Suggestion to Forum Mods: Copy ESO's Forum Rule

[Bonoki]

I never even knew these forums existed until recently, and I genuinely just thought the FFXIV community was super friendly and great based off my interactions with people in the game and on other social media related to the game. This is genuinely the only FFXIV related place online that I've seen that has an awful community. I don't know what is going on here, if the mods just don't care or don't exist or what, but everywhere else FFXIV-related is 1000 times better than here.

Look, I’m not trying to be critical, but this is just an accurate representation of how the community is. What you’re seeing now is its true nature, for better or worse. The reason the community might seem so positive and welcoming elsewhere is because of strict moderation and or the influence of major content creators. Those spaces can become echo chambers, where anyone who doesn’t fit the mold gets pushed out.

There are other places just as problematic, if not worse, than these forums. Many personal Discord servers can be wild, 4chan is notoriously brutal, and certain subreddits like r/shitpost can be inflammatory if you’re not ready for it.

The “Great Community Btw” meme is out there for a reason. The game is often marketed as having this incredibly tight-knit and supportive community, but that’s not the whole story. Even Yoshi P is constantly told how amazing the community is, leading him to believe everything is perfect. This constant praise can be harmful, creating a false sense of security and potentially discouraging the addition of new features or improvements. Such as the new Blacklist features and Lodestone privacy settings that we have needed for a long time.

Social media and influencer spaces tend to operate within echo chambers where everyone reinforces each other’s views. But the reality of the in-game and broader community can be quite different from what you might be led to believe. For example, the #healerstrike thread started as a genuine discussion but got derailed when outside influences stepped in. Content creators attacked forum users, a witch hunt started in a Google doc, and the whole narrative of toxicity took over, despite the initial conversation being much more nuanced.

What makes these forums different is that your in-game name and server are visible to everyone. On platforms like Reddit and Twitter, you can stay anonymous unless you choose to reveal your identity. But here, everyone can see who you are, which can make people hesitant to speak freely. I use an alt for this reason, wanting the same level of anonymity that Twitter users have. Maybe these forums would be a better place if more content creators interacted with us instead of just using our comments for their content without engaging with posts in direct replies.

[Ayalu]

The community as a whole is warm and welcoming.
Thousands of stories and experiences are prove of that.
The strict regulation certainly helps to deter people to be openly hostile as that gets sanctioned quickly.

But truth is also that there isnt just one community.
Heck you even have different cultures in the different Data Centers, which makes sense when we recall that those get also populated by people from different parts of the world..

The thing is also that people that are frustrated are more likely to discuss those online and some places reflect that. The english forum is one of these

But overall dont worry Flower as you said plenty of places show the strong positivity of the broader community.