Should I remain FCless?

[Mapleine]

Join one, turn it off and just enjoy the buffs at least.

[Velvet_Lunarfang]

I see thanks for all the input

[Kranel_San]

Every time I seem to be in a FC it is never as social as they claim to be I miss out on doing events due to my schedule unless I decide to stay up and sleep less for work. All these FC's that try and promote never live up to their promises of what they were promoting and I rather not start my own. I already had someone steal a bunch of things when I ran one and trying to run it stressed me out

I got kicked from a FC for being myself. Ever since then I never joined a FC and I intend to keep it that way.
How is this relevant for you? Because when I joined, they promoted themselves to be all sort of good things. All FCs do that to gain members, and they actually care about you just to be nice and earn social points.
Keep it in your mind. Its difficult to find a good FC, and any who promote themselves to be whatever they say is probably not what reality is. This comes from my experience where I jumped from one FC to another for a long time., but it's really all up to you.

[Burmecia]

Every time I seem to be in a FC it is never as social as they claim to be

Bingo, hat trick, trophy unlocked.

Being in reality just flat underwhelming seems to plague those aspiring big FCs. Every server has few; the FC which eats sprouts and spits out disappointed players who probably at least have something to say about how well the former FC's staff really listened to their members.

I'm little disappointed that we see so few even little bit specialised FCs in contrast to all-purpose "you be 30min old sprout or qudruple legend veteran, we are the place for you!" FCs. Sure, roleplayers and alphabet people have their own places, but surely there is more? I am solo/very small FC kind of person, but if there was variety to choose from, I might be more interested seeking out just the right FC. I have no patience to begin to test several dozen all-purpose FCs to figure out if they had any interesting focus under the surface or not.

[Wolwosh]

I find FC's in this game to be a chore..
Most of the members always unsub a week after a new patch, there's always that incredibly annoying person that never shuts up, or they have a a FC static(what could possibly go wrong right?)
There's nothing in this game that req a FC anyway, 10 exp buff is hardly noticable with how much exp you get for doing anything these days, and whenever you make plans to do something 3 people always suddenly have different plans

[Vahlnir]

That's entirely up to you, really. Personally, I made my own FC where I can enjoy the perks without having to worry about whether I fit in or not. Just me, myself and I and my discount teleports.

[TaleraRistain]

Could always make your own and just have it for yourself or you and a few close friends. Then do your socializing with linkshells. That's what I've done since I made mine, hmm, 6 years ago I think?

[Archaell]

Every time I seem to be in a FC it is never as social as they claim to be I miss out on doing events due to my schedule unless I decide to stay up and sleep less for work. All these FC's that try and promote never live up to their promises of what they were promoting and I rather not start my own. I already had someone steal a bunch of things when I ran one and trying to run it stressed me out

Go to Limsa, ask in shout if any Free Company is recruiting and join the first one that invites you. Then you can't be disappointed as there were no promises.

[VictorTheed]

Just let it come naturally. Instead of actively trying to seek out an FC, just meet people and if you find yourself meeting a group of people that happen to be in the same FC then you can go from there.

Pretty much this, I totally agree.

[Gemina]

From my experience, randomly joining FCs or picking up random members to join an FC rarely works out. It's a relationship of sorts, so things like compatibility, history with previous guilds (including non-FFXIV guilds), and mutual benefit comes into play. Having an established connection with someone within an FC is also really helpful opposed to just joining the FC of someone you just met, and you just happen to interact with each other a little outside the norm.

I also find that random and/or open recruitment leads to a lot of potential issues, and I am as adverse to joining a random FC invite as I would be to adding a random player I know nothing about. I would remain FC-less until one that would potentially be a good fit for you presents itself. 99% of FCs recruiting via in-city shouts will not be one of those. Those are dime-a-dozen FCs willing to add to their numbers with similar-minded players.