. I think maybe some other small fcs feel the same way. Being as small as some of us are, we work really hard to get what we have, be it a house, our raid progression, our fc funds, etc etc. If there were a situation where things could "truly" merge and neither party had to essentially throw away or put all their hard work on the line, it would be more appealing. I can't imagine logging in one day and saying, "Hey guys I know you all busted your ass for x, y, and z but we'll be destroying that so we can merge elsewhere." Maybe it's just me being super proud of my crowd, I dunno.

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Originally Posted by Vynym

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That's fine and all to try and retain your original FC identity and assets. I'm just saying putting an option out there. I've seen quite a number of small groups out there with a bare FC, no house or anything. You could try to assimilate those types to your FC and there would be no loss for you. I think you just gotta start sending tells and reach out more to people when you are in town. I find that much more effective than shouting FC advertisement since most people treat them as spam and ignore. When 2.2 is released there will be a lot of old players coming back looking for a group as well.

Hi Yumi!

What a great thread! I'm the leader of Scarlet Regalia FC and we're also small. Ours started as a large group of family members, RL friends and coworkers, but that number quickly dwindled once the old leader and his core group lost interest in the game. I stuck around because I still have a great time, but it's been a huge struggle to try to find new members and continue progressing. I definitely feel the loneliness you are experiencing and agree that the general player population is pretty fickle.

Considering that this is a game, I don't see the average player wanting to invest all the hard work and effort it takes to build a new FC.

I read somewhere that patch 2.2 was introducing FC Alliances, but did not see it in the notes. I still hope this will happen and in the meantime will be on the lookout for other FCs like yours to hang with. If you ever see me, Ipsops Groovy, or my scholar, Chikka Boom, please wave me down. I will look for you in game as well!

Haha np guys but yea that whole
" if you don't act fast enough and make magic come out of ur butt " feeling as the leader feels really overwhelming.
It really becomes a mood killer when u check the FC activity log to see that 4+ members quit.
Like damnnnnnnn, then to see em the next day with a mass FC tag beside their tag.
I left my old 1st fc because 80% of the ppl were away for like a month - 2 months without notice.
I tried my best to stay but it was lonely.
So i joined with my remaining buds to a mass fc.
A month into the fc, i felt like a number to them.
I tried to inlvove myself along with others on endgame stuff but nope the top elites were busy... Just like 80% of the fc.

So i left hoping my friends would join me too ( buds i met back then during launch/ in 1st fc )
But they all decided to stay in the mass fc just because it was easier.
I felt so alone after i decided to leave. Friends stayed i left in hopes of finding new friends to play with, but even with some recruits and an fc of rank 4.
I still feel lonely as to being the only 50. I still try to help them but it still doesn't feel the same.
I was thinking if i could buy a small house on my own i could show that my fc had something to stand on.
But its kind of hard as 80-90% of the fc gil came from me lol. ( sitting at 500k gil in a month )
But who knows, my luck could turn around after ps4 ver launch.
Hopes to the lonely tank whm!
Q_Q

@ chinpo
:/ i suppose but if ppl can get all butt crazy about endgame and coil, y not for fc stuff? Lol
And yea, ppl leave because life happens and their interest drops.
@vynym
There's nothing wrong with being proud and defending ur accomplishments, once i get a house i'll be like tht too :p
@sieg
Probably so, but that kinda means there's really no room for new fcs expanding
@namasu
No offence but thats how mass fc start out :O . I don't want to become a mass fc like the ones on my server >.>

Is it too late? no it isn't However you have to know what your goals are and have a realistic way of getting there.

Start by leveraging a linkshell. This is the fastest and easiest way to build up a core group of friends. When you have the numbers to start a FC, start it and notify those in the linkshell. Continue adding people to the linkshell, continue grouping with them and it will grow. As for the FC, you have to have a specific reason and goal. If it just to be a casual group of friends, be honest there is no reason for a FC when a LS works just fine for that. If you want to be end game, build the FC around your group. That is how most of the top FC's ended up where we are. We built our group First, then the FC came after. That also works even if you aren't end game focused and are somewhere between just casual friends and end game. Build the group first, establish a FC around that static group and go from there. Now if you aren't looking to have a static group or anything like that..well again reference my comments about the LS being the same thing.

Hope this helps and good luck.

