So many people, yet so alone

[UnluckyXIII]

I've now been playing FFXIV for a few weeks. I'm loving the game in general, the story is good for an mmo (shame it's not all voice acted), it's graphically stunning, the quality of the game in general feels solid and I'm yet to find any bugs or glitches... but, I've never experienced an mmo which is designed in such a way that you basically feel alone... all of the time... sure the towns are bustling with people and the world for the most part feels populated and very much alive, yet, I still seem to find that I'm always alone. The game just doesn't seem to encourage group play, maybe this is something addressed after the ARR segment of the game (I'm still working my way through this), but if it really doesn't change and continues to play like a single player RPG I'm very tempted to cancel my Stormblood preorder and look elsewhere for an mmo that actually encourages group play, meeting people and you know, the things that make an mmo an mmo...

[Kitfox]

Make friends. If you don't try to meet people, they won't try to meet you. Life is what you make of it.

Free companies and linkshells are the community tools. Look for those.

[Taika]

Welcome to FFXIV! The game is actually quite group oriented in my opinion: much of the story content involves dungeons and trials that you need to do with others, and pretty much all leveling is done in groups. End game content is for groups too. But I understand it may feel lonely while you're working on the main scenario and there are long periods of time when you just run around completing quests solo. For this, it helps to join an active Free Company (preferably one where people will join you for your story instances and dungeon roulettes too!). You can also join the Novice Network on Phoenix (shout for an invite in any city), it's very active and you can find company for dungeons and other stuff there.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

The game will remain antisocial until SE sorts out more open world content. World chat would be a good feature too, SE could make it so you can toggle the chat on and off just like mentors can with novice.
Same with chat in DF, as it's a very slim chance that you will ever bump into them again.

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

Wait, you mean socializing is required to make friends ?? It all makes sense now ....

[Kuzonoha]

Welcome!

Coming from other MMO's, FFXIV came across that way when I first started. Don't worry, there's plenty of times in the game where you'll be required to party to progress through content.

I also suggest intentionally seeking friends; having a few good friends makes the game feel a lot less lonely. Joining a free company as mentioned above is a great step in the right direction. In fact make that a priority, you can get various buffs that can make your playing experience better in addition to being with like minded people. Make sure to join one that is suitable for you.

Social Linkshells and the novice network I also recommend joining. Have fun!

[Pence]

I am on Tonberry, a Japanese datacenter. The other day during a POTD with a cu....mate.....I just started chatting in /p, asking questions about the other members days etc. They replied in English, we all had a good chat. Finish, exited, and surprise - they were in the exit room with us. We bonded and did a 51 - 100 fixed, 0 deaths, a lot of chat and laughs. 2 more added to Flist that I'm excited about running more with.

Sometimes you just need to put yourself out there. Make sure you don't buddy up with just anyone who pays interest. Get rejected a lot. Build friends slow. MMO 101.

[UnluckyXIII]

Make friends. If you don't try to meet people, they won't try to meet you. Life is what you make of it.

Free companies and linkshells are the community tools. Look for those.

It’s not for a lack of trying, maybe it’s just me, but whenever I try to engage people in conversation they simply don’t respond… could this be due to them not having the same chat window open… could it be because they are playing on PS4 so can’t talk easily… could it just be that they just don’t want to talk… IDK, but I’ve found it very difficult to get any conversation out of people so far.

I’m in a FC but for the most part what everyone else talks about (end game) isn’t applicable to me, so I can’t join in as I simply have nothing to offer and tbh don’t even know what they are talking about…

Welcome to FFXIV! The game is actually quite group oriented in my opinion: much of the story content involves dungeons and trials that you need to do with others, and pretty much all leveling is done in groups. End game content is for groups too. But I understand it may feel lonely while you're working on the main scenario and there are long periods of time when you just run around completing quests solo. For this, it helps to join an active Free Company (preferably one where people will join you for your story instances and dungeon roulettes too!). You can also join the Novice Network on Phoenix (shout for an invite in any city), it's very active and you can find company for dungeons and other stuff there.

