I don't think we have enough incentives to join/stay in Free Companies

[Basteala]

Yep, the game is borked for a true social multiplayer experience. I don't believe it is recoverable in this sense, the design is absolutely not geared towards this. I do hope a modern MMO similar in mechanics and gameplay to XI comes out one day. XI graphics and UI are just too outdated.

I wouldn't count on it. New MMO sustainability aside, the fact is that people have changed. A lot of people either want the convenience or--in some cases--don't want to be left out because of their inability to line up schedules. Life just isn't the same. People are more lonely for a reason and this is a symptom of it.

[NaoSen]

For an FC to survive content needs to exist that is.

1. Enjoyable
2. Repeatable
3. Composition flexible (Roles / Member Count)
4. New

Nothing exists that meets those.

Enjoyable because why would you do something you dont like.
Repeatable because once everyones got the mount / glam there's no reason to do it anymore. OR lockout preventing it in the first place.
Composition Flexible as a FC is a mix of people, some might not be online, or have the job.
New because if you've been around a few years Endwalker was sucking up all the past expansion content to get people through content drought, Mount/Glam Farm and Eureka for example.

I didnt bother mentioning maps since every map group (FC or otherwise) that I've been part of in Dawntrail didnt last thanks to it being a pile of bad RNG, Portal RNG, Door RNG, Loot RNG, all of which the odds are stacked against you.

Edit: Oh yes and you need members who are willing to step up and suggest activities they think would be interesting and not expect to be spoon fed everything, your FC organisers can't think of everything.

[Kuroka]

Its really sad, when i started that felt so different and yes, while personally i could do more for activity, its just nothing i want (contests, rp etc are just nothing i desire at all) and people are lazy. We lost many cause they wanted to make one with their statics, usually that didnt last too long. And the playerbase just feels different for a large part...

I was so happy about the Diadem back then, i was so devastated when they dropped it...

[Kahnha]

at the start of an expack the 1st month has larger buffs and at random I will make the larger buffs work on weekends and raid day but been lazy as of late the game has been boring and my fc has been quiet :3

Kinda like how FCs are now it's no pressure if there was pressure to it I wouldn't lead an FC at all I'm here to have fun.

[Kuroka]

I do lead one long enough, dealing with too many different personalities just sucks...

Also i forgot:
While its cool you can add more of them, it kinda sucks how we got the GC buffs to make up for the lack of FC buffs... it devalues FC'S even more.

[Kahnha]

do GC stack with FC buffs?

[ForteNightshade]

Yep, the game is borked for a true social multiplayer experience. I don't believe it is recoverable in this sense, the design is absolutely not geared towards this. I do hope a modern MMO similar in mechanics and gameplay to XI comes out one day. XI graphics and UI are just too outdated.

FFXI was niche even in its heyday. It wouldn't command anywhere close to the audience needed to justify the cost. People nowadays are simply too accustomed to matchmaking/instances and all the creature comforts alongside them. I can all but guarantee if XVII were an MMO like XI where having a party was required to go anywhere or do anything, it would die within the year.

[Avoidy]

You are correct. I helped my friend manage a community FC a while back. It was going okay. Then the game went four months with no new content update so a ton of people quit in the interim. Those who remained were fun to chill with, but then the new housing system came out and heavily incentivized solo-fc ownership, so a good chunk of those remaining people abandoned ship to chase their own solo-fc dream house. Then dynamis released, and a lot of people left for dynamis and had to leave our fc to do that. DC travel happened as well, and since this system doesn't support cross-dc chatter, it meant the few people we had left would log in, go to aether to raid, and effectively be offline to us. Finally one day it was just me online, so you know what I did? I quit and made my own solo fc. There's like no reason to be in a community fc anymore. If you try to make one work because you enjoy community building, good luck; everyone will just quit the game during a content drought or leave at 3 am without even saying goodbye because they (understandably) want to make a solo fc where they can get full control over buffs and decorations and submarines with no downside at all. Want to socialize? Join a CWLS. Speaking of, when will CWLSes have more than 64 slots? Come on man.

[AllenThyl]

Tell me how you distribute your submarine loot, and I tell you why you have problems keeping people engaged.

[Zyama]

It's a game issue. FCs are completely irrelevant for the most part. They focused on making the game so solo focused and accessible they killed off the social aspect of the game outside raids. Even maps, just join a PF party, no need to talk or coordinate.

This, this, this!! You can solo the game all the way to the end, they've taken the social aspect out of the game.