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Originally Posted by Tivia

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I think this is logically sound advice, however, in practice this late in the game it's not very practical in application (no offense intended). This is *exactly* what our group did. We started as scatter friends. Built a linkshell. From there, developed the free company around our raid group. But sadly, it's pretty much still just our raid group because we can't seem to grow any further. We've tried everything from various recruitment posts on various sites, spamming zones with catchy recruitment messages (not the standard blah blah rank 8 blah house type), we pug spots in coil sometimes to meet new people, recruit in PF, and we even have hosted "no experience newer lvl 50 coil runs" in an effort to meet new raidable people, teach them the ropes in coil, get them some gear, and hopefully entice them into joining. Still, no luck at growth.

While it would seem logical if you follow that advice, and it IS logical (in theory), and it may very well have worked in the past or works for your fc, it doesn't cut it for most.
The first question I'm asked 99.9% of the time is "How many active people do you have?" While numbers IS important, it doesn't determine the worth of a free company or its members. But so many DO use that as a gauge to measure an fc's worth, which creates a catch 22 for a lot of us. We can't get/keep members with low numbers, but we can't gain in numbers without having the numbers in the first place. Crazy. If there were more "fresh meat" to net from, maybe this would improve, I dunno. I could theorize all day.

But here's what I know FOR SURE:
The people that we DO have in our little FC are dedicated. They work hard. They are skilled. They are loyal. Honestly, it's kind of a blessing, this whole struggle to recruit because the members we DO retain are real keepers. The ones that jump ship to become another warm body in a larger FC weren't the sort we would want to have in our house anyway. We're looking for invested people, not those that just want to use us for personal gain/progress, but real team players willing to work for common goals. So, in essence, we win in the end for all the recruiting struggles. Having said all that, I DO wish we could snag more of the "right" sort of person.

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Originally Posted by Vynym

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While it's great that you have a set goal on creating a super tight knit small FC built around your original raid group, I think you just have to accept the difficulty that comes with it. I feel that most players want to stay social to some degree and joining a slightly larger FC is just what they need. The more decent players they can group with during their play time, the more they will feel committed to staying.

Suppose you recruit the "right" sort of player, if their playtime doesn't match well with the FC over all, they will probably have a hard time completing game content and more inclined to leave. I've told many of my own FC members that if they really need to leave the FC to join a static I would not hold it against them. It's just unfair for them if I hold back their game experience by tying them down just because they are in my FC.

I know you don't want to merge but really think you just need to find another tight knit group that are willing to get absorbed into your FC so there is enough players to support the current and future content. Try to join other LS and network your way to find potential members. There's also no shame of trying to snag away good players from dying FC as well. You won't accidentally turn your FC into a zerg group unless you really want to. Just do what you always do and take it slow until people come to you.

But its kinda ridiculous as its only been what, 7/8 months into launch?
Is this the kind of population i am to expect in this server for years to come? :(
Making an LS seems out of my interest as i have done a few before.
King mog farm ls
New 2.1 ls
Social chat ls
Coil ls
The only ls that was the most successful before dying was the coil ls.
Well because it was coil....
Every other ls died within a few days / a week max.
Ppl were either busy or offline, as there would only be a few online each time.
So its like all the quality players were snagged during the few months after launch.
Alls left r players who r just jumping fc to fc in hopes of progressing further in their goals.
:( tough life lol tough life in ff

The FC I formed with friends is small, 7 of us with 5 of us being most active and the 7th member being a new player to FF. We managed to round up the gil for a small house on a prime plot in Lavender Beds. Then we managed to get the permit with in a week. Most of the gil was from out of my and my wife's crafting. A portion came from friends. It is possible. We will probably never become a large FC, as it seems that most of the types of members we don't want gravitate towards the bigger FC's. Personally we don't want members who are user's and don't contribute crap to the FC other than drama.

Our one friend had previously been in 2 other bigger FC's that ended up not panning out. Big FC's aren't always cracked up to be what someone may expect so keep chippin away towards your goal.

There's only so much will and energy that can come from all this. Who knows perhaps SE will make an MB fc recruitment type of thing that will allow u to post ur fc and details about it. So like u can look up FCs through the search bar and then use filters like if it will include
-endgame
-role playing
- being casual
The stuff on ur info page.
Then u can narrow ur searches down by choosing opened or closed recruitment.
If they add something like this i'll be so happy lol

I should have added at the beginning we had recruited other new players, some left for FC's that could offer them xp buff etc I imagine. Others haven't logged on for over 100 days so they got discharged. To us mass numbers doesn't always make a FC the best. Quality over quantity. Besides it is early in this FF's life and members are free to pursue their goals. Wanting to do end game shouldn't require one be in a big FC even if some think so. At worse in a big FC all you are is just another number. Kudos to those who formed bigger FC's and actually help out all their members.

