Quote Originally Posted by KaivaC View Post
Has it always been like this, or is this something of a recent trend?
It has always been like this.

Most of these players are attempting Savage for the first time. Not saying it is bad, it is a step in the right direction. These players will improve with time if they don't give up on raiding.
According to Yoshida more players are clearing Savage now more than ever. The sad part is, once a player improves, they no longer want to clear content via PF and start searching for a static. So good players will be gone from PUGs and new players will take their place.

You might get lucky and join a static looking for a temporary replacement for clears/practice. Or have good players who have already cleared this tier joining to help when they are free.

Another thing (I'm not sure if this is still the case or not) but NA/EU do not like to play it safe. They care about up-time and skipping mechanics if possible. While as JP prefer to play it safely.
They also use a lot of macros to explain how mechanics should be done and party members placements. They don't like 'adapting' and prefer to assign people for everything. You will also see them marking players with numbers and shapes if needed. While as in NA/EU, you're expected to know what to do, so not much explanation is giving other than assigning positions.