This game can seriously do with more FC activities.

Aside from the various FC buffs, and accessing Diadem as a group... there's really nothing FC's provide in this game. Any kind of activity that an FC can do either is something that can be done without one (maps for instance), or various other activities that, again, an FC is not inherently neccesary for.

Too many times has it been said about how so many "dead" FC's can be, and that it's "up to the players" to find fun within the games systems. Maybe if there were more systems for guilds to use to take advantage of, ya know, existing and working together, these issues wouldn't be so bad.

Compared to what I've seen in other multiplayer games that have guilds, they offer way more than XIV does.

Exploratory missions using airships and submarines are the biggest (only?) thing that can only be done with an FC at this time. And it's a pretty big thing considering the rare crafting mats and occasional minions and song scrolls that come only from that content.

You mentioned that other multiplayer games. So what guild activities in whichever game would you like Square-Enix to adapt into FFXIV? Just so we don't advocate blindly copying what other games are doing, let's hear about why these guild activities are worthy additions/adaptations into FFXIV.

I'm struggling to think of anything in any game I've played that has ever been something that requires a guild/free company. In WoW it was just a social place with a common storage just like it is here, hell if anything Free Companies are more worth while than WoW guilds were when I was playing. You didn't need a guild to do anything in that game.

The primary reason why FCs are not as popular as guilds are in other games is because of Linkshells. Those allow people to have a social experience nearly the same as an FC, even across servers. The very limited benefit of the FC chest and buffs are minimal except when leveling and even then, there are items that can supplement that. Even home ownership is no longer the exclusive domain of the FCs. Almost every FC I have seen has like 4 to 5 active players in them and I have yet to find a FC that has more active players than 10 on my server. The FC I am in used to be huge with 50+ active members but sadly, internal drama caused it to fracture and people scattered to the wind. I stay in it now so I don't get bothered by people asking me to join another small FC every few minutes while I am wandering around in a city. It seems that when a FC grows beyond a certain limit, they explode due to politics or cliques.

On the other hand, GW2 ruined my guild back when it introduced the big guild activities, because they were nearly impossible to do with a small guild, which is what I tend to play with. That basically ruined the game for me, since my guild gave up.

I liked the guild races in GW2, I wish XIV had stuff like that.

I was thinking about the wedding invites that you can give to other players and I thought SE could re-use that existing asset but for social parties, not just for FCs but anyone owning a house. People with invitation could come to your fc house or personal one and they'd have to stay for at least a minimum of 3mins before getting special buffs or consumable food they could take back with them. What kind of buffs? Idk. But the more parties you host, the more you lvl up your "host" level, the more things you can do with parties.

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Originally Posted by WhyAmIHere

Aside from the various FC buffs, and accessing Diadem as a group... there's really nothing FC's provide in this game. Any kind of activity that an FC can do either is something that can be done without one (maps for instance), or various other activities that, again, an FC is not inherently neccesary for.

Too many times has it been said about how so many "dead" FC's can be, and that it's "up to the players" to find fun within the games systems. Maybe if there were more systems for guilds to use to take advantage of, ya know, existing and working together, these issues wouldn't be so bad.

Compared to what I've seen in other multiplayer games that have guilds, they offer way more than XIV does.

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The point of being in a free company/guild/etc. is to make it easier to find people to group with.

What examples can you give of the guild specific activities you've seen in other games that this one lacks? I played WoW for years and there was nothing like you seem to be thinking of. Guild perks were pretty much just another version of FC actions. There were guild specific rewards that could be unlocked but most of those were acquired through individual efforts while a member of the guild, not through guild effort (the raid mounts/minions being the exception that required X members of the guild to be part of the boss kill group).

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Originally Posted by WhyAmIHere

Aside from the various FC buffs, and accessing Diadem as a group...

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I'm for more FC activities, however I'm not for activities/content which require an FC (Didaem through FC airship because realistically the Ishgard route is 'dead' on most servers.)

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Originally Posted by TwistedTea

I'm for more FC activities, however I'm not for activities/content which require an FC (Didaem through FC airship because realistically the Ishgard route is 'dead' on most servers.)

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I want a pegasus mount but not possible because of this.

I would like to see more GC challenges for the FC. Like at the moment there is a GC tally on the Lodestone that ranks an FC by how many seals their members raised in a week, so something similar to this would be cool but only if the FC was rewarded at the end regardless of their rank.

