Tactful ways to inform people that they're playing badly?

[PyurBlue]

You're never gonna see them again after the run is done. Just mind your own and you can go your separate ways.

If this was serious progression I'd get it, but if things are getting done then I think it's just petty.

I don't really care what happens in my runs. I could be carrying the rest of the party, it doesn't matter to me. There are some players who would like to improve though and that's why giving out advice can be helpful. Staying silent isn't always the right option, but I understand that it's hard to judge who is going to be receptive or not.

[Lacan]

"Hey loser, my grandma does better dps than you"

[Gemina]

I usually wait until after the final boss to say something along the lines of "[Job] you should look up a guide, because your rotation is reeeeally bad". I'm not using any personal insults, but I'm not dumb, I know this still comes across as condescending/bitchy. I'm not exactly in a position to explain what they're doing mid-dungeon, but I'm hoping to at least say something that will make them improve themselves.

You're already off to a bad start by saying anything negative. I don't know if you quoted yourself letter for letter, but adding "reeeeally" to 'bad' is just asking to get shut down before you can even make your suggestion.

Giving tips to players has everything to do with people skills and timing. Running dungeons with a PUG won't provide many windows. The thing about dungeons is the only time a window really opens up to help a player is if it is going horribly wrong, in which case you get this large window to finally explain things. Otherwise you risk spending more time in there than is necessary just to coach up a player.

You also have to choose your battles. Do you really want to burn up more dungeon time trying to get a SAM to nail his/her positionals or get them to use True North? Cases like these, it is a more efficient use of everyone's time to just suck it up and go instead of risking a "you don't pay my sub" debacle. However, if you have an ice mage, tank not using CDs, healers not healing and other scenarios that are literally destroying the run, then something needs to be said, and I have personally stopped a dungeon run to get everyone on the same page before continuing.

Has anyone mastered a tactful way to tell someone that they're severely under-performing when you're going through a dungeon, and there's not a whole bunch of downtime to write a whole essay on how to properly play a certain job?

Sure. You just have to make them respect you enough to value your criticism. You also have to get the other members respect and patience to value the time you put into correcting a player's playstyle. That is far easier to write than do with strangers you might not ever see again.

For the most part, in dungeons it isn't worth the time, effort, and added frustration. Players who want to improve will do it on their own. They'll seek out guides, read and understand their tooltips, spend hours on training dummies, and become open to constructive criticism. You also need to keep in mind that not all players have access or even want to use third party tools to measure their performance, nor are they supposed to be using them in the first place. So if your critique isn't coming from anything other than your observations on the battlefield, I wouldn't say anything.

[SerLuke]

Just vote-kick them and pray that you don't have any SJW/white knight in party that will vote no or worse make a fuss about it.
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The fact that you would label anyone who dares disagree with your decision to vote kick somebody as an SJW/white knight says much more about you or the people that you are kicking than you realize.

[MrKusakabe]

The fact that you would label anyone who dares disagree with your decision to vote kick somebody as an SJW/white knight says much more about you or the people that you are kicking than you realize.

She is right though. If someone is so bad that you and many others don't want to keep going under those circumstances and you would even eat an enforced break by replacing a (terrible) tank or healer then there is a problem in the group. And so far, I have never experienced that small hiccups make anyone getting angry. I had three SJW/White Knights in my past 3 months and their reasoning was so awful that it should be reportable.

I told the stories already, but I will make it short:

1) Garuda "Hard"mode - I was emnity #2 as Red Mage. Until I realized: What is the 2nd tank doing? Emnity #8 gunbreaker. I asked if the tank is AFK. Answer by the other tank: "No, he is with me". What kind of reasoning is that? I mean, really, I can't even come up with an example of how ridiculous this response was. We won though, but if you are in a premade group as filler and then you have a person slacking 100% (I repeat: Emnity 8 Gunbreaker) and you can not leave that crap without swallowing a punishment, what can you do but praying?

2) Tank in Tam Tara - Was doing NOTHING. Spun his chararcter around awkwardly (right mouse click + camera turn) in place. My cousin (BLM) tanked. Healer at the end: "BuT hE mIgHt bE nEw!! yOu wErE aLsO nEw oNcE!" No, I was surely not spinning around my Lalafell and I surely pressed other buttons than WASD only.

3) The ominous "new girlfriend" with a Level 7x character. Expect their friends to press NO (and remove you instead, which is not of a bad thing actually...) and then defend her for "Being a gamer gurl" or something. As if this even remotely a reason.

Another (unrelated) thing that baffled me regarding SJW was a Castrum Run. We had a AuRa tank that looked absolutely badass! I complimented on his looks (and he also was very chill when he chatted!) and that I disliked the bikini tanks. 3 Catgirls jumped on me, quintessencially saying that: "I am not allowed to give compliments like that because I put down Bikini tanks and everyone NOT that Au'ra". I almost fell inconcious as my brain tried to process that garbage statement. I asked if they buy all the ice cream at the parlor too because the strawberry ice cream would be discriminated if only chocolate and vanilla is bought. That made them shut up..

So, SWJ are a serious problem, especially in this game. I like the diversity, but when they block progress by their agenda the fun is over.

Sincerely,

[jameseoakes]

1) Garuda "Hard"mode - I was emnity #2 as Red Mage. Until I realized: What is the 2nd tank doing? Emnity #8 gunbreaker. I asked if the tank is AFK. Answer by the other tank: "No, he is with me". What kind of reasoning is that? I mean, really, I can't even come up with an example of how ridiculous this response was. We won though, but if you are in a premade group as filler and then you have a person slacking 100% (I repeat: Emnity 8 Gunbreaker) and you can not leave that crap without swallowing a punishment, what can you do but praying?

Tanks don't get aggro multipliers so unless he had his tank stance on he should be low on the aggro table (unless GNB are bonkers broken at level 50 or something).

[TheForce]

The fact that you would label anyone who dares disagree with your decision to vote kick somebody as an SJW/white knight says much more about you or the people that you are kicking than you realize.

Amen to that. I'd really hate to meet some of you in real life.

[SerLuke]

Tanks don't get aggro multipliers so unless he had his tank stance on he should be low on the aggro table (unless GNB are bonkers broken at level 50 or something).

Yeah the only times you need to be second aggro as OT is if there are mechanics like in Lakshmi that target the person in #2 aggro

[Fynlar]

"Hey loser, my grandma does better dps than you"

"...and she's dead!"

[Alucard135]

"...and she's dead!"

Basically a DRG grandma.