How much do FRIENDS make a difference with you?

[Dzian]

I think friends can make a big difference with MMOs in general, but XIV has turned into the solo player experience for me as just about everyone I talked to frequently has quit. I have no FC either. I have very little attachment to this game outside of the addiction factor (which is waning) ATM.

This. My ever shrinking circle if friends is generally speaking The Only reason I log in. Used to be about 50 people in 1.2. Down to maybe 10 now.

[Usho]

Ever since I moved to Excalibur, I've met some great in-game friends. Wither from LS's, Novice Network, or just from the new Cross World LS's, they've in a way affected my desire to continue playing the game. But, ever since June I havent felt like playing the game at all. I have other games that are preoccupying my time (which is a good thing) and the usual routine in the game like roulettes, weekly raids, etc is just getting really boring for me (it was wary on me before this, but even more so now). Even talking to my friends online daily, I hardly did anything in game lately and instead just decided to stay in my apartment doing nothing, til I just decided to just log off and stay off.



The game is not appealing to me anymore, so I've decided to cancel my sub for August and just come back in September for 4.4 since 4.4 is starting in Sept. I'll miss my in game friends but I don't feel like paying for a game I'm hardly playing. Though I gotta say, just chatting with my in game friends makes me not wanna take a break, where as before I met them, the thing holding me back was my houses, but honestly, I don't give 2 craps about the houses anymore since they are finite and determined on chaining the player into keeping their subs active, so I'm kinda saying "forget this sh*t" at this point and quit the game for a while.




/2 cents

[WhiteArchmage]

One of the benefits of having a friend in this game is that you can shove his grey parses into his face and telling him to git gud, without fearing him going on OF to cry about how much of a spawn of the devil parser is.

Oh, gods, this. It's SO much fun to have people you can low-key troll by shirking the MNK in expert, use an expanded balance but overwrite the BLM's one with a Bole (because you KNOW the <kupo>er is not gonna move) or playing "how low can you go" with the tank lol I wouldn't DARE do that to randos but my friends wouldn't vote kick me 'cause they know it's just for fun.

[Mchappy]

I'm a little surprised by the majority of people saying their experience with FFXIV is mostly solo.

I understand it, but I definitely think there is a community for everyone in the game. You just have to look for it. I probably wouldn't be playing as much as I do today if it weren't for the friends I've made along the way. I'm in a tight knit group and through them I've made more connections, so being able to play with friends makes a huge difference for me when it comes to my enjoyment in the game. Can I play solo? Yeah, because just as everyone else mentioned, a lot of my friends are playing other stuff during the content lull we've been having. When I find myself playing solo more than usual I just put my hand out more and interact with people I may not usually interact with on my friends list, Linkshell, or what have you.

[LadyKairi]

If it weren’t for my friends, I doubt I would be playing as religiously as I do now. I have a great FC I love to do things with, and it has many of my friends that I love to bits. Not only do they give me the support I’ve needed, but they’ve just made my gaming experience a lot better. They may not all be top tier players, but we have a ton of fun. They also enable my glam/decorating/raiding addictions, so that’s nice lol. Having two characters (soon to be 3 lol) you do all 3 on can be way too expensive on your own lol.

[Skivvy]

I'm a little surprised by the majority of people saying their experience with FFXIV is mostly solo.

I understand it, but I definitely think there is a community for everyone in the game. You just have to look for it. I probably wouldn't be playing as much as I do today if it weren't for the friends I've made along the way. I'm in a tight knit group and through them I've made more connections, so being able to play with friends makes a huge difference for me when it comes to my enjoyment in the game. Can I play solo? Yeah, because just as everyone else mentioned, a lot of my friends are playing other stuff during the content lull we've been having. When I find myself playing solo more than usual I just put my hand out more and interact with people I may not usually interact with on my friends list, Linkshell, or what have you.

When the game first launched, I had a really great group, had a lot of fun with them - then we started splintering. I kept in close contact with a few from that group, found a new FC, but never really clicked in that way with the new group. So I'd try a new FC, same thing.

For me personally, I'm not blaming the community so much - there are many factors at play. 1) I have funky play times. 2) I really don't like the game anymore (haven't for years, yet here I am!..I have problems lol). 3) The drama/pressure/stress*

*While I left most groups on good terms, there was one in particular that was just crazy levels of OMG WTF IS HAPPENING HERE. Then I had a couple of really bad experiences in the past year on a more one-on-one level. It's just all put a really bad taste in my mouth when trying to reach out to new people. I'm sure 'my people' are out there somewhere, but I'm just too burnt out to keep trying :X

[Mchappy]

*While I left most groups on good terms, there was one in particular that was just crazy levels of OMG WTF IS HAPPENING HERE. Then I had a couple of really bad experiences in the past year on a more one-on-one level. It's just all put a really bad taste in my mouth when trying to reach out to new people. I'm sure 'my people' are out there somewhere, but I'm just too burnt out to keep trying :X

I'm sorry to hear about this. I get the feeling of being burnt out after putting in effort to reach out - it's exhausting. Eventually it'll come with an open mind. Some of the people I play with I met at the Gold Saucer while queing for Chocobo racing. They use to raid Coil with my FC leader at the time and they noticed I was in his FC, so they invited me to their racing party, got to talking, and now I help them often with things they may need.

[TSLsmokey]

I rarely play with in-game friends truthfully. What doesn't help is I'm one of the few in my group of friends online that do savage raiding and those that do it as well are already in a static(don't have time for a static, I have to pug it all the time). If a friend of mine needs help on content, I can usually help. but otherwise they don't really impact my playstyle or gameplay

[TheMightyMollusk]

My FC is pretty quiet, and the only people I know IRL who play are on different schedules. So I guess I have about as many friends in-game as I do in life.

[D_C]

I'm a little surprised by the majority of people saying their experience with FFXIV is mostly solo.

Ah’m not, XIV’s a single player game wit some multiplayer icin’.

Fer me, if it weren’ fer my friends I’da quit a long time ago. Peer pressure, matey.