When should you leave a FC?

[SturmChurro]

Yeah. Discord's a bit of a deal breaker for me when it comes to various online activities. More than a few of the FCs I've joined over the years have utilized Discord for 99% of their needs. That's a hard pass for me. I shouldn't have to use a third party tool to do content or socialize in an MMO. Not that I'm an overly social guy to begin with, but still.

I don't mind Discord for text chat, it's easier to just chat in discord. Getting on actual voice chat, especially as a requirement, in an FFXIV guild, would be a little bizarre. I wouldn't really want to do that. Not that I really want to join a guild in the first place anymore.

[Packetdancer]

I strongly recommend seeking out statics that exist outside of FCs for raiding, anyway. There's multiple points of failure for FC raid teams.

I'd amend this slightly: an FC static can be great as a starter static. My FC has a static that has existed across a few incarnations now, the Rookie Raiders (or "Rooks" for short). The Rooks exist to help folks get started in savage raiding, with experienced raiders in the FC helping to mentor. A given roster of the Rooks usually lasts about a tier—more or less by design—and then they scatter to longer-term statics (generally separate from the FC).

[RitsukoSonoda]

I don't mind Discord for text chat, it's easier to just chat in discord. Getting on actual voice chat, especially as a requirement, in an FFXIV guild, would be a little bizarre. I wouldn't really want to do that. Not that I really want to join a guild in the first place anymore.

Discord text chat is nice as it provides a persistent log for sharing info on stuff or long ongoing discussions. I generally don't care for voice chat tho unless it's used for general BS'ing and not anything game related like someone trying to run a raid. I have little tolerance for ppl stating the obvious every 5 seconds or are constantly telling ppl to do things they're already doing. Which tends to be the case with those statics or guilds that say "voice chat required"

I still remember this time a friend of mine joined my Linkshell's voice chat in FFXI when we were killing Jailers because he thought he might pick up pointers doing it to find out all we used it for during the run was singing karaoke and as a result left more confused than when he joined lol.

[Jojoya]

Why did you expect to gain by joining the FC?

Are you getting any of those things?

If not, might as well leave.

It sounds like you're not getting what you were looking for so there's no benefit to you by sticking around. Just let one of the officers know that you feel like you're not a good fit for their FC and you're leaving. Should be that simple. If the officer tries to make it other than simple, definitely get out. That's another one of those warning signs others have talked about.

While FC statics can be okay there's a lot of potential for drama. They tend work out better when the static is informally organized by a normal FC member because members realize they like raiding with each other, not because it's intended to be a FC static.

People warn against FCs led by couples because real life drama has a tendency to spill over into a FC in very nasty ways. Couples in a very stable relationship can be good leaders - but how well do you know them in real life to have an idea of that stability? It gets even worse if both are involved with the raid static. What happens when one isn't pulling their weight and the rest of the static wants a different member to replace them?

It can take time to find a FC that's the right fit for you. Don't be afraid to join and leave them until you find one that fits. Do save yourself some disappointment by talking with members first to see what the FC is like. Normal members will usually give a fairly honest answer if you can get them talking (do they feel like they're not really included in stuff? then you probably won't be either as the new member). Officers have a bad tendency to glorify their FC for the sake of recruiting.

[Dreamsoap]

I'd amend this slightly: an FC static can be great as a starter static. My FC has a static that has existed across a few incarnations now, the Rookie Raiders (or "Rooks" for short). The Rooks exist to help folks get started in savage raiding, with experienced raiders in the FC helping to mentor. A given roster of the Rooks usually lasts about a tier—more or less by design—and then they scatter to longer-term statics (generally separate from the FC).

They've been absolute blunders for ever new player I've witnessed and I will always strongly advise against them. They never consider that the new players starting have very different goals, learning paces and commitments. The members end up finding out too late that some are serious/ want to go all in and some only want to do the absolute bare minimum to get the gear for glamour. The raid leads are always midly experienced players who think too highly of themselves and trash talk the newbies behind their backs, pikachu shock face that it's taking sprouts weeks to learn styles of mechanics they've already mastered. New players are always better off forming their own groups and finding like minded people who want to prog at the same level of commitment. You don't need someone to tell you what to do - all the information is readily available online. Not even getting into the aforemention issues leaking into FC wide drama later.

[Wolwosh]

When FC's do statics they usually end up with a A and B team.
The A team gets everything done(leaders are most likely in it) and the B team get the scraps, and tend to not clear the tier.
You want to farm mounts with your FC on Saturday(something they advertised they do) TOO BAD! because they're progging Savage or Ultimate.
In the end the A team doesn't really play with the rest of the FC.

[AlyaNimfa]

Yeah when I log in I rarely get noticed then other people and just feel like a outsider sometimes

Yeah I’ve found it hard to find a FC on Hyperion too. Yes there are statics, but if you want more than that there is very little.

For the most part I level jobs, but even that’s getting boring. People aren’t very social on XIV and it doesn’t just kill FCs, but the game too.

[LogicHatesMe]

It's bizarre to me reading a lot of the things in this thread, because I've come from games in the past that are very different in terms of what makes an FC (or a Guild in other games.) When I started FFXIV I had a lot of ideas on what an FC was, only to be completely disappointed after being in one for a while (don't get me wrong, the FC I'm in is full of nice, welcoming people, and I've since had to adjust my expectations in line with what FFXIV considers an FC)

Let me explain my biggest issues: In games I've come from, a Guild was a collection of like-minded individuals who all share a common goal, some share a common personality trait, or a common time-zone, even nationality, and are generally fairly selective in their recruiting. All party based content is generally undertaken with guild members and there's a strong sense of loyalty to said guild (or even guild wars and rivalries). It took me a fair amount of time to get my head around the fact that 'statics' exist, as my pre-conditioned brain thought of it as some sort of betrayal of your guild. What's the point of a guild if you run all content with non-guildies right? Why would you run events with rival guilds? Turns out the culture in this game is so vastly different that I had to adapt my way of thinking.

I'm not a social person but I still feel somewhat comforted to see consistent chatter happening in FC chat while I'm playing, really all it is now, that and any FC events that don't involve raiding. I like my FC but I don't feel like I fit in really because 90% of people are end game raiders, we have some crafters but they rarely talk, and anyone who's a beginner seems to be very quiet. Oh and yeah, screw Discord voice chat, I don't need to listen to everyone in FC events that aren't end game raids lol

[Renalt]

The right time to leave an FC is the moment you want to leave. You're not married to your FC so you can leave at a moments notice.

I've tried at least 20 different FCs and it just never clicked with me. Sometimes FCs are for people. I went solo for about a year before finally making my own FC simply cause I got tired of the random Blind Invites.

Also having an entire FC chest for yourself is amazing.

[Renalt]

The right time to leave an FC is the moment you want to leave. You're not married to your FC so you can leave at a moments notice.

I've tried at least 20 different FCs and it just never clicked with me. Sometimes FCs aren't for people. I went solo for about a year before finally making my own FC simply cause I got tired of the random Blind Invites.

Also having an entire FC chest for yourself is amazing.