Too strict in-game communication rules

[Jeeqbit]

Now I don't think that FFXIV is nice, because they like the game. If that were the case, then we'd expect nice behaviour in most other highly rated MMORPG's. The thing is, that you will not find that in other MMORPG's.

I think that is also partially because of the aesthetic of FFXIV.

FF games have things that appeal to masculinity such as war and fighting and swords, challenges and killing bosses, but also things that appeal to femininity such as fashion, a story centered around emotion and feeling and characters telling you all their sob stories and cute things such as a cat and bunny race and lalafells. I once had someone beg me for a butterfly minion I looted in a dungeon. They had been farming it endlessly because it's cute. So I just gave it to them.

Whereas some other games have almost only got a focus on the war, fighting, swords, challenges, killing bosses, being competitive and the rest is largely forgotten about or an afterthought.

When choosing a game, some people will look at FFXIV and dismiss it in favor of one that is not full of things like emotion, feeling, sob stories, cats, bunnies, lalafells, butterflies.

But that also results in it appealing to people these other games would not.

To me the difference is that most of FFXIV's content isn't competitive in nature. One person playing poorly generally won't cause others in the party to lose more than a few extra minutes they'll have to spend in the dungeon. The rewards at the end won't change.

This is all a good point too. There is no point in being toxic in a dungeon, because you know that if you wipe you'll just all adjust and learn and clear on the second pull. Even the most clueless people will learn enough on the second pull to clear a FFXIV dungeon. So what is the point in being toxic?

Then there are other design decisions that help, such as a tomestone/experience bonus for helping the new player through instead of abandoning. A commendation system to make you think about what someone did well rather than what they did wrong.

Systems such as PvP and the Gold Saucer are designed in a way where, even if you lose, you still get really good rewards, just slightly less. Whereas if you got no rewards or lost rewards, people would be really angry and take it out on others (which most likely happens in games with such a design decision).

The game is designed to reduce toxic behaviour.