Our FC uses applications for recruitment. We're a multi-game community, and the only real way for people to participate in the actual community (because not everyone is playing FFXIV) is through the website and forums. It also allows us to keep tabs on how long someone has been with the community, do an initial screen to see if they're a general fit for our type of attitude, and track how active they're being in the community for promotional purposes.

For certain games we have scheduled events (like raids) in a community calendar there too. So.. overall, for us it's important for members to use the website, which means applying.