Do people see this game as an MMO?

[Chawan]

I don’t really engage with anyone in game unless someone engages with me.. If you only say “hello” to me i will only return that “hello”. Also i never have my chat window on general tab. I divided the chats so I could separate FC,dm, and instances from general due to general flodding and me not seeing more important chatter.. so i only really talk in those chats. I am no stater of conversations, i simply participate when i find I could add something or if asked a question..

Personally i think when you have environment like these that don’t FORCE interaction you get the more natural response from they typical person who plays games lol.. If they don’t have to they won’t.. I personally prefer it this way.. should be my choice who to engage with in my adventure.. if i engage at all. I play MY .part in the story after all.

[Larirawiel]

I see FF14 not as a mmo. For me it is more a kind of a "lobby loot shooter" ala Destiny 2 but with different aesthetics. Maximum 24 people in a raid is not "massive" for me. And with the excessive usage of instancing and loading screens i have never the feeling that there is a massive amount of players.

Cheers

[Saefinn]

I ask as mostly I find people in this game are not willing to talk to others.
Be it in fc or in the world or in dungeons. Is it a thing in ff14 or a over all problem 8n modern mmo.

Talking in dungeons rarely happens because people end up focused on what they are doing, by comparison to say our FFXI days where the combat was slow paced enough for it to be social experience. Normally I'll leave it as a greeting and a goodbye just to be polite. However, MSQ roulette can sometimes be a social experience because of the long cutscenes, I've tended to goof off and joke around with people in those, but you don't always get biters as they might have Netflix up (as Praetorium is mostly cutscenes and people do it for the juicy exp).

With FC's, whilst my FC is quite socially active, I don't think our in game channels are because our FC has a Discord and it's easier to communicate through there, we normally hop on voice chat.

And I think general discussions end up happening in Discord's text channels as well, not everybody who participates is in game, so I think in game channels get used less as a result and this is given that most people have a Discord and are logged in whilst they play.

[Vyrerus]

This is a product of multiple things. Mostly it's that game focuses on the gameplay over socialization aspects. The only content you can really do and socialize at the same time, without any other mediums, is crafting and gathering.

Other than that, it's because of who is playing. The older MMO players are at the point in life where they don't really go out of their way to make friends, for the most part. There's not much novel to it for them, or they got burnt by it in the past.
The younger folks, for the most part, don't/won't associate with people who aren't enough like them. This can vary, but in my experience it's mostly true. It's somewhat a product of human nature, too. It's easier to bounce conversation with people who know the memes/shows/references you're lobbing at them, than those who don't.

Basically, there's a generational divide, and it's not just in the game design. MMOs have had this forever, but it's especially pronounced in FFXIV. I've literally raided with people who are 10~12 years younger than me, which isn't something I thought I'd ever be saying, and while I've really enjoyed all the people I've raided with, we didn't have enough in common outside of raid time to really keep a friendship up. The game design aids in this isolation, because outside of raids, I don't need to team up with anybody pretty much ever to get anything done, so I don't have to set a date or time or try to maintain a friendship that I otherwise wouldn't.

Contrast with FFXI, which I started playing at the age of 13. I was constantly playing with people older than myself, sometimes people 11~20 years my senor. I had many jovial conversations with such people, trying to make friends with them the best that I could, and I'm still friends with a few of them, and back in the day any of them were happy to come duo demons with me in Castle Zvahl or help me get up to the top of Uleguerande Range for the ENM stuff(outside of major events). Of course, everything you did outside of event time actually improved your gearsets, so it was a feedback loop to success to be like that.

Goals are a lot more specific now too, and require a lot less people to obtain. With the exception of Delubnum Reginae Savage and Baldesion Arsenal, nothing is really akin to old MMO prospects.

There's a lot to why people don't talk! I myself always try to pivot off people's character choices/race/glam/name etc. Try not to worry about it and let it come natural when it does.

