Is it possible to play FFXIV if you don't use Discord?

[Vahlnir]

Probably going to be a very unpopular opinion, but I strongly believe that callouts make for a worse and less self-sufficient player. I pugged the entire Eden's Gate savage tier and never once used any form of voice chat in the process. Late in the tier there were a few times where my friend's static had me sub in for them for a kill or two, and the constant callouts that they were doing for mechanics just drove me insane; to the point where I just wouldn't even get in voice with them. Having someone constantly talking in my ear saying what mechanic was happening and what to do for it just bothered me to no end.

Yeah, I agree. Being able to know the fight inside and out is more beneficial than having callouts. Vocal callouts might help in the short term for your clear/farm, but they won't help a person who doesn't know the entirety of a fight the next time they decide to run it and voice chat isn't available. Knowing the mechanics is far more valuable than having a voice chat. It has also been my experience at times (not all the time, but some of the time) that people who are in a voice chat make more mistakes than those without it because they are anticipating a callout instead of knowing what's coming and knowing how to deal with it.