Workshops - getting 4 people in there to progress a tier is getting tedious

[Nixxe]

SE doesn't seem to feel the same way as you when it comes to how many members a FC should have to be considered a FC.

Who cares? This is a thread for discussing our opinions.

[Niwashi]

FC recruiter: Oh, hey newbie, great to have you.
New FC member: Good to be here. You know I've started getting into crafting. If there's anything I can contribute to, let me know.
FC recruiter: Well, we've got a workshop project going on. We're building an airship to send out on voyages. We'll need the supplies on this list to do it, though.
New FC member: Cool. That sounds so exciting. All those ARM quests talking about how the guild started off in shipbuilding, and now I actually get to do that as well. I've made some of those ingots it needs. How do I add them to this project? It'll be so cool seeing it come together.
FC recruiter: Oh, sorry for the confusion. You don't add them to the ship yourself. But if you give them to our workshop lead, he'll be able to make a ship with them.
New FC member: What? So you mean he's the only one who actually gets to build anything for the FC?
FC recruiter: Yes. But hey, when he does so, he'll need a few other people to just stand around in the workshop with him. If you could do that when it's time for it, that'd be great.
New FC member: Oh...Well, ok I guess... If that's what the FC needs.


versus how that conversation might go if we DIDN'T have this 4 person rule:


FC recruiter: Oh, hey newbie, great to have you.
New FC member: Good to be here. You know I've started getting into crafting. If there's anything I can contribute to, let me know.
FC recruiter: Well, we've got a workshop project going on. We're building an airship to send out on voyages. We'll need the supplies on this list to do it, though.
New FC member: Cool. That sounds so exciting. All those ARM quests talking about how the guild started off in shipbuilding, and now I actually get to do that as well. I've made some of those ingots it needs. How do I add them to this project? It'll be so cool seeing it come together.
FC recruiter: You do that over here at this fabrication station. See, there's the current project and items it needs. You just select which you're contributing and add them.
New FC member: Like this?
Fabrication Station: < whoosh >
FC recruiter: Yep. And see there how we're a step closer to completing it? Once all the current phase's items are in, it'll advance, and you'll be able to add the items for the next phase if you have some of those as well. With all the FC's crafters doing a bit of it, we'll have this thing airborne in no time.
New FC member: Great. I'll make some of those plates on the next phase's list, so I can add them as well when we reach that point.


I know which version sounds more inclusive to me, and a better pattern for getting crafters to work together on a communal project. Unfortunately, it's not the version we have now.

[DrWho2010]

well technically anyone in the FC who has permission to contribute to a company craft can contribute materials as long as they have the level for it. it doesn't always have to be the main party leader person who puts it into the fabrication station.

[Niwashi]

well technically anyone in the FC who has permission to contribute to a company craft can contribute materials as long as they have the level for it. it doesn't always have to be the main party leader person who puts it into the fabrication station.

But the party requirement encourages a pattern of collecting all the items together at once, so that you only need to form a party once, during which you can just go straight from the first phase advancement all the way to the final completion. While technically, sure, the project leader could hand your items back to you just so that you can put them in yourself, that's unlikely to happen if there's no reason for it to.

The party rule makes it so that being inclusive and letting multiple people take part requires extra effort and coordination, whereas without that rule, being inclusive and letting multiple people take part would just be the normal default state of how FC projects work.

So a feature whose entire purpose is to get multiple people involved and working together is in practice accomplishing the exact opposite (and while annoying a lot of people along the way).

[HyoMinPark]

However, I don’t see any good reason to drop the 4 people minimum limit. If a FC can’t even gather 4 players...hum...is it really a FC or just an upgrade linkshell?

It's a small FC of a small group of friends who don't care to be in a larger FC or invite random people they don't know to theirs. There's zero wrong with this. Personally, I like small FCs. Large ones always seem to have a lot of drama surrounding them, and thats not something I care to be involved in.

[Endeleon]

As I said, I don't consider an FC incapable of getting four people together to be an FC in any meaningful sense in the first place, so it's not unfair since they don't matter.

Oh... lol. Oh boy you sure sound ridiculous right now considering the vast, VAST majority of all Japanese Free Companies are below 10 members, and most of those are below 5. It's very weird to be in the gross mass spam FCs we have here in Western DCs.

[Misutoraru]

It's a small FC of a small group of friends who don't care to be in a larger FC or invite random people they don't know to theirs. There's zero wrong with this. Personally, I like small FCs. Large ones always seem to have a lot of drama surrounding them, and thats not something I care to be involved in.

I am not against small FC, 2 of my previous FC are both small, 1 being less than 8 and other just 5.
There need to draw a line to prevent 1 man FC, and I think we all need to find a common ground where do we draw the line for minimum active number.

[Endeleon]

I am not against small FC, 2 of my previous FC are both small, 1 being less than 8 and other just 5.
There need to draw a line to prevent 1 man FC, and I think we all need to find a common ground where do we draw the line for minimum active number.

But really why do you care? People who want to solo play are valid players just like the rest of us. There's so little profit to be made off of airships anyway, it's honestly just a waste of time. I can't believe the things people get elitist about in this game.

[Nixxe]

Oh... lol. Oh boy you sure sound ridiculous right now considering the vast, VAST majority of all Japanese Free Companies are below 10 members, and most of those are below 5. It's very weird to be in the gross mass spam FCs we have here in Western DCs.

My FC has like 12 people in it.

[Mimilu]

What if we could just put all the materials into a project, without phases? That way, your FC can either do a project more leisurely or quickly but still need 4 people as a kind of limiter?