Free Company Recruiting tactics, what do you prefer when being recruited?

[SachiBear]

I started an alt on Crystal with a friend, and I forgot how much FC's spam new players with invites. I personally don't like being asked to join anything at all, whether it's a blind invite or a sugary /tell that seems genuine at first but is just an FC recruitment thing ( I seriously think these are the worst). How would you think I'll be a good fit when you don't even know me?

My only FC is full of people I know irl and mutual friends, and I can't see myself joining an FC unless I get to know someone for a bit before joining theirs.

[KatieConnr]

I am not one for Guilds, or (whatever a game refers to them as), however I can say this: I am not a huge fan of that generic spammed message you get every five minutes.

[An0nn]

I have a funny fc recruitment story!

Once on an alt I got this message saying “hey I bet you’re getting sick of fc invites, huh;p”. I replied that I was and that I was sorry, but I wasn’t looking for a fc. I wished them good luck and was about to be on my way. They said that no, they were sorry. I didn’t actually qualify for their fc, I was too new and of not elite status. I seemed like a nice person, but I simply could not join. It wouldn’t be fair to all of the other people who couldn’t join because they were not elite (like me). I said I understood and that it sounded like a wonderful fc to be in. Then I wished them luck and was about to be on my way.

They started sending me the strict requirements to be a part of their fc. “You must have 1million gil! That’s the first requirement!” I told them 1 million gil actually wasn’t very much and that I had that already. Then I wished them luck and was about to be on my way. I quickly get another message explaining that of course 1 million gil was only the first of many requirements. I didn’t meet any of the other requirements. Those were much more difficult. Even if I had 1 million gil I couldn’t join, they were very sorry, but they had to put their foot down.

It. Was. So. Weird. They told me they were going to buy a house in Lavender beds for the fc. I told them that on my main I had a house and that it was in Lavender beds. They told me that of course a house was only the first step, eventually they were going to buy the entire ward. After that they didn’t say anything else. I can only assume someone else without a fc tag passed by them and they had to rush to send them a tell explaining that they were very sorry, but this person could not join their fc.

[Bonbori]

I have a funny fc recruitment story!

Once on an alt I got this message saying “hey I bet you’re getting sick of fc invites, huh;p”. I replied that I was and that I was sorry, but I wasn’t looking for a fc. I wished them good luck and was about to be on my way. They said that no, they were sorry. I didn’t actually qualify for their fc, I was too new and of not elite status. I seemed like a nice person, but I simply could not join. It wouldn’t be fair to all of the other people who couldn’t join because they were not elite (like me). I said I understood and that it sounded like a wonderful fc to be in. Then I wished them luck and was about to be on my way.

They started sending me the strict requirements to be a part of their fc. “You must have 1million gil! That’s the first requirement!” I told them 1 million gil actually wasn’t very much and that I had that already. Then I wished them luck and was about to be on my way. I quickly get another message explaining that of course 1 million gil was only the first of many requirements. I didn’t meet any of the other requirements. Those were much more difficult. Even if I had 1 million gil I couldn’t join, they were very sorry, but they had to put their foot down.

It. Was. So. Weird. They told me they were going to buy a house in Lavender beds for the fc. I told them that on my main I had a house and that it was in Lavender beds. They told me that of course a house was only the first step, eventually they were going to buy the entire ward. After that they didn’t say anything else. I can only assume someone else without a fc tag passed by them and they had to rush to send them a tell explaining that they were very sorry, but this person could not join their fc.

"I-it's not like I wanted to invite you or anything, b-baka!"

XD

This is actually genius. If I ever open my own FC that's totally going to be how my entire ad sounds.

[TheHyperFusion]

I prefer a /tell if I'm in-game. If I'm out, I'd like to be able to read info on it (Lodestone page, forum post, etc). Granted, I don't worry about that now since I started my own. xD but you get the idea.

Now, I had one person consistently /tell me to join his FC, to the point that he was harassing me with insults - especially after I said I was going to start my own.
While I do normally prefer people to /tell me and ask if I'm interested, that is NOT the way to go about it. The rest of people who've /tell'd me were really nice about it and understanding.

[An0nn]

"I-it's not like I wanted to invite you or anything, b-baka!"

XD

This is actually genius. If I ever open my own FC that's totally going to be how my entire ad sounds.

Lol right? "Wha-? No! I'm an elite player, really! LET ME JOIN YOU!"

Though I almost felt like they were offended that I sort of (perhaps insensitively) cut their intro short by saying I wasn't interested before they had technically invited me.

"Why hello fellow Eorzeon! Are you being troubled by a barrage of unwelcome fc invite spam? Well-"
"yes."

If it was indeed a creative twist on inviting people I guess I can only say that I admire their persistence!

[DirkTungsten]

Lol right? "Wha-? No! I'm an elite player, really! LET ME JOIN YOU!"

Though I almost felt like they were offended that I sort of (perhaps insensitively) cut their intro short by saying I wasn't interested before they had technically invited me.

"Why hello fellow Eorzeon! Are you being troubled by a barrage of unwelcome fc invite spam? Well-"
"yes."

If it was indeed a creative twist on inviting people I guess I can only say that I admire their persistence!

Reminds me of the "Cartmanland" episode of South Park.

[An0nn]

Reminds me of the "Cartmanland" episode of South Park.

Lol you're right! I just saw that one recently.

Maybe they were on to something then.

[Neetborn]

I don't see the point of joining an FC when most people chat on discord anyway so it is hard to make friends. SE really needs to add a filter to block random FC invites. Party finder and Linkshells are enough to get stuff done without the need for an FC.

[goob]

I don't see the point of joining an FC when most people chat on discord anyway so it is hard to make friends. SE really needs to add a filter to block random FC invites. Party finder and Linkshells are enough to get stuff done without the need for an FC.

People have been asking for several years for a way to easily block FC invites without blocking other things such as tells. The only "solution" is to create your own FC, which makes me wonder whether this is intentional. A new player running around will see that almost everyone is in a FC, leading them to believe it's a very social game (which in many cases it is indeed). But how many of those people created a FC just to stop getting those random invites?