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Originally Posted by TwistedTea

I'm for more FC activities, however I'm not for activities/content which require an FC (Didaem through FC airship because realistically the Ishgard route is 'dead' on most servers.)

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This.

I want to be able to go into diadem matron to gather, but that's impossible unless you have the correct rank privilege in an FC and another player in your party to be able to embark into it. The Ishgard route is dead except when community events happens for it. They should honestly should change it to let you queue through it solo, I don't see why not.

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Originally Posted by Arya_Leviathan

This.

I want to be able to go into diadem matron to gather, but that's impossible unless you have the correct rank privilege in an FC and another player in your party to be able to embark into it. The Ishgard route is dead except when community events happens for it. They should honestly should change it to let you queue through it solo, I don't see why not.

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I think they are more likely to kill it off entirely than do that. It is something being discussed internally

Anything that doesn't have a light party requirement is fine by me. Absolutely hate the light party requirement on FC crafting, I'm usually the only one in the FC who gives a crap about any of that.

I agree OP, there is very little point in being in a FC and very little for FCs to do together.

What we have and what's wrong with it:

FC crafting (actually making house-skins, ships and subs) - This is a joke. If you look at the boards here, you will see numerous threads complaining that it is basically something for a single player to do, while 3 others look on.
In it's present form it's boring for the majority of participants and many active FCs struggle to get a light party together.

House-skins - Why go to huge expense or spend hours getting a mountain of materials together when you know the skins will be on the retainer loot table in a few months time? Since retainers started bringing house-skins back, not one person in our FC has wanted to make one.

Buffs - Squadron buffs are just as good as the mid-range ones and give individuals far more flexibility. Grade 3 buffs are better but they take so long to charge that they can only be put up occasionally.

Exploratory Missions - Diadem was a neat idea, except that it was tough for smaller parties of DoW to get rewards. We often went in with the FC but rarely got a full group. I got fed up running out of time on the bigger fates we managed to spawn. Gathering was great though, especially after they made Diadem II.

Exploratory Voyages - These are just big retainer ventures, and while your FC should get a slow stream of material, crafting mats, mounts and minions from them, it's most efficient if run as a single player activity.

Room in FC House - It's the same size as an apartment. The one advantage is that it's cheaper but it has huge disadvantages. Subject to the whims of the FC management you can be locked out of the FC house indefinitely and lose access. If you are kicked or the FC house is demolished while you take a break, you lose your room.


So yes, FC activities are lacklustre and besides the social aspect they offer very little to their members that they can't get elsewhere. I know people are unhappy when FCs get exclusives and I agree locking a whole area like the Diadem to FCs only was going way too far, but I do think FCs should offer some advantages to their members over going the single player/LS route.


What I'd like to see:

First Stop the 'exploits' - These put a lot of people off joining FCs or running one.
e.g. A lot of FCs have lost out due to the FC 'ranking' system - we need a proper ranking system so people cannot promote above their own rank.
FC leaders locking people out of the FC house should not be allowed (it means the person cannot access their room or leave the FC)

More Ranks for FCs and More Perks - extra storage in the chest, mounts, minions, FC tabard/exclusive glams etc.

Activities - Make FC crafting more of a group activity, it would be much more popular if people were engaged rather than standing around or afk. I'm not advocating anything horribly complex here, just something for each person to do. Maybe, make it possible to affect the quality of the item by participating rather than have it completely reliant on RNG.

FC Achievements - WoW had a system where Guilds were rewarded for so many dungeons run, mobs killed etc. While a lot of these were completed simply by playing, we would get groups together to unlock some of the more obscure ones and get the perks.


Possible ideas and not necessarily FC exclusive

Exploration - Diadem DoW was awful and Eureka has it's issues, so maybe this sort of content just isn't going to work in FFXIV.
However, I enjoyed Diadem DoL and I miss having something similar to do with the subs. One person checking the mission table for loot every 2 or 3 days excludes most FC members and isn't very exciting.

Hamlet Defence - I never experienced this but it sounds a lot of fun. People are always complaining the wards are dead (and they're right), some activity based around the housing areas could make the wards more lively and be a fun addition to the game.


The only other game I have experience of besides FFXIV is WoW. I had great fun levelling up a Guild there and unlocking the rewards.
The biggest issue there, was that large memberships earned gold and of course people exploited that by spam inviting and giving their members nothing back. Which is why I'm strongly in favour of tightening up our present system and closing down ways in which FCs can be griefed by rogue members or FC leaders. Hopefully the devs would look for any possible exploits before implementing a new reward system here.