Group orientated… maybe, people actually engaging in chat, not so much. Since I play a Tank class I don’t have a problem using the Duty Finder and getting a group… I’ve been in several PUG’s for Dungeons so far but no matter how much I talk no one responds, it’s like I’m running Dungeons with bots… sure I complete the Dungeon but I might as well have had a NPC thrown into the Dungeon with me, at least they might have thrown out the occasional funny comment or scripted chat piece.

Wait, you mean socializing is required to make friends ?? It all makes sense now ....

I’m not sure what you are getting at????

Welcome!

Coming from other MMO's, FFXIV came across that way when I first started. Don't worry, there's plenty of times in the game where you'll be required to party to progress through content.

I also suggest intentionally seeking friends; having a few good friends makes the game feel a lot less lonely. Joining a free company as mentioned above is a great step in the right direction. In fact make that a priority, you can get various buffs that can make your playing experience better in addition to being with like minded people. Make sure to join one that is suitable for you.

Social Linkshells and the novice network I also recommend joining. Have fun!

It’s not so much the thing of getting a party/group to progress the main story, this isn’t really the issue, playing a Tank role I don’t struggle to find PUG’s for the Dungeons that I’m required to complete, its more that no one engages in chat… like I said before, I might as well be running the Dungeons with bots as that’s very much how it feels so far ☹

I don’t really understand the whole LS thing… it seems like an additional chat option for the sake of having an additional chat option. What does a LS offer that I wouldn’t get from a FC or group chat and why would I use it??

I am on Tonberry, a Japanese datacenter. The other day during a POTD with a cu....mate.....I just started chatting in /p, asking questions about the other members days etc. They replied in English, we all had a good chat. Finish, exited, and surprise - they were in the exit room with us. We bonded and did a 51 - 100 fixed, 0 deaths, a lot of chat and laughs. 2 more added to Flist that I'm excited about running more with.

Sometimes you just need to put yourself out there. Make sure you don't buddy up with just anyone who pays interest. Get rejected a lot. Build friends slow. MMO 101.

It’s not that I’m not putting myself out there, just the game seems to be so single player focused that people simply have no need/want to make friends to group up. Also, that you are solo in the quests you have makes it even less likely that people want to make friends to quest with. Most other mmo’s have lots of people in each map shouting ‘G to do quest “X”’ but I just don’t see that here, maybe because you can’t or maybe because you don’t need to…

Maybe I’ve rolled on the wrong server, maybe I should have started playing with several other friends so we could do things together or maybe I came too late to the party and missed everyone wanting to chat, make friends and group up to complete quests and work together for the main story…. Maybe FFXIV isn’t for me, it just seems to try so hard to not make the game accessible to people and almost has an “elitist” type feel to it and that if you come from other mmo’s where things just seem simple and work that you are not welcome here…

I don’t know… I has such high hopes for FFXIV and after a few weeks of playing it just don’t seem to have any of the things other mmo’s seem to offer…

[Kitfox]

I don’t really understand the whole LS thing… it seems like an additional chat option for the sake of having an additional chat option. What does a LS offer that I wouldn’t get from a FC or group chat and why would I use it??

You can have 8 Linkshells, but you can only be part of one Free Company. LSs are basically chat rooms that are useful for group oriented stuff across different FCs. Most often LSs are centered around content, like hunting marks, farming primals, pvp and so on. You could also make your own and keep it as a private space for your friends. LSs lack the features FCs have but on the other hand are much more flexible for smaller groups. For example, I have a LS for my raid group of 8 people, which is also the channel I most chat in.

[Taika]

Group orientated… maybe, people actually engaging in chat, not so much. Since I play a Tank class I don’t have a problem using the Duty Finder and getting a group… I’ve been in several PUG’s for Dungeons so far but no matter how much I talk no one responds, it’s like I’m running Dungeons with bots… sure I complete the Dungeon but I might as well have had a NPC thrown into the Dungeon with me, at least they might have thrown out the occasional funny comment or scripted chat piece.

Oh yeah people aren't that social here with strangers. I actually prefer that. But yeah, I recommend running group content with FC mates, that's where all the chatting usually is.