What with the short fuses?

[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.