Advice for recruiting for free companies from someone who isn't in one.

[KaivaC]

7. Lastly, make sure your fc meets its existing people's needs. Make sure you are not all on discord, that your members are ok, you are doing content, etc..

You were fine up to this point. I am not sure what your beef is with discord. The last Siren FC I had was wonderful - they still are, from what I understand. It's nice to hang out with your guildmates outside of the game, when you're not near your computer, or just want to bs around. Those qualities make a good FC. There are some bad discords out there, but advertising to make sure that FC members are not all on discord speaks of bias based on personal experience. Discord is not bad. You can have just as much drama and problems without discord. Other than that, the rest of this point is correct.

This game is tough because guilds are such a weak presence in it. You don't rely on them to do any endgame at all, its all the relationships. So you don't have the leeway other games have, where a lot of people feel forced into it just to run raids.

Again, this is bias on your part. Because for every story you can come up, there are dozens of other stories that say otherwise. Sorry to hear that you aren't in an FC, but when you give a PSA about something like this, don't put bias about certain things out like that. Not all FCs care about running endgame. Most of the FCs that I have been a part of, they are still up and running successfully, and they do things that don't involve endgame. My current one included.

[MomomiMomi]

You were fine up to this point. I am not sure what your beef is with discord. The last Siren FC I had was wonderful - they still are, from what I understand. It's nice to hang out with your guildmates outside of the game, when you're not near your computer, or just want to bs around. Those qualities make a good FC. There are some bad discords out there, but advertising to make sure that FC members are not all on discord speaks of bias based on personal experience. Discord is not bad. You can have just as much drama and problems without discord. Other than that, the rest of this point is correct.

From personal experience, an FC that's always chatting on Discord means anyone who isn't using it is left out of most of the conversation. It is biased, but people should advertise what kind of FC they are. If they're always going to be on Discord, someone who isn't won't find it very welcoming.

Anyway, this whole thread will just fall on deaf ears. The people who are doing blind invites and such are just going to keep doing it, because they're just casting a wide net. Quantity over quality, and keeping whatever sticks. It can be an effective method of recruiting, but not one that I'm fond of.

[RiyahArp]

You were fine up to this point. I am not sure what your beef is with discord.

I have been in FCS where all the core members are on discord, and no one talks in the game, ever. Trust me, you lose members when you do that, because not everyone wants to use voice chat to socialize, because people often monopolize voice chat and form cliques, because some players don't like it because they don't want their gender or age known, or because they don't want to be contacted outside of the game. So if your newbie pops in, and no one talks in it, or every time you run something the core members are on discord, why bother?

Again, this is bias on your part. Because for every story you can come up, there are dozens of other stories that say otherwise.

There is nothing in this game that requires an FC. That's a big problem. Since the apartments, the two biggest benefits were taken away, i.e. affordable fc apartments and chocobo raising/stabling. If you are two out of the three archetypes, you don't need fc mates to pop queues for you. With HoH and POTD, you may not even as DPS. You get some minor buffs. I said that mostly because you cannot rely on people wanting to join an fc for fc's sake; if anything, i do more outside one because I don't need to spend a half hour waiting for them to do things.

So you have to compensate for having a great community of people.

[KaivaC]

I have been in FCS where all the core members are on discord, and no one talks in the game, ever. Trust me, you lose members when you do that, because not everyone wants to use voice chat to socialize, because people often monopolize voice chat and form cliques, because some players don't like it because they don't want their gender or age known, or because they don't want to be contacted outside of the game. So if your newbie pops in, and no one talks in it, or every time you run something the core members are on discord, why bother?

The issue in particular that I'm taking is that you are sort of demonizing discord. Sometimes, it is a pain to have to put down the controller to type during runs (PS4 player). Other times, I just want to check in with either my forum mates or my FC friends when I'm not near my game. ...Maybe I should ask you to clarify something. Is the point you made about FCs that exclusively use discord, or FCs that happen to have a discord available?

edit: Aha...well, looks like you won't have to worry about a follow up post. I just hit my daily post limit.

[RiyahArp]

The issue in particular that I'm taking is that you are sort of demonizing discord.

I don't think theres separation as much between occasionally and exclusively. people will over time go to exclusivity because of the intimacy of voice chat. Or at least it is a big danger.

Anyway, this whole thread will just fall on deaf ears. The people who are doing blind invites and such are just going to keep doing it, because they're just casting a wide net. Quantity over quality, and keeping whatever sticks. It can be an effective method of recruiting, but not one that I'm fond of.

well, i do owe this board some constructive posting, so let it fall if so.