Bandwagoning (Rant)

inb4 closed-minded elitist arguments

You see my join date? 2 months after ARR release. I have spent the majority of my game time practicing and mastering my skills to get better at the game. I would say I'm a good player; capable enough to run cutting-edge raids. But my skills has gotten me nowhere, because of one very minor reason:

I was late to the game, by 2 months.

Now before I get a comment like "well mayb its cuz ur bad", let me remind you that you're playing an mmorpg. It doesn't matter how awesome you are as a tank, if the rest of your party members do not deal with mechanics correctly you will not clear the content.

Hardcore groups in non-mmo games recruit using a tryout method. They test you first-hand to see if you're good, and if your performance is not to their standards you don't get in. But that's not how most groups in this game works. People don't even bother to test you. It pretty much boils down to "if you have not cleared X content, you can't get in, your skills be damned".

Well that's okay, I'll just find a newly forming group instead....

...except they are extremely hard to find, and most are unstable. Every one that I joined has fell apart after a maximum of 5 sessions. I think its safe to say, that most dedicated raiders in this game have managed to get on the bandwagon a while ago. And I'm not a leader, forming a group myself is beyond me.

The point is, if you missed the bandwagon, you'll never get on. R.I.P. my hopes for hardcore raiding.

Do you play on a PC, and if so do you keyboard turn?

I made my own bandwagon to ride on. I'm not really a leader type person either but it hasn't been too bad. At least I get to decide what kind of group it's going to be when I'm heading it.

I even fell off the bandwagon once, tried someone else's, didn't like it and made one again.

All I can say is, if you have the motivation, you will reach your goals eventually. I've seen people in endgame that joined far later than 2 months into ARR.

Umm see my join date? That was a month after I started playing...
No, I still haven't finished Final Coil, but my static and I are slowly on our way....

Just keep at it and you'll reach the endgame you want.

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Originally Posted by Kitfox

I made my own bandwagon to ride on. I'm not really a leader type person either but it hasn't been too bad. At least I get to decide what kind of group it's going to be when I'm heading it.

I even fell off the bandwagon once, tried someone else's, didn't like it and made one again.

All I can say is, if you have the motivation, you will reach your goals eventually. I've seen people in endgame that joined far later than 2 months into ARR.

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That is amazing. I've seriously tried leading groups on multiple occasions, and people quickly stopped showing up.

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Originally Posted by Kona_Nightwind

Do you play on a PC, and if so do you keyboard turn?

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Not unless I'm strafing to keep my character facing the boss.

IDK man. My group needed a melee dps, and found one in about five minutes in PF. Try the server forums. The group I'm in, most of us have been playing with each for 5 years. But we have had to replace a few people here and there, but the group keeps chugging along.

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Originally Posted by Kassiekane

And I'm not a leader, forming a group myself is beyond me.

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It's really not hard to start a pf

Join PFs, perform well, get o know the good players, get invited to statics, get invited to LS.

Now I don't have a static myself, my schedule is all over the place, so I can't. But if you have been in the game this long and not been picked up. You haven't been running the pfs often, or you haven't performed in them.

Failing that. You could join learning groups for content you know well and get into an up and coming static. Or does it have to be a atatic that is well beyond you in content.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kassiekane

That is amazing. I've seriously tried leading groups on multiple occasions, and people quickly stopped showing up.

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If someone stops showing up without a good reason, I would replace them until I get people who stay. To be honest, it all starts with one person. After you have someone who will stick with you, building the rest of the group is easier when you're not all alone. Being an awesome player also helps. Or having a stellar personality. Even without those, just keep chugging at it. If nothing else, the effort alone should earn some respect in the eyes of other members and that is probably the most important point to make people show up for the next run.


A good group rarely comes together in an evening of PF. Both occasions when I was forming my group, it took a good few weeks to arrive at a solid setup, and it's not once or twice members have been replaced for one reason or another. But the great thing is, if you're the leader, you can decide how to go about the whole recruiting thing. I can assure you that the beginning is the hardest part. After you have a few solid members, keeping the ball rolling isn't all that bad.

I know people who started playing 6 months ago who have cleared all content and are in hardcore groups so that isnt true.

I know of several HC FC's on my server who recruit by trials so that isnt true either.

Someone really likes the word "bandwagon". Anyway, make friends. Run content with friends. Use PF to find more friends. Can it take a long time sometimes? Yeah, absolutely. But if you just plug away at it instead of whine on the forums about "oh poor me", you'll have better luck.

And if you're talking coils, you can easily 4-man all of Binding Coil (did that with some friends recently), fewer if the partner(s) you choose are very good thanks to the undersized party/unsynch option. If you can get a team that can handle that, you'll have a good core for future groups. If you're talking Alexander, then just stick with a PF; though that's very current, so I can't imagine having a hard time finding people for it right now.

You see my join date? I had a static basically fall into my lap in August 2014 after several failed attempts at getting into endgame with two different FC's. Someone I'd only met in passing through a social linkshell needed two tanks for their static, and a friend and I just both happened to be maining tank and available for raiding. Since that time, those people have become a huge part of my experience in the game; we do many things together from roulettes to crafting to daily hunts to leveling new classes. We've stuck together for nearly a year now.

