Quote Originally Posted by Grey-Satyr View Post
I started playing the game just a little before you did if your join date is accurate, there is no difference between the community now and before. If you're judging the community by the forums alone, you're in for a very rough time. And honestly, if somebody making a harmless joke about the race you play is enough to get under your skin, you need some serious perspective. Lighten up. Play whatever race makes you happy - some are always going to come with stigmas. The exact same thing can be said about classes/jobs like dragoons.

Edit: Just for clarification, I think the FFXIV community is amazing. It's the best of any MMORPG I have played and I have tried out most of the bigger games over the last 10 or so years. People that are constantly whining about the community going downhill are often part of the problem
My join date is accurate. The community feels different these days. Or it feels so to me. Before Stormblood and its jobs were announced the divide between Healers, Tanks, and DPS never felt so problematic. Feels like lately I've run into more self-entitled jerks in DF than before as well. The forums feel like they've gone downhill a bit too. I know forums are rarely pleasant places for MMOs, but this one felt a lot more helpful a while ago than it does today.

A harmless joke doesn't get under my skin, and as for race, I recently switched from Midlander to Miqo'te so... doesn't matter to me too much. What matters to me is the sentiment behind it. Its a pretty ugly thing, and if its allowed to get out of control, it generally does. Ever heard the tale about the Blizzcon where some fan stated they liked the Alliance and found his car had been scratched by a key to read, 'Alliance Fag, Horde Rulez,' or some phrase to such an effect? Granted WoW is an unfair comparison given they actively aimed to pit the playerbase against itself and fed the flames of that inferno all the time.

FFXIV does have an amazing community and I'd like to see it remain as such. As time goes by it gets more popular. New players come, they come from games like WoW, and they bring their attitudes with them, and it begins to detract from the community.

But I'm getting a bit off topic I think... My point was, I don't feel like its worth letting something slide by as a, 'Joke,' when there really isn't anything humorous about the post to begin with.