The Party Finder Metagame

[Purrfectstorm]

Weekly kill group, 3 strikes party, experienced only. All these phrases that are meant to discourage inexperienced players from screwing up an experienced player's run, they don't work.

What's more, now I'm seeing inexperienced players make these parties themselves. Maybe they just want to do what the cool kids are doing, maybe they think it's the only way they can get anyone to join their group, or maybe they just flat out want to entice experienced players in so they can get a carry.

Whatever the reason, I think it's sensible to assume that any Party Finder group, regardless of what it says in the comments, is going to be just as random as groups you get in Duty Finder, only it will take longer to get a group because you can only pull from people on your world who check Party Finder.

You'll still get to make your own party composition though and you'll start to recognize the names of certain people and know whether they are good or bad players from past experiences.

Never mind that the terms "good" and "bad" can be highly situational, attributes you may have assigned a person because of: Internet issues they had on a particular day, distractions, and/or a lack of experience that they've since made up for. Now, thanks to Party Finder, you can forever exclude those players from your social circle, permanently writing them off for, perhaps temporary, issues they were having with their game play (and *gasp* there are other reasons to associate with people besides how good they are at a game).

Players who join groups claiming to be experienced may be misrepresenting their experience or the person who made the group could be running a con of their own. Still, it makes sense to get a bit annoyed if you join a group, expecting to play with those of an equal skill level, and cannot complete a fight after several wipes. Then the blame game ensues, people say mean things, parties break up, and no effort is expended.

Remember when you were leveling and you'd spend a couple hours on a fight? I spent a couple hours on Qarn! Well endgame, which is supposed to be the hardest content, has a different metagame - people want things quick and they want it easy. 2-3 wipes and the party disbands even if it took hours to form in Party Finder.

Hardcores want to play with hardcores, I get that; if you team with not-hardcores, you'll have a tougher time clearing content. I can understand not wanting that, but what I can't understand is hardcores saying casuals want stuff handed to them. Am I wrong that most players want content that is within their own personal comfort zone?

If a hardcore/elite/skilled (whatever you want to term it) player wants to one-shot a fight, isn't that also "wanting something handed to you"?

I'm not criticizing, I'm just trying to understand what to me sounds like a contradiction. I don't think casuals and hardcores are all that different. I think both groups want a challenge but one that they can eventually (with time and effort) clear. Does anyone want content that is too hard for them to ever clear (or might take years to clear)?

I think this is where conflicts arise. "Good" players want content to be challenging to them (and set aside that talent is not a fixed thing) and they're concerned that if it were made too easy, it would not be a challenge (i.e. fun) anymore. On the other hand, "bad" players don't want to be blocked from content forever either. This is the balance that SE must try to strike in order to please the most players.

Now coming back to the terms "good" and "bad" players, studies have shown that perseverance (a trait they refer to as "grit") plays more of a role in success than raw talent. So how do you think the Party Finder will shift the FFXIV metagame if the expectation is that Player X will either win, or they will not, and groups give up without learning to work together (which involves more than just watching a video and knowing a fight)? Is it possible that the formerly "bad" players will overtake the "good" by virtue of trying a fight hundreds of times instead of 2 or 3?

If there's one defining characteristic of what we typically refer to as "hardcore" players its that they're willing to devote a lot more time to a game than the "casuals." But in this metagame, they're spending most of that time sitting around in Party Finder, waiting for a dream team that may never materialize.

Maybe they're not so hardcore after all. I suppose it's something to ponder the next time you see a 3 strikes party in Party Finder.