The only thing I can see going bad about a FC MB is the fact that people can be really stupid in what they put in their search comments, party finder is one example. Always see someone in party finder that isn't actually looking for a party but has a stupid comment for party finder.

Brotips from a long time leader:

- Be yourself: If you really believe in building your FC, have a clear goal in mind for what you want and stick to it. That will fall under the 'niche.' One that tries to bounce around, aiming to please everyone with completely different goals, is going to have identification issues and will likely lose members quickly. The only way to realistically sustain that kind of FC is to have a very large one. Know what you want, Know what your members want, If they click, you'll be fine.

- Be social: You need to be social and put yourself out there. A lot of the members in my FC have come in purely because we have been ourselves out and about, they join because they like what they see. They will only see it if you show it, and shouts only do so much.

- Be active: Absorbing and/or joining smaller fledgling FC into a linkshell is a good idea, and shows people you are actively looking to grow. Not only do you increase the pool of people you can draw from, sometimes you can pick up people that way. Discussing the possibility of joint runs and joined events is perfect. You get to run with new people and see how well you mesh.

I wouldn't advise hostile takeovers, or merging one with a lot tied to it (a house) or forcing the idea down peoples throats.

- Be realistic: As a FC leader you need to be active and social, true, but this is probably the biggest one I learned: Don't overdo it. If you are prone to putting in 110% in welcoming members, you need to maintain it.

New recruits and especially new players/younger players are going to expect that all the time. On the flipside, older players are probably going to feel you are trying to hard and will be put off by it.

Most importantly you will probably burn yourself out, and an FC without an active leader core will start to fall off. Don't bite off more than you can chew, remember that you are part of the FC as well and you need to take care of your personal interests.

- Avoid the 'exclusive clique': A leader should be friendly to all members that join, and 'group neutral.' Everyone has friends they prefer to play with, and that's OK, however one of the major reasons people leave my FC is because they are intimidated by our friend circle, and feel they would be unwelcome and not fit in.

You need to make sure they feel welcome in that circle and you need to encourage inclusion, let them know they are valued and they belong. Include people in discussions, let them know their thoughts are desired, even if they don't really have much to say, the option alone is more than enough for some people. Do things outside of the game together, our FC has a Minecraft Server and a Starbound server, we play D3 together, League together, We trade pokemon, battle each other and we watch movies together. Sometimes we just bum in voice chat. Point is: Sharing interests is a good thing, FFXIV brought you together, look outside of the game as well.

- Learn from your mistakes: Everything I have typed above I learned from doing the wrong things and constantly trying to improve myself. As a result, I have an amazing group of friends and a solid FC. I've lost more members than I've gained over the years, but each one that stayed on has been awesome.

Source: Personal experience after sticking my hand in the recruitment fires and leading my FC/Guild/Linkshell/League group for more than 10 years. Also educated in group dynamics and teamwork.

Now I must needs to return to Diablo, there is loot to be had.

Yeah thanks that makes more sense.
But its just that the population on adamantoise leaves little to no room to expand as most ppl have found homes to live in.
My only regret is not thinking of making an FC back in august or september cuz i was a new player back at launch day.

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Originally Posted by Yumi_umi

But its just that the population on adamantoise leaves little to no room to expand as most ppl have found homes to live in.
My only regret is not thinking of making an FC back in august or september cuz i was a new player back at launch day.

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Info on server population w/ gains and losses etc.
www.xivsoul.com

Just a month or so ago we were at over 21k people on the server. We're barely over 16k now (16089). So many people quitting/transferring, not to mention that there are so so many fc's on the server. Last I looked it was 1018 fcs on our server -- per the lodestone. So many for just 16k people! That's an average of 15.8 people per fc. That number is greatly reduced when you factor in the big ole powerhouses that have max number of members (or close to), or even those with 75-100 members.

This server loses players at a pretty consistent rate. Kinda sad. And yeah yeah, someone is going to say "But but but we'll get more people come back with 2.2 you'll see!" And that may very well be true, but how long will they stay? It'll be like last time. They will do everything they can get into once or twice, say they are bored, and leave again. So, in my head, most of those "returners" don't count b/c they are largely temporary. :/

And now I'll say something that I'm sure I'll need to /duck for: I kinda wish/hope/dream of a server merge.

Better not drop below 10k....
But at this rate we would be lucky to even have 10k ppl as the server isnlosing like what, 3-5k ppl a month?