Why is the Maturity Lvl of People Playing this game so much higher than that of WoW?

[BunniEclair]

FFXIV has just as much drama and meanspirited people as WoW, it just doesn't always pop up in the same places. Different games attract different people and different games have different problems.

However I will say that FFXIV seems to be much friendlier to newbies than WoW. I was quite shocked about this when I first started playing FFXIV. Certainly in FFXIV dungeons players are more patient. But I think this is very much due to how FFXIV has a huge variety of casual content and isn't as raid-centric as WoW. Because high-end pve content is the only really good content in WoW it breeds players who expect a lot from their peers, even in lower lvl content. Most of the drama I see in FFXIV is very social based, which is not surprising from a game with a lot of casual content. Another issue in FFXIV is the friction between rp and non rp players is much higher than in WoW.

Neither community is completely better or worse than the other. It depends on what you prefer from your gaming experience.

All of this. I prefer FFXIV because as I tend not to be overly involved in the social community at large, but oh the things I have seen/ heard about.

I do, however, do a lot of content. So it’s nice to not deal with insults if I’m having an off day or something. It still does happen but from what I understand it’s not the norm here, but it is the norm in WoW.

[Keramory]

I think this game is pretty good with the community overall. Very helpful people and the only irk I've had watching the community is from the Novice Network. I think in terms of kind communities it goes KotoR > FFXI > FFXIV > everything else. Just my personal experience though.

[Takamorisan]

The moment we partake into tribalism we can't have a serious discussion about maturity, but regarding strangers behaving well most of the time is due to the enforcement of social etiquette in FFXIV as in WoW due to how every internal service is third party for Acti-Blizz and summed up with then being underpaid and overwhelmed by requests all the time you can't have an effective control over the community behavior. So you create a culture of free to say any garbage you want due to how low is the chance of getting punished.

Now punitive feedback is not the only thing in the equation, there is the social factor of you as individual choosing your social circle. We are still talking about an MMO.
As for internal struggles like the good old Casuals vs HC Raider triple legends etc etc, its a matter of how much self control the person you are engaging with, you can have a very polite HC Raider but at the same time you can have a very stressed loud mouth one the gameplay style of course attracts the more competitive type.

[Arillyn]

I don't know that this community is that much different from any other. I will say though in all my years on this planet, no matter if it's online or irl you tend to find what you expect to find (not always, but generally). If you expect to find kind and helpful people you will. If you expect to find jerks you also will.

[Ardeth]

It's not higher. You just want it to be higher. In fact I've been playing since beta 2.0 I can tell you with a certainty that this game can be worse. The reason I say that is Wow has lanes for the extremely casual to get into. And because of that there's almost no interaction between the hardcore and the casual players. Simply because this game forces group content that interaction is guaranteed. You have to see that.

Overall I would say Wow is worse when it comes to player maturity, but I wouldn't say this game is some paragon of the opposite.

[Ftail]

Just go to any of the healer dpsing threads and you will see that people can be awfully immature about the topic. That destroyed my perception that this is the most mature community I have ever been part of..I am sure there are many other things, but that is first one that comes to mind.

Oh god, this is so painfully true about the healer forums. I’m not going to point out names but their are some self proclaimed trolls who play WHM as their mains that take joy in how many SCH mains do not like the state of their class.

Honestly, I got sick of the healer forums after I saw how the healers liked kicking the other healers when they are down. With the attitude that is, “it’s your turn to suffer now.”

[Penthea]

All of this. I prefer FFXIV because as I tend not to be overly involved in the social community at large, but oh the things I have seen/ heard about.

Every community has its bad eggs and well certain types of content make you more likely to meet them. In this game pugging ex and savage can lead to some...interesting experiences.

I do, however, do a lot of content. So it’s nice to not deal with insults if I’m having an off day or something. It still does happen but from what I understand it’s not the norm here, but it is the norm in WoW.

Yea in WoW having a bad day can lead to an even worse day in party content. I didn't see bad attitudes all the time but back when I did dungeons nearly every day it was rare to see a week pass without seeing some unnecessary harsh words being said. Most of the time people tried to ignore them. Still wasn't nice to see though. In FFXIV, well, I literally can't remember the last time I've seen that sort of thing in a dungeon. People do make comments but usually there's a reason and not because someone got their knickers in a twist over someone not playing as optimally as possible.

Though the above is hugely due to the absence of a parser. Parsers are fantastic tools but many abuse them to unnecessarily nitpick at performance, or use them as an excuse to gloat. They can bring out the worst in some people.

And before anyone asks, yes I do care if someone isn't performing very well but in normal mode content as long as it doesn't cause huge problems I can live with it just fine. I reserve higher standards for content that demands it. Normal mode doesn't demand constant optimal performance. Being decent is good enough.

[KeshLives]

Part of it is literal on "maturity".
With the game constantly paying homage to the actually-good FFs of the late 80s and early 90s, you've got a lot of folks pushing 40.
And a few more in their late 20s / early 30s, who played FF11 in its prime back before WoW was really even a thing.

Then there's quite a few old grayheads like me who started on the MUDs/MUSHes of the late 80s. (Has anyone heard from Claire or Carneggy or Dirque or Finrod in the last 20 years?) I'm 51 now. Basically what has driven me away from WoW is too many tryhards spending way too much time trying to tell others how they should be playing, instead of minding their own playing. In WoW, you're seeing this even in the leveling process. FFXIV assuredly has some of that, but most of that is on the savage/extreme/ultimate side of things, where the competitives and their tryhard followers live. It at least feels like it's a smaller proportion.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm not usually the person being picked on/picked at. I was a hardcore raid maintank from 2005 to about 2012 in WoW, so I'm usually not the target, but I get tired of the general atmosphere, and, yes, the instant rage/ragequit when someone screws up, whether it was a small mistake that caused a wipe, or actual bad play. Gets tiresome to rebuild groups too often.

[linayar]

You can't report passive-aggressive toxicity and that's what the bad part of the community specializes in. If you have a party of enabler, you're gonna have to punish yourself by either leaving or carrying someone unpleasant and it's incredibly frustrating.

Obstruction of play is prohibited. This does not mean "pulling (or not pulling) wall to wall" or simple gameplay differences like that, but actual passive-aggressive activities that obstruct play.

[ForteNightshade]

Oh god, this is so painfully true about the healer forums. I’m not going to point out names but their are some self proclaimed trolls who play WHM as their mains that take joy in how many SCH mains do not like the state of their class.

Honestly, I got sick of the healer forums after I saw how the healers liked kicking the other healers when they are down. With the attitude that is, “it’s your turn to suffer now.”

Ironically, the tank forums had this mentality briefly with Warrior and it was snuffed out very quickly. What always amuses with people who have this attitude is they forget, by their own silly logic, their preferred job will inevitably suffer again since, well if SCH sucks this expansion it can't the next. So...