There is no "bandwagon" to be missed. New players join the game and progress. New statics form every day.

You don't need a static to clear content-- all you need is a desire to make it happen. I don't have a static and I've cleared Final Coil. I practiced the fights on my own time in PF and DF, and when I felt comfortable enough with the mechanics to be relatively certain I was capable of clearing, I asked some friends if we could go for a clear.

It's entirely possible, you just need to be willing to put in the effort to learn and make connections.

I do have to ask OP, are you sure your skill is up to par?

I have seen many times where people thought they were ready, insisted they were good to go for the content, but were not.

At this point, we've hit a "reset", so those two months you "lost" aren't really lost anymore; 2.x content ultimately doesn't matter since all of it can be cheesed through undersized parties. If you're having trouble clearing 3.0 content...unless your luck has been terrible with the people you go in with, the problem is likely you.

I know exactly how you might be feeling, for I was in the exact same spot about 3 weeks ago. The making friends advice is a really lame one, and it's also the best one you'll ever get.

In my case, someone asked for help on a raiding linkshell I'm in to join mid-duty for some dungeon (their tank had quit mid-fight). And from what I was told, I had a warm personality and I performed well enough that the same day they asked me to have a go with them on Alex when it came out.


I will say this: when we rolled through it it felt like we just flew through content. I won't lie that we might have wiped twice on the first and last boss, but otherwise it didn't feel so complicated. And a week later I tried farming it with randoms.... God it can feel so frustratingly difficult. But the point I'm trying to make is even though I never got to clear coil 9 and above, I managed to prove that my positive attitude and quick-learning mindset was what they were looking for. We've been raiding every week and we managed to clear the two ex primals as well! I know to some people this might be a granted, but believe me that being stuck with party finder groups is like playing dice... you can find the best and the worst players in there. God knows I'm never running ravana ex with another random group.


So keep playing! Good raiding groups know that good players can be anywhere, and though they might have a preference towards people who already cleared old raids, it's not necessarily a requirement! (and if it is, you might just be better off without them)

I would just say...form your own group! It might be easier on some servers than others.

I was there since 1.0 alpha, but I mostly just messed around on crafters and gatherers in 1.0 (then fell behind in 2.0) I made a LS the day ARR launched in early access with the intent that it was just to be for a couple friends from XI. I tried a static back then for coil, was alright but my hours didnt match regularly so I had to leave and didnt bother with endgame stuff for a long time. These days though, we're at 128/128 in the LS, with all members actively playing (we've kicked all the inactive people because more are constantly wanting in), we have an active FC as well, many are newer players to the game, or at least started many months after the game launched. Yet we're always going in and getting our clears now. We have a loose static for alex (we swap people in and out depending on availability), we just got some people their bismark EX clears and are preparing to move onto Ravana EX. Yeah, we're a bit behind the curve, but who cares? We're a group that likes to help everyone catch up and go at our own pace, to hell with all those who want to rush rush rush and dont let any new players in (but if they want to do that, it's their choice).

Just make your own group, I promise there are people out there that want to play more casually or catch up to current content and will jump at the opportunity. If your server isnt active enough, maybe it's time to look into changing if possible

You can always form a static, and then later down the road not be the leader of it if it's clear someone else is willing and/or just better at leading the static. But you do need to make the first step in trying to get a group going. Even if its only a small group, anything is better than nothing. These kinds of things don't really fall into your lap. Especially now that the expansion has come out, a lot of old people are returning and quite a lot of new people are trying out the game. I see the green leaf symbol all over my server in major towns and my server isn't even that big.

@Kassiekane
By the logic of maths, you can't be the only skilled player who is in the same boat per say.

Don't worry about elitism, after all you are generally defining your skills as elite and looking to play with others who have such skills. Nothing wrong with wanting to reach for the highest goals in this game, the content was created to be played.

Set up PF, Set up event calender or post in forums and start hanging out with people who need the same things you do but are not in established EG groups yet.

Check forums online where min maxers/skilled folks hang out and apply in the, "Engame LS or FC looking for ____insert role here___ " messages posted in that section.

Check your server section here in the forums also Worlds (Group NA/EU) for similar messages.
Blue Gartr also has a section just for that, its called "FFXIV: Linkshell/Free Company Recruitment" idk if we are allowed to off site link so google is yer friend.

btw your char is cute. :)

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Originally Posted by Kassiekane

That is amazing. I've seriously tried leading groups on multiple occasions, and people quickly stopped showing up.



Not unless I'm strafing to keep my character facing the boss.

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Hold right mouse button and side to side as if you're planning the camera.

So get a decent FC or friend 7 people that you've played with that you deemed "good" and then get them together.

You see my join date?
I never actually joined a static and got invited to party for several hardcore contents every now and then as a filler because in a static of 8, there's gonna be one or two players not being online all the time and i can fill in by being adventure in need (Tank/healer/DPS).. When i was asked to join a static for serious commitment, i simply decline because i'm a lonewolf.. WOOF WOOF