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Originally Posted by Solarra

More Ranks for FCs and More Perks[/B] - extra storage in the chest, mounts, minions, FC tabard/exclusive glams etc.

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Free Company glam is a nice idea.
Choco barding with the FC flag on it. The GC uniforms but coloured in your FC's colours. Indoor and outdoor FC flag furnishings. I'd love some stuff like that.

I would likely pay for these:

-Being able to expand company chest, by either buying with company credits or mog station, or whatever (quest, weird system, etc.)
-Have more use for company credits, like seriously?? we have 8mil credits sitting there!
-Have more fc banner/symbol customization and being able to apply it on some interior and exterior furnishing

That is why i think they semi-failed in regards to airships. Would it not have been nice to all board a airship as a FC and go on and explore? Diadem had the right idea, just many have bad things about that place, lol
Surely they can implement various things, i just do not have much ideas atm.

FC's are dead because of Solo play and the duty finder pretty much..

Players were asking for proper free compnay content as far back as early betas maybe even alphas back when htere was the concept of freee companies being able to summon primals..

this is the kind of content that builds bonds between players and strengthens social connections promotes team work etc etc. yet none of it exists because everything has to be able to be done solo via the duty finder.. which kills the community bonds at the expense of a bit of extra convenience.

have often said these are some of big reasons why many players just don't stick around very long and most players barely even bother to socialise because well whats the point,.,.. also leads to why a lot of players can be absoloute jerks (politest term i could think of) because there's no reason to be anything else. who cares who you offend or upset when you'll a never see them again and b if you do see them again they'll most likely never remember you..

this game is designed to heavily discourage social interaction on every single level. right down tho the msq. cant proceed because your in a party.... you must be antisocial and play solo to continue..

and this is why a lot of players quit because there's no social connections.

even people who say they have huge free companies of like a hundred players and are super close knit.. okkkkk so without looking atthe chat window or memeber list how many can you name........ its like facebook where people have over a thousand friends but can barely name 10 of them without looking... because theres no real connections there.

and thats been connected to record high levels of depression and suicide because all these super popular people with hundreds and thousands of friends are always sad and lonely... meaningless social connections..

We don't need more FC activities, by their definition, FC activities are just regular activities with gating. What we need is more FC tools. In-game calenders, event management, better recruitment tools and ways to interact with members. I like the idea of achievements and challenge lots because it supports the idea of FC members doing existing content together, which is the area that needs improvement over linkshells.

This stuff already exists in the companion app, it just needs to be in the FC window

In-game calendar/event planner, yes please. Would be very useful.

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Originally Posted by Dirwen

I want a pegasus mount but not possible because of this.

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Got this casually for a friend not too long ago. Lack of people in diadem can be an advantage. There are several buried coffers hidden around the map when a new instance is started (marked by a spot of light which looks similar to a gathering node). Just do a voyage around the map collecting them, then open the lockboxes to receive some spoils. Repeat until you can afford the mount. Convert any gear into more spoils. Just need a minimum of 2 players to enter Diadem via workshop.

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Originally Posted by Lambdafish

We don't need more FC activities, by their definition, FC activities are just regular activities with gating. What we need is more FC tools. In-game calenders, event management, better recruitment tools and ways to interact with members. I like the idea of achievements and challenge lots because it supports the idea of FC members doing existing content together, which is the area that needs improvement over linkshells.

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Agree with all of this. In-game event calender should have been added years ago.

Achievements and challenges to unlock would be great too, maybe even a few nice rewards for the harder achievements or FC achievement point totals.

The company chest badly needs expanding. At the very least 5-7 tabs.

I'd also like to see them work on a flexible 8 man difficulty. Perhaps 7-14 players. This is a big one for FC's, because it's much harder to organize events and raid nights when you either have to bench someone or bring pugs in. Therefore people just go in set statics or full pug groups instead. Another difficulty inbetween Normal and Savage wouldn't be a bad idea either. Currently for a casual FC, Savage is way above their level and Normal is way too easy to bother making an event out of it.

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Originally Posted by Dirwen

I want a pegasus mount but not possible because of this.

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There's a discord server that does Diadem like every weekend. Look up Diadem Debauchery if you're interested.

