Different worlds community, how to know?

[Pomelo]

Odin is rather populated and has a variety of different player types on it, (its an EU server) language tends to be mostly English, but there are alots of other languages going on sometimes.

[AdamuKun322]

Here's what I know:

Faerie where I have my main at is the LGBT server. It's also one of the nicest servers for new players.

Zalera I have an alt here to help with a campaign to make Zalera great again.

Mateus there's some tumbleweeds blowing around. Haha jk. Seriously, though, Mateus could really use some lovin'.

[ChandraNoctis]

Mateus seems to be picking up lately. I see a lot more sprouts in the leveling areas and fate trains, end game is fairly dead still but I think it will improve as the population gets more experienced.

[Cold_Raven]

Zalera is a fun, mid-sized server with a main focus on fun.
We have a little bit of everything.

Jack of all trades, but master of none?
Nah, Zalera said "Screw your old-person-sayings" and mastered them all

[CuteWhisper]

I transfered a lot ever since I started playing and the friendlier ones I have been on was Leviathan, and Excalibur. I have been on Behemoth, and like others, I wouldn't recommend it.

[AdamuKun322]

Mateus seems to be picking up lately. I see a lot more sprouts in the leveling areas and fate trains, end game is fairly dead still but I think it will improve as the population gets more experienced.

Oh that's because there's a Twitch Streamer working on making Mateus Great.

[Cold_Raven]

Behemoth, Balmung and Gilgamesh are Zalera's feeder-worlds.

People join them wanting to learn the big raids. So they try an existing "high population" server to fit in with a group somewhere.

Then they find out what they're populated with.
Turns out they can't learn to raid there.
Just spend your time learning how to manage twenty-and-thirty-something year old babies. "I pay mah sub, I plah how I want!"

Then they finally get called up to Zalera!
Mid-sized population, mature enough to respect other's playtime, immature enough to have fun.

Fact is, there is no "easy to find good static." If there was, it wouldn't be the same 1-2 teams getting world firsts every time new content is out.

It's hard to find good people.
This is true on large servers, and it's true on small servers.
But every server has at least thousands of people on it. With that many folks you're going to have derpers as well as normals.

Just have to take your chances and follow the 3-step program that I didn't just totally make up:

1. Choose a place and stick with it. If you bounce around too much you'll spend all your time "sifting through the crap" without ever leaving yourself enough time to "wait 'till the cream rises to the top." Finding good people takes time. So take your time and keep going. They're there, I promise, on every server. Especially Zalera, but *every* server.

2. Do your part. Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. You want your time respected? Only going to happen if you respect the time of others. Find some people not doing what you want? Great! More people you know that aren't doing what you're looking for. Say "thanks for the chance, but I'm looking for something else" and leave. This works for dungeons, instances, PFs, FCs and, yes, for finding statics too. No mess, no fuss, and move onto your next search (now a narrower field = good for you). You're that much closer to finding the group doing what you want, all the time!

3. There's not even another step! That's it! Just keep doing #1 and #2 and you're good to go! It's the best 3-step program evah!! Only 2 steps to remember!

TL/DR: Join Zalera and all your problems will melt away. Then step out of the puddle-of-problems and start having fun!

[CGMidlander]

You want me to clarify how a mass amount of Jenova is greedy and wants compensation for helping anything, yet you sell runs.

Yes, we (the LS I do sells with) offer it if the demand is there (which there isn't).
If you aren't aware of the logistical headaches behind gathering 6 other competent and strategically compatible people on Jenova to do things, then you aren't qualified to criticize the compensation asked for the service. (Which, isn't even that large in the end. Each person gets roughly 200k-400k at the end of a run depending on what's being sold. It's not gigantic and there are better ways to make money. Our prices are very favorable compared to what runs go for on other servers.)

If you haven't even seen the vast party finders advertising that they will pay off people in order to get bird drops, people were asking for Gil from players who didn't have airships yet to get into diadem, the absurdity of the people who pay players to sign fc start ups, asking for Gil to join linkshells, hell a few nights ago someone was selling their email address so they can forward the notification as to when their house is set to be demolished.

Paying for bird drops and FC startup help is entirely up to the person who is offering the money. Nobody is forcing them to do it, and if they have the money, they're free to do what they want with it if they feel it'll net them better/faster results.
The listings paying for birds in particular is, if you haven't noticed, the same single person trying repeatedly. (Understandable due to the low drop rate of birds, they don't appear every farming session.)

It also makes no sense as to having more gatherers than crafters, as they go hand in hand and based off the supply of mats we don't have much of either, I'm in one of the main crafting and gathering request linkshells and it's very silent most of the time as players are either only selling directly or only helping their fcs.

It makes plenty of sense. Gathering is much easier and requires much less investment than crafting.

The few people offering free melds are doing it because for about a good 3 weeks we had tip required melds popping up because people felt they could grab some easy Gil off lore and Alex gear.

You saw few people offering free melds, while I saw many. (In fact, I am one of the many people on the server who offered and still offers free melds)

Yet you never see anyone giving away free leve items like we had back in 2.0

This is a scumbag freeloader complaint. There's no reason why anyone is obligated to give away stuff for free. (And even then, it still happens from time to time.) When it happens, great, but when doesn't happen, you don't whine about it like some entitled git.

[Maero]

Leviathan has usually always been a casual but very helpful community. Much more raiding has been happening since hw though, i see players looking for a static to do Savage, or Sephiroth Extreme farms, etc.. then anything else in party finder and every day more or less

Also as a sidenote i am fairly certain every server has had groups selling runs before, myself i do not agree with but that is entirely up to the players wanting to pay i guess...

[Averax]

As a denizen of Coeurl, I can tell you with a straight face that we are pretty far removed from hardcore. There are a few out there that do progression, but mostly we are the pony and BURB farmers that like to have a good time.

Hit the nail on the head.