Great community!

[Vhanja]

I'm a new player. Not new to FF or MMOs, but to FF XIV. I started playing the free trial a few months ago to test out the game, and got myself a sub a few weeks ago.

I've played a lot of different MMOs, and I have to say that the community in this game so far is outstanding. So helpful and welcome to newcomers. And forgiving!

An example: Today I ran a dungeon for the first time (part of MSQ). I also ran a dungeon as RDM for the first time so everything was new. As soon as we started I told them I did this for the MSQ and it was first time in this dungeon.

So because of this I did mistakes. I died twice, the healer had to heal me other times and my DPS output would not have been ideal, even though I did my best. I apologised first time I died, and only got a "No prob "

And when the dungeon was over, all three of the other party members gave me recs! As a newbie, failing support DPS! I was astounded. Not only did I not get any crap from any of them, they all recced me. (I gave my rec to the awesome healer who was always there to help me out).

This is not the first time something like that has happened. I've run dungeons where either the dungeon or my class was new, I told people, and all I got was support - and recs.

No question in this thread, just... a positive rant. You guys are great.

[Adeacia]

We really like it when new people join in and always want to help them out. You'll still find bad players of course, it's just how things are.

My very first dungeon experience years ago went something like: Dungeon started, I was the tank. I had no idea what I was doing and said as much. Party took it slow, taught me a rotation to get and hold agro, and was just all around helpful. I was allowed to go at my own pace and there were no issues at all.

Even today when I screw up sometimes and cause wipes, people just say "It happens" and we try again.

[Jeeqbit]

There are a lot of reasons for it. There is no way to tell your damage output in the game beyond the enmity meter, which at best can usually just tell you who is doing most damage other than the tank (a yellow bar shows on them in the party list when an enemy is targeted). Dungeons are easy to the point that one good player can carry three people who don't know what they are doing and there is no time limit on the bosses, so high DPS isn't important. Everyone can see who is a new or returning player by the sprout or flower icon, which helps them to understand that you are new and to not expect you to know anything. They are used to there being at least one new or returning player because the roulette system matches veteran players with mostly first timers needing a clear, so they are used to someone dying. They get rewarded with tomestones or experience points when it is someone's first time so it benefits them for there to be a new player. There is the commendation system to motivate you to think about what someone did well, rather than to think negative thoughts.

Beside the game's design, it attracts a lot of people who have never played an MMO or just play casually, so a large amount of players who do dungeons are too casual to think in terms of DPS and optimization.

It is rare, but if you do run into someone who is rude, report them because being rude or giving you a bad experience is reportable.

[Vhanja]

Just an update on this thread. My WHM is now lvl 50 and I've completed the ARR MSQ (up to lvl 50). In addition to the story-driven dungeon I've done daily dungeon roulette every time I play - and never met anyone being rude. I have, very rarely, come across someone who made mistakes and didn't take well to being told so. But whenever I'm new in a role or new in a dungeon I always let people know and have never met anything but support.

Today I ran a dungeon (WHM) for the first time, and of course told the party as we started. A few minutes in, I can't keep up with the tank and he dies. What does he do? Apologies for pulling too much and go slower. Although it's clear it's my "fault" as I am new. I died later on, they had to wait for me to catch up etc. I apologies after end boss and met nothing but understanding. This is unheard of in a MMO community in my experience.

This atmosphere of forgiving and support has also rubbed off on me. Once we did a dungeon that I know well, as a healer. The tank said he was new. I told him I was there and would heal him and paid him extra attention throughout. It's so easy to help others when you've always been met with support yourself.

[IckeDerTyp]

There's nice people in any game, just as there's not nice ones!

So don't let the eventual bad apples get ya down ^^

Also, welcome to Eorzea :3

[Carin-Eri]

I wholeheartedly agree!

I have a thread running here (on the forum) that I made seeking advice since, whilst I love the story, I am terribad at the gameplay. And 99% of the responses in said thread have been really supportive and encouraging.

The same applies in-game too; so long as you make it clear that you are new/inexperienced the team's tend to cut you a LOT of slack. This in stark contrast to another MMO I used to play frequently, where the chatbox was ignored the majority of the time of it it were used under these circumstances the chances were that it'd be someone saying "omg u suck noob".

I won't say it's perfect though - from reading other threads here it does seem that there are those who look down upon anyone who might not find the gameplay as easy as they do.

[Vhanja]

Yeah, nothing is perfect. But I am amazed at how this game treats newcomers.

[RiversideGuy]

Reporting was mentioned... but the ONLY thing you can report is RMT... and there could be a ton of other things that should be reportable.

[Jeeqbit]

In most cases it's easy to see who's first time it is because they will be stuck watching the initial cutscene where the camera moves through the dungeon. Up until the beginning of the latest expansion they have a sprout icon or after that they usually have a returner icon. You see mention of some sort of bonus as well.

Today I ran a dungeon (WHM) for the first time, and of course told the party as we started. A few minutes in, I can't keep up with the tank and he dies. What does he do? Apologies for pulling too much and go slower. Although it's clear it's my "fault" as I am new.

It is partially the tank's fault because although you didn't catch up and heal them, they ran ahead knowing that you were new, so as a tank they should be prepared survive on their own for long enough for a new player to catch up, or alternatively go slower.

As I explained previously, it's almost always someone's first time, so if you want to "pull big" as a tank, you have to learn how to make it easy for a new player to heal you and most tanks you meet won't have enough tanking experience to do that, so they cause a wipe in certain dungeons.

To catch up with them, what you can do is press P, go to General and drag the Sprint action onto your hotbar. Then you can keybind the hotbar slot to a key (I use R). If you look in the party list, you can see when the tank uses Sprint with the dash symbol and use it yourself to keep up with them. It lasts twice as long if you use it when not fighting, so try to use it before attacking or healing rather than after.

The best mindset to have in a dungeon is that it's not any one person's fault that there was a wipe. Every single person including the DPS should ask themselves "what could I have done to prevent it?"

[Vhanja]

In most cases it's easy to see who's first time it is because they will be stuck watching the initial cutscene where the camera moves through the dungeon. Up until the beginning of the latest expansion they have a sprout icon or after that they usually have a returner icon. You see mention of some sort of bonus as well.

It is partially the tank's fault because although you didn't catch up and heal them, they ran ahead knowing that you were new, so as a tank they should be prepared survive on their own for long enough for a new player to catch up, or alternatively go slower.

As I explained previously, it's almost always someone's first time, so if you want to "pull big" as a tank, you have to learn how to make it easy for a new player to heal you and most tanks you meet won't have enough tanking experience to do that, so they cause a wipe in certain dungeons.

To catch up with them, what you can do is press P, go to General and drag the Sprint action onto your hotbar. Then you can keybind the hotbar slot to a key (I use R). If you look in the party list, you can see when the tank uses Sprint with the dash symbol and use it yourself to keep up with them. It lasts twice as long if you use it when not fighting, so try to use it before attacking or healing rather than after.

The best mindset to have in a dungeon is that it's not any one person's fault that there was a wipe. Every single person including the DPS should ask themselves "what could I have done to prevent it?"

I love your thoughts, and I feel the same. It's a party effort. However, as a new healer, I do feel a bit bad when the tank dies and takes all the blame himself. But, yes, it just goes to show the great mentality in general.