Friendly community indeed...

[Souljacker]

The nostalgia filter is strong with this one.
FFXI had just as many if not more problems with elitism than FFXIV does, especially around the same point in the game's life.
Leveling any class that wasn't one of the "core" classes in that game was a horrendous chore unless you had friends.
I actually love this game MORE than I cared for FFXI, pretty much for precisely that reason. I've had very few problems with a "poisonous community," but that might have to do with me being on a much smaller server than Balmung.
Seriously roughly 80% of all the horror stories about community I hear in this game originates from Balmung or Gilgamesh.

Oh, I'm under no illusions of how some of the elitists were at end game, but we aren't talking about that. We're talking about shouting in Jeuno for help with one level cap item, and that friendly and bored soul helping you with all three. I'm talking about those linkshells that actually did things together and didn't get mad if someone wanted to see a cutscene. I'm talking about the amazing people on the Alla forums who used to crunch their numbers and actually share that knowledge. I'm talking about Jinte, Catwho, Seriha, and all the others who had amazing debates and discussions about the game and the jobs and everything else. I'm talking about Pikko Pots and her gardening. I'm even talking about Rog, though I was probably one of the most vocal to get him banned, which is what eventually happened. I'm talking about folks you actually knew by name - gosh I couldn't tell you the name of one person outside my FC much less not on my server that actually contributed in a meaningful way to the betterment of the playerbase... or the detriment. It's just a long string of random "stfu nub stop watching cs and wasting my time" utterances reminiscent of the diatribes I'd see when my little brother played CoD, throughout the revolving door ushering the sea of players in and out of my life. It's miserable. Hunts were the all time low, but it hasn't climbed very far out of that hole.

I'm not talking about BlueGartr at ground kings or other elite content. You went to that corner of the game, you knew what you were going to get. That isn't the same thing as some new guy just trying to finish his storyline quest in the queue because no one else will help him.

No, there was a lot to love about XI's community, and a lot of us wanted to recreate that here. The problem is, our generation is over. The time of the narcissist and instant gratification has come.

But I agree - maybe it's just my server. Balmung does seem to be one of the worse ones. Still, I was on a high pop server in XI and still felt more a part of a larger community than I do here. These official forums just don't feel like what we had before. Not by a long shot.