Why does SE keep doing this?

[Elliott]

So, this is of course about the hunts, and I will also mention at least one other thing. Brace yourselves, because all of the bu**hurt is coming your way right about now.

To begin with, the hunts. A fun "casual" thing that you can do, except there are a large amount of groups constantly hunting the enemies, keeping track of spawn timers and such that the actual casual people don't have a fair chance.
That's just because the hunt system is broken. However, what I want to talk about is not simply that the system is broken. It also rewards people for being in groups, meaning that if you're a solo player, getting anything but a miniscule reward is next to impossible because of the hunts going down in a matter of seconds, unless they happen to be S rank, and even then, you won't get a lot without being in a group.

So, what's the reason behind this?
There's of course the participation score, which in a group takes each individual and adds them together. Why? Because they want to promote doing things together.
Why is this a bad thing? It sounds completely reasonable to want the interaction between players going.
Yes, it's completely reasonable. The problem is that the ones who can't get into a party are severely handicapped. This is however not a problem with the parties collecting score together. It's because there are just way too many people doing the hunting.

Square Enix keeps doing this, where they are reducing the amount of enjoyment a solo player can get out of the game. Why not just join a Free Company then, you might ask.
Some people don't enjoy being in a group of people, and especially not bound to them. I am one of those. I recently left the FC I was part of because of a particular incident, which is of no concern to anyone else but me. I was part of that FC because my girlfriend had joined it, and I just tagged along.

However, it doesn't end there. The chocobo raising is something you can't do solo. You need a FC with an estate, with the stable. I'm not interested in that at all, but it is still very concerning to me that solo players basically have to play this game without getting as much enjoyment out of it as those who aren't.

I've seen and been through a lot of discrimination, and it happens everywhere. There is a certain player on the server I play on who became very disliked, and could therefore not get a group for hunts. That person is no less worth than anybody else, pays the same amount of money to play the game, but has access to a lot less. It's not even that the player is mean to others. They simply decided to dislike him/her.
It finally went down, but people still don't really treat that person with respect.

Additionally, there's the individual rooms you can have. They are bound to your FC, something that is completely insane in my opinion. If they would be bound to your character, that's fine. However, even then, you won't be able to access it unless you're a part of a FC, which at least I am not very keen on. I don't work well in such groups because I've got Asperger's Syndrome and also suffer from dysthymia, so I'm not so pleasant to be around all the time either. However, the game forces me to join one if I want to have as much fun as others. That in itself is a horrible system.

If you have anything you want to add, or something you want to question, feel free to do so. However, any disrespectful comments will be reported, no matter who they are directed at.

[Eye_Gore]

Just ask people for a party invite while waiting to pull the mark. Heck I have had people ask me to join their party while we are waiting to pull. Then leave after its done. People do it all the time.

[Firepower]

It's a MMORPG. So you need to expect there to be a lot of Multiplayer content. If you struggle or dislike playing with other people I would most definitely recommend staying away from multiplayer games.

[Excalibur-Aegis]

>>>It's a MMORPG. So you need to expect there to be a lot of Multiplayer content. If you struggle or dislike playing with other people I would most definitely recommend staying away from multiplayer games.

That's a little rude, you don't have the right to "recommend" that someone avoid FFXIV just because s/he doesn't like socializing. People seem to forget that this is a Final Fantasy game, not some side FF game either, it's a numbered title in the main series. Some people are here just cause its a FF and they shouldnt be forced to socialize just because others do nothing but socialize. People have to remember that everyone is different and just because some want this game to be multiplayer only doesnt change the fact that many play this game solo. Playing on offline game is not a substitute for playing FFXIV, most games don't come close to how great this game is and people shouldn't be punished for not following the crowd and being independent.

[SunOfNothing]

>>>It's a MMORPG. So you need to expect there to be a lot of Multiplayer content. If you struggle or dislike playing with other people I would most definitely recommend staying away from multiplayer games.

That's a little rude, you don't have the right to "recommend" that someone avoid FFXIV just because s/he doesn't like socializing.

How is that rude at all? It is an MMO after all, do you know what that means? This is just the type or game it is and Yoshi-p said from the start it encourages you to play with friends you make online and that that is the most fun aspect of mmos. You are way out of line for berating him for no reason. This is a forum and he actually is completely in his rights to recommend something to someone if he wishes.

[Grayve]

It's a MMORPG. So you need to expect there to be a lot of Multiplayer content. If you struggle or dislike playing with other people I would most definitely recommend staying away from multiplayer games.

I don't know if I'd say 'stay away', but it is a MMO, and SE has to design content around groups.

[Gemma]

Additionally, there's the individual rooms you can have.

It's not Individual Rooms, its FC Rooms which is suppose to be tied to Free Companies. You want Personal Housing, which will be coming soon so there's that problem solved.
And I agree it sucks that Hunts are the way they are atm but apparently they are tweaking the daily hunts so I suggest wait & see what they do with that. I usually don't agree with the forum community on things but I do agree that the only reason Hunts are so popular right now is there really isn't much for ppl to do endgame wise atm. If you've done Coil 1 & 2 and at least tried all the EX primals once, there isn't much left to do other then do Hunts to ready your gear for the next update.
It'll die down soon, hell it kinda already has (at least on my server not nearly as bad as it was).

[Elliott]

It's a MMORPG. So you need to expect there to be a lot of Multiplayer content. If you struggle or dislike playing with other people I would most definitely recommend staying away from multiplayer games.

Yes, it's a multiplayer game, so I expect there to be a lot of multiplayer content. That doesn't justify actively punishing people who prefer playing solo, which is what Square Enix has been doing.

[Cspr_Answrth]

Yes - It's a "casual" alternative to raiding to get sands/oils... but you have to raid in a party too.
If you happened to come across a hunt monster first, you couldn't solo it - they are build around having a full party to kill it. Just because there are other parties already there doesn't mean you still shouldn't be in a party.

It's not hard to shout and get in one either - takes 2 seconds, and you can do it when you're zoning in before the loading finishes. Usually my screen is still black when I request party, and by the time I see things, I have a party invite waiting.

Just because something is easy to get, doesn't mean you shouldn't still have to put effort into it.

[Elliott]

The groups are usually full, and the people who are shouting for invite are usually too far away to contribute. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I'm saying that they are with several things punishing people for being solo. I'm not saying that it's reasonable for a solo player to gain as much as a group, but that you shouldn't be actively punished.
Still, even if the hunts are justified, everything else isn't. And the individual rooms in the FC house is stupid, since you're investing money in that particular FC, which I'm not too fond of. It's just a whole mess, and I don't think it's healthy.