What happened to players?

[Rivienne]

One thing to keep in mind is we have a lot of FF players just now trying FFXIV who never tried FFXI and who have never played any other MMO. I've run into quite a few of them. They have that solo gamer mentality and they are used to dealing with NPCs rather than real people, which doesn't help matters at all.

Most of those who are just used to the offline mode are fine with playing other players so long as the other players are nice, and behave well and more importantly can ease them into things. Problem is more the experienced players who don't know how to deal with inexperienced players, or ease them into the different concepts that come with this kind of group environment. There are a lot of folks who have been playing MMO's for so long they are completely disconnected from what it is to be new to the genre. I have run into this with my sister occasionally. I am new. She is not. She is a speed runner, I am not. Mostly she was wonderful in easing me into the idea of playing with other players, but every so often her "why don't you already know what to do/why does it take you so long to get this right" came out and I would have to remind her I only just started. It is hard to grasp when you have been doing something for so long, that other people who haven't are going to see things completely different from you.

This can easily turn into frustration and over time downright hostility towards those who are "slowing you down" or just generally "bad players". Hard to maintain a civil attitude towards other people when you can't seem to recognize why they aren't capable after a few days of what you are after many years.

This isn't to justify rampant bad behaviour, but just to explain why it sometimes happens, even to the otherwise well meaning people, and also why it seems to be more common now then it used to be: people have been playing that much longer, and the entire genre has been out that much longer.

[Altheras]

This can easily turn into frustration and over time downright hostility towards those who are "slowing you down" or just generally "bad players". Hard to maintain a civil attitude towards other people when you can't seem to recognize why they aren't capable after a few days of what you are after many years.

I agree with you entirely. Intolerance for those who are new is an ugly thing. I always do my best to be patient and offer helpful tips to people, especially if I suspect they may just be totally lost and really need the help. How they take it is up to them. Sometimes they just get ugly in response to my offered help, but more often they are truly grateful and have a lot more fun when my suggestions help them out.