What's the best way to meet people IRL who play this game?

[SketchyBrush]

Most people I chat with either dont' want to talk about meeting up or I find out that they live in areas that upward to 10+ hour drive from me. I've always wanted to find a group of people who live near me who play this game and would be willing to transfer to whatever serer they play on, but I dont' know how to find these people. I've tried on Party Finder, but no one responds. I dont' have the ability to go to fan fests or game conventions, I just want to hang out every now and then. What are some ways to find people near me who play ffxiv?

[silverlunarfox]

Honestly that's tough. our FC is like a small family but we live all across the country so seeing each other would probably be slim to none. Tho we do want to visit one friend and that will happen at some point. I'd suggest fan fests or cons but since those are off the table for you, you can try to find people here. Or just by making friends in game. There are groups on FB too you could try. Some areas have local groups.

[InkstainedGwyn]

Even if you can't go to fan fests or other conventions, most of them have social media presences (like Facebook, etc.) Find an anime, pop culture, or video game convention near you and post that you're looking for people who play FFXIV in the area. You'll already be dealing with (mostly) local folks, so it'll just be a case of finding those who play the game and want to chat/hang out.

[Laerune]

Probably a con, like Fanfest.

[xJimmehx]

One thing you could do is get a bumper sticker or plushy to go inside your vehicle. My wife had a plushy from a game and got into conversations from people who knew of it. You could try wearing flashy job signs on your clothing/jewelry. People may walk by and be like "Im a scholar!" as they pass. Thats your queue to be like "oh yeah? What server?" ...just what id do.. I have no friends who live around me though. Have no need for em. Just my wife. So..I guess I could be wrong.

[Laerune]

One thing you could do is get a bumper sticker or plushy to go inside your vehicle. My wife had a plushy from a game and got into conversations from people who knew of it. You could try wearing flashy job signs on your clothing/jewelry. People may walk by and be like "Im a scholar!" as they pass. Thats your queue to be like "oh yeah? What server?" ...just what id do.. I have no friends who live around me though. Have no need for em. Just my wife. So..I guess I could be wrong.

This is a pretty good suggestion. I went to Gamescom in 2015 and they gave FFXIV shirts to the players who won a primal fight at Gamescom. I remember one day wearing the shirt to class and someone at my University saw the shirt and made a comment about the game, we started talking and now we are buddies and in the same linkshell ingame.

[miraidensetsu]

Most people I chat with either dont' want to talk about meeting up or I find out that they live in areas that upward to 10+ hour drive from me. I've always wanted to find a group of people who live near me who play this game and would be willing to transfer to whatever serer they play on, but I dont' know how to find these people. I've tried on Party Finder, but no one responds. I dont' have the ability to go to fan fests or game conventions, I just want to hang out every now and then. What are some ways to find people near me who play ffxiv?

Your best answer is social media. You can start with Facebook, finding some players on your city. Other bets maybe is creating an LS/FC with players on your city. But social media is a better bet because sometimes there are some players in your region, but they're on another server.

[BluexBird]

Wear a shirt.

[Sakuraluna]

I don't worry so much about meeting people in rl as I do just enjoying myself with people I can relate to and have fun with in game. I don't force the "let's meet up" thing. No one wants to spend time outside of the game with someone they don't know and just don't click with, and you won't have fun at lunch with someone you feel like you're failing to impress just for the sake of talking game. If you eventually find a close in-game friend you can meet up with regularly offline, then great, but I really wouldn't stress it. Just be you.

[Okamimaru]

I recently found out a few of my coworkers actually play this game... i was talking about it and found out they all play together... different server than me but same data center... the shirt idea for sure would help... most people who play that I've encountered love talking about it when they discover another player