Why people are bad at the game, and why they never learn to play it.

[AllenThyl]

I wouldn't consider it an ARPG at all, if you want to look at ARPG style MMOs then at bare minimum you can look at ESO. FFXIV has been pushed as this casual Story centric MMO where they want to accommodate as many players as possible. The development has been pushed with the casual audience in mine for a long while now and that's why we are seeing pushback from the casual audience.

None of it changes the fact that the core gameplay of THIS game is an Action RPG. When creating a character, you HAVE to choose a combat class. Access to other, non-combat content is gated by progression in combat content and behind reaching certain levels in a combat class. Yes, the combat maybe not as fast or snappy compared to others, all very correct assessments. But it still is fundamentally an Action RPG, combat is in real time, both the player character and npcs are executing their actions without waiting or regard for one another. And the main gameplay loop is combat. It's not a tactical RPG, it's not turn based, it's not a shooter, not a grand strategy game, not a card game, not an economic simulator, no matter which side content is available.

Id also like to comment on your mention of Sports. See when engaging in Sports you more than likely signed up knowing what you were getting into whether that is a casual fun family outing or a Competitive Event. Its a little unfair to compare sports to a game. You can play Sports at any level, I'm disabled but I'd still engage in something fun like Rounders for a laugh! No one is expecting professional or even a base knowledge when you go into these Sports.

No, it's not an unfair comparison, why should it? Many sports are games, meaning activities within a confined spatial and temporal context and played following an agreed upon rule set. People engage with them for the sake of engaging with this specific type of game. Even if someone has other interests like "getting fit", if they choose one sport, they have chosen that particular sport. Why then exactly is it so outlandish to expect that the people who have chosen THIS game, spend thousands of hours and quite a lot of money on it as well, to be at least baseline competent at it. I mean, the video in the op lists a few examples of baseline failures like tanks single-pulling, healers cure1 fishing, and dps not using AoE. We can also add a few more examples like ice mages and non-finisher samurais. To circle back to your particular sports, do you accept and play with people who can't even hold the bat or throw the ball, like at all? I think not.

Snip 2nd part

And THIS is precisely the point I am trying to get across here. Participation in THIS GAME is already purely optional. No one is forced to play this game, at all. And activities like PvP, or even dungeon content with other players (thanks to duty supports / trusts) is also optional. Why then is people not even being able to do the bare minimum (no one is talking about savage level performance) when being grouped others, something that should be tolerated? Again, this is a cultural question. Someone who doesn't value other people's time and enjoyment, will of course see nothing wrong in being absolute dead weight to their group at all times. This person will see absolutely nothing wrong with afking in Frontline. Or even in ranked PvP. Or having to go afk for 10-15 minute in the beginning of a dungeon. Or not even learning the base mechanics of the job they are currently playing.