FC searching can be daunting.

[Jimmymagic]

Ok, so I have been playing for about 6 months + now. I have joined a number of FC's and I don't get why they more than happy to welcome you on the first day and then ignore you until or if you get every job to level 70 before you can do any events, raids, roulette, fate grind etc....

I know most of the Fc's I 've tried out have been around a while. So you have clicks within the company which I understand.

What I am getting are these questions and please don't give a generic answer, I value opinions and criticism.

1. How do you contribute in a way that is useful?
2. How long should I give an Fc if they don't answer questions or seem interested in doing roulettes or raids?
3. Is there a way to start a new FC with just newer people?
4. What is the best/efficient way to search for an FC?

BTW I know this is entirely subjective to preferences. I really want to be apart of the community in some way. Just having a hard time fitting in.

[Raldo]

1) There is no FC-specific content, so the answer to this is either "nothing", "it varies from FC to FC", or "just make friends"

2) If you have no attachment to anyone in the group, then I'd probably bail on a garbage FC after a couple weeks, maybe. WITH THAT SAID, the last few months have been pretty lax on having actual engaging content for those of us at cap to actually participate in, so it's highly likely that the FCs you've been hopping between have been pretty dead because of that (people either letting their subscription lapse, or simply not logging on because there's little to do). The new 4.5 patch dropping Tuesday might bring some people back, but they may also be heavily preoccupied with the newer content for a few weeks.

3) I mean, there's nothing stopping you from doing so, but that's on you to actually do it. It just takes four people to create a new FC.

4) I wish I knew. There certainly isn't a good in-game way to do it, which means you're either stuck trawling forums, looking for FC shouts in-game, or if you're lucky maybe you'll get some offers in response to this thread.

[Nora_of_Mira]

These are great questions to ask if you're looking to find an engaging group of people to play this game with, tbh. A lot of the answers to your questions kind of depend on the answers to others, so I'll try my best.

1. that depends if it's a well established FC or not. If you craft or gather a lot, you can contribute to the submarine voyages or w/e project that FC has going on. Otherwise, most FC's range greatly for what "contributes" to the FC. I contribute to my FC by helping people run content or just chatting it up.

2. 1-2 weeks imo. this lets me know how active this FC is, what they spend their time doing the most, and whether or not I fit in.

3. Yes, you can see new people by the spout by their name and you can /shout to tell people you're creating an FC for newbies and learning together. I see it from time to time.

4. there isn't one! What I've done in the past: view company profiles by clicking on people in town that have an interesting FC name, seeing how many people are online and asking if i can join. I really wish there was a better way to search for FCs but maybe someone else can suggest a better idea.

I say all this having transferred servers twice (3 servers total) over the span of 3+ years and joining new FCs each time. I really value an FC that chats daily and runs all levels of content. Sometimes i had FCs that did nothing but afk in front of their house, tended plants, and never ran content and that was dreadful for me.

I don't get why they more than happy to welcome you on the first day and then ignore you until or if you get every job to level 70 before you can do any events, raids, roulette, fate grind etc....

I also found I needed to be engaging with other people in order for them to consider running content. basically treating the relationship as a 2-way street. Idk what your case was exactly, but thats my only advice given the context. Also be on alert for FC's that just spam invites to every player they see in town... they really dont care about helping people, from my experience.

[Lunalepsy]

Try making your own! I have joined over 20-30 FCs in the past 6-7 years. When you reach that point, just make your own. <3

[Jimmymagic]

How much gil realistically do you need to start one?

[Raldo]

How much gil realistically do you need to start one?

This is the only step of a FC that requires gil:

Pay the OIC Administrator 15,000 Gil in order to found your Free Company.

(I mean, owning a house takes a big chunk of gil too, but houses are optional... worry about that after you've created a stable FC)

And just in case you're unaware, FC actions don't cost gil, they cost FC credits, which are given to you whenever someone in your FC does basically anything (i.e. play the game normally > receive FC credits).


FC creation steps:

Requirements:
- Be a member of a Grand Company
- Reach level 25

Restriction:
A player can not found a new Free Company until 24 hours (Earth time) has passed after leaving a Free Company regardless of their previous rank.


1) Acquire a Company Petition
Locate and speak with an OIC Administrator in any of the three City-States. (at the grand company counter -- the grand company you choose has no functional purpose other than being that destination you have to visit to purchase FC actions)

2) Name the Free Company
A Free Company’s name can be anywhere from 3 to 20 alphanumeric characters long including punctuation. Spaces cannot be used at the beginning or end of the name, or in succession. Names consisting of only punctuation are not allowed. This can only be chosen once.

