Content geared towards FCs

[Vidu]

No...and furthermore there is a HUGE stigma about our community in literally every other place outside of the official forums when it comes to any form of criticism regarding ffxiv and as someone who has supported since 1.0 beta i think im more than qualified to say.....innovation is long overdue. And for the love of god not everyone wants to keep running old content! im so sick and tired of people bragging like there is so much content stop the cap...glamour is NOT content its glamour!

Yes, innovation can be a good thing - if you ask me it was a great innovation to move raids into the DF (instead of having to walk up to the entrance to queue for them), the addition of PF was amazing (no more shouting "We need a bard or paladin!" near wineport when one of the 8 people in your static didnt show up on raid day), even adding the more difficult content to DF so that you can give them a shot (more or less successful) even if you dont get a full party together, being able to unsyc content thats not current anymore and thus allowing you to attempt it with a more flexiable number of people, the new Criterion Dungeons that offer a challenge for light parties instead of a full party (so you only work around 4 schedudles instead of 8), even the addition of Squadrons and Trusts, which argueably into more of a solo-experience but also more into the experience of a game you get to play at any time you want instead of a waiting game if you happent to want (or "need") way outside of primehours for your server.

All those things I'd label innovations - those ideas move away from the notion that finding people to play with or waiting around for them to show up is the main appeal of the game and instead make sure that you actually get to play the game.

I'm starting to wonder - how often have you (or anyone wanting more of this mysterious, innovative FC-content) organised some kind of event that required a large number of people to show up at a certain time? I dont want to make assumptions but my guess would: not to often - maybe because it can be frustarting and tiresome? And maybe thats why you want the game to do that for you, basically? But the game cant do that. The game cant change the workhours, timezone differences and other obligations people have outside of the game that lead to clashing scheduldes. I'd like to see the "innovation" that fixes this problem...
You could argue now that we need something that would lead to people making this game their priority - the FC-content would need to be so great that they're willing to make accomodations to take part in it that they're currently not willing to make. And I'm not sure thats really a good idea or something we should really ask for/promote - I'm saying that as someone whos been raiding with a static with 3 timezones for the past few years. In order to do that, some of us stay up a little later than they probably schuld during the week, some get up a little bit earlier than they'd like so they can join us before heading out to work and some rush home from work - its not an ideal situation for anyone, but its the only way this works. And we're willing to do it this way because we enjoy each others company and playing together, so we're making this work somehow.
But I cant imagine this on a bigger scale - currently this is managing 8 people. For FC-content I'd expect it would allow for a lot more people to join - and ideally for less, too. You'd end up picking your FC based on overlapping scheduldes, not on (social) compatibility. You might end up with more "lively" FCs, but not more social ones.
...or it would have no effect at all, because people would decide that its not worth bothering with it in the first place if its impacting their lives and/or enjoyment of the general game to much. Very likely scenario, if Diadem is any hint to go by. In which case we'd have content thats pretty dead, pretty fast.

All in all I cant help but wonder if these requests mostly come from people who dont realise that maintaining realtionships and specially managing large groups (and keeping them together against all odds!) will always take effort. It wont get any easier if there is an extra incentive in the form of content that you only get to see if someone puts in that effort. And I'm wondering how many people who wish for more FC-content would be willing to be the "someone" putting in the effort of setting a date, that most people can make, making sure that no one is excluded, making sure that everyone gets treated fairly (or at least feels like they've been treated fairly), that no one is uncomfortable and that everyone is having fun. Because the game cant be that someone - it can only provide the playground, as it already does. Inviting your friends to come there, will always be up to you. Sure, the playground could always do with more slides and swings and a better sandbox - but getting together will always be up to the players. And if you dont feel like putting in that effort right now with all the toys available... I doubt a new toy, even one thats locked behind "you need so many friends online at the same time", is going to make that any easier.

[LianaThorne]

snip

While it does take effort to put together an event, the amount of frustration/mental effect caused varies from person to person. I am someone who has frequently put together/helped put together events in FF, out of FF and in real life (specifically raves and having to deal with keeping DJs on schedule + hosting) that usually pull betweeen 100-200 people. I don't find them to be mentally draining at all to be honest, in fact it's quite fun and can be a really easy process if you know what you're doing.

