I have 0 friends on my friendlist. Is it my fault? No.

[Felis]

Without a designated friend chat I see no reason to have friends.
How would I keep in contact with them, whisper them all separately? Annoying.
It would be great to have a friend chat.

You can create a Friend linkshell and invite your friends.
Linkshells are your social chatrooms.

[Obysuca]

That's what happens when mmos become more focus on solo play rather than team play

With how mmos are going these days and all the single player crap in it, they might as well change it from MMORPG TO MSORPG (massive single player online rpg) -.- It's sad, kids these days will never know what a true mmo was like

[Necato]

If your FC has the gils, you could buy a house. Stay in your housing area (if possible with neighbors) and if you're not shy you will quiclky start discussing with someone else.
I spend most of my waiting time in Limsa's housing area, sunbathing or crafting on the beach or jumping on roofs... Me and a FC mate were having fun with the house when we met the FC leader next door, talked a bit, went to Ultima HM together and got a friend ! Now I'm not in Mor Dhona anymore unless I need to spend my myth memo.

Same goes for PvP, though it can be a bit random due to DF. If you are lucky enough to find someone of your server there are plenty of ways to start a conversation here. (it's always the case in DF as long as you ask them on which server they are)
Party Finder, if everything goes well, can boost your friend list too.

I've played several years at FFXI and though I agree it was easier to make friends there, on FFXIV most of the time you juste have to make the first step.

[Mogi]

Maybe it's your server not very active? when i had no FC when i started i got so many random inv it was bother sum and to this day i get random link shell inv :P but like others are saying join a FC or do party finders easy to meet ppl there seems to me your just not trying very hard

[Rain_Art]

i love help out people, like doing chimera, hydra or primals when i dont have nothing better to do. I've made a lot of friend and joined a LS, they're all good guys and i love play with them
not sure if this can help you tho

[Razzle]

But with all of these new mechanics and easy content (at least pre-50), it makes it difficult for me to make friends pre-50. In FFXI, I had made friends even before endgame.

There is your answer. FFXIV: ARR is built like that that pre-50 don't really matter. The game starts at 50. Pre-50 is just a filler, for that same reason, lvling is super fast and you get to 50 in no time, and at 50 you start to need parties for content like coil and "strengthen bonds" with other players to beat said content...

That's just how the game is designed...

[Fayto]

So you have to go out and make friends yourself? Who knew?

[Shikiseki]

although people already made valid points that make it bit harder to make friends, I personally don't see a problem with it.
Of course I'd like to have more social interaction between the players such as mini-games and hopefully the golden saucer will solve that a lil.

Still, FATES and Questing gave me a lot of friends, as well as just helping them out as healer. Even duty finder brought some nice friends (if you're lucky enough to be on the same server). Sending a friend request usually gets accepted - I have yet to see someone not confirming my request. This game's community just seems to be a little passive. And of course FC's are the way to go.

But being silent and complaining about 0 friends is just not helping you out either - people just see you as an NPC that way with no personality or anything!

Try it, go to a crowded area like Limsa Lominsa, and just observe where the crowd is or chills out - I know at least at Odin, there's one particular bench around the Aetheryte Plaza that's like a social hotspot there!
Even if you don't want to talk, doing some emotes etc, it's usually enough to break the ice.

[shadowrell_d-_-b]

Its funny I tend to just make friends after almost anything I do online, I do something called chatting and it tend to make ppl feel more comfortable with me and before you know it I just made a new online friend!
Fact is if you act like a loner online you naturally going to be "lonely" getting an FC to run with or even a group of online friends to play with is a simple as opening your mouth and saying "HEY".

The grind to 50 tbh shouldn't need other players its after 50 where you start needing to be more social and meeting new ppl! unless your server is just dead in which case id switch to a more populated server.

[Suellen]

Part of the issue too is that mmos are now mainstream. When I first started FFXI back in NA release it was a bit of a niche market. 99% of the people I ran into were in college or of that age. 90% of them watched some anime like me. Connecting with people who had the same interests as me and in the same time of their lives as me was incredibly easy. I met a lot of cool people.

But now I'm older. I'm married and my husband and I are talking about our first house purchase. Some people I meet online are around my age, dealing with similar things. Some are much older; some are younger. Some have kids; some are kids. Some watch the stuff I watch; some don't. Finding common ground, common interests, common personalities types is just a lot harder.

I feel like I'm wading through a sea. And in this sea unfortunately can be a lot of garbage I have to sift through. And so the socializing aspect becomes more and more of a chore. There are a few people I have met and glad I have met but more and more I find I play with the cliche of friends I had gathered years ago and just don't spend much effort meeting new folks.