Free Company Bonuses

[Sotek]

Here's a simple question: Why join a Free Company?

The Actions, while nice, are largely redundant (things like the Spirit Binding one are next to worthless). Companion EXP and reduced damage on gear (which is a completely redundant system in-and-of-itself, but don't get me started on that) are great, but that's about it...
The House, while nice, is (apparently) out of reach for the majority, not to mention your Free Company having a House does not mean you yourself can do anything with it.

Unless someone else has an idea why we should even have Free Companies, the only thing I can think of is a group to do Treasure Maps with to maximize profits on that for a House, better for the other 7 people you're doing the map with to be working towards the same goal as you after all, but again; having a House does not mean you yourself can do anything with it...

Crystal Tower? Coil? Primals? Well, having a Free Company for content like that is really no different than having a Linkshell for it. There is no tangible benefit for running such content with a Free Company over any other form of grouping. Well, materials for furniture are one thing I guess, but I shan't repeat myself a third time...

On the flip side of that, we have the Duty Roulette, a system which actively rewards you for not running content with people you know; Free Company or otherwise. A nice idea, to get people to do content new players need (though once again making Praetroium/CM the best Philosophy farm was a stroke of genius...), but the core problem with the Duty Finder remains; new players end up isolated. The cost of having content readily accessible seems to be isolating players such that they never need to talk to anyone on their server... Shouldn't the aim be to get players to join groups on their server? To meet people and continue to play together with them? Shouldn't the aim be to join a Free Company/Linkshell to get content done, not queue up alone?

The Duty Roulette bonuses really strike me as something which would have been better suited to Free Companies, not the Duty Finder;

Low Level Dungeons: Bonus Gil/EXP for running with 3 other Free Company members. Extra bonus awarded when someone isn't level capped for the run (actually needs it).
Main Scenario (inc. the Primals): Bonus Gil/EXP/Tomestones for running with 3~7 other Free Company members. Extra bonus awarded when it's someones first time.
etc. etc. You get the idea.

This strikes me as a much more logical addition to the game. Instead of going off alone in the Duty Roulette for easy Gil to put towards a House, I'm working with my Free Company members just like with Maps. There is incentive to invite new players to the Free Company through the extra bonuses. There is incentive to just do content with your Free Company members through the regular bonuses alone...

OK, something like this and the Duty Roulette both have their place, but the main incentive should be to join a group and do content with that group, not to queue up solo on some matchmaking lobby for content... This is a MMO, not a run of the mill FPS...

[Shikoba]

Bonuses are just that, bonuses. The main point of having a FC is the enjoyment one gets playing with like minded players and working together to achieve one anther's goals. Linkshells are nice because they allow you to connect with groups outside of your main group of friends that are most likely in the FC. Limiting duty roulette to only FC isn't a good idea because not everyone plays for being in a FC and you can't just axe casual players and such. The only change that needs to happen to it is allowing groups to enter, not just entering alone.

[Sotek]

The main point of having a FC is the enjoyment one gets playing with like minded players and working together to achieve one anther's goals. Linkshells are nice because they allow you to connect with groups outside of your main group of friends that are most likely in the FC.

So Free Companies are just players 9th Linkshell?

Limiting duty roulette to only FC isn't a good idea

Probably why I didn't suggest that. Last sentence of my OP, read it.

They are changing Duty Roulette to group. It's just not confirmed on when, yet. Possibly 2.2.

I know, but that's not the point (I'm not really trying to hate on the Duty Roulette here). How is group Duty Roulette going to make Free Companies any less pointless? We've not really heard anything on them yet, but I'd bet it'd be just another thing you could do with a group of people on your Friends List, a shout group, a Party Finder group, a Linkshell group, or a Free Company group... There is nothing in this game that requires a Free Company (short of leveling your Chocobo before the end of the next Ice Age...), a bonus similar to the Duty Roulette would be a great addition. It's a reason to join a Free Company. It's a reason to invite new players to your Free Company. It's a reason to play with your Free Company.

[Swishytail]

I know, but that's not the point (I'm not really trying to hate on the Duty Roulette here). How is group Duty Roulette going to make Free Companies any less pointless? We've not really heard anything on them yet, but I'd bet it'd be just another thing you could do with a group of people on your Friends List, a shout group, a Party Finder group, a Linkshell group, or a Free Company group...

It just depends on what you want, really. Linkshells and Free Companies are similar in what they are designed to do, yes. You invite people to them, you do things together (or not), you use them as a chat box, etc.

I look at it this way. Free Companies have things Linkshells do not:
A company chest (more space)
The ability to buy a house (yes lol at the prices atm but bear with me)
Bonuses (despite how "useful" one might think they are, they are still more than 0% from LS)

Obviously all this stuff is trivial. Is this stuff NEEDED? Absolutely not. But if offered perks, why not take them?
Even if you only use 3 slots of that extra space, it's still there. I think a lot of people feel that being in a Free
Company makes them feel like they have no choice but to do certain things, and that's not true. You can treat
your free company the same way you would treat a linkshell.

[Shikoba]

So Free Companies are just players 9th Linkshell?



Probably why I didn't suggest that. Last sentence of my OP, read it.

You seem rather bitter about something that's not worth being bitter about tbh. Does it really matter if we have FCs and Linkshells? One has guild-like bonuses, the other is a chatroom. You can connect to other FC's through the linkshells without having to be in them, creating a network of friends and people to work with. It's not a bad design as people move onto other FC's that meet the goals they set for themselves but can stay connected to past FCs. Guilds have always been and always will be about friends and doing content together first and foremost. FCs builds upon that with some bonuses for your core group. Just because you don't like the bonuses offered doesn't make it pointless.

They have already said in other posts that they are expanding roulette to groups so I don't know why you even complain about it. There is no point in rewarding FC members doing it together more because like I already said, not everyone wants to play with guilds and you can't give lesser rewards to people for how they choose to play.

[Skadi_Scion]

It would be nice to have some stuff focused on the free companies, seems like there are tons of small free companies, usually just for a static coil group.

[Swishytail]

They are changing Duty Roulette to group. It's just not confirmed on when, yet. Possibly 2.2.

According to a Dev post, they had the group aspect of Duty Finder planned from the beginning,
they just haven't implemented it yet.

[kukurumei]

Speak for yourself. Food II weakness II, control II, teleport fees, etc are very nice bonuses.

40minute food means 1 food per dungeon instead of 2
weakness II can mean a lot in trials. (double weakness is perm drop out from pt)

etc.

[Orophin]

Here's a simple question: Why join a Free Company?

Simple. I wouldn't want to PUG Coil and Extreme Primals every week.

[Sotek]

Simple. I wouldn't want to PUG Coil and Extreme Primals every week.

Why join a Free Company for a Coil/Primal static when a Linkshell can do the same job?