One thing I want to point out is that people will show to do their jobs if the "management" treats them well and also provides a good incentive for doing said job. Those who want to just show up to enjoy the event will come if they simply enjoy the environment of your group/enjoy being a part of it. If people aren't showing up or are being lazy about it, that's most likely a sign that things aren't going well behind the scenes on "managements" end and you should probably look into why. If putting together events in general is causing too much stress on your end then maybe consider passing the job off to someone else. I can say from experience that allowing your members to also contribute ideas/help run things also leads to a higher desire to actually want to be there. For example, I actually put together an anniversary event plan for an FC on Aether that had around 400-500 members and it would be a series of activities going on throughout the day at each hour. Each event was ran by a member of the FC (both "management" and non) and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted, whether that's host a game, act out a play, play music, etc. When the event actually happened, I was told that they had a larger crowd than any of their previous years running their old event style & could see a noticable difference in people's excitement for the day. They're still using said event style today to my knowledge.

I also suggested on the first page that the content I had in mind would sync based on the number of people there, removing any actual # requirement of people needing to be online. One person could run it by themselves if they wanted to. It's just an extra activity to give FCs more to do than just provide a space for people to afk in the garden outside of FC held events.

[Vidu]

While it does take effort to put together an event, the amount of frustration/mental effect caused varies from person to person. [snip the rest for length]

I absolutly agree with this statement - thats mainly why I believe adding FC-specific content wont help to revive "dead" FCs or turn FCs into something thats more than "just" a social group (still not sure why thats such a bad thing in the first place). If the FC lacks people who have the "mental capacity" to put together events right now, adding content that requires this wont magically conjure them up. At best it might be a kick in the butt for some, but I would question how lasting this kick would be.

I think instead of asking for FC-exclusive content, it might be better to request or think about tools that would make organising FC-events easier - an ingame FC-calender perhaps where people can put in "events" for the next week (or next two weeks) and FC-members could react to it (like being able to flag that you'll attend said event). Those events could than be anything - from running raids together, to treasure maps to something you've made up yourself. Basically eliminating the need for out-game ressources to let people know when something is happening that they might want to make time for. And yes, I know that in theory the lodestone provides such a feature - and that using Discord is probably what most people are doing right now, but incoorporating this into the game itself instead of having to basically use a second(party) tool would make it more comfortable (at least for me).

I really dont think that theres a lack of content one can do as FC - and I dont think locking content behind FCs is the best way to get FCs to play together. The main issue isnt "theres nothing to do", but organising it. Making that easier could indeed be a good thing.

[MonteCristo]

Not sure why i bothered carry on /salute

[Kuroka]

Just like they gave us the island now, we should have something like this with an ship or better air ship. Old Diadem had these mobs to hunt and special areas to reach, to use that base and mix it with some random palace of the dead like structure would give tons of fun stuff to do... you could add stuff there and not just dump all new loot to super rare treasure maps or submarine stuff - even if you just add it as an alternate way to gain that loot, huntseals and maybe mogtome...

Right now most times one or a few ppl take care of the subs, one does garden... and thats it, ye sure i can spend my 50.000.000 fc points to buy buffs but you might as well buy those yourself or get em from the squadron...
Heck we cant even craft "FC food" with decent buffs to place, just the same baseline stuff since 2.x...

[Jojoya]

Just like they gave us the island now, we should have something like this with an ship or better air ship. Old Diadem had these mobs to hunt and special areas to reach, to use that base and mix it with some random palace of the dead like structure would give tons of fun stuff to do... you could add stuff there and not just dump all new loot to super rare treasure maps or submarine stuff - even if you just add it as an alternate way to gain that loot, huntseals and maybe mogtome...

Right now most times one or a few ppl take care of the subs, one does garden... and thats it, ye sure i can spend my 50.000.000 fc points to buy buffs but you might as well buy those yourself or get em from the squadron...
Heck we cant even craft "FC food" with decent buffs to place, just the same baseline stuff since 2.x...

But why should there be more content gated behind FC membership? What is wrong with FCs making use of the content already in the game?

Players shouldn't feel obligated to join a FC to get access to content provided by the game.

[Kuroka]

But why should there be more content gated behind FC membership? What is wrong with FCs making use of the content already in the game?

Players shouldn't feel obligated to join a FC to get access to content provided by the game.

"Why is there gear gated behind Savage/Treasure maps/Ex Trials/Crafting/Gathering/"insert story locked behind an job or rolequest??? I should not be forced to xyz!".....