No Community

[Nixxe]

SE went with the "WoW" business model because...They're the lowest common denominator and simultaneously the largest market

There's no game design that can force you to make friends. WoW has changed a lot in the decade I've played it and certain types of content no longer promote the same type of interaction they used to, but all that has really changed is that those opportunities for socialization moved to other parts of the game. Heroics no longer really provide a social experience, but you can bet m+ dungeons do, as that's a type of content where networking and consistency are greatly advantageous. Raiding with any seriousness has always been a huge opportunity as well, even if the casual end of things is largely anonymous. FFXIV has a lot of those types of opportunities as well. I don't really think it's some critical game flaw if it doesn't dump friends in your lap, but simply provides you the opportunity to make friends if you choose to.

[LunaFaye]

There's no game design that can force you to make friends.

Actually there has been. Someone remember the good old FFXIV x-primals? To that time and we all know that, you needed to beat the previous X-Primal if you wanted to move on. If you didn't have friends, static or tons of money you weren't able to beat these trials. DF was a disaster when it came to Titan X and Ifrit X. Even PF's struggled to clear it and as than the the ilvl 90 weapon quest was released, and you needed to farm these primals once a week, everything went into chaos mode.

I still find people nowadays that quit because they couldn't beat that content, and now decided to finally come back. I find people everyday on DF that still can't beat it lol. Same was with old coil, I am not sure if you have experienced it or not, and I am not talking after all the nerfs, I am actually talking about the times as that content was still relevant. The forum and not only the forum were flooded with people being unable to beat T5, and if that wasn't even bad enough already, with the introduction of T9 and T13 all hell broke loose. Anyways, long story short, to that time SE forced you to make friends if you planned on playing endgame content. Nowadays not so much anymore, DF/PF and RF are your friends.

[Nixxe]

Actually there has been.

It forces you to network, not make friends. Those people you add to your friend list can remain veritable strangers who you only come together with for the sole purpose of killing this, that, or another boss. There is still hard content in the game though, so it's something of a moot point. As I said in my post, there are still plenty of opportunities to make friends in this game if that's what people want.

This character cap is ruining my life.

[Atoli]

This character cap is ruining my life.

Write a few words, then edit your post and you have unlimited character count..^^

[LunaFaye]

It forces you to network, not make friends. Those people you add to your friend list can remain veritable strangers who you only come together with for the sole purpose of killing this, that, or another boss. There is still hard content in the game though, so it's something of a moot point. As I said in my post, there are still plenty of opportunities to make friends in this game if that's what people want.

This character cap is ruining my life.

You can call it whatever you want, at the end it still forces you (your word choice not mine) adapting a specific play style that you might not agree with, or wouldn't chose if there were an other option. I yet have to see the "hard" content you're speaking off and let's not list stuff that has been nerfed to the ground, that clearly doesn't fall under hard content.

[Nixxe]

You can call it whatever you want, at the end it still forces you (your word choice not mine) adapting a specific play style that you might not agree with, or wouldn't chose if there were an other option. I yet have to see the "hard" content you're speaking off and let's not list stuff that has been nerfed to the ground, that clearly doesn't fall under hard content.

Presumably ex primals, Ministrel's Ballad, and Savage raids are still difficult when released and encourage taking people you know and trust rather than just pugging with randoms and hoping for the best. I could be wrong, but Palace of the Dead seems like it has that potential at higher floors as well. If it's nerfed later, that's not important. No content remains difficult forever. Let's not get too fixated though on what in this game is difficult or how difficult it is though, as it would be horribly wrong to think that's required to make friends or socialize with people in this game. Difficult content is a solid opportunity to make friends, but by no means a requirement.


However, I chose the word "forced" rather carefully and meant it in a very straightforward fashion. The OP seems to want a game design that, in their eyes, will demand people make friends to accomplish anything, based in part on a fatally flawed understanding of what sort of things are required for friendship. The reality is that no game can force you to make friends. It can, at best, provide you with opportunities to do so, and FFXIV has those opportunities in abundance. If people feel their social experience is lacking, then reach out to others. Join a free company or a different free company; talk more in your linkshells; interact with random people you encounter. There is an endless number of ways to interact with others and even make friends if people simply take the initiative to do so. If people aren't willing to do that, then there's nothing Square Enix or any other developer can do to fix that.

[Vidu]

You can call it whatever you want, at the end it still forces you (your word choice not mine) adapting a specific play style that you might not agree with, or wouldn't chose if there were an other option. I yet have to see the "hard" content you're speaking off and let's not list stuff that has been nerfed to the ground, that clearly doesn't fall under hard content.