3) Choose a Free Company Tag
A Free Company Tag is displayed above the player character to represent the Free Company to other players. It may consist of up to 5 characters and can be changed after chosen by speaking with an OIC Administrator.

4) Acquire Three Signatures
The player must find or know 3 players currently online and invite them by targeting and selecting 'Invite to Free Company' from the subcommand menu. The current signatures acquired will be displayed on the right side of the screen by default. (these characters need to not be affiliated with another FC at the time of signing, but they are free to leave if they so choose once the FC is established)

5) Pay Registration Fee
Pay the OIC Administrator 15,000 Gil in order to found your Free Company.

[Niwashi]

How much gil realistically do you need to start one?

The fee for registering the FC is 15,000 gil, and that's the only cost necessary, though there could be other more significant costs down the road at some point if you want to buy and decorate a house.

You could spend gil on other stuff in the meantime if you want to do things like offer gear to new members or run an FC event where you give out prizes or something, but otherwise the only non-house related cost is the initial 15K registration fee.

Housing is where the big expenses come into play. Before it's even an option though, you'll first have to get your new FC up to rank 6, so even if a plot is available and you're rolling in gil, you're not going to be able to get your FC house right away. Once you reach rank 6 you'd need to find an open housing plot. (I have no idea what plot availability is like on Adamantoise. Most smaller servers have plots regularly available, while on the crowded ones they're hard to come by.) You'll need both a plot and a construction permit to build a house. The plots range from around 1.5 to 3.75 million gil for a small one, 8 to 20 million for a medium, and 20 to 50 million for a large plot, and then the construction permit is another 450K, 1M, or 3M, depending on the plot's size. If you want a company workshop in your house, that costs another 800K, and if you want to decorate it with anything more than the random collection of whatever your FC-mates and yourself have accumulated from seasonal festivals and the like, there's no limit to what you can spend on furnishings.

[AngelhunterUK]

1. The best way to contribute is by being friendly and having fun with people in the FC. You don't need to go out of your way to become some omnicrafting god, or gathering savant. If someone needs these things and you are able to help, then of course do but no one's value should come out of having to do those types of things. Just have fun talking to people and doing stuff together of you guys want to. That's how friendships are made.

2. I would say 1 week is a good length of time to determine if the FC is right for you. You will have a chance to see most active times, meet most of the members and get a feel for the weekly routine. If you hate it after 1 week, it's unlikely to get better.

3. There is, go to your GC and set one up, doesn't cost a whole lot and you only need 3/4 founding members. However, you will find recruiting to be a bit of a nightmare at first. Most players aren't going to be up for a start from scratch FC, because they won't be benefiting from it, unless you have some pretty great people already in the FC for the social aspect.

4. Talk to people. As an FC leader, I have actively recruited 2 people. My 2nd and 3rd ICs will usually do that. However, I started noticing a couple of issues with the latest recruits. They weren't being spoken to properly before being invited. We had no idea about them at all. As if they were being recruited because the FC was quiet due to being pre-patch.
One day I was playing pretty late at night, turning in some poetics for gear and i got a tell from someone, asking about my hair. We chatted for a little and went on our way. Few hours later, we bumped into each other, said hi and chatted a little more. Next night, I was on late again and to my surprise, I bumped into them again. We talked for 6 hours just idylling in Ishgard. I knew I had to invite them and they knew that we would be a good fit for them. That's how things should be to me. Inviting people for numbers and activity is pointless if you aren't going to get on. Talk to people and if you get on, see if you can join their FC, ask questions about other members and how people interact.

Hope you find somewhere you can fit in. The game is truly 100x better when playing with a good company.

[Transient_Shadow]

I feel I've had a pretty similar experience with most of my FC's. I've strove to be positive and did my best to 'fit in' and help others out but no matter what I did people always seemed to ignore me. and the larger the fc the worst things usually are. I suffer from depression so I always need to ask my self "is this really happening or is it just the depression talking" but sadly more often than not it's usually the case.

Most FC's have the what I like to call the inner circle. If you're in the click you get loads of privileges and responsibilities. If you're not then you're typically not trusted with anything no matter how competent you are. And you're typically ignored unless the inner circle wants something from you.

Honestly once crystal hits I'm probably going to leave my fc and do some soul searching before ever considering joining another fc. If I ever do join another one it'll have to be a place that understands and accepts the struggle of mental illness. Every other Nerotypical group I join just doesn't understand the struggle.