Hi Draven,

Great post. You make some very good points. If I could make a couple points:

1. Re: FF XI Praise
I definitely agree with you that XI's leveling up / grind was far more Party-based, and it really did force you to get into Parties to reach Level Cap (at least for the early years). So in that regards, XIV is more flexible (and I appreciate that). But XI also had a lot more variety as well (but, it was due to so many Expansion Packs). The environments were more varied. There were a lot more NMs / HNMs to try and solo / low-man / get your alliances together for. Sky / Sea / Dynamis / BCNMs, etc. I think those are some of the great things people are still praising XI for (and that's not a bad thing). But again, I realize most of that came with years of development after launch.

2. Regarding XVI's Partying or Solo: Yah, as you mentioned the lack of Party Search like XI's is a *big* hindrance, and probably what the OP has run into.

Unless you're lucky to catch a shout (or organized enough to form and shout for your own parties), it's not always easy to get SP / Rank Up. You might be able to join a party if you catch a shout at the right time, but otherwise, it can be tough. And most players right now only want to do Guildleves... in Ul'dah / Thanalan region. The potential is there to Solo, Duo, Trio, Party / Grind far better than XI, but in reality, as you mentioned, with the limited Player / Party Search features and people generally staying in Ul'dah, mainly wanting some Guildleves (and not regular SP grinding), it is a bit limiting right now.