[VelKallor]

The social aspect and prime time of MMORPG’s are long over. What once were games designed to talk to people from around the world and go on adventures with, has been reduced to more of a ‘single player’ game but with other players around.

Not true at all. I talk to people all the time, we all chat to each other. After we pull, we FOCUS on what we are doing, tank callouts or heals positioning for example. People talk all the time, your error is in assuming you cant see it so it isnt happening.

That "silent player" may be having a riot in Discord...just because you cant see it, doesnt mean it isnt happening. I may not chat in typed comments..but I am in my Discord channel with a few others trading Dad jokes and conversations. You cant see it or hear it, but there it is nonetheless.

I was glad I played MMO’s during the prime of it. I do try talking to other people in dungeons because I’m a social butterfly, I LOVEEE people.. but usually, I get one word answers or find myself speaking alone.

Thats more to the point of being focussed on the instance, focussing on what you are doing, watching AOE's, on movement, on mechanics. Im with other people in a run and I have to have my head in the game, not chatting about what i had for lunch.

You CANT stop and type chat in the middle of Deltascape.

[SherlottaEryut]

Not true at all. I talk to people all the time, we all chat to each other. After we pull, we FOCUS on what we are doing, tank callouts or heals positioning for example. People talk all the time, your error is in assuming you cant see it so it isnt happening.

That "silent player" may be having a riot in Discord...just because you cant see it, doesnt mean it isnt happening. I may not chat in typed comments..but I am in my Discord channel with a few others trading Dad jokes and conversations. You cant see it or hear it, but there it is nonetheless.

Thats more to the point of being focussed on the instance, focussing on what you are doing, watching AOE's, on movement, on mechanics. Im with other people in a run and I have to have my head in the game, not chatting about what i had for lunch.

You CANT stop and type chat in the middle of Deltascape.

My statement is based on my own observations, I have 15+ years of MMORPG experience and branched out to a variety of them beyond WoW and FF. Judging by the way you’re talking, I assume this must be your first MMO if you’re genuinely disregarding my previous post and insisting MMO’s haven’t become mainly anti social.

You are speaking from a very uncommon point of view. I don’t know a few people, let alone many, who are on discord with eachother & talking. Majoritively, people are just solo playing the game. If you were to play on random dungeons and ask at least 10 people if they are talking to others on discord and you’ll get the majority saying no.

Even in the earlier dungeons which is the most easiest and have experienced players that can do it with their eyes closed, people are still less inclined to speak and believe it or not, even though I say things beyond “hello” at the start of the dungeon, I still get ignored or get given blunt replies.

Also to add, even in major cities in the game the social aspect is non existent considering it’s essentially a hang out area (depending on the server I suppose). People do not publicly speak anymore, they just whisper or party chat - you wouldn’t of had that being the norm in MMO’s 10+ years ago.

[Kes13a]

Also to add, even in major cities in the game the social aspect is non existent considering it’s essentially a hang out area (depending on the server I suppose). People do not publicly speak anymore, they just whisper or party chat - you wouldn’t of had that being the norm in MMO’s 10+ years ago.

I would have to say this is very likely very world dependent.

in the major cities here there is a LOT of "public speaking" as you put it.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I would have to say this is very likely very world dependent.

in the major cities here there is a LOT of "public speaking" as you put it.

Well, they are on the EU worlds, so maybe that's more of a language thing or social differences between countries.

Limsa is always packed with people chatting on jenova.


And I've played a dozen or so mmos over my life, and I never really talked with randoms.

[Payadopa]

everytime i login i have a clear goal in mind and i focus on completeing that goal before i log off, making friends is not part of that goal

You must be fun at parties. I do both, but then again I go out of my way to help others if needed. Why play an MMO if you are that anti social?

[Sotaris]

You must be fun at parties. I do both, but then again I go out of my way to help others if needed. Why play an MMO if you are that anti social?

Maybe they like the gameplay? Who are you or anyone to say they shouldn't play the game?
I sit and craft for most part don't talk much when im doing that, should I un-sub too?