What with the short fuses?

[LineageRazor]

From the forums, you'd think that FFXIV's community was a steaming cesspool, where the majority of players are rude or condescending. In practice, though, I've found the opposite to be true - the vast majority of players are, if not openly friendly, at least neutral or tolerant. Running into jerks does happen from time to time, but it's far from the most common case - and even when you do, those jerks are usually more interested in getting the instance done quickly and efficiently than they are in putting folks down, contenting themself with a snide comment or two but otherwise cooperating with the run.

The forums paint a different story, because if someone posts its because they've had a bad experience. It's hard for me to even imagine someone posting a thread called "Awesome run" ("Had an awesome Brayflox (Hard) run today! Went smooth, and the tank let me grab the treasure on the spiral staircase cuz I'm farming accessories!), and even harder to imagine that thread staying on the front page due to its running on for twelve pages of heated debate.

No, if you see a thread about a run, it's going to be about a BAD run, either complaining about a jerk, or posted by a jerk complaining about the noobs who wouldn't listen to his or her awesome and ever-so-polite advice. The fact that only a few of these per day show up on the forums, in a game with tens of thousands of players doing several instances each per day, is a good sign that the community as a whole is polite and/or friendly.

Take some consolation in that! It's not as bad as you might think. Jerks sure do have a talent for bringing down your day, though.

[Foo01]

From the forums, you'd think that FFXIV's community was a steaming cesspool, where the majority of players are rude or condescending. In practice, though, I've found the opposite to be true - the vast majority of players are, if not openly friendly, at least neutral or tolerant. ...

.....It's hard for me to even imagine someone posting a thread called "Awesome run" ("Had an awesome Brayflox (Hard) run today! .....

That is actually quite true. Although I've seen a few threads where players what to thank other players for a good run even after some unfortunate event had happened.

But for comparison, in another Ifrit HM run I've done. I simply asked, "who will do LB on the nails?" and a SMN or two or a BLM pipes up and said "ME ME MEEE!!" Those runs usually do great. When people communicate it works. When I am met with the silent treatment, I usually know it is not going to end well.

So it is not the fault of the content. It absolutely is the people. People is what makes the game more interesting and more fun. It the a game for the players, and the players have the power make this a great experience and great community.