1) Unless this isnt your maincharacter but an alt - yes, you have yet to see that content because you need to get there first. That difficult content is optional endgame stuff mostly - because people are also playing this game to enjoy the story and prefer to do that without being locked at certain points.
2) While a lot of fights have been nerfed to a certain degree, you still have the option to make them more difficult for you - the biggest "nerf" doesnt came from changing mechanics but from people outgearing content and doing level 50 EX-primals and Coil at level 60 - the point here is though: If people would prefer to overcome hardship with their friends to form bonds with them, wouldnt they run this content at minimum ilvl? If thats so much more to prefer why arent people doing that?
My answer is simple: Because they enjoy having fun (with their friends!) more than banging their heads against walls.

Those old games might "suggested" a certain playstyle, but apparently this playstyle isnt was the majority of players wants anymore - just as the majority of players doesnt want to draw dungeon-maps by hand anymore.
Actually, this game is still suggesting to form bonds and play together - it just simply makes it easier for you to find a group.

This is a different game from those old games you guys seem so nostalgic about - and hey, its fine to be nostalgic! And I'm all in favour for more difficult, challenging content - but I also like that we're having some nice options that are making it easier for us to find groups (and maybe even make new friends!)
We are having both options - hard, challenging content that requires a more or less "static" group (or people who know EXCATLY what they're doing so they dont need to communicate) - and content thats just fun (like a game should be!). You can both do with friends. Sharing fun times should form bonds just as good as hardship - or maybe even better. Enjoying yourselfes together seems much more valuable to me than having to wait for Eric again because you cant do anything without him or wiping for the hundreths time.

If there arent enough people interested to make a game like in the old days (like you people want), this wish is probably not shared by enough - not only because of those little youngsters being interested in playing an RPG together with other people but also because some of you guys moved on, when the genre moved on. Moving on seems like a good thing to me here - we have heard enough stories from people finding friends or even their special someone within this game, so dont tell me it isnt possible.

We are given more options how and with whom we want to enjoy this game, by not making it mandatory to enjoy it with someone at all - how is that such a bad thing?
I'm a bit worried for those of you who are apparently only able to make friends if they absolutly have to to achieve something in a game - why not make friends for the sake of, well, the friends themself? The game is certainly giving you the tools to do that - if its not giving you the need to do it, but you feel you lack something... thats on you, get out there!

[LunaFaye]

snip!

lol not that it matters but this isn't my main character and kinda irrelevant. I pointed out a couple of things in this thread, that others have commented on. Some people are not aware of old content since they haven't played to that time, and I am seeing it everyday on these forums, suggestions/requests from newer people or people that took a break. And while there's nothing wrong with that, most of these topics are pages long with veterans trying to explain how the game used to be. It doesn't mean we all want the old times back.

I've never even questioned or made any bad comments about people playing the game solo, with friends or anything like that. I however did say that, there have been times, were a game design indirectly forces you to adapt their play style. Nothing else, I don't understand how we got to the "but the majority of player base" kind of discussion here. But I am willing to explain it once more, and it has nothing to do with my personal opinion, just pointing out a different side of view based on your guys own written replies.

You have listed quite a few things here, saying that nowadays we can enjoy the content solo, under sync'd, min ilvl and with friends. I absolutely agree with that, having more than one option is something players appreciate in any kind of game. That means that you can play the game with the play style you enjoy the most, whatever that might be, I am not going to judge that.

But if you're looking at the current raid content for an example, you have only one option and that's to find friends/network. It doesn't matter how you do that or get there (DF, PF, RF, FC, LS, Forums, Reddit, Facebook, local ad in the news paper, you get the point) at the end you need 7 other people that enter the instance with you. Again I won't comment if that's a good or bad thing, or if the content is impossible to be completed under any other circumstances, since that's not the part of the discussion, but I will point out that this is the only way. There's no other option a player can choose from, because at this point of time, it wasn't made available (yet) with other options or intended differently.

Not giving a player more than one option means that someone "forced" a play style on you that you might have not picked for you personally, given there would have been different choices. Again I am not saying it's a good or bad thing, I was just pointing that out, since a lot of comments were based on the current content the game has to offer, not seeing that for new or even older players this can be a bit frustrating. Telling others to just get out there and find friends, solo content or skip it all along, isn't the right way either. I think we all need to understand were someone is coming from and maybe give out some pointers in the right direction, that might make it a more enjoyable environment for people that are having problems with the current and upcoming content.

My 2 cent, I don't know how I constantly seem to trigger people, but hey why not... maybe this post made it a bit clearer and understandable were I was coming from.

[Parisstilton]

P.S.
SE went with the "WoW" business model because it appeals to all the 14 year olds with their parents CC's. Evidence of the preferred demo is apparent in the new art direction IMHO. The “end game” is catered to feeding the aimless 20-somethings using game progress in lieu of real life progress, they need a constant stream of new content (however empty and thin) to shield them from any terrifying moments of introspection. There were legitimate reasons people frowned upon the "Xbox noobs" and "WoWzers”. They're the lowest common denominator and simultaneously the largest market

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Wow! And you wonder why you can't find a friend?