Could have SE unknowing set FFXIV to fail....

[Ghishlain]

(Protip: no job was excluded, just people bad at x job which is why people didn't want to take the job, for example people said Blue Mage and Corsair were worthless end-game.)

My alter ego back in 2008 would like to have a word for you as I was a Galka WHM in the 3X range that seeked a party for EIGHT HOURS in a single day without one. single. bloody. tell. looking for EXP. It eventually came to a point where I just took things into my own hands and used Besiged and Campaign from 3X to 54 so I could join ToAU parties and even then, WHMs were scorned upon in EXP parties during that time frame.

While it was possible to get invites, your chances of getting those invites were directly related to what job you were trying to level at the time. Got a SAM? Enjoy that free ride all the way to the top. NIN? Same deal. BRD or RDM? HELL YES!

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and mostly everyone else just tell the newbies to level Bard or go home lol.

Yeah...that hasn't been true since 2003.

Hate to say it but this is true. With the way XI gearing dynamic has become, it's actually the easiest to become "raid ready" as a support job (with BRD being the most popular choice) and then diversify your jobs from there. Since being raid capable requires you to complete raids for raid gear, it's that vicious cycle that keeps repeating. Most support classes can circumvent the gear check in XI that to a degree as long as they have a solid fundamental understanding of their job and have key pieces of their gear sets that were generally easy to acquire. This is in contrast to DPS slot where it was difficult to break into because your DPS is nothing compared to the DPS of another player who has access to high tier equipment.

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Players were given tools to make soloing, even though difficult, possible.

This is definitely one aspect I miss about XI. The challenge of taking on content not designed to be handled by one individual - was quite the thrill.