Dear Squeenix: Instead of using FOMO to promote PVP...

[anw]

This couldn't fit in the last post where it was most suited so it can be padded out with some of the extra stuff

Good question, I keep seeing the notion something being not fun, but generally when asked about it they often fail to identify their actual issue and just keep going in circles, leading ultimately to no changes at all or to changes that may lead to "see you guys did the thing and it is still bad, just remove it".

Players are good at identifying that there is a problem for them to begin with.
They are really bad at identifying what the real issue for them is let alone what solution would even work.

I agree, It's not really up to the players to come up with solutions and when you look at forums anywhere you'll see that everyone has differing ideas on what to fix, like the rewards above.
Jeff Kaplan for the disaster he was as a game director did have one thing right: tell them how the game system makes you feel and what you think is wrong with it.
Hopefully then the developers can try and find a way to change, improve and refine systems in ways that don't negatively impact other players.
I would say if you look at some of the replies you'll see some elitist views and some views which are dismissive too. That makes it harder to get to that root cause of how they feel. Forums by their nature are a very poor avenue for feedback due to their public nature.

How about not being screamed at by someone who fancies themselves the world's greatest shotcaller but is just being a jerk in alliance chat?

Honestly, I have more fun playing Mahjong than I do trying to unravel the nightmare that is FFXIV PvP.

Unfotunately that is the way of Frontlines and my best advice would be to toggle off alliance chat before you enter. Some may balk at the suggestion but if you don't like obnoxious sound effect macro spam, seeing people argue or giving out wrong commands then there's really no better solution.
I personally toggle it before I play FL and I miss out on some of the fun but I also gain a +10 in sanity by not hearing macro spam constantly.

I am also tired of losing. Very, very, very, VERY tired of losing.

It's hard to toggle that mental state but if losing a game makes you feel bad and you're only there for the rewards then I'd suggest you don't force yourself to play for the piece of FOMO gear. You love mahjong and that's okay. Mahjong takes far, far more skill than FL or CC even with CC's focus on macro. You can rest comfortable knowing you're having fun with tiles (: