Cultural Differences, North American Strangers

[Alhanelem]

I miss the XP grind parties they had in Final Fantasy XI.

I don't miss it at all. Quests, dungeons, and Fate offer a lot more variety than repeatedly pounding the same monster into mush. Not to say there wasn't any fun in trying to optimize DPS, but that was a part of the whole game, not just EXPing.

If you miss those parties, then maybe you should play XI and form one. You're going to have a hard time finding a full part full of people who want to repeatedly kill the same monster in some random corner of the world for several hours.

[Yoko_Kurama]

Listen, when I made this thread I only wanted to point out one major thing and this is opinionated but no matter what you say, gathering groups of friends to progress through the story content of this game is NOT primary. If it were a primary mechanic, you would be almost required to find a party to get through the majority of the content. How many threads do you think i've read of people who made it to level 50 on their own (in the first week) only occasionally using the duty finder when it forced them to temporarily party with strangers they will never talk to again? I'm not saying it should be impossible to get through the game on your own, but it should be difficult, highly inconveniencing and require a lot of hardcore time on your hands. The mechanics as far as i'm concerned promote the lazy attitude of "I could find a party, or i can just finish the story on my own", the fact that you can finish the story on your own in what is classified as a massively multiplayer online game is the problem here.

The very basic mechanics of the game should steer people into needing to make friends and experience the story with those friends. To people saying wait until end game content, this is not a PVP based game where grinding to max level in a few days makes sense, it's a story based mmo (supposedly) and that should mean getting through the story (1-50) with people who you share many experiences with.

That is what i mean and that is why I say grouping based on the mechanics of this game, is deterred. Whether it is possible to form groups or not isn't the issue, but it isn't required to deal with people in what is supposed to be a massive multi player experience. Thus although it is impossible to change the foundation of the mechanics, I hope SE can implement more mechanics or areas in future patches that promote (i mean seriously promote) gathering groups, getting to know them and getting through content that otherwise would be virtually impossible without trust worthy comrades who understand their roles in your group.

[C-croft]

I don't miss it at all. Quests, dungeons, and Fate offer a lot more variety than repeatedly pounding the same monster into mush. Not to say there wasn't any fun in trying to optimize DPS, but that was a part of the whole game, not just EXPing.

If you miss those parties, then maybe you should play XI and form one. You're going to have a hard time finding a full part full of people who want to repeatedly kill the same monster in some random corner of the world for several hours.

I miss it, but I don't want it to be the only way to get XP. Every now and then for shats and gaggles would be fine if it was viable enough.

[Yoko_Kurama]

Bumping because I feel this post is more relevant and obvious now than when I first started the thread.

[Kanzer]

Too many cultural whining threads. I don't really get it. I've used Duty Finder a lot, and am especially using it now as I level my Paladin. (Go insta queues!) Sure occasionally I end up a difficult individual, but for the most part I haven't had any problems. I tell my group to please attack in order, they do. If I ask to sleep (I usually don't, but find many people do it anyway without me even asking.) they will. And we get through the dungeon just fine without even saying anything.

This is on a NA server, *gasp* I know, crazy right? Cause all NA duty finder groups are fail because of our terrible culture.

The duty finder is what it is, it was never meant to be a replacement for forming your own parties. It's meant as a convenient tool for when you don't have people to go into a dungeon with, or if you're just leveling an alternate class.

It has absolutely nothing to do with culture, and culture has absolutely nothing to do with one's ability to enjoy this game and find good groups.

[Hayward]

Trust me when I say the only people who miss the old way of grouping for EXP are those who rode bandwagon jobs and got to say "lol[job]".

On topic, I wish people would stop lumping North American and European players with the frat boys who act like entitled a$$es and give us a bad name (I'm especially taking to the JP wanna-bes who talk as though Japanese players don't have some rotten apples in the grove). For the most part, I've had positive experiences with the Duty Finder, even through some failures. Once the psychos and sociopaths with extra chromosomes clear out next month, I will certainly consider doing some Tomestone dungeons through DF.

[Alhanelem]

Bumping because I feel this post is more relevant and obvious now than when I first started the thread.

And I'll throw in a bump because the post is more not relevant and less obvious now than when you first started it. If anything, conditions are better now than when you started the thread.

I use the duty finder and form my own groups for stuff almost equally and I do not see any of the problems, and I don't see anything even remotely anti-american in any way. I have a free company formed entirely of people I recruited in the game, many after encountering them in a formed party. The DF does not discourage community. If anything, it strengthens it as a side effect of people who have bad experiences with it wanting to form more close-knit groups on their own server. Also, the wait times for the DF sometimes are such that you could even form a party faster by shouting or using your linkshells.

I have 4 linkshells, each with 80 people or more in them. How you think there is a problem here is beyond me. The community is just as strong, if not stronger, than it would be if the DF never existed.

[sasakusaku]

Most NA players are plain out right mean and only helpful if they get something out of the bargain: that's the American way!

W/e. Forced grouping sucks, this suggestion means you HAVE to find a FC or not play at all.

As a person who has had to many bad experiences with guilds of recent and can't find one with mature/fun people....I don't want to be forced to join one quite yet....

Do agree, JP players are much nicer to group with though.

[Ssuusshhii]

Bumping because I feel this post is more relevant and obvious now than when I first started the thread.

Citation? Sources? You're making blanket statements over a complex topic without any facts or statistics to back up your claims. Frankly, you don't seem to know a lot about either culture you're comparing.

People on my server regularly make groups and Linkshells to repeatedly farm Primals and AK/CM. If they find people they like (in terms of personality and playstyle), they'll form/join a Free Company together and find more like-minded people. That's how the community is growing right now and I see nothing wrong with it, and I'm fairly sure that that's how the community is growing in Japan right now.

[Yoko_Kurama]

There you go right there Sushi, look at the dungeons you quoted, they are end game areas, and you are talking about farming end game content, in other words you failed to mention how the actual game through the entire storyline 1-50 urges people to form relationships and bonds to succeed through the game...until you are already max level. And that I find is a problem. As far as sources or citations, this isn't a professional persuasive essay dude, it's completely opinionated based on what i see and think, which if you re read the quote that you had the nerve to quote me on, it even says "I feel" it's more relevant now. Whether you disagree or not doesn't really affect my feelings now does it.