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Originally Posted by Lambdafish

We don't need more FC activities, by their definition, FC activities are just regular activities with gating. What we need is more FC tools. In-game calenders, event management, better recruitment tools and ways to interact with members. I like the idea of achievements and challenge lots because it supports the idea of FC members doing existing content together, which is the area that needs improvement over linkshells.

This stuff already exists in the companion app, it just needs to be in the FC window

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A recruitment board where people can post their fc's info and others can check them out would honestly be super nice. I dont understand why this isn't even a thing already on the game.

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Originally Posted by RoroCookies

A recruitment board where people can post their fc's info and others can check them out would honestly be super nice. I dont understand why this isn't even a thing already on the game.

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XI had a basic version of this which was kind of nice. The NPC was the "Linkshell Concierge" where players could go to check out recruiting LSs (XI's equivalent of a FC) and grab a pearl directly. IIRC, the information provided about the LS was pretty basic, but that could totally be expanded upon for XIV.

I think that could be quite helpful as I think a lot of people just don't know where to turn to when looking for an FC that is recruiting. I mean, you get the city shouters now and then, but even they aren't all that common.

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Originally Posted by Skivvy

XI had a basic version of this which was kind of nice. The NPC was the "Linkshell Concierge" where players could go to check out recruiting LSs (XI's equivalent of a FC) and grab a pearl directly. IIRC, the information provided about the LS was pretty basic, but that could totally be expanded upon for XIV.

I think that could be quite helpful as I think a lot of people just don't know where to turn to when looking for an FC that is recruiting. I mean, you get the city shouters now and then, but even they aren't all that common.

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Isn't it it funny how xi can does or did so many neat things with it's old archaic dinosaur coding. Quite a lot of which was done 10 or 15 years ago even with lol ps2 limitations. And yet xiv. 15 years more modern with 15 years more technological advancement Can't do any of it...

I think there's something to be said for it being up to the players but I'd enjoy activities designed specifically for light to full FC parties, because that's what I do when I'm not solo. It's what's worthwhile to me even though it's not regarded as any sort of accomplishment, game wise, which is why I mostly agree that any group will be what people make of it. Still, this game gives the feeling that it's the "wrong" way to play and the "right" way is with a new group of people that you'll probably never meet again. It could be more balanced, with a reward system to encourage both.

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Originally Posted by Dzian

Isn't it it funny how xi can does or did so many neat things with it's old archaic dinosaur coding. Quite a lot of which was done 10 or 15 years ago even with lol ps2 limitations. And yet xiv. 15 years more modern with 15 years more technological advancement Can't do any of it...

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Oy, I could give a nice rant about that. >< I'm not asking for XIV to become XI, but they did have several systems/features in place that are definitely better than what we get in XIV (if we even have it at all).

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Originally Posted by MomomiMomi

There's a discord server that does Diadem like every weekend. Look up Diadem Debauchery if you're interested.

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Thanks for the info but I don't use discord and prefer not to if possible. I don't like talking to people I can't put a face to as it confuses me a lot. The more people talking the more confusing it would get for me honestly. I can see it being useful during high end fights for fast directions but I don't do those.

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Originally Posted by Lambdafish

We don't need more FC activities, by their definition, FC activities are just regular activities with gating. What we need is more FC tools. In-game calenders, event management, better recruitment tools and ways to interact with members. I like the idea of achievements and challenge lots because it supports the idea of FC members doing existing content together, which is the area that needs improvement over linkshells.

This stuff already exists in the companion app, it just needs to be in the FC window

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Having been a former FC leader for around 4.5 years i have to agree with this, we need tools

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Originally Posted by Dirwen

Thanks for the info but I don't use discord and prefer not to if possible. I don't like talking to people I can't put a face to as it confuses me a lot. The more people talking the more confusing it would get for me honestly. I can see it being useful during high end fights for fast directions but I don't do those.

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You don't need to voice chat with them. Just use the text chat to schedule a run. You could just think of it as kind of a cross-server FC/guild that only does one thing together, Diadem. Honestly I'm not even sure anyone uses voice chat on there.

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Originally Posted by Dirwen

Thanks for the info but I don't use discord and prefer not to if possible. I don't like talking to people I can't put a face to as it confuses me a lot. The more people talking the more confusing it would get for me honestly. I can see it being useful during high end fights for fast directions but I don't do those.

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Barely anyone seems to use discord for the actual talking functionality, in my experience at least.

In FFXIV terms it seems more like a collection of linkshells than anything else.